Animation Café and WildBrain Spark team up for Sunny Bunnies sing-along series

Media I.M. Incorporated, a London-based content distribution company specialising in premium animation and family entertainment, has announced that Sunny Bunnies Sing-Along, a new spin-off from the hugely popular Sunny Bunnies preschool series, will go into production this month, with the first episode due to be released in August.

The new series of 26 x 2.5-min episodes is a co-production between kids’ and family AVOD network WildBrain Spark, and Poland’s Animation Café, which took over the production and rights to the preschool phenomenon in March this year. The partnership will see Warsaw-based Animation Café ramp up production of the new Sunny Bunnies music sub-brand, which is being developed off the back of the global success of the Sunny Bunnies series, now in its sixth season. Sunny Bunnies has amassed more than 3.8 billion views and 2.6 million subscribers since it launched on YouTube in 2015.

Animation Café aims to produce two new episodes for Sunny Bunnies Sing-Along per month from mid-August. Launching initially on the official Sunny Bunnies YouTube channel, each episode of the new series will feature a popular nursery rhyme, which will be ‘Bunnified’ with funny new lyrics, musical arrangements and the brand’s signature animation. US-based children’s animation veteran Michael Mennies (The Fixies; Kit ‘n’ Kate; Take My Muffin) has been named as the music producer on the new series. Sunny Bunnies Sing-Along is already poised to become a YouTube hit, following the release of a Sing-Along pilot series of 6 x 2.5 mins in July 2021, which has since generated 32 million views.

Media I.M., which manages global distribution rights for Sunny Bunnies and Sunny Bunnies Sing-Along, has also extended its agreement for WildBrain Spark to continue managing the official Sunny Bunnies YouTube channel, as well as distributing both shows via its global network of hub channels for the next five years. WildBrain Spark has been the driving force behind the success of Sunny Bunnies on YouTube since 2016.

Andrei Ledzianeu, Director of Animation Café, says: “While developing a new Sunny Bunnies spinoff, we wanted to add a musical aspect to the franchise. One obvious complexity is that none of the characters in the series can sing; however, we came up with a solution which fits perfectly with the overall feel of the show. We are really excited to have our little fans enjoy this new musical content – the Sunny Bunnies Sing Along.’’

Matt Rennie, VP Content & Operations at WildBrain Spark, adds: “The global success of Sunny Bunnies is testament to the strength of our YouTube network to drive the growth of a kids’ brand – especially one with such captivating and engaging stories and characters. Exploring the development of a sing-along series was a natural extension for the brand, and we’re excited to be working with Animation Café and Media I.M. on the creative execution of new original content as we continue to build the Sunny Bunnies brand on YouTube and beyond.”

Maria Ufland, co-founder of Media I.M. Incorporated, says: “WildBrain Spark has been a very supportive partner to us since we started to manage Sunny Bunnies and has helped us grow the brand into a truly global phenomenon. WildBrain Spark’s endorsement not only speaks to Sunny Bunnies’ creative excellence but also confirms that the brand is highly valuable and highly investable IP – and we have five strong years of YouTube data to prove it.”

Launched in 2015 on YouTube, Sunny Bunnies was picked up in 2016 by Disney Channel, Disney Junior and DisneyNOW in the US. A wave of high-profile sales across Europe and Asia-Pacific followed, as the preschool animation’s popularity built around the world. It now airs in more than 160 countries and is supported by a comprehensive L&M strategy encompassing toys, publishing and apparel.

Sunny Bunnies are five beaming balls that can appear anywhere there is a source of light, from sunshine to moonlight. In each episode, the cheeky creatures bring their fun and games to a different location – a circus, a sports stadium, a park – embarking on mischievous adventures and spreading laughter and happiness. And at the end of every episode, the fun continues with a collection of bloopers.

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-school hit Sunny Bunnies celebrates UK retailer and broadcast commitment for 2021

The popular pre-school IP Sunny Bunnies has secured further commitment to its feature plush range with major UK supermarket chains, department stores, and online retailers through 2021, including the likes of Argos, Tesco, Amazon, and other independent toy retailers.

The range, developed by the plush toy specialist, Posh Paws, launched only last year to a warm reception from retailers across the UK. Media IM Incorporated, the London content distribution company behind the pre-school series, is confident in the repeat success of the toy range for 2020 and 2021.

The commitment from the UK retail space follows news that Media IM has also signed three new UK broadcast deals for the hit series. Ketchup TV, the UK’s leading AVOD children’s channel has licensed seasons one and two for the UK and Eire, Channel 5’s Milkshake has secured a pre-sale agreement for season five, while Sky has signed for season three across its Sky Kids and Now TV channels, as well as the Sky Kids App.

Irina Nazarenko, co-founder of Media I.M. Incorporated, said: “Even in happier times, the UK kids’ market is one of the toughest in the world, which makes closing any UK deal cause for celebration.

“To have closed three broadcast deals and to have had our merchandise relationship renewed by two of the country’s leading retailers is a serious result. We’d love to take all the credit – but the real heroes are those unstoppable, irrepressible Bunnies…”

This latest round of UK sales follows on the heels of two landmark deals in late July, which launched Sunny Bunnies into several new Asian territories, as well as on to one of China’s biggest VOD platform.

A deal with Kidzone saw the first four seasons of Sunny Bunnies debut this summer on Pakistan’s leading children’s entertainment channel. The show is set to be extended to Kidzone’s pay-TV channels in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

In addition, Media I.M. Incorporated signed a non-exclusive two-year agreement with Chinese VOD giant Tencent for seasons one to three of Sunny Bunnies. The show is also on air on Youku, Mango TV and Huawei via a string of previous deals with major Chinese platforms.

Sunny Bunnies brand diversification also continues apace branching into gifs and stickers through giphy.com with 130 million views in one year with 20 million views in two days on the launch of the ‘bye!’ gif.

Produced by Digital Light Studio, the Sunny Bunnies are five beaming balls that can appear anywhere there is a source of light, from sunshine to moonlight.

In each episode, the cheeky creatures bring their fun and games to a different location – a circus, a sports stadium, a park – embarking on mischievous adventures and spreading laughter and happiness. And at the end of every episode, the fun continues with a collection of bloopers.

Sunny Bunnies lands slate of new broadcast deals in Asia, including China’s VOD giant Tencent

The London-based animation and family content distribution firm, Media I.M Incorporated has detail a slate of new deals that will launch its global pre-school hit, Sunny Bunnies into several new Asian territories. The deal will also see the property land on one of China’s biggest VOD platforms, Tencent.

Tencent will now run seasons one to three of the Sunny Bunnies animated series. Also included in the deal is sub-brand Sunny Bunnies Get Busy, which teaches kids Sunny Bunny-themed arts and crafts. Tencent is recognised as one of the biggest VOD players in China with over 110 million paid subscriptions. It now plans to launch Sunny Bunnies later this summer.

The show is also on air on Youku, Mango TV, iQIYI, Hisense and Huawei Video via a string of previous deals with major Chinese platforms.

A second Asian deal for the pre-school sensation will see the first four seasons of Sunny Bunnies debut this summer on Pakistan’s Kids zone, the first HD children’s channel in the country.

Maria Ufland, co-founder of Media I.M. Incorporated, said: “The entire Sunny Bunnies project continues to gain momentum, with content rolling out in almost every territory around the globe and merchandising in our key markets. The last couple of months have been extremely difficult for kids and their families globally and we see rising demand for feel-good content which makes kids laugh out loud and puts a smile on their faces.

“We have been working hard to make the show fun and relevant for kids focusing on developing specials such as washing hands and exercising with Sunny Bunnies as well as creating more of Get Busy sub-brand to keep the kids occupied. Through Tencent, the Bunnies will have access to a staggering number of potential new fans, while the Kids zone Pakistan deal will see our little friends bounce into new and exciting Asian territories.”

Batool Tatheer, director content acquisition of Kids Zone Pakistan said: “We are excited to acquire Sunny Bunnies and have already received great response from our audience when we announced the upcoming show on Kids Zone Pakistan. We are looking forward for a fun ride together with the Bunnies.”

The Tencent and Kids Zone Pakistan sales follow on the heels of a deal in late April with 0+ Media in Russia, under which 0+ Media secured the licensing and merchandising rights for Sunny Bunnies across all the main categories of consumer products, along with the first four TV series for distribution across its networks in Russia and the CIS territories.

Produced by Digital Light Studio, the Sunny Bunnies are five beaming balls that can appear anywhere there is a source of light, from sunshine to moonlight. In each episode, the cheeky creatures bring their fun and games to a different location – a circus, a sports stadium, a park – embarking on mischievous adventures and spreading laughter and happiness. And at the end of every episode, the fun continues with a collection of bloopers.