Tag Archives: Beano

Beano releases special edition adult comic BeanOLD as part of its Gnational Elf Service campaign

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For the first time in its 82-year history, the popular children’s comic, Beano, has produced a comic written specifically for adults. Called BeanOLD, the special edition pull-out comic can be found inside this week’s regular Beano comic.

Sir Thomas Moore, Marcus Rashford and Dominic Cummings are among the famous faces from 2020 that feature in the first ever Beano comic written specifically for grown-ups, an adult-only comic that sees Dennis the Menace’s mum and dad looking back on the events of 2020 – that’s Zoom quizzes, home schooling, delayed Bond films, and toilet roll shortages.

 BeanOLD sees Dennis’ dad Mr Menace get a new job in the Elf Service having been let go from his job at Wilbur Brown’s factory. Captain Sir Thomas Moore and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford visit Beanotown to receive honorary MBE’s (Member of the Beano Elf-service) for their efforts this year. While in town they save Christmas by rumbling Wilbur Brown and Walter Softy’s plan to steal all of the Christmas presents. Boris Johnson then lands in town and helps Wilbur Brown getaway with some help from Dominic Cummings their getaway driver.  

The comic also features the environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who offers Dennis’ dad advice on how to grow his own Christmas tree and, as a special treat for adults, Desperate Dan makes a special appearance, the first time he has appeared in a comic for eight years.

Tom Hardy also makes a guest-appearance as Dennis’ mum’s celebrity crush and Christmas present wish. 

 Mike Stirling, editorial director of Beano Studios, said: “We’ve formed our very own Gnational Elf Service to help spread laughs and keep the nation smiling this Winter. We love bringing kids laughs every week but 2020 has been so tough, that for the first time in 82 years we’ve created a comic that kids can give to adults to share some much needed Beano LOLZ.” 

  BeanOLD is part of Beano’s Gnational Elf Service which launches today. It aims to spread smiles and laughs until the end of 2020. Beano was first published in July 1938 and continued production throughout WWII to keep the nation smiling.

Every week the comic aims to bring mischief, mayhem and fun to families with stories featuring their favourite comic characters, from The Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx to Bananaman and Dennis and Gnasher.

Beano Studios brings Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed to the big screen with special episodes screenings

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Beano Studios is bringing Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed to the big screen through a distribution partnership with Generation Media that will see six hand-picked episodes of the popular series screen across the UK and Ireland this October half term.

The episodes, packaged under the Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! On The Big Screen title will air back to back in a 70 minute long screening which will also include bespoke interstitials featuring jokes and songs inbetween episodes.

Chosen episodes will include Bathmaggedon, Beat the Bus, P Factor, Spud U Love, Things Get Chilli, Molar Power, and a sneak peak at the as yet unaired episode, Thumb Wars.

Vanessa Andreis, director of franchise planning and partnerships at Beano Studios, said: “We’re very excited that our much-loved Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! Season 2 will be heading to cinemas across the UK and giving kids their first cinematic experience with their favourite Beano characters.

“Bringing Dennis & Gnasher’s adventures to the big screen will not only promise a blamtastic’ day out for families, but also introduce a new generation to the wonders of big screen entertainment.”

Greta Bisetto-Donelan, director of content at Generation Entertainment, added: “We are incredibly proud to be working with Beano Studios and some of the top exhibitors in the market, to bring such an iconic brand to the big screen.

“As we continue to expand our content distribution capabilities, cinema remains one of our key priorities. This is where our clients can showcase their brands and content, in a quality environment, to an engaged audience.”

The critically acclaimed Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! received nominations from the British Animation Awards, Kidscreen and an International Kids Emmy. The show’s second season premiered on CBBC in July 2020 with more new episodes premiering this winter.

H&A teams with Beano Studio to launch mischief-making bath accessories range

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The health, beauty, and bath accessories specialist, H&A has partnered with Beano Studio to launch a new and exclusive range of products inspired by the iconic British comic into Boots stores across the UK. The partnership was brokered by Beano’s UK licensing agency, Rocket Licensing.

Each product in the range will feature an extra element of mischief, such as a whoopie cushion, mini comic book, jokes and more, aligning the collection firmly with the Beano brand ethos. Highlights of the range include a MEga Stink Bath Set, Stink Bath Bomb, and Deniis Mug and Socks.

Licensing and marketing manager at H&A, Holly Orton, said: “We’re really excited to see this hit the shelves. Beano is a brand loved by generations and we’ve had fun developing the range. There’s definitely nothing else like it in the market and we’re looking forward to supplying some entertainment for Boots customers and their loved ones this Christmas.”

The new range from H&A forms part of an extensive licensed product offering for Beano, which continues to grow ahead of Dennis’ 70th anniversary next year.

Vanessa Andreis, franchise planning and partnerships director at Beano Studios, added: “This fantastic H&A range has allowed us to bring our unique creativity and mischievous fun to the health and beauty category. We’re thrilled to have Boots as our retail partner for this range and can’t wait for Beano fans young and small to be able to buy it or receive it across the festive period.” 

Beano secures five new licensing partners including games and health and beauty via Rocket Licensing

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Beano is expanding its presence across the apparel, games, health and beauty, food and beverage, and partyware sectors thanks to a string of five new licensing deals brokered by its licensing agency, Rocket Licensing.

On board for a fun new range of paper partyware, Smiffy’s will be offering a myriad of products including paper plates, bowls, cups, napkins and straws, as well as paper decorations and bunting to complete the Beano party set-up. The range will be sold across the High Street, grocery, independents and online.

Meanwhile, growing the offering in games and puzzles, Rocket has teamed up with Rachel Lowe to create a collection of puzzles, board games and card games for Dennis and his Beanotown friends. Product will be developed to appeal to both the adult gifting market and to kids, reflecting the cross-generational appeal of this classic British brand.

Beano confectionery in personalised packaging will also be created by Great Gifts. The unique gifting lines are set to include gift boxes, jars and advent calendars and launch across retail later this year.

Health and beauty experts H&A will also be developing a creative range of Beano products to include everyday essentials, play cosmetics, health and beauty accessories and hair care. These will be targeted at both boys and girls and launching into high street retail for autumn/winter 2020.

In licensed apparel, Park Agencies are supporting the brand, with adult and kids tees and sweats currently in development to launch into high street and online retail.

These new deals take place in the run up to Dennis’ 70th birthday in 2021, for which Beano Studios and Rocket Licensing are planning a raft of celebrations, partnerships and new product launches.

Rob Wijeratna, joint managing director of Rocket Licensing, said: “2019 was an incredibly busy and successful year for Beano, with a fabulous calendar of consumer products deals, marketing initiatives and campaigns. It’s great to be able to start 2020 with the same momentum, and five new best-in-class licensing deals for the brand, as we look ahead to a big celebration year in 2021.

“Beano continues to capture the hearts of the British public and offers a huge depth of content for great consumer products partnerships.”

Angeles Blanco, director of Global Licensing at Beano Studios, added “Adding five new partners to our licensing programme shows huge momentum as we build up to Dennis’ 70th birthday next year. We plan to continue this, adding more partners to bring Beano products to more fans, young and across the globe.”

Beano partners with World Book Day to support its Share A Million Stories campaign

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Beano has partnered with World Book Day this March 5 to support its Share A Million Stories campaign for a special edition, one-off comic strip titled A Million Stories in One.

The special strip sees Dennis reading and mashing up classic children’s tales to entertain Bea and Gnasher all in the name of World Book Day. It’s part of the charity’s own campaign calling on kids and families to Share a Million Stories during World Book Day month, running from February to March 29th.

 Alongside the special strip, Beano.com will feature a Story-O-Meter which provides kids with the building blocks to create their own stories. The online tool allows children to use millions of combinations of characters, objects and places to make their very own creations. They will then be asked to share their story with a member of their family or a friend so they can be added to Beano’s totaliser and World Book Day’s Share a Million Stories national total.

The partnership between Beano and the charity builds on Beano’s own rich, 80 year history of championing stories and reading through its use of visual story-telling and humour.

 Research from the 2013 study Books Beyond Time has shown that parents reading with their children for as little as 10 minutes a day can make a significant difference to a child’s achievement levels, while it is according to Egmont’s Print Matters More Study in 2017 that shared reading has the single biggest impact on a child’s independent reading habits.

It’s why World Book Day is calling on everyone in the UK and Ireland to share stories for 10 minutes a day in schools, libraries, bookshops, at home, everywhere and anywhere, to Share a Million Stories together.

 Children can use their £1 token to get a free World Book Day book or get £1 off any book or audiobook from tomorrow, Thursday 27th February. The aim is to get the nation behind the goal of smashing the target and log their story shares at https://www.worldbookday.com/share-a-million-stories/.

Over 400,000 children are already registered. 

Emma Scott, CEO of Beano Studios, said: “We are so happy to have partnered with World Book Day this year. Whether kids are enthusiastic or reluctant readers, Beano has always been a great comic-leap in helping kids to find great joy in reading.

“With World Book Day and our Beano Story-O-Meter at Beano.com, we are getting kids to carry on their reading adventures, so they can make their own stories and let their imaginations run wild.”

 Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day, added: “We know that children love comics, and that children are more likely to read more when they can choose what they read. World Book Day is very excited to be part of the Beano world, with Dennis, Bea and Gnasher all getting involved to help us Share a Million Stories.

“We hope they’ll inspire many more children to use their £1 World Book Day book token to choose a book of their own.” 

Beano celebrates Bananaman’s 40th birthday with special comic and online gift range

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Beano is celebrating the 40th birthday of one of the super hero world’s fruitiest creation, Bananaman, with the launch of a special edition comic, featuring an extended story for the character.

The super hero will also appear throughout all of the comic’s Dennis & Gnasher, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, and Billy Whizz strips within the special comic that hits news-stands today.

This time Bananaman’s birthday party has been crashed by a robot squid who has stolen all his powers, allowing villains to take over Beanotown. The Beanotown kids come together to defeat the baddies and free Bananaman.

Bananaman, and his alter ego Eric Wimp, first appeared in the British comic Nutty on February 16th 1980. Created by David Donaldson, writer Steve Bright and legendary artist John Geering, Bananaman turned traditional superhero tropes on their head with his hair-brained hijinks and misadventures.

In 1985 he moved across to the Dandy and after a short stint, Bananaman then appeared from 2012 in the Beano comic. Bananaman still appears in the weekly Beano comic, and stars in both The Dandy and Beano annuals each year.

Mike Stirling, editorial director of Beano Studios, said: “Get ready to peel the power. The last few years have been awash with superheroes, but none quite compare to our own barmy Bananaman.

“He might be originally from the Nutty comic but he’s Beano all the way down to his banana boots. This very special edition of the comic celebrating his 40th birthday will become a real collector’s item and treasured by fans for years to come.”

In honour of his birthday the Beano shop has released special edition Bananaman t-shirts and mugs with 15 per cent off all products for a limited time using the code BANANAS.

The range also includes dress-up costumes and ‘Man of Peel’ t-shirts.

Rachel Lowe talks a passion for bringing IP to the board gaming sector

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Rachel Lowe is the creative mind behind some of the most popular titles in the licensed board game space at the moment and a revered name when it comes to key licenses looking to expand into this ever-growing category.

2019 culminated, for Lowe, with a run of successes, whether it was receiving a joint award from the Toy Retailer’s Association for her work on the hugely popular Jumanji board game, or the launch of her newest compendium of board games and card games developed in partnership with the global entertainment platform, WWE.

But that was so last decade. This year, and with London Toy Fair, Nuremberg’s Spielwarenmesse, and London Toy Fair just around the corner, Lowe will be using the toy fair season to showcase some of the latest brands she has to her ever-growing portfolio. This includes brands, by the way, like Elf on the Shelf and the British comic classic, Beano.

Licensing.biz takes the chance to talk to Lowe about her creativity, her career path into board game design (she started out as a taxi driver), and her passion for developing IP into games.

Hello Rachel… You had another busy and successful year last year, how did your career in board games start, where did it all begin for you?

My career in board games started when I was working as a part time taxi driver to pay my way through university back in 2002. I was out on a shift one night when I stopped at some traffic lights and a thought popped into my head; “Red light – Miss a turn.” 

That thought is where it all began. 

I imagined my taxi being a miniature playing piece on a board and all the destinations I was travelling to being part of the game play and the aim of the game would be to collect as many fares as possible.If you landed on traffic lights you would pick up a card and this would either be a help or hindrance to your journey and you would have to try not to run out of fuel or lose your licence along the way.The player with the most money at the end of the shift wins.

This game became known as Destination and I started with Destination London and Destination Portsmouth which I launched in 2004 and went on to create over 30 editions including licensed games for Harry Potter, Disney Pixar, London 2012 Olympic Games and Downton Abbey. 

My career has taken me on a rollercoaster journey and through this I found the licensing is what I love the most.  So I now have a company specialising in licensed board games, puzzles and playing cards.

You have a portfolio of successful games, from the Destination portfolio to all the licensed titles you have worked on. What’s your secret – how do you tap into your creativity?

Well, I love watching TV so that helps! So a good TV series or movie that can translate into a board game is a good place to start. I have to admit to binge watching to get familiar with story lines. Then I sketch out ideas and board layouts. I have certain elements that I will always try and include to make a game work. I then work with designers to take it through the next stage of the creative process.  Sometimes I also bring in other talent to help with concept development if we have tight deadlines to work with.

Secondly, what is more rewarding, the development of licensed titles, or cooking up your own?

Having your own IP is definitely rewarding but working with huge corporations such as Sony Consumer Products and WWE to develop products for them is massively exciting. 

We work with their style guides to create product in keeping with their branding and it is exciting to see the finished product with my company logo on it for such big brands. 

You’ve found yourself being the go to name for licensing and developing licensed titles. Has this been a conscious move on your part? What was the allure? What do you bring to this space, and what do you think this space brings out in your creativity?

I have been very fortunate to work with very established brands early on in my career such as Harry Potter and Disney Pixar properties. I find it easy to come up with ideas for game-play based on the content of the licensed property. I enjoy it and I especially love going behind the scenes for movies and TV series to get ideas for the content for the games. It is an exciting part of what I do and the style guides provide the assets which our designers use to bring our ideas to life. It is a creative process and something I will always enjoy doing.

Growing up, was there a moment that you think put you on course for this life in the toy and games industry?

I don’t know if it was destiny but I do remember a few of significant things from my childhood which evoked a love a board games.

The first was when McDonalds was running a competition. I was with some school friends, I was about 13 years old and we had popped into McDonalds after school. I bought some fries and was given a ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ Scratch card. I got the answer right and I won a Trivial Pursuit Board Game! 

I posted my winning card to claim my prize and a few weeks later this huge parcel was delivered to my house. My dad brought it up to my room which I shared with my sister and I remember opening it and everyone being gobsmacked that I had one such an amazing game.

My second memory was working in a fish shop when I was 14 years old earning £1.20 per hour and saving up all of my wages (which back then was cash in a small square brown envelope). Each week I would take my wage to Woolworths and buy one board game, so one week was Cluedo, the next was Scrabble etc. We already had Monopoly (and of course Trivial Pursuit) but I really wanted my own collection of games.

My third memory was in my art class at school when I was 15 years old. Our teacher Mr Wylie gave us a board game project to do and I remember creating a board game about gardening which I loved working on. 

Mr Wylie told me a story about someone who created a game and it got manufactured. I think it had a castle in it. I thought it was the coolest thing ever but never imagined I would one day be creating and retailing my own board games.

I still have all of the games I bought when I was a teenager, including the Trivial Pursuit Game that I won from McDonalds!

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?

My proudest moment will always be achieving the number one position in Hamley’s of London with my first board game Destination London. It was my first big achievement in the Toy Industry and will always be a magical memory.

What piece of professional or design-related advice would you give to those looking to break into the career you have been so successful?

I would say the best bit of advice I can give is to surround yourself with good people. Focus on the things you are good at and out-source the things that others may do better. You don’t have to be good at everything to succeed. You just need to prioritise and delegate when needed.

Being where you are now, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

Oh my, there are so many things I would tell my younger self. But hindsight is something that doesn’t actually change anything and I am proud of everything I have achieved, even my mistakes because I learned so much from all of it.  Everything I do now is based on all of my years of experience which is priceless.

What’s the next big project for you?

I have several big projects coming, some are still embargoed. WWE is obviously an exciting one that we have just launched but I also have signed with Elf on the Shelf for 2020 and also Beano.   

Rachel Lowe will be exhibiting at London Toy Fair (Stand GH16), Spring Fair Birmingham (Hall 5, Stand 5J60) and Nuremberg, Germany (Hall 10.0 Stand D-20).