Partnership signed by WildBrain and Younuo in on-stage ceremony at MIPCOM 2024
Cannes – 20 October 2024 – WildBrain, a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment, has signed a partnership with Hangzhou Younuo Animation Co., Ltd. to handle global distribution for Younuo’s brand-new 2D-animated preschool show, Hey Toma (excluding Mainland China and Russia). The agreement was signed today in Cannes by Anne Loi, WildBrain’s EVP, Commercial and Corporate Strategy, and Zhang Lei, CEO of Younuo Animation, during an on-stage ceremony at MIPCOM 2024, part of an industry session titled Where Stories Evolve: Spotlight on China – Forum on International Cooperation of Audio-Visual Content, hosted by Shanghai Media Group.
Hey Toma (26 x 8’) follows the comedic adventures of four unique “Colour Boos”, who use their colour-changing abilities, creativity and sincere hearts to help the rest of the Colour World solve their everyday challenges. Promoting themes of empathy, teamwork and diversity through colour psychology, the joyful series sparks imagination and creativity to help kids gain a deeper understanding of their emotional expression and the power of colours. Hey Toma has been picked up by top Chinese streaming platform MangoTV.
Max Tang, WildBrain’s Senior Manager of Content Partnerships in China, said: “China and APAC are a huge priority for WildBrain as we continue to grow our content and licensing business across the region. Globally, we’re seeing strong demand for preschool content with themes around empathy and teamwork—Hey Toma is an engaging series that delivers on these themes, with colourful characters sure to delight preschool audiences and their families.”
Hey Toma was carefully crafted by Younuo Animation over nearly five years with the collaboration of animation artists from China, the U.S. and Italy, including several Emmy Award winners. The creative team created a worldview with a complete setting and a rich background, skillfully integrating pandas, ink and watercolor, murals and other Chinese elements to convey traditional Chinese culture and spirit for international audiences.
Produced by Younuo Animation, Hey Toma is directed by Daytime Emmy Award-winner Dalton Grant Jr. (Shrek 2, Duck Tales, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run), and written by Peabody Award-winner and Daytime Emmy Award-nominee Dan Clark (Yo Gabba Gabba!, We Be Monsters), who also served as creative consultant. The series also features music composed by Emmy Award-winner Gigi Meroni.
Visit WildBrain at MIP stand # R8.C18 to learn more about Hey Toma and other exciting shows.
For more information, please contact:
Aimée Norman at Liberi Consulting, external PR for WildBrain
+44 (0) 7957 564 050
About WildBrain
At WildBrain we inspire imaginations through the wonder of storytelling. As a leader in 360° franchise management, we are experts in content creation, audience engagement and global licensing, cultivating and growing love for our own and partner brands around the world. With approximately 14,000 half-hours of kids’ and family content in our library—one of the world’s most extensive—we are home to such treasured franchises as Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Inspector Gadget and Degrassi. WildBrain’s mission is to create exceptional entertainment experiences that captivate and delight fans both young and young at heart.
Our studios produce such award-winning series as The Snoopy Show; Snoopy in Space; Camp Snoopy; Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City; Sonic Prime; Chip and Potato; Teletubbies Let’s Go! and many more. Enjoyed in more than 150 countries on over 500 platforms, our content is everywhere kids and families view entertainment, including YouTube, where our network has garnered approximately 1.5 trillion minutes of watch time. Our television group owns and operates some of Canada’s most loved family entertainment channels. WildBrain CPLG, our leading consumer-products and location-based entertainment agency, represents our owned and partner properties in every major territory worldwide.
WildBrain is headquartered in Canada with offices worldwide and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: WILD). Visit us at wildbrain.com.
About Younuo Animation
Hangzhou Younuo Animation Co., Ltd. founded in January 2011, is a well-known animation company focusing on original IP development in China. Since established, Younuo has created a number of popular animation works. The independently created animation series on the realism theme of Xiajiang series has set a precedent for works in the same category. Younuo has created a number of original animations, such as the Xiajiang series, The Wolo Family: Save The Elf, Rice Fish, Hey Toma, Good Killer, etc. The audience of the animations covers from kid to young adult, and the animations are distributed to more than 140 TV stations in China and 90% of the online platforms in China, such as video websites, digital TV and IPTV, and the number of hits on the whole network has exceeded 10 billion. Younuo and its animations have won nearly 100 honors, including 42 national honors.