Ink to invade Vegas with host of hot projects

Animation & Characters

Ink Global will present a host of sizzling shows at the Las Vegas Licensing Expo, which all combine original and fresh storytelling with the potential for franchising.

Masha and the Bear needs little introduction, as the story of a little girl and the bear who becomes her reluctant playmate is broadcast in almost every country in the world – via both pay and free-to-air channels. Broadcasters include France TV, KIKA, Rai YoYo (Italy), Turner Cartoonito (UK and Latin America), Turner Boing (Spain), ABC (Australia), Canal Panda (Spain and Portugal), Minimax (Central Europe), Russia 1 (Russia and CIS), SIC (Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa) and SpaceToon (Middle East, North Africa and Malaysia). The newly released series 3 is adding to the show’s popularity, whist Masha is also a huge YouTube hit. One episode – Masha and the Porridge – recently hitting the 1 billion views mark, making it one of only twenty videos ever to achieve the feat.

The Mojicons is the new show that reveals the behind-the-scene world of the internet, where the Mojicons live – the innumerable emoticons that populate our emails and text messages. Sadly, this zany bunch of condensed emotions is clueless about how the Web works! When a mysterious digital villain steals the @ symbol, all electronic correspondence grinds to a halt. The Mojicons must undertake an awe-inspiring and dangerous quest to restore their system. Trouble is, they don’t know what their ‘system’ actually is! Many a jaw will drop on both sides of the screen as the internet universe reveals its secrets to both the Mojicons and the kids watching their crazy adventures. The show is produced by renowned Russian creators Alexander Romanetz and Viacheslav Marchenko.

ZAFARI is the creation of animation visionary David Dozoretz and tells the story of a group of friends who inhabit a land where all the resident animals have been magically born with an amalgamation of varying skins, patterns and characteristics, making each individual truly unique.  A host of Broadcasters have already come in on the project on a pre-buy level and include France TV, Lagardere TIJI, SRC Radio Canada and SpaceToon. NBC Universal have picked up the global distribution rights and the first series will be delivered soon.

The Fixies is the brand new animation that follows the adventures of the little creatures who, unbeknownst to humans, live inside machines, appliances and devices. The Fixies are the opposite of Gremlins – conscientiously maintaining and repairing our equipment with the aid of their tool-filled pack-o-mats.

“The mission of Ink Global is to scour the world for projects that combine distinct originality with a really strong story,” says Ink Director Claus Tømming. “What we are bringing to Las Vegas is the fruits of this search – four innovative and original animations, each with the potential to drive incredible story-driven programmes, and each with the potential to become major franchises”