Is there life beyond Japanimation?
Despite the calamitous financial situation in many areas of the US and European media sectors, animation production somehow seems to defy economic gravity. In preschool, there are more shows in production or development than could ever be scheduled. But this has not stopped investors dreaming of the next Teletubbies.
Among older demos, the situation is also overheated. As Viacom, Disney and Turner-owned channels intensify their competitive tussle with European pubcasters, the need for stand-out shows becomes ever more acute. Factor in the worldwide invasion of Japanimation and the rapid onset of CGI-based shows and there is a tidal wave of new-look toons on their way.
The preschool glut is primarily driven by sellers anxious to emulate the licensing & merchandising revenues that flow from successful shows like BBC Worldwide’s Teletubbies, Gullane’s Thomas the Tank Engine and Hit’s Bob the Builder.
At present, for example, all the major preschool players are touting new shows. BBC Worldwide has launched Andy Pandy and is lining up Lego Media/Cosgrove Hall’s Little Robots for 2003. It has also committed to Wide Eyes (Abbey Home Entertainment), Little Red Tractor (Little Entertainment) and a project called The Fimbles which is set to follow Teletubbies and Tweenies.
Among other market-leaders, Entertainment Rights has stop-frame show Merlin the Magical Puppy, Hit has acquired preschool classic Pingu and is poised to launch Rub A Dub. Chorion has sold the rights for its new-look Noddy series to Channel 5 in the UK (C5 already airs the Henson hit Bear in the Big Blue House).
Gullane, anxious for a hit to rival Thomas, has licensed 2D animation series Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! (52×5′, Collingwood O’ Hare) to ITV in the UK while Granada Kids has signed up Emmy-award winning writer Josh Selig (Sesame Street, Little Bill) to exec produce three shows.
Sesame Workshop sold CGI series Tiny Planets (65 5′, Pepper’s Ghost) to ITV and SuperRTL while TV Loonland and Decode are keen to join the list of preschool purveyors with Henry’s World and the Save ‘Ums respectively.
From a network perspective, this diverse range of preschool means buyers are spoilt for choice. It also means they can be tough in negotiations – a trend which manifests itself in a number of ways.
For a start, plentiful supply means networks can be aggressive on licence fees – an argument which carries even more weight during a recession. Secondly, they can seek greater control over properties.
At the BBC, one of Europe’s most powerful acquisition executives Theresa Plummer Andrews talks of the need to {get more involved in editorial decisions at an early stage{. In Germany, SuperRTL has licensed TV, online and merchandising rights for both Tiny Planets and Merlin the Magical Puppy – in effect taking control of the local strategy for both properties.
Finally, networks want to know what added incentives producers/distributors can bring to the table – primarily in the shape of marketing support. In return for providing a broadcast platform for a preschool property, it is not uncommon for networks to expect above-the-line marketing support and concrete licensing plans which will help boost exposure of the show. Implicit in this is the fact that it is not enough for a kids property to be just a good show. It must also have legs as a merchandise property.
New trends
In terms of editorial trends, the use of CGI in model animation preschool is now a given, since it gives producers more creative options and introduces greater flexibility into the production process. At Cosgrove Hall, model series such as Fetch the Vet, Engie Benjy (Model/CGI for ITV) and Andy Pandy have all benefited from this. At the same time, there is demand for 2D animation shows which emphasise interactivity. A good example is the Nick Jnr show Dora the Explorer.
Cult competition
Outside preschool, the battle really heats up. In the core 6-12 age group, the benchmark continues to be Pokémon, a cult show now up to 208 episodes. As of Mipcom 2001, TF1 (France), RTL2 (Germany), GMTV (UK), TeleCinco (Spain), Mediaset (Italy), Fox Kids (The Netherlands), VT4 (Belgium), SIC (Portugal), Star Channel (Greece), Polsat (Poland), RTL Klub (Hungary) and Nova TV (Czech Rep) had all acquired the show. Roll forward six months and most of them are still happy with it.
TF1 kids chief Dominique Poussier, for example, says Pokémon is still a top performer for her network. Even more effusive is RTL2’s acquisitions chief Andrea Lang who started airing the latest batch of Pokemon in March. She says, {Our new seasons of DoReMi (series III), Pokémon (series IV) and Digimon (series III) achieved an approximate 25% increase of audience – which is just perfect for us.{
Among European free-to-air networks, RTL2 has been the most ardent fan of Japanese-originated anime. In April, Lang started to air Ranma and Shin Chan and has lined up Hamtaro for summer.
All told, she has nine animated first run shows and has seen the network excel as a result: {During the animation slots, RTL2 is the strongest broadcaster in Germany among kids. We’ve topped SuperRTL’s share during the whole daytime two to three days each week in May.{
RTL2’s anime is not just hitting 8-12 year-olds. {DragonBall Z and Ranma are the strongest anime series among teens and young adults. Dragon Ball Z has 1.5 million viewers every day and takes 18% of teen/adults 14-29.{ This is a huge share in Germany’s competitive market.
Other networks to have based much of their brand strategy around anime include Fox Kids Europe. Like RTL2, FKE has picked up Shin Chan and Hamtaro, both of which were top-rating titles in Japan. These join Pokémon, Digimon, Medabots and Sailor Moon in Fox Kids schedules across Europe. Hamtaro, for example, goes on to the network in the UK, France, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, Poland and Israel.
For thematic networks, the beauty of Japanese animation is that it comes in high volume, usually 52 or 104 episodes. Not only that, {the Japanese produce so much animation that you can generally find a few great shows every year,{ says Henrietta Hurford-Jones, FKE’s head of programming & acquisitions.
Aside from Japanimation, a key issue for Fox is to find shows which don’t alienate girls, so Braceface and the gender-neutral Totally Spies have also been added to the line up.
The latter show, which is made by Marathon of France but has an anime feel, also gets good reports from TV2 Denmark’s kids acquisitions chief Lisbeth Mathieson who picked it up with a view to airing it later this year. Mathieson also observes that {Totally Spies has launched in Norway and is is doing quite well. I think storylines with a touch of the Japanese graphic style (Totally Spies, Microphonies) is the new trend and potentially a very successful one in Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries.{
The remarkable thing about Japanimation is that it is finding its way into the most unlikely corners of the European market. For a Nordic public broadcaster like TV2 to endorse the genre is a surprise. But it is echoed by Irish state network RTE whose acquisitions chief Dermot Horan saw Pokémon garner share of 40% in 2001. Just as surprising is Nick UK’s decision to acquire anime hit Yu-Gi-Oh! from 4Kids International.
Likewise, Cartoon Network’s decision to add anime to a roster which contains the Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers catalogues, new Time Warner animations like Powerpuff Girls and hit independent shows like The Cramp Twins is indicative of the genre’s pulling power.
Cartoon Network UK’s programming & acquisitions chief Finn Arneson has been an anime nut since his teenage and is now chuffed to report Dragonball Z is a top-rating show on the network. {We did focus groups on anime a couple of years before Pokémon and the kids didn’t show any interest. But there’s no question that Pokemon’s arrival on Sky changed all that.{
Going forward, Arneson sees action anime as a key tranche of his network’s activities. He has just snapped up a new show called Beyblade, which he has high hopes for. He also expects to announce another key purchase in the near future.
Despite all this, it would be wrong to suggest Japanimation has a stranglehold on the market. Alongside Pokémon and Digimon, for example, RTE’s Horan airs Nick classic Rugrats and movie spinoffs like Tarzan and Jackie Chan – all of which underline the huge muscle of the vertically-integrated US animation studios. The situation is similar at TV2 Denmark where Pokémon, The Mummy and Jimmy Neutron, are all features in the 8-12 year-old slate.
Meanwhile, anime has never been on the agenda for Dutch kids network Kindernet. Instead, the network has been conceptually much closer to Nick, which explains why Viacom recently acquired it in order to win a foothold in the Dutch market. For Kindernet, Rugrats, Hey Arnold and Wild Thornberries are pivotal to its policy of airing non-violent programming.
Non-violence is also a theme at ZDF, where respected kids acquisitions chief Susanne Mueller has been pleased with animation series Mona the Vampyre and The Wild Thornberries. Mueller isn’t overly interested in anime and {doesn’t buy much US programming apart from Nick shows. Most of our animation comes from the UK, Australia, Scandinavia and France{.
Mary Bredin, director of acquisitions and programming at Walt Disney Television International, says anime would {probably not fit audience expectations about the Disney brand{.
Bredin is fortunate because Disney US turns out a lot of high quality stuff. So alongside movie spin-offs like Buzz Lightyear, Tarzan, Timon & Pumba and 101 Dalmations, she can rely on strong titles like PepperAnn, Doug and Recess.
At the same time, she acknowledges that Disney Channel Europe needs to keep pace with the changing demands of the target demo. So she’s paying close attention to {less traditional shows. Instead of just looking at traditional cell, we’re focusing on mixed media productions, shows which use cut-outs, stop motion, CGI-live action hybrids. I think viewing among older kids has been influenced by video games and that is now showing up in the marketplace.{
Bredin believes the best of these mixed media shows bridge the gap between the younger kids and tweens. {They also provide a distinctive look to the schedule, which is crucial in competitive markets{. Titles she has been interested in recently include Creep School and Dracaman Street. As for companies which have set the pace in this arena, a stand-out example is Anglo-Canadian outfit Decode, which has a hit in the shape of Angela Anaconda and now heads its slate with Blobheads, a live action/CGI comedy about some aliens trapped on earth with a regular family.
Nick’s anxiety not to be over-reliant on Sabrina-style live action has also led it to enter some non-traditional arenas. The best evidence of this is Viacom’s heavy investment in CGI animation series Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Launched as a feature-length movie in spring 2002, Jimmy Neutron will debut on TV in the US in autumn.
However Jimmy Neutron fares for Nick, it is certainly viewed as a hot property by free networks. TF1 (France), Super RTL (Germany), Antena 3 (Spain), ITV (UK) and RTE (Ireland) are all on board, which reiterates the appeal of shows which come with massive offscreen marketing support as part of the package.
It is evident from the above that the animation market for seven year-olds and upwards is currently dominated by non-European interests. The response from within Europe is uneven.
Part two of this trend report publishes as part of Stay Tooned on c21media.net tomorrow or click here.
