Jackie Chan launches kids show, feature film to follow
HONG KONG: Jackie Chan is returning to the small screen — in animated form.
The Hong Kong action- comedy icon will next appear in ‘J-Team: All New Jackie Chan Adventures’, a children’s 3D cartoon series featuring a child version of Chan and a team of kid protagonists who defend a magical dreamland against monster invaders.
The 104- episode series cost an estimated US$ 6 million to produce and is set to air on three children’s satellite TV channels and 200 terrestrial channels across China. The show also stars child actress Kyana “Poppy” Downs, one of the breakout stars from the smashhit Chinese reality series ‘ Dad, Where Are We Going?’
Aimed at children aged three to 10, the show was designed to both entertain and impart positive values, with storylines highlighting traditional Chinese virtues and healthy habits. At the end of each episode, Jackie briefly appears in live- action form to drive the lesson home and give encouragement.
“It’s meant to help young children to do things they don’t always like to do — like, don’t look at your phone for too long, remember to brush your teeth, respect your elders, pick up the trash,” Jackie said during a small press gathering held on the eve of the Beijing International Film Festival in the Chinese capital.
He added: “If you just tell them that, sometimes children won’t listen, but through comedy and action, then they will start to follow.”
Jackie’s production partners Zhejiang Talent Television & Film, Khorgas JJ Culture Media Co., and VJ Animation Studio have broad trans-media ambitions for
It’s meant to help young children to do things they don’t always like to do — like, don’t look at your phone for too long, remember to brush your teeth, respect your elders, pick up the trash. If you just tell them that, sometimes children won’t listen, but through comedy and action, then they will start to follow.
the property, with a feature film planned for 2019, merchandising production underway and even theme park attractions under development.
But Jackie’s goals are more straight forward. “That’s the investors,” he said. “They have so many plans. For me, I just want to make a cartoon for the children around the world.”
“Probably, when the theme park is finished, I’ll be 80,” the actor, now 63 years old and over four decades into his film career, added. “I just care about this year. I don’t have time to do other things. They squeeze Jackie Chan.”
The new show is a followup of sorts to Jackie’s US- made animation series, ‘Jackie Chan Adventures’, which aired on Kids’s WB from 2000-2005 in over 60 countries.
“(This show) is not about making money — I have a lot of money already,” Jackie deadpanned. “Today, what I’m really doing with this cartoon is, I can show to the world, it used to be Jackie’s adventures from America, but these days, everything is made in China.”
Jackie Chan