SINGAPORE, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Singapore broadcaster giant MediaCorp and leading Japanese animation company Madhouse Inc Monday announced a collaboration on a 13 million U.S. dollar computer-generated 3D anime feature film called Yona Yona Penguin.

    The animation film will be directed by renowned Japanese animator Rintaro, who's made his mark in Japanese anime as the creator of Astro Boy.

    Yona Yona Penguin will be presented in Japanese and French with English subtitles. It is targeted for worldwide theatrical release in the middle of next year.

    Lucas Chow, chief executive officer of MediaCorp, said at a contract signing ceremony here Monday that it was the first step to a potential long-term collaboration with Madhouse.

    CEO of Madhouse Jungo Maruta said the collaboration is one step forward in taking Japanese animation to the international markets.

    Singapore aims to establish itself as the region's hub for media businesses and the financing, making and trading of media content and services.

    From 2003 to 2007, Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) seeded about 190 million Singapore dollars (about 140 million U.S. dollars) worth of co-production deals.

    The latest was an agreement between the MDA and British distributor Fremantle Media Enterprise to invest in multi-media projects from Singapore-based producers.