Micheline Charest facts for kids

Micheline Charest (March 16, 1953 – April 14, 2004) was a talented television producer from Canada. She was born in England. Micheline was also a founder and leader of a big company called CINAR. This company later became Cookie Jar Entertainment. In 1997, a famous magazine called The Hollywood Reporter named her one of the most powerful women in the entertainment world.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Micheline Charest was born in London, England. She grew up in Quebec, Canada. Later, she went back to England to study film at the London International Film School. In 1976, she traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. There, she met Ronald A. Weinberg, who would become her husband.

While in New Orleans, Micheline and Ronald helped organize a women's film festival. They also worked on bringing foreign films to movie theaters in the U.S. After this, the couple moved to New York. They started their own company called CINAR. At first, CINAR focused on distributing films and TV shows.

Creating Children's TV Shows

In 1984, Micheline and Ronald decided to change their company's focus. They moved CINAR to Montreal, Canada. Here, they started making their own TV shows instead of just distributing them. They chose to focus on children's television programs. This was partly because of good tax rules in Canada for creating and sharing TV shows.

Micheline Charest became a key person in making many popular animated series for kids. She worked as a producer or executive producer for dozens of shows. Some of these beloved shows include The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Mona the Vampire. She also helped create The Wombles and Animal Crackers.

CINAR also helped produce other well-known children's programs. These include Are You Afraid of the Dark?, a show for older kids. They also worked on The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Madeline. Other popular shows were Wimzie's House, The Adventures of Paddington Bear, and Space Cases. CINAR was also involved with Zoboomafoo, Caillou, and Arthur.

By 1999, CINAR was a very successful company. It made about $150 million (Canadian dollars) each year. The company owned a large part of the children's television market. CINAR became known for making high-quality, non-violent shows for kids. These shows were broadcast in more than 150 countries around the world. CINAR was also one of the first partners in the Canadian TV channel Teletoon.

Micheline Charest's Passing

Micheline Charest passed away on April 14, 2004. She was 51 years old. Her death happened after she had a planned surgery.