The animation series by Green Gold Animation Pvt. Ltd. becomes the first successful Indian series in the kids and family segment on Netflix
August 28, 2019
Green Gold Animation’s ‘Mighty Little Bheem’ which is the first Indian original animation show on Netflix for kids has reached the top by being the most popular and successful in a very short time. It premiered on the OTT platform on April 12 and is divided into 21 short films/episodes which is of 5-6 minutes each. ‘Mighty Little Bheem’ is a spin-off of the hugely popular cartoon series ‘Chhota Bheem’ which means it is a programme involving characters from a previous programme, i.e. Bheem, a dhoti-clad child from the fictional rural-scape of Dholakpur.
According to the production company, Green Gold Animation’s popular kids’ franchise has become Netflix’s leading preschool title globally. Also under the kids’ genre, ‘Mighty Little Bheem’ is the second most watched original series across the world, after ‘Boss Baby: Back in Business’, a Netflix spokesperson has informed TOI.
Certainly being the first Indian animation show that has attained such astounding popularity and success, “Outside India, the series is globally popular. It’s being watched a lot in Columbia, Argentina and Chile and the US”, a Netflix spokesperson averred.
Started in 2008, ‘Chhota Bheem’ is India’s most successful animation franchise with a TV show, films and merchandise, owned by Green Gold Animation. Although it is very much rooted in Indian culture, its storytelling has transcended boundaries and made the character popular in the 6-11 year age group particularly across Asia, the Middle East and Northern America. Also, the dhoti-clad child from Dholakpur is the first Indian cartoon to sell merchandise worth almost Rs. 250 crores.
“Making ‘Mighty Little Bheem’ non-verbal was to make it universal, while remaining authentic to the show’s settings and characterization,” said the Netflix spokesperson.
The season 2 of ‘Mighty Little Bheem’ is set to arrive on Netflix from 30th August, 2019 and the first season was released in 190 territories worldwide. While creative work on the show had begun in July 2017 and its production was being executed for 18 months, spearheaded by Green Gold’s teams based out of Hyderabad and Mumbai. Earlier, Melissa Cobb, Vice President for kids and family at Netflix, had asserted that about 60% of the OTT platform’s viewers or roughly about 83 million households consume content that falls under the category of kids and family segment.
The online streaming platform had made its foray in India in January 2016 and a recent report by RedSeer Consulting, a Bangalore-based research and consulting firm had estimated 11 million monthly active users in India. Netflix was started in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California and as of April 2019, the global entertainment services provider giant had over 148 million paid subscriptions worldwide. Apart from its headquarter located in Los Gatos, California, the company also has its offices in the Netherlands, Brazil, India, Japan, and South Korea. Since 2012, it has taken more of an active role as producer and distributor for both film and television series, and with that move, it streams a variety of “Netflix Original” content.
Green Gold Animation Pt Ltd is a Hyderabad based Indian Animation company with its offices in India, Singapore, Philippines and USA. It is hugely known for creating Chhota Bheem and Krishna film series and it handles various branches of business such as licensing & merchandising, digital business, branded stores, events and pictures. The company was founded by Rajiv Chilaka in January 2001 and has won numerous awards for its excellence in production.
