Italy’s Rai picks up Studio Ghibli’s Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter anime series

Italian pubcaster Rai has acquired Studio Ghibli’s Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter series

CARTOON FORUM: Italian pubcaster Rai has acquired Japanese anime house Studio Ghibli’s Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter series.

Based on Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren’s 1981 novel of the same name, Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter tells the story of a girl growing up among a clan of thieves living in a castle in the woodlands in medieval times.

Studio Ghibli, The Astrid Lindgren Company, NHK Enterprises, Dwango and Polygon Pictures adapted the book into a 26×26’ anime series that premiered on NHK in Japan in 2014.

The English-language version of the series, overseen by Studio Ghibli, The Astrid Lindgren Company and UK-based distributor Serious Kids, won the International Emmy Kids Award for best animated series in 2017, following which it aired exclusively on Prime Video in the UK and the US.

Rai has now acquired the broadcast rights to the series from Serious Kids, which holds worldwide distribution rights to the show outside Japan and the Nordics. It will air on Rai Gulp and Rai Play this autumn.

Rai has also acquired the two-hour movie edit of Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter from Serious Kids, in addition to two specials: The Ghastly Ghoul (Dreamlogic and Lupus Films for Sky Kids in the UK and Germany’s KiKA) and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Lupus Films and Walker Books for the UK’s Channel 4).