Disney Jr takes first Chinese toon

US/Chinese copro P King Duckling

Disney Junior has acquired the forthcoming US/Chinese-coproduced animated show P King Duckling from New York-based Little Airplane Productions.

The Mouse House’s preschool channel will air the 52×11′ series in the US, Latin America, India, Korea and Southeast Asia.

The series, which follows the adventures of an intrepid but slightly hapless duck on his travels around the world, is a coproduction between Chinese entertainment company UYoung and Little Airplane Productions.

It was created by the latter company’s president Josh Selig in collaboration with James Chen Gu, general manager of UYoung Animation.

The deal, brokered by children’s media executive Sander Schwartz on behalf of UYoung and Little Airplane, will see the series air on Disney Junior in late 2016.

As part of the agreement, Disney Junior China has taken non-exclusive secondary rights to the show, which will air on its Little Dragon Club programming block from next year.

Pre-production for the series is taking place in New York, while animation is underway at UYoung in Beijing.