The Jungle Book

ORIGIN: Based on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

DISTRIBUTORS: DQ Entertainment and ZDF Enterprises.

ZDFtivi and ZDF Enterprises hold the rights for TV broadcast, home video and catch-up VOD for Germany and German-speaking Europe. ZDF Enterprises is also representing the terrestrial, cable and satellite rights, catch-up TV and live streaming, VOD and home-video rights for Europe (excluding French-speaking markets, the U.K. and Ireland) and Latin America.

CREATOR: DQ Entertainment

TV SHOW: The Jungle Book consists of 52 11-minute episodes, produced in 3-D, along with a one-hour animated feature special in HD CGI animation. It is targeted at children aged 6 to 9.

TRAILER: Visit DQ’s Screening Room to watch a clip of The Jungle Book.

DESCRIPTION: The series tell stories of the man-cub raised in the Indian jungles by a pack of wolves. Drama, excitement and adventure mixed with a high element of comedy tell tales of how Mowgli lives and survives in the jungle, where his only companions are animals. His adventures reflect his daredevil, fearless, high-spirited and fun-loving escapades. He is helped by Baloo the wise bear, his best friend Bagheera the black panther and (sometimes!) mighty Kaa, the rock python. Mowgli learns to overcome adversity and make progress in his life by using his quick wit and natural curiosity, with his constantly optimistic outlook on life. This is very challenging for the little man-cub with a evil enemy like Shere Khan, the royal Bengal tiger.

Mowgli’s adventures open out in the lush tropical forest of Seeonee amidst splendid Indian royal forts, temples, waterfalls and the Waingunga river. Throughout the series other characters from the Kipling stories add flavor to the drama, comedy and action, bringing out excellent animation and quality storytelling.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Tapaas Chakravarti, Vishal Dudeja, Nicole Keeb, Arne Lohmann, Dominique Poussier, Christophe di Sabatino, Nicolas Atlan and Maia Tubiana

MAIN BROADCASTERS: ZDFtivi in Germany and TF1 in France

TV SALES: In addition to ZDFtvi and TF1, the other broadcasters on board are ABC Australia and Disney Channel for Japan, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

MAJOR TOY LICENSEES: Licensees are being pursued for playsets, plush toys, board games and indoor and outdoor games.

OTHER PRODUCTS: The consumer-products strategy also includes back-to-school products, books, apparel, sporting goods, tableware, kids furnishings and more.

STRATEGY FOR ROLLOUT: "Merchandising is an integral element of creating the product advertising, brand awareness and generating revenues," says Tapaas Chakravarti, the chairman and CEO of DQE. "Because The Jungle Book is a classic product, we expect it will not burn-out soon and [it will] have a [longer] shelf life. The merchandising will help generate revenues that will drive and keep the spin-offs and upstream revenues going."

He continues: "The television series, with its high-quality CGI animation, will roll out in parallel with the merchandise sales strategy to also include home entertainment, publishing, mobile content, IPTV, VOD, video games, toys, theme parks, live events and more."