USA-based kids and family studio, Park Star Media is collaborating with South Korean toy company, Handsome Studio to co-develop and produce an animated series Uncle Mermaid, based on hit toy figurine from South Korea.
Aimed at teens and above, this slice-of-life series is about a mermaid man who moves away from his underwater city and strives to find a meaningful life among humans in the bustling city of Seoul.
A digital-first, short-format Uncle Mermaid animated series has already been completed. This year, Park Star Media will focus on developing a long format TV series for the property and is looking to secure broadcasters and distribution partners. Park Star Media will also localise and manage Uncle Mermaid comics on global web-comic platforms such as Webtoon.
The Uncle Mermaid toy figurine has grown to become an increasingly popular IP in South Korea, where it had an exhibition at the Korean Craft Museum last November.
This isn’t the first time Park Star Media has produced an animated series based on a toy line. Last year, Park Star Media joined hands with WildBrain Spark to co-produce and launch the new digital-first kids’ superhero series Super Binks, a brand also originally created as a toy figurine range in Asia. WildBrain Spark is handling YouTube channel management across the new Super Binks global channel, and the series has also been released on Amazon Video Direct.
