When the whole AVGC-XR sector in India is working towards promoting the next big Indian IP across India and making it a hugely successful one for that, there cannot be a better feeling than to support two original Indian IPs by joining hands with our enterprising partners. I am pleased to inform that our collaboration with Vaibhav Studios, India's only Emmy nominated animation studio has made heads turn as we have successfully premiered “Return of the Jungle” during the Marche du Film at the Cannes Film Festival courtesy of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), India to bring the animated feature film to audience worldwide.

Produced by Vaibhav Studios and directed by internationally acclaimed animation director Vaibhav Kumaresh, “Return of the Jungle” is set in contemporary India and revolves around a group of classmates from junior school who must outwit the biggest, meanest bully in the school. The 105-minute, multi-genre animated feature film comprises of two interwoven plots – a ‘real world’ featuring children and their challenges; and a ‘Jungle world’, featuring animals facing similar adversities – and these worlds magically meet to inspire each other. With Toonz on board as the sales agent for this animated feature film for worldwide territories excluding India, we are proud to support and promote this original Indian IP and make it a global success.

Another important original Indian IP we are associated with is “Jay Jagannath,” created and produced by ELE Animations in collaboration with Toonz Media Group, and Warner Bros. Discovery as broadcasting partner. I am pleased to inform that India's homegrown kids' entertainment channel POGO has started premiering their new summer offering - ‘Jay Jagannath’ from May 20th. The new 52x11” animated series, celebrating Indian culture and the theme of friendship from folklore, promises exciting adventures for kids and families and is available in six languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, and Malayalam.

It may be noted that in 2023, we announced our strategic collaboration with ELE Animations, a fast-emerging animation company based in Odisha to bring "Jay Jagannath\" a charming multi-genre series that will appeal to kids and families everywhere. Ele Animations, as the intellectual property owner, has granted exclusive distribution rights to Toonz Media Group and has also provided Toonz the exclusive right to distribute the series on Toonz’s YouTube channels. Toonz Media Group will also take charge of Licensing and Merchandising (L&M) activities like securing partnerships to promote the merchandise and exploring opportunities for merchandise outlets.

Our success with “Jay Jagannath” proves that quality, relevance, and variety of animated content keeps the young audience enamoured with homegrown IPs offering further impetus for kids’ broadcasters with to experiment with local IPs. I am happy to see that both kids and families are coming together to experience the homegrown content with Toonz playing a pivotal role by contributing meaningfully to the growth of Indian AVGC-XR sector.