“We’ll travel the world in sunshine and rain, and meet all the species on the Dinosaur Train!” sing the animated dino-stars at the beginning of each episode of Dinosaur Train, The Jim Henson Company’s made-in-Singapore animated pre-school series.
As the company celebrates its 60th anniversary, the Asia story continues to be led by the Emmy-nominated CGI animated series, which has hit 150 episodes.
Season four of the show, co-produced by Singapore-based Sparky Animation, is currently in production and will air first on PBS Kids in the U.S.
Jim Henson has, to date, distributed Dinosaur Train in more than 200 markets, including EBS (South Korea), TVNZ (New Zealand), MediaCorp Okto (Singapore), Astro Ceria (Malaysia), PBS (Thailand) and Kompas TV (Indonesia), according to Sparky Animation.
The series also has its own YouTube channel, which launched on 17 August 2015. So far, the channel offers 11-minute episodes from season one as well as shorts.
Jim Henson has sold 10 other shows in Asia to traditional TV and VOD platforms. These include Sid the Science Kid, another four-time Emmy nominee; Doozers, featuring the characters from Jim Henson classic Fraggle Rock; and Pajanimals.
Though Dinosaur Train is a traditional TV, and now digital, play for the company, Richard Goldsmith, executive vice president of global distribution, still sees VOD and DVD as a major part of Asia plans.
“Given the fact that we make primarily children’s content, there is still a significant transactional business for us in VOD and DVD,” he says. Various Jim Henson shows are available on VOD platforms in Asia, including Mother Goose Stories and Wubbulous World of Dr Seuss.
“The proliferation of new VOD platforms has allowed for bigger opportunities beyond just traditional TV networks,” Goldsmith adds.
The company is now turning its attention to four to seven year olds with shows such as Splash! and tech-focused series Dot, which are both in development.
Taking the company into its seventh decade, Goldsmith says the older market “is where we curr...
“We’ll travel the world in sunshine and rain, and meet all the species on the Dinosaur Train!” sing the animated dino-stars at the beginning of each episode of Dinosaur Train, The Jim Henson Company’s made-in-Singapore animated pre-school series.
As the company celebrates its 60th anniversary, the Asia story continues to be led by the Emmy-nominated CGI animated series, which has hit 150 episodes.
Season four of the show, co-produced by Singapore-based Sparky Animation, is currently in production and will air first on PBS Kids in the U.S.
Jim Henson has, to date, distributed Dinosaur Train in more than 200 markets, including EBS (South Korea), TVNZ (New Zealand), MediaCorp Okto (Singapore), Astro Ceria (Malaysia), PBS (Thailand) and Kompas TV (Indonesia), according to Sparky Animation.
The series also has its own YouTube channel, which launched on 17 August 2015. So far, the channel offers 11-minute episodes from season one as well as shorts.
Jim Henson has sold 10 other shows in Asia to traditional TV and VOD platforms. These include Sid the Science Kid, another four-time Emmy nominee; Doozers, featuring the characters from Jim Henson classic Fraggle Rock; and Pajanimals.
Though Dinosaur Train is a traditional TV, and now digital, play for the company, Richard Goldsmith, executive vice president of global distribution, still sees VOD and DVD as a major part of Asia plans.
“Given the fact that we make primarily children’s content, there is still a significant transactional business for us in VOD and DVD,” he says. Various Jim Henson shows are available on VOD platforms in Asia, including Mother Goose Stories and Wubbulous World of Dr Seuss.
“The proliferation of new VOD platforms has allowed for bigger opportunities beyond just traditional TV networks,” Goldsmith adds.
The company is now turning its attention to four to seven year olds with shows such as Splash! and tech-focused series Dot, which are both in development.
Taking the company into its seventh decade, Goldsmith says the older market “is where we currently see significant growth”. – Emily Seibel @emseibs