“Single Piece,” “My Hero Academia,” Warner Bros. Discovery South Asia Unveils Kids Summer Slate and Strategy (EXCLUSIVE) with “Chhota Bheem” and “Jai Jagannath” in the Mix

In the kids’ section, South Asia boasts a tantalizing summer lineup that combines anime and locally produced content.

“Jay Jagannath,” a new Indian IP, will debut in May on the Pogo channel, which focuses on animation. The relationship between the Hindu god Lord Jagannath—who has assumed the appearance of a kid, Jagan—and his devoted disciple Balaram is shown in the series. The tales explore folklore while chronicling their exploits.

“Chhota Bheem” and “Little Singham,” two wildly successful Indian IPs owned by WBD, first came together in the 2023 movie “Aag Aur Pani Ki Takkar.” “Aag Aur Pani Ka Badla,” the follow-up, is also scheduled to release on Pogo. The channel also includes a number of summertime movies and miniseries with each of the various characters.

New Japanese anime series “One Piece: Land of Wano” and “My Hero Academia” Season 4, as well as new seasons of American animation “Teen Titans Go!” and French animation “Grizzy and the Lemmings,” are among the summer lineup on WBD’s international animation-focused Cartoon Network. There will be new seasons of the Singaporean-Indian animated series “Titoo” on Discovery Kids. The three kids’ channels, which are available in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, will have 200 premieres in total.

“We have a vast archive of worldwide material since we are a heritage global organization. Uttam Pal Singh, chairman of Warner Bros. Discovery’s kids’ cluster, South Asia, told Variety that “the enormously large Indian audience gives us an opportunity to connect with them and cater to them with stories and characters which are very locally focused.”

While some local intellectual property has achieved international success, Singh clarifies that the goal is still to grow the audience in the area. “Localization is a powerful component of a highly effective engagement approach with children. India is an extremely varied country, with certain areas having a strong connection to their native dialect. Our language base consisted of just around three languages, but we added four more beginning last year. Accordingly, Pogo now speaks to children in seven languages, while Cartoon Network speaks to children in six Indian languages, according to Singh.

South Asia is a region where anime is immensely popular, and WBD plans to keep bringing in anime content, particularly via its collaboration with Toei Animation, whose Cartoon Network hits “One Piece” and “Dragon Ball” According to Singh, there aren’t many options for preteens and older audiences in local animation, which mostly targets the 6–10 age range. Anime meets this requirement. Singh claims that anime used to be a part of the area’s “geeky subculture,” but it has now gained widespread acceptability.

“I believe anime can very well meet the needs of all age groups, from preteens to adolescents and beyond into the 21 to 25 [age range]. And I believe that’s the reason it’s receiving such a warm reception here,” Singh said.

WBD has revealed ambitions to increase the amount of animation it produces in Japan. Although Singh said that WBD is monitoring their followers on social media, there are currently no plans to work with Japanese companies to produce animation with a South Asian theme. “We are currently in the phase of offering this to them first, and maybe in time we’ll look into that opportunity of creating unique stories with Indian characters and collaborating with Japanese studios,” Singh said. “They want to be connected and served with animation, which are already global blockbusters.”