Category: Kids

MUMBAI: Dynamite Entertainment and Liquid Comics have entered a publishing partnership to release an illustrated hardcover book featuring the original scripts created by Grant Morrison for his animated project ‘Grant Morrison‘s 18 Days.‘

18 Days is a re-imagining of Mahabharata and tells the story of three generations of super-warriors, meeting for the final battle of their age. The scale is epic, wherein the biggest armies ever conceived of, face one another across the ultimate battlefield to decide the fate of the future.
The film follows the course of the climactic war that brings about the end of the Third Age that sees the beginning of the Dark Age we all now live in. It is the prototype for every war ever fought – and at its heart conveys a warning for all of us and a message that can change lives.

Though the animated series is in its pre-production stage at Liquid Comics and co-owner Perspective Studios, the collector‘s item book will allow readers a first glimpse into the mythic universe created by Morrison known for All Star Superman, Batman & Robin and The Invisibles. 
 
The book reveals the inner workings of the acclaimed writer‘s process and features the original unedited scripts, story bible, character descriptions and commentary. Morrison‘s groundbreaking story is matched perfectly with dozens of original illustrations created by acclaimed Indian artist, Mukesh Singh.

Comments Morrison, “18 days is a labour of love that makes all the more exciting by having a collaborator as original and groundbreaking as Mukesh. His techno-vedic superheroes and spectacular scenes of cosmic warfare bring a dazzling new and contemporary dimension to one of the world‘s greatest stories.”

Avers Liquid CEO, Sharad Devarajan, “18 Days takes one of the most enduring tales of the East and places it in the capable hands of Morrison, one of the greatest storytellers of the West. Combined with the visual spectacle of Mukesh Singh‘s artwork, this is a book that goes beyond myth, beyond generations and beyond borders transcending the story‘s origins and showing the world a dynamic new vision of gods and war.” “Dynamite is the ideal partner to help us bring this book to all fans of comics, pop culture and myth,” he adds.

Dynamite plans on releasing the hardcover book in August 2010. In addition, Liquid and Perspective are currently developing an animated series and video game based on the Grant Morrison story.

MUMBAI: Disney Channel has acquired from Accel Transmatic the television rights for the animated TV series Ek Tha Jungle.
Developed by Accel Animation Studios, the 26 episodic series will showcase couplets from Thirukkural by noted Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar.

Disney Channel will air Ek Tha Jungle from 5 April, every Monday to Thursday at 9.30 am. The 11 minutes each animal fables are laced around strong ethics and family values with a moral that is applicable to the present and future generations.

Each episode has a universal theme presented in 3D animated format.
 
Walt Disney Television International India associate director-programming Devika Prabhu said, “Disney Channel is committed to showcase evergreen stories that transcend generations and are locally relevant. Ek Tha Jungle is one of the many steps that we will take to enliven Indian storytelling heritage which continues to remain thoroughly entertaining and equally relevant to modern day India.”

Added Accel chairman and executive producer NR Panicker, “When Accel Animation Studios set out to create its own properties for television media, we decided to embark on socially relevant subjects. There is no better way than adapting the evergreen Thirukkural to narrate stories to the young audience. We are delighted to partner with Disney Channel, to bring this classic work to the Indian audience.”

Thirukkural is considered to be the first work to focus on family values in Tamil literature and has been translated into several languages across the world.

Some other popular stories include The Clever Monkey, The Helping Bear and The Rabbit and the Tortoise.

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based animation, gaming and entertainment company DQ Entertainment (DQE) has partnered with Marvel Animation and Method Animation to co-produce the second season of the animated series, Iron Man.

Under the co-production agreement, DQE will create 26 fresh episodes for the new season.

DQE chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, “Season two of this animated TV series will take Iron Man fans on a very different visual trip of high action sequences produced in high end CGI.” 
 
The first season of Iron Man: Armored Adventures debuted in the United States on Nicktoons Network in April 2009.

While the incredibly successful first season continues to air on broadcasters throughout the world, DQ Entertainment, Marvel Animation and Method Animation have announced they will co-produce 26 all-new episodes for a second season of the popular animated series at a multi million Euro production budget.

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based animation, gaming and entertainment company DQ Entertainment (DQE) has inked an exclusive broadcast deal with Al Jazeera Children‘s Channel (JCC) for broadcasting The Jungle Book series.
As per the agreement, JCC will screen the 52×11 minute episode animated series and the 60 minute TV feature across 22 Arabic countries for a five-year term.

The Arabic version of the Jungle Book will be broadcast for the first time in 3D CGI across Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Comoros, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen through Al Jazeera Children‘s Channel feeds on Arabsat, Nilesat, Hotbird and Eurobird. 
 
Said DQE Group chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, “The broadcast licensing agreement with Al Jazeera for our Jungle Book TV series is testament to the universal appeal of our Jungle Book adaptation. This relationship is of immense strategic value to DQE for other potential alliances.”

Added JCC director of channels‘ programming Malika Alouane, “We are happy to obtain the Arabic rights for the Jungle Book animated series and adapt it to our audience. The story book is a classic and well in line with many stories told across the vast territories JCC covers; in some countries, it is introduced in schools as part of students‘ curriculum.”

MUMBAI: MTV Networks China, a division of US media conglomerate Viacom and CCTV.com, have launched nick.cctv.com, an online destination for Chinese audiences to access Nickelodeon-branded content. 
 
The launch of nick.cctv.com marks the first co-branded site to offer video streaming of Nickelodeon content to Chinese audiences, marking a significant milestone for MTV Networks as the first international broadcaster to provide officially sanctioned online video content in China.

MTV China MD Mei Yan says, “The co-branded site will allow on-demand access to a range of Nickelodeon content including video streaming of our biggest hits, marking a historic first for an international broadcaster in China. As one of the world‘s leading kid’s entertainment brands, we will work closely with CCTV.COM to make this platform a fun and interactive way for Chinese audiences to engage with Nickelodeon.”

CCTV.com GM Wang Wenbin says, “By virtue of Nickelodeon’s popular content and CCTV.Com’s strong communication capacity and technological platform, we believe nick.cctv.com will become the online destination for Chinese children.”

The ad supported site will launch with a variety of original Nickelodeon content including online games, wallpapers and episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants available for streaming. Later this year, episodes of Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer and content based upon other Nickelodeon properties including CatDog will be featured on the site.

nick.cctv.com will be promoted to a television audience of over 300 million households on CCTV1 and 250 million households on children’s channel CCTV14.

MUMBAI: National Geographic Channel (NGC) has announced a patrnership with The Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences to make science exciting and accessible for school children across the country.

At a media briefing, Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Prithviraj Chavan unveiled the 10-part Science Mein Twist series that will be aired on National Geographic Channel from 8 February at 4.30 pm.

This initiative is part of an innovative year-long campaign announced by the Ministry and the channel to promote Indian science and technology. In addition to this, a documentary film, Cutting Carbon will also be aired on the channel. 
 
Chavan says, “Science has come to be regarded as one of the most powerful instruments of growth and development, especially for an emerging economy like ours. The Ministry of Science & Technology plays a pivotal role in promoting science and technology in the country and as part of this mission, we are pleased to partner with National Geographic Channel to take our message forward. Through this series, we look forward to creating more awareness amongst the people of our country, especially school students and to further encourage the spirit of scientific inquiry.”

Apart from being available in Hindi and English feed on Nat Geo, Science Mein Twist and Cutting Carbon will be showcased in five other languages – Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Kannada on Doordarshan. The programmes would be promoted extensively for six months on National Geographic Channel as well as on Fox History & Entertainment through promos along with an interactive microsite on natgeotv.co.in.

Science Mein Twist is an attempt to make science stimulating and interesting for school children and encourage them to pursue it at the higher education level and subsequently as a career. The ten-part series will be showcased on weekdays on the Nat Geo Junior time band which is specifically targeted at children between 4–6 pm. The series will be on air for two weeks with subsequent repetitions throughout the year. The show is hosted by a 13-year-old boy, Aavik and a 16-year-old girl, Khyati, who are bitten by the curiosity bug and set out to explore different aspects of science. In their journey, they play scientific pranks on one another, meet experts, visit labs, factories and even go on a trek.

Premiering in April, Cutting Carbon is a 48-minute film that talks about global warming and encourages individuals to take action. The film will work to reinforce to each and every citizen of his moral and social responsibility towards planet earth and that everyone must try to reduce carbon emission in order to leave behind a healthy planet for the generations to come.
 

MUMBAI: Pogo, the kids entertainment channel from the Turner broadcasting stable, is set to launch the second season of M.A.D Make It Easy, come 14 February.
The new season will be telecast every Sunday at 9 am and will introduce a host of easy art makes and techniques that kids can watch and create along with their host, Rob.
 
Said Turner International India director, programming Krishna Desai, “M.A.D Make It Easy series is a viewers special that was developed in response to the numerous fan requests that M.A.D and Rob receive on a regular basis. Encouraged by the success of season I, M.A.D Make It Easy season II is full of interesting makes and do-it-yourself tricks. This season will inspire kids to learn some interesting art techniques using dry pastels, water-colours, and other everyday art materials, making art out of photographs, wow them by brining in their favourite ‘Big Pictures‘ and much more!”

MUMBAI: The smart, cute and naughty little mouse Jerry from Tom & Jerry (Cartoon Network), has been chosen by kids as their most favorite television character. This was announced as a part of the findings from the study, Small Wonders.
Small Wonders is a quarterly kids‘ television study, by Ormax Media. This is a syndicated study and it ranks kids‘ favorite characters on television.

While Jerry ranks a number one with 21.6 per cent kids choosing him, Doraemon (Hungama) comes in second with a 10.8 per cent share. The third position is shared by Shinchan (Hungama) and Kanzo Hattori from Ninja Hattori (Nick), each having a 9.7 per cent share. 
 
Speaking on the findings, Ormax Media co-founder & director Shailesh Kapoor, “The study has shown that there are certain key traits to characters that seem to work well with kids. In Jerry‘s case it‘s primarily about the comedy, whereas Doraemon jumps in popularity due to all the gadgets he uses. Across characters, we see two sides at play – the fun and mischievous side that a kid relates to, and the positivity and the learning, which can inspire the kid in his/ her real life.”

The study was conducted among kids in seven cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Jalandhar. More than 1680 kids, in the age group of 6-14 years across SECs ABC, were interviewed. They were asked to name their favorite character on television, with reasons for the same.

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based animation, gaming and entertainment company DQ Entertainment (DQE) has signed an exclusive free-to-air TV rights deal with MediaCorp for three of its animation TV properties. These are Jungle Book, Todd World and Maryoku Yummy.
Under the terms of this agreement, MediaCorp can broadcast Todd World Series 2, Maryoku Yummy Season I and The Jungle Book Season I on MediaCorp‘s okto channel in Singapore. This agreement with MediaCorp will give DQE direct presence in South East Asia‘s free-to-air TV Market. 
 
Said DQE Group chairman & CEO Tapaas Chakravarti, “The line-up of three shows from DQE on MediaCorp networks is a strategic deal for us. Their network provides the right platform to showcase our properties. South East Asia region holds exciting publishing and merchandising opportunities for DQ Entertainment and we are very pleased to extend our reach into this target region.”

Added MediaCorp programming manager – Okto Elaine Ho, “Okto provides an array of top quality programmes that are engaging, informative and entertaining for children, young adults, adults and to the whole family. Acquiring programmes from DQE is in line with our strategy of getting the best for our viewers. We are confident these three titles from DQE will be well received by the children and their parents.”

MUMBAI: Nick is rolling out ‘The Big Green Help‘, an initiative aimed at igniting “real action” from kids for environmental change.
While the kid‘s broadcaster has roped in Alpenliebe Mangofiiz as the title sponsor, Idea has come on board as the associate sponsor.

According to the Nick & IMRB Kidscan research, over 70 per cent of kids wish to save earth, but lack action routes. With the idea of ‘Timepass mat karo, Earth Ke Liye Kuch Karo‘, ‘The Big Green Help‘ has been made relatable and relevant to the kids of today.

The aim of the initiative is to translate a serious message such as environment degradation in a language and tone that is non-preachy and would make kids sit up, take notice and do their bit. 
 
‘The Big Green Help‘ has a host of on-air, digital and on-ground initiatives that aim to make earth-friendly activities a part of a kids daily routine. The channel will give eco-tips that would inspire kids to stop wasting time and take this issue up on a war footing.

School contact programmes and on-ground activities in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore would be conducted wherein kids can express their opinions and view points and in turn learn how to use the various tools to save the earth.

Nick India GM & SVP Nina Elavia Jaipuria says, “We believe that kids when empowered have the ability to bring about tremendous positive change in their surroundings and this can make a huge difference to society. Giving them their very own kid-led environmental movement to champion where they are equipped with more actionable methods is a small step in making the burning issue of earth degradation more relevant to this generation.”

Says Perfetti Van Melle India group product manager Aashish Kapoor, “We are proud to be a part of Nick‘s ‘The Big Green Help‘. The idea is to make the kids; agents of change to save the earth. They are our future and enabling them with tools to make a difference is going to go a long way in saving our planet.”

Perman which airs Monday-Friday from 6-6:30 pm will lend support to this movement by giving kids eco tips.