Toonz partners with American actress for new animation project

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 26 (PTI): Toonz Media Group (TMG) here is partnering with Daytime Digital Emmy nominated actress Janet Hubert for a new animation project that focuses on representing special children from diverse backgrounds.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 26 (PTI): Toonz Media Group (TMG) here is partnering with Daytime Digital Emmy nominated actress Janet Hubert for a new animation project that focuses on representing special children from diverse backgrounds. The project titled 'JG & the BC Kids' is about a young lady superhero who travels around the world nurturing special children from multicultural communities.

The Technopark-based TMG, Elijah Rock Productions,and Ericka Nicole Malone Entertainment have started pre-production on a feature length animated movie, which will be followed by a TV series. Conceptualised by Janet Hubert, the project was born out of the need to represent children from all backgrounds and cultures in mainstream children's content,a TMG press release said.

According to Hubert, who is an African American mother, even before her son was born she knew that she would never find the kind of toys, accessories or even story narratives that truly reflected who he was. In a world where his identity was starkly under- represented, Hubert wanted to create something to inspire him, and millions of other children like him.

And so, JG & the BC Kids was born. Hubert is a co-producer of the project.

The lead character of the animated feature is Janet Granite, JG, a super intelligent and athletic scientist and inventor who travels the world to find special children. JG shows these special children to be confident about who they are, no matter what they look like or what their interests are.

A group of talking dinosaurs with their own superpowers helps her as she works with these children and fights off the evil Dr Zandor who wants to control Earth. JG & the BC Kids encourages children to embrace differences, to find their own strengths, and to be confident and courageous in life.

JG & the BC Kids, targeted for 5-9 year-olds, will be produced in vibrant 2D animation. Actor, writer, producer and director Ericka Nicole Malone (Executive Producer) and Philip Robinson are co- producing JG and the BC Kids along with Toonz.

PJayakumar, Chief Executive Officer of Toonz Media Group, said the studio is very excited to partner with actor, producer and creator Janet Hubert and Ericka Nicole Malone Entertainment. "We feel it is high time that such stories were told, especially when the world is striving to move towards greater equality and justice. The targeted age group for this series is also important, as these are the formative years when children pick up and nurture values for life," he said.

"We are thrilled to partner with Janet Hubert to bring to life this film and TV series," he added. Hubert emphasised that the series will reflect diversity in the real sense and will have characters from many ethnicities.

"I knew that Toonz would be the perfect partner to understand and bring to life, JG who is a strong and super smart character. You can be both," she said. "It is past time to bring street smart kids and book smart kids together to create 'life smart' kids and do it in a fun, exciting way," she added.PTI UD SS PTI PTI