Mighty Little Show
India’s favorite character Mighty Little Bheem goes global on Netflix
What started in the early 2000s with four artists in a home office in Hyderabad, India, the dream of Green Gold Animation founder, Rajiv Chilaka, has grown into a 1400-person operation with studios in three Indian cities and international outposts in Singapore and Los Angeles. Rooted in India and trained in the US,
Chilaka is by most measures nothing short of a global success story.
Green Gold made its entry into the global markets this April with the launch of Mighty Little Bheem, the first Netflix original animated series to come out of India. As evidenced by the Netflix Kids and Family YouTube channel, the response has been astounding with millions of young viewers across the globe tuning into every new episode of the show.
Innocent and engaging, the character, Bheem, goes through many a misadventure trying to satisfy his curious mind and his insatiable appetite. The 3D, non-verbal slapstick series, Mighty Little Bheem is the first preschool series spinoff of Chhota Bheem, an established franchise in India already watched by over 40 million kids each year. Both shows are now streaming on Netflix in over 190 countries.
Since his introduction over 10 years ago, the original Bheem character has captured the imagination of hundreds of millions of young viewers throughout India and become the leading L&M franchise in that fast growing market.
Based on a mythological character from the Indian epic The Mahabharata, the Chhota Bheem animated series began airing on Turner Broadcasting’s Pogo TV channel in 2008. The franchise has inspired several TV films and four feature films, and is the inspiration for Mighty Little Bheem. The studio’s first 3D feature film, Kung Fu Dhamaka, also inspired by the Bheem character, was released in 500 theaters in India last month.
With Mighty Little Bheem, Green Gold founder Chilaka is proving that audiences globally respond to irresistible storytelling and characters to which they relate, regardless of cultural affinities or country of origin. Much like Dora the Explorer, Coco and Moana before him, Bheem is introducing the rich history and traditions of his home country to young children across the globe. “Mighty Little Bheem is an incredible opportunity for us to bring our own brand of world class storytelling and animation to children everywhere,” said Chilaka. “We didn’t start with a mission to create a children’s series that breaks down cultural barriers, but it appears that our adorable and mischievous Bheem is doing just that,” he added.
With one of the largest studios in South Asia and this first runaway success in taking one of its characters into the international markets, Green Gold is well positioned to become a major global player in the animation industry. Chilaka noted, “It has long been my dream to create characters that children everywhere can understand and relate to.
Mighty Little Bheem is the first property we are excited to introduce to the world. There are many more to come!” ◆
For more info, visit http://www.greengold.tv/
— Green Gold founder Rajiv Chilaka “We didn’t start with a mission to create a children’s series that breaks down cultural barriers, but it appears that our adorable and mischievous Bheem is doing just that.”