Toonz Media partner toyco Giffi to adapt Ruskin Bond books as Adventures of Rusty

P Jayakumar, CEO of Toonz Media, and Prabit Nair, CEO of Giffi, with author Ruskin Bond (left)

Indian animation house Toonz Media Group has partnered with London-based toy company Giffi to coproduce and co-distribute an animated series based on Indian author Ruskin Bond’s Rusty stories.

Rusty, an Anglo-Indian teenage boy, is a semi-autobiographical character who first appeared in Bond’s 1957 novel The Room on the Roof.

The character has since featured in various other novels and short stories written by Bond, which have been translated into more than 50 languages and sold over 20 million copies.

Toonz and Giffi’s adaptation is a 52×7’ shortform series called Adventures of Rusty, which will be released alongside a range of consumer products. The series will initially be released on digital platforms, followed by YouTube and other distribution channels.