Gaumont Leads Co-Production Reboot of ‘Calimero’

France’s Gaumont Animation is teaming up with Calidra and Italy’s Studio Campedelli to co-produce a new animated CGI series featuring the lovable little black chicken Calimero with TV Tokyo in Japan.

The series will comprise 104 11-minute episodes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of Calimero, created in 1963 by Nino Pagot, Toni Pagot and Ignazio Colnaghi and became an international hit with 290 episodes of animation aired in more than 80 countries.

The Japanese broadcast of the new series is scheduled for 2014. As part of the co-production agreement, TV Tokyo will handle distribution and licensing in Japan and Asia. Gaumont distributes the program and manages the brand internationally on behalf of Calidra, the rights owner.

Broadcasters already on board are France’s TF1, Italy’s RAI Fiction, Disney Junior, Tele-Quebec and TSR in Switzerland.

Calimero