(THR) Paddington Bear is heading to small screens in the Middle Kingdom.
StudioCanal has partnered with Shanghai Senyu Media to bring its animated kids' series The Adventures of Paddington to mainland China, with the distributor representing the show at the virtual Filmart in Hong Kong.
Shanghai Senyu Media already has a track record distributing many major children’s IPs in China, including PJ Masks and Paw Patrol.
The Adventures of Paddington, which rolled out internationally on Nickelodeon last year, sees Ben Whishaw reprise his role voicing the much-loved Peruvian bear from the two hugely successful feature films. Each 11-minute episode — written by Jon Foster and James Lamont, and produced by Heyday Films, StudioCanal, Copyrights Group with the participation of M6 — takes a lead from Michael Bond’s original books.
"We are thrilled to see Paddington start a brand new adventure in China and reach a whole new generation," said Sarah Mottershead, senior sales manager TV series, who negotiated the deal for StudioCanal. "Our much-loved bear is adored by millions in China already, so we’re sure that both adults and children alike will enjoy these new light-hearted stories that embrace and encourage kindness and thoughtfulness as well as a great deal of fun."
Chang Fan, VP at Shanghai Senyu Media added: "Paddington is a renowned brand in China and we believe it will become another big hit when the new series is launched."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by Alex Ritman