Category: Kids

MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Studios is planning to start releasing Disney Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray Disc in 2010 with Disney‘s A Christmas Carol and a special 3D showcase disc.
Disney‘s new Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray will be made available in coordination with hardware manufacturers‘ upcoming release of new 3D home entertainment systems.

Said The Walt Disney Studios president distribution Bob Chapek, “We are happy to offer consumers an incredible line-up of true three-dimensional films and footage that will revolutionize the in-home entertainment experience.”
 
The 3D-enabled Blu-ray release of Disney‘s A Christmas Carol, to be available in the fourth quarter of 2010, will represent the studios‘ debut title that will launch a new premium line-up of Disney Digital 3D movies for the home.

Disney‘s A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey, will be a multi-sensory, three-dimensional hi-def home entertainment experience that captures the essence of the classic Dickens tale

MUMBAI: JimJam, the pre-school channel, has secured carriage on Telkomvision‘s DTH, cable and upcoming IPTV platform in Indonesia. The service is already available on AORA in the country.

Since its launch in 2006, JimJam, a joint venture between HIT Entertainment and Chello Zone, has expanded into more than 50 territories, including Poland, Russia, Hungary, Greece, the Middle East and Singapore.  
 
A 24-hour version of the channel in English premieres on Telkomvision this month to more than 100,000 subscribers.

“Indonesia is a key market for JimJam. Hence we are delighted to be signing this deal with Telkomvision,” said Chello Zone Asia-Pacific regional director Maria Kassova, “As a key market, growing fast with huge potential, this is another great stride in JimJam‘s Asia-Pacific expansion.”

MUMBAI: Starz Media is one of the contributors of the more than $1 million funding secured by Graphic.ly, a digital comic book publisher and community platform.

Further investors for this round of funding, which was lead by DFJ Mercury, included Northstar Equity Investors and GC&H Investments. Individual investment contributions were received from David Cohen, Chris Sacca, Jake Nickell, Paige Craig and Dave McClure.

The funds will be used by Graphic.ly to expand development and marketing efforts and begin work on content partnerships.  
 
Said Starz Media senior VP of digital media business development and strategy Marc DeBevoise, “In our business, we have seen digital media transform the way consumers learn about, interact with and ultimately view television and movie content. We see this transformation as a key opportunity in various forms of content. We are excited about the investment in Graphic.ly and its approach to bringing this kind of change to the comics and publishing world.”

Averred Graphic.ly chief scientist and co-founder Kevin Mann, “While we are excited to bring publishers such as Marvel to the iPhone, we are more excited about allowing readers to engage and access their libraries and exclusive content wherever and whenever they desire.”

MUMBAI: Ormax Media has launched ‘Small Wonders‘, a quarterly kids television study that will rank kids‘ favourite characters on television, and will be available to broadcasters, advertisers and content producers.
As part of the study procedure, ‘Small Wonders‘ will be conducted among kids in seven cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Jalandhar.

Ormax Media aims to interview more than 1680 kids, in the age group of 6-14 years across SECs ABC for the study. Under the modus operandi, the kids will be asked to name their favourite characters on television, with reasons for the same. The report of the first edition of the study will be available in February and will have the findings by markets, age, gender and SECs. 
 
Speaking about Small Wonders, Ormax Media co-founder & director Shailesh Kapoor said, “Our television work has shown that character likeability is an important parameter influencing loyalty towards a programme in particular, and a channel in general.”

“Understanding which characters is being liked and why, will help the subscribers develop a better understanding of children‘s television preferences. The quarterly cycle ensures that we keep pace with the changing environment and the constantly evolving expectations of the kids.”

In August 2009, Ormax Media had launched a similar product for the Hindi GEC universe called ‘Characters India Loves‘, which is a quarterly study measuring the favourite television characters of Hindi GEC viewers.
 

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based animation and gaming art company DQ Entertainment has announced the production of an animated tele-movie and animated TV series, based on Feluda.
Feluda is a series of detective novels and short stories written by the famous Indian film director and writer Satyajit Ray.

Developed and produced by DQE, ‘The Kathmandu Caper‘ will be the first animated tele-movie in the Feluda series to be adapted and written for animation in London by the children‘s writer, Charles Hodges.

The story revolves around a client with an evil lookalike, a kidnap in the neighbourhood and a gang that is involved in illegal activities. The kidnap of a stranger in the neighbourhood leads Feluda with his 14-year-old smart cousin Topshe, Jatayu his funny but smart friend and Bones, their wily dog, to Kathmandu amidst the beautiful scenic Himalayan ranges, and then straight into the den of Maganlal Meghraj, their old formidable adversary. 
 
Says DQE Group chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, “Our objective is to introduce this genre of animated TV series to the new generation of discerning young TV viewers – first to the tweens in this region and then worldwide.

We have confirmed acquisition for Indian broadcasting in several languages from a leading global broadcaster and this has been a huge affirmation that these stories will be received well by audiences. We are so grateful to Shri Sandeep Ray, Director, son of late Satyajit Ray, for allowing us to take these phenomenal detective stories to animation for audiences across the world,” Chakravarti adds.

MUMBAI: While one out of four seven- to 10-year-olds already has a phone today, almost 17 per cent more kids own phones in 2009 over 2006, reveals the latest study by Cartoon Network.

The study also states that with phones like Firefly and Teddyfone available for children, the figures are expected to register an increase rapidly. 
 
Industry experts believe that while few parents can say a ‘no‘ to the phones, they may anyway buy it if the machine is cute enough and like a toy.

Many of the new phones are expected to allow parents to keep track on the numbers that can be dialed or even stop text messaging and some will come with a GPS tracker.
 

MUMBAI: While the Pixar division was making money and winning awards by using computer animation, animators at Disney concentrated on the drawing board.

Disney‘s The Princess and the Frog is a return to the technique that made Disney synonymous with animation: hand drawing, one frame at a time.

It‘s a worthy cause and an honorable film, the first full-length Disney cartoon with an African-American heroine. When first announced in 2007, the project was called The Frog Princess and the heroine was a chambermaid in 1920s New Orleans.

Bowing to public pressure, both the title and the character were changed. Tiana is now an emancipated young black woman who is saving her money to open a restaurant, while her affluent white friend Charlotte is constantly wishing that someday her prince might arrive.

A self-sufficient heroine is a timely reversal of the Disney formula, yet it leaves us with little sense that this is happening in the segregated South of eight decades ago.

This colourfully rendered New Orleans is racially harmonious, a place where jazz and voodoo fills the air and every day is Mardi Gras.
 
When a prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos) of indeterminate ethnicity arrives in town for the big festival, a local sorcerer named Dr. Facilier (Keith David) turns him into a frog.

It‘s not clear why, but it has something to do with an imposter Naveen who tries to swindle Charlotte‘s family out of their fortune. Meanwhile, the real Naveen, who is now a talking amphibian, meets Tiana and begs her to set him free with a kiss. Instead, the kiss turns Tiana into a frog, too.

As the two changelings journey to seek the help of a voodoo priestess (Jenifer Lewis), the spoiled Naveen and the feisty Tiana show insufficient heart or humor to sustain our interest. (It doesn‘t help that the voice actors are relative unknowns.)

To borrow an image from this slow, unimaginative movie, The Princess and the Frog is like jazz played by an alligator.
 

MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Co. has completed the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. for a sum of $4.3 billion.

Shareholders of Marvel approved the acquisition, broadening Disney‘s portfolio that has been appealing strongly with girls more than with boys.

Disney is expected to explore almost all the characters of Marvel Comics but has promised that there would be no “disneyfication” of Marvel‘s properties.
 
There are more than 5,000 characters in the Marvel franchise. Spiderman and Iron Man will now join Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Hannah Montana.

The next set of Marvel films to be released are Spiderman 4, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers.

Marvel‘s chief executive and 37 per cent stockholder Isaac Perlmutter will continue to oversee Marvel‘s business after the Disney acquisition.

The acquisition of the 70-year-old Marvel Entertainment is Disney‘s largest acquisition after it acquired Pixar Animations that made films like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL-E and Up.

MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Co. has nominated Sheryl Sandberg as a new independent director.

Shareholders of the company will vote on her nomination and also the re-election of the company‘s other twelve directors at the annual shareholder meeting scheduled for 10 March in San Antonio.

Said Disney chairman John Pepper Jr., “Sheryl is an outstanding executive who can add incredible value to what is already a diverse and highly experienced group of directors. She brings great expertise in the online world, considerable international experience and a deep understanding of consumer behaviour.”
 
Sandberg, 40, has served as COO of Facebook since March 2008. Before that, she was vp of global online sales and operations for Google.

Sandberg is also a former chief of staff of the United States Treasury Department, a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and an economist with The World Bank.

MUMBAI: Disney XD, the multi-platform brand from the Disney stable showcasing a mix of live-action and animated programming for kids aged 6-14, will launch ‘Sportstacular January‘, a sports-themed programming lineup comprising gaming action, challenges and accomplishments.
As part of the month-long lineup, Disney XD Sportstacular January will feature the gaming action of Aaron Stone and skateboarding adventures of Zeke & Luther along with ‘desi‘ action of Cricket in Full Toss. 
 
The action will also go on-ground with the Sportstacular XD Challenge 2010, beginning 5 January 2010 wherein kids will be seen undertaking a safe yet challenging ‘rock climbing contest‘ in a total of 200 schools across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi.

As a part of Sportstacular January Disney XD, viewers will get a chance to set a world record online as part of the Disney XD Gamer Showdown, presented by Bournvita on www.disneyxd.in. They will be required to play a set of 12 games which tests them on various skill sets.

The January programming feat will wrap with the television premiere of the first Disney XD original movie (DXDCOM) Sky Runners on 26 January at 10am.