Nelvana strikes development deal with Polygon Pictures on Japanese animation

Bakugan: Armoured Alliance

Nelvana, the Canadian distributor and producer behind Max & Ruby and Franklin, has struck a development deal with Japanese Knights Of Sidonia studio Polygon Pictures.

The deal will see the two companies partner on the creation of original Japanese animated children’s programming, which draws inspiration from existing legacy content as well as new IP.

The move builds upon Corus Entertainment-owned Nelvana’s previous partnerships to bring Japanese animated properties, such as Bakugan, Beyblade, and Cardcaptor Sakura, to global audiences.

Nelvana, which recently partnered with Mattel Television to reboot the Barney franchise, is also behind series such as The Hardy Boys and Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.

Founded in 1983, digital animation studio Polygon Pictures has meanwhile worked on titles including Knights Of Sidonia, multiple Transformers series, Star Wars Resistance, Stillwater and Pingu In The City.

Assisting Nelvana and Polygon with the new venture is veteran animation expert Rika Sasaki, who has experience managing Japanese IP for global export from her previous roles at d-rights Inc., ADK Emotion and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions.

Colin Bohm, EVP of content and corporate strategy for Corus Entertainment said the partnership would seek to uncover “the next big global hit” and praised Polygon as “a truly innovative and creative studio”.

Shuzo Shiota, president of Polygon Pictures, added: “Over the past 10 plus years, Doug Murphy, president and CEO of Corus Entertainment, Colin, and I have had many impassioned discussions about how we can synergise our strengths, to create global hits out of properties originating from Japan. With the help of Rika, I believe the time is finally ripe to achieve this goal.”