Award-winning global independent animation studio ZAG, known for the hit franchise Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, has launched ZAG Stream, a new division established to drive forward the company’s direct to streaming content business. This will be led by ZAG TV content SVP Maria Doolan and the announcement was made by ZAG founder and CEO Jeremy Zag.
The first project from ZAG Stream is the animated superhero fantasy series, Fairyon, a reimagining of some of the world’s most famous fairy tale characters told with a superhero twist. Currently in pre-production, the project will be unveiled to buyers at the upcoming MIPCOM.
“Classic fairy tales have entertained audiences for hundreds of years, and we are taking some of the most famous characters and transporting them to a mystical and inspirational world of Fairyon. The first twelve standalone episodes will each feature a new character, but only in the last episode will the clues to the story become clear when, for the first time in history, they all unite. As the studio and team behind Miraculous, we are so excited to take these evergreen fairytale characters and retell their stories for today’s audiences,” Zag said.
In Fairyon, Rapunzel is a princess in search of truth and justice. To help her in her quest, she gathers around her a team of legendary superheroes—Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, Gretel, Cinderella, and Jack—who unite their magical powers to prevent a Mysterious Knight from freeing the most terrible of adversaries imprisoned in a Magic Mirror. By following their adventures, kids are about to find out why the names of these fairytale heroes survived through the centuries!
Fairyon, a 13 x one-hour episodic series for kids and families that explores the secret history of fairy tales—reunites the creative team behind Miraculous. Nathanaël Bronn, who serves as the art director for Miraculous, is the series creator and director. Miraculous Universe creator Jeremy Zag will produce the show.
The Witcher: The Ballad of Two Wolves, a new comic book series due to debut later this year, has been officially announced by Dark Horse Comics and CD Projekt Red. Written by Bartosz Sztybor, The Witcher: The Ballad of Two Wolves has illustrations and colours by Miki Montlló. Additionally, the new series involves letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. On 21 December, The Witcher: The Ballad of Two Wolves #1 will be released, with three more issues to follow.
The comic book series will examine a well-known mythological tale with a particularly dark and horrific twist, as is customary for The Witcher franchise. It appears that The Witcher: The Ballad of Two Wolves will especially address the fairy tales of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. In addition to Geralt of Rivia, who is referred to as the White Wolf within the franchise, the name appears to be a reference to the wolf from The Three Little Pigs tale.
The Witcher Geralt is summoned to the town of Grimmwald after being hailed as the best monster killer. The official synopsis of The Witcher: The Ballad of Two Wolves reads: When a strange occurrence stirs murmurs of a werewolf on the prowl, rumours spread about the peculiar arrival of three Piglet sisters. With a grand mystery and a monster to kill, Dandelion may just find the inspiration he needs to write the perfect ballad.
Outright Games in collaboration with Sony Pictures Consumer Products announced ‘Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures’. This brand-new video game features a host of fan-favourite characters from the smash-hit animated movie franchise and will be out this Halloween on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PC digital.
“We are so happy to be returning to Hotel Transylvania for another scary-fun adventure this Halloween season. We are delighted to be able to incorporate our own unique story into this incredible world and retell classic fairy tales using the franchise’s eccentric characters. We will have a lot more to reveal about this game in the coming months so please stay tuned,” said Terry Malham, CEO of Outright Games.
This 3D platform adventure will take players on a fairy tale journey, putting them in control of their favourite characters as the game re-imagines classic stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Emperor’s New Clothes.
Hotel Transylvania is one of Sony Pictures Animation’s most successful original movie franchises to date, with the first three movies achieving a combined box office of over $1.3 billion. The upcoming final film in the series, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is set to release this summer.
With a reach of 14 million viewers, Galli Galli Sim Sim is watched on Doordarshan’s network of channels: DD National, DD Rajasthan, DD Uttar Pradesh, DD Bihar, DD Madhya Pradesh, DD Sahyadri and DD Girnar.
Speaking at the launch of the ninth edition of the series, Doordarshan Director-General Supriya Sahu said Galli Galli Sim Sim “teaches children important life lessons like executive functioning skills, health and hygiene, prosocial behaviours and much more. We are glad to take forward our partnership of past years with Galli Galli Sim Sim and create an impact through quality, age-appropriate content for children.”
The series will be telecasted on DD National every Saturday morning at 10.30 am. This season, the Galli friends bring important life messages to the young audience with an aim to help them understand and practice kindness.
The launch had a unique touch, with the Gallizens being the anchors and inviting various speakers on the dais.The programme will show the Gallizens dance to foot tapping songs, make new friends, add new words to their vocabulary and learn to be kind.
Compassion and kindness are important values that children in India need today to accept and appreciate differences and become more sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. Multiple studies have shown that prosocial behaviours like kindness are linked to academic success in children as they enhance children’s self-regulation skills such as emotional control and capacity to pay attention, which in turn affects learning, attention and memory.
When children learn to regulate their emotions and develop self-control, they are more likely to become aware of themselves and others, understand each other’s perspective and respond appropriately. That is why this season, the world famous Cookie Monster, the furry frenzied muppet, makes his debut on the Galli to show the young viewers how one can be kind to self and others through self-regulation.
In order to imbibe kindness skills into their lifestyle, children need to see adults as role models practice these behaviours for them to know what it means to be kind and respectful towards others. This is where Galli Galli Sim Sim and its cast of diverse muppets play a critical role. The overlaying thread of kindness runs across the Galli, in every possible way, and in all the fun that the characters have, be it echoing kind words like ‘Thank you’, ‘Sorry’, ‘Please’ or educating the viewers about imbibing values of inclusion, respect, empathy, and being generous.
The season also introduces a new segment where Bert and Ernie take the viewers to the fairy tales land where they are seen enacting characters from the classic fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and many more. As kids visit the fantasy world, they imbibe skills of helpfulness and problem-solving. There is a fresh segment centred on friendship which reflects the colours of camaraderie shared by the characters, with an objective to build the seeds of kindness in children. All these segments of the show reinforce the values of kindness, caring, sharing and cooperation to the young viewers.
Sesame Workshop India MD Sashwati Banerjee said, “Multiple studies done across the globe confirm that what kids are exposed to in the early years has a long term impact in building lifelong habits. Unfortunately, today’s kids are growing up watching age-inappropriate content on television that may be violent, male-skewed and stereotypical, and this is impacting their thought processes. It is critical to expose them to content that helps them understand and respect differences, challenge stereotypes, cultivate empathy and helps them grow smarter, stronger and kinder.”
She said around 330 million children in India watch TV and around 51 per cent of them are aged two to four years, studies had shown.
Hisham Mundol, country head for India at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation which funds Galli Galli Sim Sim said, “Galli Galli Sim Sim is a wonderful show that helps children improve learning and build personalities, all while having huge amounts of fun! It is the perfect companion to every parent and teacher in the country. This season, the show will address a much larger social issue of building kindness and we are proud to partner with Sesame Workshop India in this endeavour, and are grateful to Doordarshan for their support.”
Alka Malhotra a Communication and Development specialist with UNICEF said group watching of children with adults should be encouraged, while Young Lives India Country Director Renu Singh said this was possible if topical issues were picked which were of relevance to all ages.
