ITV

Category: Kids

  • Chhota Bheems special treat for his young fans

    Chhota Bheems special treat for his young fans

    MUMBAI: Chhota Bheem, one of the most favourite toon-superhero of many kids in the country, is all set to fill the upcoming festive season with celebrations for his young fans. Green Gold store, the exclusive retail outlet for all Chhota Bheem and friends’ merchandise, has planned a fun-packed vacation for kids during Christmas, New Year, Lohri and Sankrant. The five-week festivity will begin on 16 December and will go on till the 19 January.

     

    Week one, from 16 to 22 December will have “story writing” based on the theme ‘Chhota Bheem and Santa Claus’; Week two, 23 – 29 Dec will give the fans a chance to get the “Best family picture” clicked with Chhota Bheem Mannequin — a picture of ‘kids dressed in Chhota Bheem and friends’ apparels pose with Chhota Bheem’ mannequin and the best and the craziest picture will be awarded; in week three, 30 Dec – 05 Jan, a drawing contest based on the theme ‘Chhota Bheem and Mighty Raju’ will be organised; week four, 6 – 12 Jan, will have a quiz competition for young geniuses; while week five, 13 – 19 Jan, a message recording contest is planned where participants would record their message and ‘express love for Chhota Bheem’ in their own voices which could be a jingle or just plain narrative.

     

    Chhota Bheem fans can participate in any or all of these activities which will be held at all Green Gold Stores. 

  • Sohu to stream Nickelodeon programs in China

    Sohu to stream Nickelodeon programs in China

    MUMBAI: For a few years now, animated shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, have entertained the young viewers almost across the world. Now, many such popular Nickelodeon children’s programs will be dubbed into Mandarin and available to watch free online in China over the next 12 months in the latest deal to give a foreign entertainment company more access to China’s vast market.

    Sohu Video, a unit of popular Chinese Web portal Sohu.com, recently announced an online video-on-demand and video syndication collaboration in China with Viacom International Media Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc.

    The government in China restricts foreign access to the country’s television audience and bars most of its cable operators from carrying foreign channels. However, it’s the online video platforms that give the audience an access to foreign productions.

     

    In a joint statement, the companies said the deal will enable an estimated 389 million Chinese online video users to watch Mandarin-dubbed and subtitled Nickelodeon programming on Sohu’s site, however the details of the deal hasn’t been revealed.

    Sohu Video started offering more than 200 hours of Nickelodeon programming, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avatar Sunday onwards.

    Sohu’s video site is populated with American TV shows, Japanese animation series, Chinese variety shows and in-house programs. It obtained the exclusive online broadcast rights for the second season of hit reality talent show The Voice of China, shown earlier this year, generating nearly 2 billion video views, according to Sohu.

  • CN award honours ‘toon’ characters

    CN award honours ‘toon’ characters

    MUMBAI: It was a night of entertainment, humour, excitement and celebration of cartoon legacy. It was also the night of mesmerising performances, laugh-out-loud gags and cartoon mega stars entertaining over 8,000 kids and parents. The occasion was the first edition of ‘Cartoon Network Super Toons Awards,’ held at MMRDA grounds, Mumbai on 8 December.

    This first of its kind award show for cartoons, ‘Cartoon Network Super Toons’ gave children the opportunity to vote for their favourite characters, shows, gags and other iconic moments from Cartoon Network. The winners were chosen after a month long on-air, digital and on-ground (via School Contact Programmes and road shows) campaign. It was during this that the kids were asked to log onto www.cartoonnetworkindia.com and vote across categories.

     

    The ‘Cartoon Network Super Toons Award’ categories underlined the traits of the toons that make them popular with the children. Therefore, categories like Badmaash Toon, Biggest Dhamaka, Bhukkad Award, Ha Ha He He Award, Dumb Dumb Award, etc. were included in the list of awards. The biggest award for the evening was ‘CN Super Toon of the Year’ and was jointly won by Ben 10 and Kris.

    Turner International India senior director & network head – kids, south Asia Krishna Desai said, “At Turner, we have always pushed boundaries when it comes to innovative entertainment for kids and families. ‘Cartoon Network Super Toons’ gave children an interactive opportunity to not only vote for their favourite shows but also live the experience of Cartoon Network heritage at its biggest and best event yet.”

  • Maya Digital Studios consulted eye specialists for better viewing

    Maya Digital Studios consulted eye specialists for better viewing

    MUMBAI: Maya Digital Studios, the company that pioneered the art and technology of animation and visual effects in India, has successfully converted Indian cinema’s most landmark film from 2D to Stereoscopic 3D. 

    Maya consulted several eye specialists along with cinematographers, stereographers, image processing engineers and software programme developers in order to get the right depth map, offset between the two sets of images. This was to ensure that the viewing of the final 3D output of Sholay is as good as the epic movie.

    “Sholay is as sacrosanct as the Indian cinema itself; hence it had to be treated accordingly, with great care and utmost respect. In order to make the viewing experience of Sholay in 3D as good as the movie, we also consulted Hollywood DI, a renowned post production studio in the US, which provided us additional technical consultation to assure the finest quality output”, said Maya Digital Studios MD and chairman Ketan Mehta.

    He further added, “Some people feel like taking off the glasses while watching a 3D film for bit. But then the film looks hazy without glasses. Taking this insight into consideration, we at Maya adjusted the offset in the images to such an extent that even without wearing the glasses; the film doesn’t come across as hazy or blurred. While the 3D glasses, makes the viewing better, even the lack of the glasses, doesn’t rob the film of its viewing pleasure.”

  • Now watch Nickelodeon on the go

    Now watch Nickelodeon on the go

    MUMBAI: Being a children’s television channel is no cakewalk; as most players in this space would tell you.

    Between makeovers, launching newer shows and newer applications, kids’ channels have enough going around between them to keep their viewers occupied.

    A case in point is Nickelodeon India, which, after revamping its website recently, has, launched a first-of-its-kind application named Nickworld, developed by Robosoft, mobile app developer Robosoft, which allows audiences across Nick Jr, TeenNick and Sonic watch their favourite shows on the go.

    About the app, Viacom18 VP and business head – digital media Rajneel Kumar says: “We want to be very aggressive on the digital front as today, one can see how children are always on their parents’ devices, be they smart phones or tablets.”

    “It’s all about ‘what I want’ and ‘I want it now’ hence, if it isn’t available to the audience when they want it, it is only going to hamper itself in today’s day and age. Gaming, for instance, has become a part of everyone’s life.”

    It’s all about ‘what I want’ and ‘I want it now’, says Rajneel Kumar about audience attitude

    Nickworld is designed from a child’s perspective, which is why it is visually simple, graphically attractive and easy for kids to discover content on their own. Keeping in mind children’s online safety, the app does not connect to any social site. Also, parents needn’t worry about their mobiles/tablets as the screen gets locked once the video starts rolling. Nickelodeon plans to market the app on all franchises including TV and online destinations, along with the entire advertisement eco system.

    So how does the channel plan to monetise Nickworld, available on Android for free and for Rs 55 only on iOS for an ad-free experience? “For any app, it is the advertisement atmosphere that helps us get the money,” says Kumar about the app which will be available not only on phones with 3G but also low connectivity ones.

    With plans to make more and more on-air content available online and ramp up its gaming segment, doesn’t Kumar subscribe to the popular view that kids are already spending too much time watching TV or playing with gadgets rather than playing outside? “Our channel fully agrees with the view and that is why we have campaigns like ‘Let’s just play’ wherein we switch off content on TV with an aim to encourage ‘active play’ in children’s lifestyle,” quips Kumar.

  • Cartoon Network to distribute Asia-Pacific developed series globally

    Cartoon Network to distribute Asia-Pacific developed series globally

    MUMBAI: Cartoon Network that has started production on a new Asia Pacific-made series that is being developed for global distribution.

     

    Exchange Student Zero, a series where fantasy becomes reality when the dark forces from a tactical anime card game are unleashed on our world, will be ready to air in 2015. The series would be the first one to be developed in the Asia-Pacific region and telecast across the world. However, the Network’s movies develop in the region has been released on a global level earlier.

     

    Another new project in the pipeline for the leading kids’ network is Monster Beach, an original TV special that will also be available internationally.

     

    “Since the very early days at Cartoon Network in Asia Pacific we have produced local content,” says Cartoon Network Chief Content Officer Mark Eyers. “Exchange Student Zero confirms our continued commitment to producing exclusive and compelling creator-driven local content with export potential.”

     

    The show’s director, Patrick Crawley from Bogan Entertainment Solutions (BES) in Australia, adds, “It’s fantastic that we’ll be able to turn this character-driven, inter-dimensional story into a complete Cartoon Network series. Our Australian animation creative team is a formidable talent and we’re thrilled to have the chance to work with an international broadcaster to bring Exchange Student Zero to a global audience.”

  • DQE, Wild Canary partner to produce Miles from Tomorrowland

    DQE, Wild Canary partner to produce Miles from Tomorrowland

    MUMBAI: The animation house is making waves across the world and a latest deal strengthens it more. DQ Entertainment (DQE) has bagged a deal to produce Disney Junior Miles from Tomorrowland along with USA’s Wild Canary Animation. It will be a 24 episode CGI HD animated space adventure series that will be released in 2015.

     

    Disney Jr and Wild Canary have already started working on the series earlier this year. DQE will be handling the post-production of the series. Emmy nominated Sascha Paldino (Henry Hugglemonster, Ni Hao, Kai-lan) is the executive producer of the series, while Emmy nominated Paul Demeyer (Duckman, Rugrats in Paris) will be directing it.

     

    Set in the Disney parks area, the show’s curriculum is based around educating children about science, technology and space travel. Each episode will have two stories of 11 minutes each that will take kids on a ride to a new world to drive their interest in the universe, mathematics, language skills and the importance of family bonding.

     

    DQE group founder and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti said, “We are thrilled to embark on production of this exciting new Disney series with Wild Canary, USA. We expect that the collaborative skills of both Wild Canary’s and DQ Entertainment’s high quality CGI animation resources will result in a world-class series that will attract young audiences across the Globe.”

     

    According to industry sources the deal should bring in an incremental business of about $5-7 million for the company.

     

    Wild Canary Animation president and co-founder Richard Marlis said “When my partner Carmen Italia and I opened Wild Canary over 6 years ago, we envisioned becoming a global company. We could not have a better partner than DQ Entertainment to move forward with this new venture. DQ Entertainment’s structure and parallel CGI pipeline to ours was an important ingredient in choosing an overseas animation partner. Tapaas and his staff embraced Miles and delivered a great pilot. We look forward to a long standing relationship with them, both for this series and future projects.”

     

    The series will air on Disney Junior channels across the world.

  • Disney launches an interactive Frozen app for kids

    Disney launches an interactive Frozen app for kids

    MUMBAI: Walt Disney Studios’ animated movie Frozen has found a new way to attract kids. The movie which is set to release on 27 November has released an app on Apple’s iTunes. The app is set to enable young readers to explore the story told in the upcoming movie even before it releases.

     

    As with the other apps, the interactive Frozen storybook is designed for young readers, who have just started reading on their own. The app allows kids to record their voices or listen to narrated text. The app also features original music composed for the project. That apart, it also has drawing tools and other games like creating snow globes and puzzles.

     

    The app is Disney’s third interactive storybook, developed with Disney Publishing, after producing ones for Pixar’s Monsters University and Disney’s Planes. In both instances, the apps gave audiences a detailed look at the films before their release.

     

    Disney Publishing calls the release of the apps a “new normal” for thecompany, especially as it looks to introduce new characters and potential franchises to audiences before the films’ opening. Frozen will introduce Disney’s 12th princess, Anna which will be integrated in its popular ‘Disney Princesses’ brand of consumer products and theme park attractions.

  • Chota Bheem store opens in Chennai

    Chota Bheem store opens in Chennai

    MUMBAI: The kids in Chennai had reasons to rejoice this Children’s day as not only did it mark the official debut of India’s toon phenomenon, Chhota Bheem, Mighty Raju and their friends in Tamil Nadu, but also featured a grand celebration that saw the toon super heroes meeting and greeting their young fans live. It was the opening of Tamil Nadu’s first Green Gold Store, the merchandising arm of the company that created Chhota Bheem. With this, Green Gold has launched its 30th store in India.

     

    The launch of this store adds another feather to Green Gold’s cap. It is the only company to have so many stores across the country retailing merchandise inspired by one of the most popular toon series of India. Chhota Bheem has become a phenomenon with a viewership of over 40 million. A research by ‘Kids Observer’ has ranked Chhota Bheem as the number one choice of kids up to eight years old and amongst the top five for kids in the 9 to 14 years bracket.

     

    “We are excited to launch our store in Chennai on the occasion of Children’s Day. At Green Gold Store, our young patrons need not buy anything. They can simply spend time here and keep themselves entertained with the merchandises for as long as they like. We are looking at creating unrivaled experiences for the young ones at our stores,” says Green Gold Stores head Sudeesh Varma.

     

    “From clothing to comics, bedroom decor to accessories, movies to apparel, board-games to puzzles the store is a one stop destination for every Chhota Bheem fan. Green Gold Store houses all essential Chhota Bheem merchandises and offers a unique experience to his young fans. The store has recently introduced an exciting range of merchandise including a new line of apparel and exclusive range of Chhota Bheem – Avon bicycles”, says Green Gold executive director Samir Jain.

  • Lego, Marvel team up for online series ‘Maximum Overload’

    Lego, Marvel team up for online series ‘Maximum Overload’

    MUMBAI: Lego and Marvel are teaming up on the 10-episode online series Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload.

    Marvel is launching all 10 of the episodes today exclusively on Disney.com, Disney’s YouTube channel and across Disney’s Roku-and Xbox-connected TV apps.

    Featuring Lego Spider-Man and Marvel’s most popular superheroes and villains, Maximum Overload brings the Marvel universe to a Lego-designed backdrop.

    In the series, the mischievous Loki has found a way to put the “super” in super-villain and is amassing an army to conquer Earth and beyond. His antics are keeping Spider-Man and SHIELD’s finest busy as they tackle old foes who possess new powers.

    Lego and Marvel have been in business for some time, teaming up on a successful Lego toy line as well as video games.

    Lego has become an increasingly active player in Hollywood, with a pair of hit Cartoon Network series – Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and Legends of Chima. Warner Bros will release The Lego Movie on 7 February 2014.