Toonami, Cartoonito Move to Southeast Asia

Cartoon Network Asia Pacific has been treating its viewers rather well over the past few years, busily refreshing partnerships with local animators and dropping in a brand new HD feed (as of January 2012). CN HD was reportedly the first children's HD channel for the southern/southeastern Asia region. But there's more: TBS Asia Pacific is planning to invest a bit more time into action/adventure animation as well as cartoons for the younger set with the unveiling of localized Toonami and Cartoonito channels. Announced last week, the two new channels will take their cue from existing programming segments from around the world in Europe and the U.S., where previously launched feeds have earned varying success.

Going live in early 2013, Toonami will have a programming mandate similar to what animation fans might recall of the brand's earliest U.S. incarnation. Young Justice, Dragonball Z, and several other action cartoons will populate the schedule of the new channel at all hours of the day. The network will focus on bringing local viewers an array of animation that generally demands an adrenaline rush or two. Cartoonito, by contrast, dedicates its airwaves to younger kids aged three- and seven-years-old. Broadcasting in a number of international territories, Cartoonito may well pull from a stable of cartoons along the lines of Jelly Jamm, Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Chloe's Closet, which currently air on the networks' European extensions.

"The addition of Toonami and Cartoonito means that Turner will now offer a robust kids' entertainment experience for all ages and interests," Sunny Saha, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Entertainment Networks, Turner Int'l Asia Pacific, commented. "We're bringing two of Turner's highly successful international brands to Asia to meet a growing demand for premium quality action-adventure and younger-skewing content."

Toonami has earned a bit of a revival stateside, but it's upcoming launch in southeastern Asia will hit on all the marks the Toonami brand established many years earlier: eastern and western animation with a bit of a kick.

Popular and enduring anime programming and superhero-focused western cartoons are currently at the top of the list. Batman: the Brave and the Bold, for example, is noted among the launch titles for this new, multi-platform and multi-lingual Toonami.

Cartoonito already calls a number of countries home -- France, Denmark, the UK, Italy, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, and so forth. These channels broadcast everything from Strawberry Shortcake and

Garfield to Scooby-Doo! and Hong Kong Phooey. For the 2013 launch of Cartoonito in southeastern Asia, My Little Pony and Noddy are among the programming highlights. According to TBS Asia Pacific, Cartoonito will be broadcast in HD.