Kartoon Studios launches film division

Six feature-length films based on its IPs, including Rainbow Rangers and Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, are set for 2024 and 2025 deliveries.
July 13, 2023

Kartoon Studios (formerly Genius Brands International) is launching a new film division, and has appointed two of its top executives to lead it. 

Kartoon Films will develop and produce animated feature-length films for kids and families that it will launch on its US SVOD Kartoon Channel! and sell to third-party broadcasters and streamers. The new division is starting off with a slate of six projects based on Kartoon’s IPs: Stan Lee’s Cosmic Crusaders, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, Llama’s Big Adventure, An Omaha Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Fix and Foxi and Rainbow Rangers Hot Concert to Cool Global Warming. 

These titles are scheduled to premiere on Kartoon Channel! in 2024 and 2025. The recent success of animated kids and family films, such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie (which made US$1.3 billion at the global box office), is motivating the company to expand beyond TV and consumer products into movies. 

Kartoon Channel! has been building up its IPs, including Rainbow Rangers (pictured) and Llama Llama, with numerous broadcast and consumer products deals. Now, the next frontier is expanding its properties into films in order to drive more CP sales, increase viewership and revenue, and create more evergreen content, according to the company. 

Company president Paul Robinson will manage global distribution of the films, and chief creative officer David Neuman is in charge of the division’s content and production. 

In his three-plus years at Kartoon, Neuman has developed the animated series Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten and Shaq’s Garage, and is now developing Blue Origin Space Rangers, an animated series starring Jeff Bezos. He was previously the president of Walt Disney Television, and held exec development and programming roles at NBCUniversal and CNN. 

Robinson, who joined Kartoon at the end of 2021, also previously held executive positions at Disney (SVP and managing director for Disney Channels worldwide) and NBCUNiversal, where he launched and ran its kids channel KidsCo. 

Kartoon’s collection of IP assets and the rise in AI technology make producing feature-length films less expensive—and therefore more attractive—than in previous years, according to a release. 

Kartoon Studios is planning to mine the catalogue of its Munich-based affiliate Your Family Entertainment for more film concepts. The new division also has an eye towards making seasonal movies themed around Halloween and Christmas. 

About The Author
News editor for Kidscreen. Ryan covers tech, talent and general kids entertainment news, with a passion for kids rap content and video games. Have a story that's of interest to Kidscreen readers? Contact Ryan at rtuchow@brunico.com

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