Genre Children'sComedy Composer(s) Jim Latham | Directed by Taesik Shin | |
Written by Kati RockyPhil HarnageDan WicksmanNuria Wicksman Creative director(s) Sangwoo NamEugene Jung Voices of Alyssya SwalesShannon Chan-KentBrian DrummondOlivia CharlesKate DavisJohnny Yong Bosch | ||
Rainbow Ruby (Korean: 레인보우 루비; Chinese: 彩虹宝宝; pinyin: Cǎihóng bǎobǎo) is a CGI animated television series aimed at children, produced by 38 °C Animation Studio and CJ E&M Corporation in South Korea, China Entertainment Corporation (a subsidiary of China ACG Group, which is an enterprise directly under the PRC Government's Ministry of Culture) in China, and DHX Media in Canada.
Contents
Plot
At Ruby's house, a small event related to the main plot of each episode occurs, before a red jewellery on the chest of Choco, Ruby's Teddy bear, flashes with a melody. Ruby then takes Choco to her room, and the two 'transport' themselves to the Rainbow Village. At there, Ruby hears an explanation from Ling Ling, the mayor of Rainbow Village, and transforms herself using a rainbow trawler into an appropriate clothing to solve problems. Each episode concludes, back home, with a little event.
Characters
Release
Rainbow Ruby was first showcased in the licensing market at MIPJunior 2015 in Cannes, France, as announced in September that year. At the market, the series was announced to be the first animated series to "support girls' and women's education in partnership with UNESCO". On March 12, 2016, at the 2016 Global Education Skills Forum held in UAE, the UNESCO and the CJ Group (the parent of CJ E&M) signed a partnership agreement to use Rainbow Ruby: this agreement is a part of the Better Life for Girls campaign, which was launched in November 2014 by CJ E&M and UNESCO, and "a share of the sales from Rainbow Ruby character products will be contributed to UNESCO's global fund for promoting girls' right to education", according to UNESCO.
DHX Media has the distribution rights of the series for Canada, United States and the EMEA regions except France. CPLG, a brand licensing agency which became a subsidiary of DHX Media in 2012, represents Rainbow Ruby worldwide except Asia and Latin America. Within the Mainland China, all the related rights of the series are exercised by China Entertainment Corporation.
At a business presentation to South Korean media held on February 28, 2017, CJ E&M has announced that the series was sold to thirty broadcasters outside South Korea. Also, the company announced that it will have a multimedia campaign in South Korea involving the series.
Broadcast
In Canada, the series was premiered on April 23, 2016 on Family Jr., a specialty television channel which DHX Media acquired in 2014; it was then broadcast on its regular slot on Mondays starting April 25.
In South Korea, the series was premiered on March 2, 2017 on EBS1, a public service terrestrial television channel operated by the Educational Broadcasting System. From April of the same year, the series will also be broadcast on Tooniverse, a specialty television channel available on multi-channel television platforms which was acquired by the CJ Group in 2009, before it was integrated into the then-newly formed company CJ E&M's broadcasting division in 2011. Other specialty channels that will broadcast the series include Animax in South Korea. Previously, it was reported in January 2016 that the series would be launched between March and April that year on Tooniverse, and was reported in July 2016 that it would be within the year, but there have been no indication since.
In China, the series gained a governmental license of approval for distribution in the Mainland television market as a domestic animated production on April 19, 2016, and it was named as one of the Outstanding Domestic Animated Television Productions in the second quarter of 2016 which gives an advantage when selling such programmes to broadcasters (see Awards and recognition), but it is yet to be premiered as of January 2017.
In the Republic of Ireland, the series was broadcast on the 3Kids television strand, which was initially on 3e but was later moved to Be3 on January 9, 2017.
Awards and recognition
Rainbow Ruby won a Grand Prize in Animations and Comics (动漫类大奖) at the 2015's Zhōngguó Dòngmàn Yóuxì Chuāngtóu Jiǎng (Chinese: 中国动漫游戏创投奖; literally: "Chinese Awards for Creativity and Investment in Animations, Comics and [video] Games") presented by China Animation Association, being ranked at number 7. The ceremony was held on October 1, 2015 as a part of the year's edition of Shenzhen Gameshow.
As announced by the PRC Government's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television on September 26, 2016, the series was named as one of nine Outstanding Domestic Animated Television Productions in the second quarter of 2016. Television broadcasters in Mainland China, especially nationwide generalist channels and animation and children's channels on satellite, and children's channels on terrestrial television, are recommended to give priority when broadcasting the series with such title.