Mexico’s Ánima sets up new division to focus on adult animation

El Santos vs la Tetona Mendoza was produced in 2012

Mexico-based animation studio Ánima Estudios has launched an adult and young adult division and has a sitcom based on the comic strip El Santos in development.

José C García de Letona

Having previously specialised in children’s programming, Cleo & Cuquin producer Ánima has set up the new unit in Mexico City to focus on content for older audiences.

The company, which also has offices and studios in Madrid, Canary Islands and Buenos Aires, is set to begin production on its first show aimed at adults later this year.

El Santos has been developed by Mexican illustrators José Trinidad Camacho and José Ignacio Solórzano, who are behind the comic strip of the same name, and the duo will serve as executive producers on the series.

Set in the infamous world of Mexican wrestling, El Santos is a brash, uncouth, over-the-top luchador who is in love with a sex addict and fearless female luchador.

In 2012, Ánima produced a feature film entitled El Santos vs la Tetona Mendoza, based on the same comic strip, which became the first Mexican animated feature to premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France.

Since being founded in 2002, Ánima has been behind 22 animated features, nine television series totalling more than 572 half-hour episodes, and a digital network with more than 24 million subscribers.

José C García de Letona, chief operating officer at Ánima, said: “El Santos has become part of the Latin and Hispanic pop culture and has amassed an extraordinary number of fans throughout the years. This new series is the perfect project with which to launch our new division.”

Bosses at international animation studios told C21’s Content London event last year the industry is in the midst of a boom in animated drama and documentary projects aimed at adults, primarily driven by demand from streamers.