India-based Toonz Animation, the flagship division of preeminent content company Toonz Entertainment, signed a major deal with Gummybear International Inc. The agreement sees Toonz and Gummybear International, owners of the globally-recognised Gummy Bear (aka Gummibär) IP, extend the brand into entertainment and merchandising. The companies have already won a commission from YouTube for an initial 39 x 7’ episodes which Toonz will produce out of its studio in India.
There are also additional plans to expand Gummy Bear’s presence online and in consumer products and exploit the brand in the television and feature film space.
Gummy Bear is an internet phenomenon. The dancing and singing bear has grown into a YouTube multi-channel Gummy Bear network with over 5.2 billion video views and over 1.5 million subscribers in total. Whether he is singing, break-dancing or playing his tuba, both children and adults can’t get enough of his gummy antics. His multi-lingual abilities have led to a huge international following with his music released in over 40 different countries and in over 27 different languages. The original Single ‘I Am A Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song)’ was a Top 10 Hit in many major markets and reached No.1 on the Itunes Dance Charts in the USA, where it reached double platinum status.
Toonz Media Group, CEO, P. Jayakumar said, “With its considerable online fan base, this property has all the ingredients to be a success far beyond its current online presence. The commission by YouTube for a series of dedicated episodes is the first step in our plans to help build Gummy Bear into a 360° brand encompassing traditional broadcast, feature films and licensed merchandise.”
Gummybear International Inc., President, Jurgen Korduletsch commented, “We’re excited to have found in Toonz an enthusiastic and motivated partner for the further development of our Gummy Bear. We’re looking forward to working with a company that clearly shares our vision to introduce our YouTube star to an even bigger audience by creating new content for traditional media platforms.”
YouTube has been serving as the new platform to display creative content and with big players like Toonz capitalising this opportunity, definitely the reach is going to be wide and quite effective.