Entertainment giant Walt Disney Co will team up with several Japanese companies to produce animated features in Japan, a leading market for such films, a Disney official said yesterday.
Disney will work with Toei Animation Co, Madhouse Co and Jinni's Animation Studios, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media.
The Nikkei, Japan's leading business daily, reported the move was aimed at bolstering Disney's efforts to gain wider acceptance of its animated programming in Asia. The company official declined to provide details.
With Madhouse, Disney will produce a TV program Stitch!, an offspring of the Lilo & Stitch series, to be aired in Japan, the official said. With Jinni, Disney will make a short animation film Fireball, she said.
The Nikkei said the partnerships would allow Disney to tap local talent and computer graphics technology to produce programs targeting audiences in Japan and elsewhere in Asia.
These programs will be broadcast via satellite and terrestrial channels, but Disney will also look into delivering content to mobile phones, the report said.
Disney has its own animation and movie channels in more than 100 countries, including Japan, where it launched Disney Channel in 2003. The company also started offering a cellular phone service here this month.
The Nikkei quoted an unidentified executive at Disney's Japanese unit as saying that the move would "position Japan as a new base for content creation."
Toei Animation, meanwhile, will tap Disney's distribution network to expand its overseas reach, the report said.
The US firm will continue to look for partners, but it doesn't have plans for any acquisitions or capital tie-ups for now, Nikkei said.
For Disney, a longtime producer of hit shows in the US, this will mark the first time that it has gone offshore with the core production processes for major programs, the report said.
The studio has tried to penetrate the global animation market by exporting programs, but has concluded that production should be localized from scratch so that its shows will be widely accepted in different countries and cultures, according to the Nikkei.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS