Rubicon Studios has announced that it will team with MGM to produce a new half-hour animated Christmas special featuring the original Pink Panther, set for distribution in time for the 2011 holiday period. Full details can be read here:
ANIMATED PINK PANTHER CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
A VERY PINK CHRISTMAS
Rubicon Studios is once again teaming up with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM) to produce a new half-hour animated Christmas special starring the one-and-only Pink Panther; it was announced by Rubicon Group Holding CEO Randa Ayoubi.
A Very Pink Christmas features Pink Panther pitted against his arch nemesis, Big Nose, as they operate adjacent Christmas tree lots and try to outsell each other in order to generate enough profit to afford a big, greedy Christmas prize.
“We are thrilled to be working on another exciting new project with MGM. Rubicon enthusiastically supports the future growth of the iconic MGM brand and is proud to become a part of the studios’ rich legacy, which began as a founding member of the Hollywood community and is destined grow as MGM continues to be a vibrant trailblazer in the television and film industries,” said Ayoubi.
“This new Pink Panther Christmas special is yet another example of Rubicon’s dedication and commitment to providing quality programming to family audiences around the world. Rubicon is a trusted production partner that is certain to once again deliver an evergreen production of one of MGM’s most valuable properties and should play a significant role in the future growth of the studio,” said MGM Executive Vice President of Domestic Television Joe Patrick.
Humanitas Prize-winning and Emmy-nominated writer/producer David Corbett (“Pink Panther & Pals,” “Flash Gordon,” “The Legend of Prince Valiant”) and Randa Ayoubi will serve as executive producers of the special which will be produced in its entirety at Rubicon’s wholly owned production facilities in Los Angeles, Manila and Amman, Jordan. MGM will distribute the special worldwide in time for the 2011 holiday season.
“On the heels of the huge success of Pink Panther & Pals on Cartoon Network, which featured a young version of the Pink Panther character, we are delighted to be creating a new special starring the original classic character as he appeared in his hit theatrical releases,” said Corbett.
Set to begin production this month, The Pink Panther Christmas Special is written by Humanitas Prize-winning and Emmy-nominated writers Cliff Lesser and Elana Ruby, who also worked together on the upcoming “Mean Girls 2,” along with a number of films including “Balto” and countless children’s television series including “Dragon Tales,” “Heathcliff” and “It’s Punky Brewster.” The special will be directed by Ron Brewer (“Pink Panther & Pals”).
About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co, MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120 countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit http://www.mgm.com.
About Rubicon Studios, Inc.
Established in 2007, Los Angeles-based Rubicon Studios is the wholly owned development-production division of Rubicon Group Holding. Headed by veteran Executive Producer David J. Corbett, a 30-year kid’s television industry executive, the division specializes in providing the entire spectrum of concept development and pre and post production services. Rubicon Studios is a complete one stop production facility, comprising everything from scripts and story boarding, to voice over recording, character design and background design, animatics, and 5.1 surround sound editing and mixing capability; for all of Rubicon Group Holding’s productions. Specializing in 2D-digital as well as CGI television series, theatricals and internet downloadable content, the studio is a state of the art globally linked digital production facility. Rubicon Studio’s flagship series, Pink Panther & Pals, co-produced and co-financed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, premiered spring 2010 on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and around the world. The company is seeking to apply its co-production strategy to a number of exciting new projects.
About Rubicon Group Holding
Rubicon Group Holding is a leading emerging markets production company specializing in animation and edutainment, and dedicated to creating a new genre of feature films, television series, short theatricals and webisodes. Lead by the Group CEO, Randa S. Ayoubi, and headquartered in Amman (Jordan) with subsidiaries in Los Angeles (USA), Dubai (UAE) and Manila (Philippines), Rubicon is equipped with a full complement of divisions capable of performing the entire production process for high-quality animated programming from concept to finished product. Programs include Tareq Wa Shireen, the first 2D animated series in Arabic that incorporates Arabic heritage, history, culture and music; Ben & Izzy, an animated comedy adventure series; and The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 3D animated movie based on L. Frank Baum’s namesake book.
Rubicon is also a leader in e-education and gaming, offering packages designed to meet the best international standards and customized to conform to the official educational curriculum matrices of various countries. In the brand licensing arena, Rubicon is engaged in the licensing and merchandising of its proprietary intellectual properties (IP) globally, as well as other IPs of major studios including MGM, Paramount, Sony and others in the Gulf, Middle East and North Africa regions. Rubicon’s Location-Based Entertainment division provides value-added entertainment services for real estate projects in the MENA region based on its proprietary IPs and other major studio IPs to create new themes, characters and merchandising for parks and attractions.
