Category: Kids

However, this peace does not last too long as another enemy far more dangerous than Naraku emerges. Kaguya, the self-proclaimed ‘Princess of the Heavens‘, is freed from the magical mirror imprisoning her, and as she slowly regains her powers, it is only a matter of time before she stops the flow of time, and plunge the world into an eternal night of the full moon.

Once again, Inu-Yasha, along with Kagome and the others, must come together to fight this new threat. But can they really defeat an enemy who is able to control time itself? And will Inu-Yasha stand a chance against Kaguya when her spells rob him of his humanity? These queries will be answered on Saurday night.

Animax viewers in Malaysia will get to watch cutting edge animation in both English and original Japanese language, with Bahasa Malaysia subtitles during the primetime belt (6pm-8.30pm), informs an official release.

Animax Asia vice-president Betty Tsui says, “We are excited to launch Animax in Malaysia with a strong partner like Astro and bring viewers exceptional anime entertainment like never before.”

Greater youth-driven plans are in the pipeline, beginning with a Malaysia edition of on-air initiative, Imagine-Nation, featuring local talents that go beyond the ordinary. Imagine-Nation was launched last June in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines. It features famous people connected to the creative world of games, film and design, sharing their visions and inspirations with viewers in a series of candid interviews, adds the release.

In keeping with the channel‘s commitment to engage and inspire the youth, recently two lucky Malaysia Animax contest winners gained exclusive backstage tours and met with top gamers at the World Cyber Games 2006 Asian Championship, where Animax was a principal partner.

Tsui adds, “The host of talent in creative fields are aplenty in Malaysia and I am thrilled to be able to share creative passion with the youths in Malaysia. We hope to inspire them through the Imagine-Nation project and more.”

Animax Asia, a regional youth cable and satellite TV channel dedicated to Japanese animation (anime) programming under SPE Networks – Asia, brings to Asian viewers animation from Japan and anime-inspired original productions and activities.

Offering programmes of various anime genres from sci-fi (Ghost in the Shell), action (Blood+), romance and fashion (Honey and Clover, Paradise Kiss) to drama (Black Jack, Girl from Hell) and anime favorites (Dragon Ball), Animax will showcase a line up of high-quality programmes targeted at its youths and young adults demographic in the coming months – including first-run series, Girl From Hell during Halloween this October 2006, adds the release.

In his expanded role, Traub has been charged with building NVCP‘s international retail relationships and maximising world-wide product presence for Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTVN International and Spike TV licensed properties — all of which are part of the Viacom family.

Currently, NVCP products are sold in 23 countries worldwide, with an increasing number of retail partners operating
globally. NVCP has recently expanded its licensing programmes to include recent hit properties including Go, Diego, Go!; The Backyardigans and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Traub will now develop US and international programmes, business models and strategies for the full NVCP portfolio, that increase distribution, sell-in and sell-through in all
retail classes of trade.

“Sesame Workshop and Busch Entertainment both aim to bring families fun and interactive experiences. We commend Busch Entertainment for their 26 years of partnership with Sesame Place and we look forward to extending this commitment through new Sesame Street locations in SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks that will transform the entertaining and educational features of the television series into memorable experiences for families across the country,” said Sesame Workshop president and CEO Gary E. Knell.

BEC president and chairman of the Board Keith M. Kasen said, “Over the past 26 years we have come to appreciate just how well known and loved the Sesame characters are and the kind of connection guests can make with them in a theme park setting like Sesame Place. The deal we are announcing today allows us to offer these kinds of experiences at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. These parks combined play host to more than 19 million people each year.”

Kasen also added that the partnership with Sesame Workshop will enhance BEC‘s long tradition of delivering high-quality family entertainment to its guests with attractions at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens that will include family rides, water elements, live character shows, 4-D film attractions or character dining programs. These Sesame-themed attractions will begin in the next several months as part of the deal, which establishes BEC as the exclusive U.S. theme park partner of Sesame Workshop.

“We will provide our guests with attractions that showcase wonderful characters like Ernie and Bert, Big Bird, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch, and do it in a way that fits with the unique themes of our SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks.” Kasen said.

Plans call for the first Sesame-themed attraction to open in 2008. However, the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, adds the release.

The hunt kickstarted on 15 August 2006 and will travel to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Indore and Baroda targeting more than 500,000 kids in 500 schools across these cities. These kids will offer regular inputs on programming, marketing, distribution and competition.

This year the premise of the Captain‘s Hunt has been changed. The aim is to find and shape the future leaders of India. The final 10 will be trained by industry leaders from various fields and will provide them with advice and direction to develop their potential and emerge as leaders of tomorrow. The kids will be judged on the basis of articulation, intelligence, confidence, ambition and talent.

UTV senior vice president – marketing and communications Siddharth Roy Kapur said, “At Hungama TV, our Captains are always an integral part of decision making, be it programming, marketing initiatives or on-ground research. Hungama TV Captains have helped the channel reach the position it has today and we really value their inputs. This year we are looking for the best and brightest kids across the country to run the channel and benefit from personal mentoring by iconic leaders of today.”

Once the entries are received from the 10 cities, 1000 kids will be shortlisted from each city in the second round. Thereafter, 50 kids will be chosen in the third round after which the number boils down to two kids from each city. Out of these 20 kids, 10 will then be chosen (one per city) to be the Captains.

The last day for receiving entries is 30 September. The auditions will take place in November and the finale on 9 – 10 December.

The 2007 captains will have many opportunities in store. A Captains Advisory Council (CAC), which will comprise leaders from various walks of life, will mentor these captains. The Captains will have exclusive access to the Council to seek advice and guidance on a regular basis. Also, Hungama TV will support a unique talent of every Captain by funding their coaching or training during their tenure.

Origentest, the research and implementation arm of IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd, has been roped in as the knowledge partner and will be responsible for developing the various tests of the hunt.

This year‘s hunt has Parle-G as the presenting sponsor and Boost Chocoblast as the co-presenting sponsor. The associate sponsors are Colgate, The Sugar & Spice, Reynolds, Kellogg’s Chocos, Dukes Big Bite and Boomer Mango Jelly.

Play With Me Sesame encourages children to get up and play games such as Ernie Says (a la Simon Says) and Move and Groove with Grover along with their favorite muppets from Sesame Street. Broadcast in over 50 countries, the series is currently seen on such networks as Disney UK, Disney Asia, ABC Australia, YTV/Treehouse Canada, Cartoon Network India and Rai Sat Italy. The 104 30-minute episodes include a mix of new and classic Sesame Street segments that focus on fundamental concepts critical to reading, math and science, and encourage creativity and individual expression.

Play With Me Sesame is one of the programs featured in new Sesame programming blocks in Poland, Hungary and Croatia. On Poland’s Minimini, the recently launched Sesame Nook includes Elmo’s World, Play With Me Sesame, Global Grover and Sesame English. In December, broadcaster Minimax will begin airing a Sesame block with Play With Me Sesame, Elmo’s World and Global Grover, in Hungary, Romania Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The three series will also be seen in Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovena, Serbia and Montenegro, starting in early 2007, in a block on broadcaster Magma.

“The expansion of the Sesame brand through wonderfully interactive shows like Play With Me Sesame and Elmo’s World give children around the globe new ways to experience fun and learning in the way Sesame does it best. We are excited to bring more games to children with the addition of new episodes of Play With Me Sesame and thrilled that children throughout Eastern Europe will have the chance to interact with friends like Grover and Elmo,” said Worldwide Television Distribution vice president Jennifer Monier-Williams.

Play With Me Sesame is produced by Games Productions Inc. in association with Noggin and Sesame Workshop. The series will be available to international buyers and co-producers at the Mipcom market at Cannes in October.

Children can write in to Disney Channel and have personalised greeting cards sent to their teachers. Disney Channel will also run a contest based on popular characters playing “teacher” from various Disney Channel shows with five kids getting a chance to take their teacher and entire class out for a Disney Channel treat. Teacher’s Week will be celebrated from 5 – 9 September on Disney Channel.

Disney Channel is also running a contest to find “the coolest teacher of them all” based on the channel’s most popular characters playing “teacher” namely Miss Finster from Recess, Mr Keith and Mr Dig from Lizzie McGuire and Mr Petracelli and Mr Lawler from That’s So Raven. Kids writing in to Disney stating who they think is the coolest character teacher stand to win fabulous prizes. Five kids will bag a chance to take their teachers and the whole class out for a Disney Channel treat.

Walt Disney Television International (India) director marketing and communications Tushar Shah said, “Teacher’s play an integral role in the overall growth and development of kids in their efforts to teach and impart knowledge. They are one of the main influencers in a child’s formative years that enable kids to nurture and chase their dreams wholeheartedly and make them a reality. Through the initiatives on Disney Channel we hope to create magic in the lives of kids and their teachers on this special occasion.”

The celebrations are underway with promos running right up to 5 September on Disney Channel, on disneychannelindia.com and through school contact programmes in Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar, Faridabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Meerut and Rohtak. Kids can write into the channel or log on to the website or simply SMS us to participate.

During “Teacher’s Week”, Disney Channel will also air teacher-student related episodes of various Disney Channel shows including That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire and Recess.