Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana has launched a Mandarin YouTube Channel, Red Bear Animation (红熊动画), featuring several of the company’s shows.
The launch builds on Nelvana’s strategy to strengthen its online fanbase internationally, leveraging its catalog of children’s shows. The company has already earned two Gold Play Buttons from YouTube, as recognition of its most popular channels, for its Treehouse Direct Español and Treehouse Direct Brasil channels, which have more than one million subscribers each.
“After successfully launching localized channels in Spanish and Portuguese, we noticed a strong trend of engagement with our Mandarin-speaking fans,” said Pam Westman, head of Nelvana Enterprises. “We are confident that the launch of our Red Bear Animation channel, featuring premium Nelvana content in Mandarin, will further grow our YouTube community in North America and around the world.”
The Red Bear Animation (红熊动画) YouTube channel will roll out new Mandarin episodes of Super BOOMi, Mysticons, Backyardigans and My Friend Rabbit several times a week throughout the summer, and will feature additional series such as Franklin, Babar and Ranger Rob later this year.
“With Super BOOMi being a top show in China, it’s amazing to see the brand grow globally,” said Trevor Lai, show creator and CEO, Up Studios. “The series premiered in English on Treehouse in Canada this summer, we recently announced our partnership with the NHL, and now kids can watch their favorite bear in Mandarin on YouTube. Learning multiple languages while growing up really expanded my horizons as a writer and creator, and we’re thrilled BOOMi can now inspire kids on the Red Bear channel.”