Coolabi group partners with China’s Fantawild in major international move for Clangers
Chinese animation leader Fantawild and international rights owner Coolabi Group, have announced a new partnership to bring the much-loved pre-school brand, Clangers to the Chinese market.
Clangers is an award-winning stop-motion animation about a family of lovable, pink, mouse-like creatures who communicate in whistles and live on the Little Blue Planet. Originally broadcast in the UK on BBC One between 1969 and 1972, the programme received hugely successful viewing figures and had a cult following in the UK. Since the new series aired in 2015, it has won a series of major international honours including BAFTA, Pulcinella Awards and Kidscreen awards.
Last week at the annual Fantawild Animation Expo, Jeremy Banks, CEO of Coolabi Group said: “I knew that we had to work with Fantawild in China on this property the first time I met with them and heard their vision for Clangers in China. They are very well-established and respected and we trust that Clangers is in the best of hands with them.”
At the conference, Fantawild disclosed that it will localise the show and develop new merchandise to make it more adapted to the taste of the Chinese preschoolers.
“We are very happy to be partnering with our friends at Coolabi,” said Daisy Shang, Executive President of Fantawild Group and President of Fantawild Animation, “we believe that Clangers will instil something new into the Chinese pre-school animation industry. The enlightening program will stimulate children’s imagination and become a unique presence in the Chinese market.”
Coolabi Group is a leading independent international media group and rights owner specialising in the creation, development and brand management of high quality children’s and family intellectual property rights. The company owns the rights to over 200 book series and 20 TV series. Its shows have aired in more than 140 territories on channels including ABC, Cartoon Network, CBeebies, CBBC, Disney, Netflix, and Nickelodeon.
Key Coolabi Group brands include Beast Quest, Scream Street, Poppy Cat, Giraffes Can’t Dance and Warriors, one of the group’s most successful book series, which has sold in excess of 40 million books to date, including in China where the series has sold over 3 million copies.
Fantawild Animation is a top animation studio in China famous for its Boonie Bears brand. In China, its projects have been aired on over 200 channels with top ratings and a whopping view of over 300 billion on digital platforms. The company also generates an annual sale of over $440 million in merchandising. Globally, its works have been distributed to over 100 territories and aired on major international platforms like Disney, Nickelodeon, Discovery Kids, Netflix, DirecTV, etc. Its parent company Fantawild Holdings Inc. is also renowned for its theme park business. Ranking No.5 globally in number of admissions, it owns 29 theme parks in operation and over 10 in construction, which further benefits its brand operation in an all-round way.
