Popular kid’s series being released simultaneously in English, Russian and Chinese, to reach a growing global audience.
ST. PETERSBURG – Riki Group, a Russian animation company, and YouKu Kids, a division of global digital commerce company Alibaba Group, have announced the Season 2 launch of their joint animated TV series production, Tina and Tony. The new season will include 52 five-minute, 3D/2D animated episodes and will be produced at Petersburg Animation Studio. The first 13 episodes will be produced by April 2020 and released simultaneously in English, Russian and Chinese.
“After the huge success of the first season of Tina and Tony, we decided to continue the series production, and launched production on the second season in September,” noted Diana Yurinova, Riki Group VP, international business development and distribution. “At the same time, we have already launched a licensing program in China, complementing this with a wide promotional campaign; we have also received the first offers from manufacturers of kids products. We are delighted that our series has received such strong recognition from the Chinese audience, and we expect an even faster growth in the popularity of Tina and Tony.”
The first season of the animated TV series Tina and Tony premiered November 2018 in China on Alibaba’s video-streaming platform, YouKu. On the day of release, the first 13 episodes collectively garnered around 12 million views, with the number of total views to date approaching 2 billion.
YouKu Kids general manager, Liao Huainan, commented, “We are delighted to see the development of this cooperation with Fun Union and Riki Group to bring Tina and Tony to China. Our relationship started from a framework agreement made in September 2018, focused on the financing, production, promotion and distribution for new animated content created in Russia - to China and around the world; as well as relevant licensed products and goods based on this content. Youku is tapping into the growing demand for video streaming services in China and this partnership demonstrates our commitment to bring varied and high-quality content to the growing numbers of Chinese families who are seeking fun and interesting entertainment.”
Source: Riki Group
