Kikoriki
Kikoriki, known in the United States as GoGoRiki or BalloonToons and in Russia as Smeshariki (), is a Russian animated television series consisting of 209 episodes of 6 minutes and 30 seconds each, aimed at children of 3 to 8 years. This series uses flash animation. The first episode premiered in Russia on May 17, 2004. The Kikoriki are stylized rounded animals. Its Russian name, Smeshariki, is based on the words "funny" and "little balls". The series includes complex themes and specific cultural references. The series is aired in 60 countries, is translated to 15 languages and has an everyday  audience of 50 million people. The audience in China surpasses the audience in Russia. As of 2020, episodes are currently available on KinoPoisk in Russia. Distribution. English-language distribution rights to the series were acquired by 4Kids Entertainment from worldwide distributor Fun Game Media, Munich and began airing as part of The CW4Kids block on The CW on September 13, 2008, under the name GoGoRiki. "GoGoRiki" began its second season in the United States on August 22, 2009. Fun Game Media was also producing a European version, which began airing on KI.KA on December 8, 2008. Since February 2017, all  rights to Kikoriki and PinCode outside of the CIS territories, including Kikoriki episodes in all languages other than Russian, are owned by FUN Union. Creators. The series of Kikoriki was created as part of the cultural-educational project "World Without Violence" within the Russian federal program "Forming bulwarks of tolerance and preventing extremism in Russian society". It is made with the help of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and with the participation of the company "Master-Film" at the computer animation studio "Peterburg", which was created in March 2000 specifically for "Smeshariki". Films. On January 24, 2007 , it was announced that a "Smeshariki"/"Kikoriki" feature film was to be made by the St. Petersburg company "Marmelad-media" (which owns the brand) to be released in December 2011. This film was shot in 3D CGI, unlike the 2D Flash-animated series. An initial budget of $1 million was given to produce a "test film" to show to international partners. According to Marmelad-media's general director Ilya Popov, the final budget would depend on a number of factors, such as whether it will be sold internationally (in which case the budget would be up to $15 million ) or limited to Russia (in which case it will cost around $3–4 million). Popov considered spending anything over $5 million to be unprofitable (the highest-grossing Russian animated film to date, "Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber", cost $2.5 million and made just under $10 million; since around half of the profits usually go to the distributors, if it had cost over $5 million it would not have been profitable). The film was released domestically in December 2011, but received a limited release in the UK in early 2012. The film was considered a well -thought-through prequel, its plot explaining events that brought the nine animal characters together in the first place. Two other films entitled "Kikoriki: Legend of the Golden Dragon" and "Kikoriki: Deja Vu" were released on March 17, 2016 and April 26, 2018. Spinoffs of Kikoriki. The ABCs of Safety (2006–2012). "The ABCs of Safety of the Kikoriki" () is a series of instructional and educational short cartoons. A total of 73 episodes were issued, lasting either one minute and thirty seconds, or the conventional six minutes and thirty seconds. Each episode was part of several categories: traffic safety, , health, morals, reading  skills, children's rights, etc. After a long hiatus, in August 2017, a new category of episodes, titled "ABCs of the Internet" debuted, where the characters are taught to work on the Internet. New Adventures. "Kikoriki. New Adventures" () is a series of 3D CGI shorts starring the original characters, designed as a continuation of the original 2D shorts. It was broadcast from October 27, 2012 to December 28, 2013, consisting of 57 episodes. This series was scheduled for November 11, 2011, but the actual premiere on the "Channel One" was held on October 27, 2012. Sport. This is a continuation  of "Kikoriki. New Adventures" which also uses 3D CG graphics. The premiere is dated September 1, 2017, and took place on the official YouTube channel of this animated series. Pin-Code. "Pin-Code" () is an educational spinoff designed to develop interest in inventing, programming and science in children from 4 to 14 years old. Initially, it was supposed to be done in flash-animation (such as the pilot episode "Rescuing the Departing"), but later this idea was abandoned and production began in 3D computer animation instead. The show airs on Channel One on Sundays at 8:45 at Moscow time. From  January 18, 2015 to February 7, 2016, the new season of the series aired under the title "Leap to the Future". In the first season, the characters travel on Sharolyot, a ship invented by Pin, which can travel through the air, under the water, underground, and even in space. The adventures of the heroes are accompanied by stories of Losyash and Pin about the world around them. Each episode of the season, having the subtitle "Nobel Season", ends with information about Nobel Prize winners (narrated by Andrei Levin). The plot of the second season "Jump to the Future" is built  around time travel, in which the characters are sent using the unique invention, the "Sharoscope-3000" (), capable of answering any scientific questions. Pin thinks that it is impossible to interfere with the opening of the future, and Losyash, on the contrary, is obsessed with the idea of knowing everything. Now all the Smeshariki are used to the Sharoscope and they learn about the inventions of the future. September 1, 2017 marked the premiere of the new, third season of the "Pin-Code". BabyRiki. This is a preschool version of this series and was created with the same company, being named BabyRiki . Panda and Kikoriki. In May 2019, in Beijing as part of the talks between Asian civilizations, Russian and Chinese animators have made two agreements regarding cooperation, one of which involves the joint creation of the cartoon entitled Panda and Kikoriki (). The Chinese side of this project will be represented by the animation division of the Central Television Agency of China. After 8 years of break, the show has been renewed for official 3rd season, which serves as a continuation for the original 2D animated series; it has been sponsored by Yandex and the new 52 episodes will be available exclusively  on a streaming service Kinopoisk HD. Merchandise. Character stickers on bananas depicting a Kikoriki character holding a peeled banana have been used by Russian company Navkus (Навкус) and a banana sticker promoting the show has the line "Poprobuy Mul'tik Na Vkus" ("Taste the Cartoon"). Video game. A Club Penguin-like video game based on the series was released and titled in Russian "Шарарам". An English version of the game was released under the title of "RolyPolyLand", that didn't last as long.