‘Super Shiro’ Anime Series Inspired by ‘Crayon Shin-chan’

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The enduringly popular Japanese cartoon franchise “Crayon Shin-chan” has inspired a new animated TV series, “Super Shiro.” “” has been on air since 1992 and inspired 26 feature films.

“Super Shiro” is a fast-paced chase series, for kids, based on original IP by Yoshito Usui and scripted by on Kimiko Ueno.  The series is to be directed by Tomohisa Shimoyama, with Masaaki Yuasa as executive director.

It will be produced by Shin-ei Animation, known for both “Doraemon” and “Crayon Shin Chan,” and Science Saru, a Tokyo-based animation studio.The series is backed by Turner Asia Pacific and . Their partnership was announced last week at the Kidscreen Summit conference in Miami. The agreement includes broadcast rights across Asia Pacific (ex-China). This is the first regional deal between the two parties and includes “a sizeable investment” from Turner.

It will be delivered as 48-parts each of 5.5 minutes. It is expected to launch in early 2020 across Turner’s Kids channels Cartoon Network, Boomerang and POGO.

Yuasa was a Cristal Award Winner at the 2017 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and recently won the 41st Japan Academy Prize for “Animation of the Year”. He also guest-directed the “Food Chain” episode from Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time.

“Turner’s investment in the series is testament to its strategy of developing quality local IP and takes our long-term partnership with TV Asahi to the next level,” said Edward Barnieh, director of acquisitions and co-productions at .