Tag Archives: Clangers

The Clangers announce magical musical plans

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International rights owner Coolabi Group and its BAFTA award winning kids show, Clangers, are celebrating a host of musical activations for the much-loved brand including partnerships with Nordoff Robbins, Amazon (for the brand-new Clangers Talk Kids+ Edition), a licensing deal with tonies and an official Clangers album release with Grammy Award winning composer, John du Prez.

Coolabi Group has announced that Clangers will be partnering once again with music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins for a brand new interactive three part series of ‘On Stage at Home Live’.

Launching on Monday 11 October at 10am with its first session followed by two more morning sessions on 18 October and 25 October, the fun and free musical Zoom sessions for preschool children will be hosted by CBeebies presenter and performer Cat Sandion and Nordoff Robbins music therapist Emily Grimes. They will feature dancing from the Clangers and a specially created kindness song for viewers to sing, dance and learn important life skills on how to be kind.

In addition, a new version of Clangers Talk Kids+ Edition, a voice-activated Alexa Skill for Amazon, is now available. Clangers Talk originally launched in 2019 and quickly became one of Alexa’s most popular kids’ skills on the device. It allows children to communicate with Clangers, who respond with whistles and songs, and now includes popular nursery rhymes and Clangers audio stories.

The brand new Clangers figurine from audio box company tonies is now available, with six magical stories voiced by Clangers narrator, Sir Michael Palin. The Clangers tonie is available from selected toy retailers, bookshops and the tonies website.

‘The Clangers Album’ by award winning composer John Du Prez, featuring the magical sounds of the Little Blue Planet, has been released on the Ocean Music label, and is available to buy in all high street and online music shops. John Du Prez has produced 18 magical tracks on the 12” LP version, available in a choice of pink and blue vinyl, and an extra four bonus tracks for the CD and digital download.

Jeremy Banks, CEO of Coolabi Group said: “We are absolutely over the moon to be announcing these brand new Clangers partnerships and product releases which celebrate all the fantastic music and sounds that make Clangers so magical and unique.“

Dr Seuss catalogues and Clangers audio adventures are landing on the Tonies platform

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Still fresh from its latest portfolio extension with Disney earlier this week, the children’s audio storytelling platform, Tonies, is continuing to roll out the classics, having welcomed the popular works of Dr Seuss as well as the British preschool sensation Clangers to its content library.

In a new partnership with Dr Seuss Enterprises, Tonies is introducing a series of five bundles showcasing the most beloved Seuss characters and stories, kicking off with The Cat in the Hat in early 2022. The deal arrives as Dr Seuss Enterprises details a new major focus on building more audio-first experiences for children.

In time for its 65th anniversary, The Cat in the Hat will be the first Dr Seuss Tonie to debut, and will feature original audio productions of some of the most iconic characters and stories, including The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, and There’s a Wocket in My Pocket.

Further titles will be unveiled in the coming months.

Susan Brandt, president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said: “Audio continues to be on the rise as parents look for new ways to entertain their kids beyond screen time, whether its audiobooks or podcasts, or something as innovative as tonies.

“The tonies team has created an experience that is verbal, tactile and inspirational for kids’ imaginations. As our team continues to bring our properties further into the world of audio, we see tonies as a cornerstone partnership.”

Christoph Frehsee, president of Tonies USA, added: “The Dr. Seuss library is filled with timeless and universally loved stories that appeal to imaginations of so many youngsters. Beginning with The Cat in the Hat, we are looking forward to bringing this whimsical world of characters to the Tonies universe in 2022 and beyond.”

But the new additions to the Tonies platform don’t end there. The system has also welcomed the popular preschool property, Clangers, to the portfolio. Narrated by Sir Michael Palin, the new Clangers Tonie figurine can be placed on top of the Toniebox to take listeners to the unique and imaginary world on the little blue planet, somewhere out in space.

Billed by the company as ‘a great introduction to the CBeebies TV show for little ones’, the new Tonie plays six adventures that take children on an exploration of the Clangers’ planet under the stars, where they will be joined by Small, Tiny, Mother, Major and Granny Clanger.

As well as encouraging independence, the stories told by the new Clangers Tonie will inspire conversations and the development of emotional bonds with parents.

Jeremy Banks, CEO of Coolabi Group, rights holders to the Clangers IP, said: “We are absolutely over the moon to be announcing this new partnership and the Clangers Tonie release. The partnership celebrates all the fantastic music and sounds that make Clangers so magical and unique.”

Pinky Laing, UK partnerships at Tonies, added: “Tonies is committed to helping children through the power and magic of storytelling. We are delighted to be working with Coolabi Group to release our new the Clangers audio Tonie for families.

“Telling the nostalgic, loveable and iconic tales of the pink, knitted creatures that live together on a little blue planet, we hope that the new Tonie will develop bonds amongst parents and their little ones.

“Fostering a love of narrative and adventure, the launch of our new Tonie continues our commitment to engage the next generation by introducing them to beloved classic stories, such as The Clangers.”

But hold on a minute. The thing about Tonie figurines is – they’re like buses. And indeed there is a whole trail of new releases for the month of August, including the new How to Train Your Dragon Tonie boasting 35 minutes of adventure with the young dragon trainer Hiccup and his loyal dragon Toothless, as well as Trolls, following the adventures of Poppy, Branch, and the residents of Troll Village, and Super Wings – a full 72 minutes of quests with Jett as the plane sets off to deliver packages to children around the world.

Coolabi’s Clangers lands on ten VOD channels across China in Fantawild partnership

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Coolabi’s award-winning preschool series, Clangers, is building its international presence having secured a major new broadcast partnership with the Chinese animation leader, Fantawild. Under the deal, the series will now be made available across all of China’s major VOD channels, including iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Youku.

The series will also be accessible on platforms such as the mobile video service NewTV, and the world’s largest IPTV operator, BEstTV. Other Chinese VOD platforms include GITV, Sino Media, and Prosee.

A total of 78 episodes from series one and two of the award-winning stop motion animation are being uploaded across 19 days, following the launch on May 15th. New episodes will air daily leading up to Children’s Day on June 1st this year. With an estimated potential audience of 700 million people across China, the show will be promoted across all of the platforms, with a supporting promotional push on social media platforms WeChat, Weibo and TikTok.

Coolabi began its partnership with Fantawild back in 2019, since which Fantawild has also engaged with a number of key licensees to introduce Clangers products to the Chinese market throughout the year.

Coolabi Group CEO, Jeremy Banks said: “We are delighted that Fantawild has been successful in placing Clangers across all of the major VOD channels in China, and look forward to introducing our lovable ‘space mice family’ to children across China following the launch on 15th May.”

Fantawild Animation Inc. is recognised as the most influential animation studio in China, specialising in the whole industrial chain from creation and production to global marketing, it has created China’s most popular cartoon Boonie Bears, and its merchandise sales reach over $467 million.

Daisy Shang, executive president of Fantawild Holdings Inc, said: “After Clangers’ long-running success in the UK and wide distribution in other parts of the world, we are very excited to share this beloved brand with Chinese audiences. Welcome to the Fantawild family and welcome to China.”

Ben Li, Deputy General Manager of Fantawild Animation Inc, said: “We are so grateful to now officially have Clangers as part of our team. The launch day on the 15th May was such an exciting moment for us. We can’t wait to see more and more of our audience grow to love Clangers as much as we do here at Fantawild.”

Coolabi Group is an independent international media group and rights owner specialising in the creation, development and brand management of high quality children’s and family intellectual property rights. The company owns the rights to over 200 book series and 20 TV series. Its shows have aired in more than 140 territories on channels including ABC, Cartoon Network, CBeebies, CBBC, Disney, Netflix, and Nickelodeon.

Coolabi’s Clangers eyes new global ventures with Jetpack Distribution worldwide deal

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The independent kids and family content distributor, Jetpack Distribution, has acquired the worldwide rights to Coolabi Group’s popular pre-school stop motion animated show, Clangers in a deal that includes three seasons of the BAFTA-winning show that currently airs on CBeebies in the UK.

The new partnership covers all audio-visual rights for territories worldwide, excluding the UK, Australia and China and arrives as part of Coolabi’s ongoing mission to extend the pre-school brand across the international scene.

The Clangers are a family of lovable, pink, mouse-like creatures who live out in space on their Little Blue Planet. The planet’s surface is peppered with holes topped with metal dustbin lids, which flip open with a ‘Clang!’ to reveal steps down to their home beneath the surface of the planet which contains a series of interconnecting tunnels and caves.

Co-produced by CBeebies, Coolabi Group and Smallfilms, the all new episodes have been animated by Factory (Scream Street, Newzoids)  in the UK.

Jetpack CEO, Dominic Gardiner, said: “Clangers has a timeless magic. It’s truly delightful for young children and their parents. As well as being highly entertaining and making them laugh, it’s helping children appreciate important developmental aspects such as team work.

“Quality content for children is imperative right now. As parents and professionals, we hugely value shows made with heart and soul which nourish young viewers.”

Allison Watkins, director of licensing and TV distribution at Coolabi, commented: “Dominic and his amazing team at Jetpack are recognised as being one of the best children’s content distributors in the world and we are delighted to have the Clangers join their family.”

Coolabi secures new content and licensing partnerships for Clangers

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The independent media group, Coolabi Group has secured a raft of new partnerships for the award-winning pre-school property, Clangers spanning a deal with Gulliver;s Theme park Resorts, new episodes on CBeebies UK, and a YouTube Kids series.

A new Clangers licensing partnership with Gulliver’s Theme Park Resorts will see the launch of a live experience aimed at families with pre-school children launching this February half term. It features a 15 minute live Clangers stage show with Tiny and Small Clanger, as well as special hotel and birthday packages,

The partnership will run across four locations throughout the year.

On top of this, new episodes of the BAFTA winning show Clangers will air on CBeebies in March and will conclude series three. Narrated by Sir Michael Palin, the new eight x 11’ episodes will follow the Clangers on a host of new experiences and adventures.

The stop-motion animation series of Clangers is also continuing its global expansion on YouTube, by bringing more episodes to YouTube Kids in the US. The first 10 episodes of series three launched this week on the streaming service.

The recently launched YouTube seriesThe Tiny and Small Clanger Show, which has accumulated over 500k views so far, uses hand puppetry and is produced by Wildbrain Spark and Coolabi Productions.

Available to watch now on the Clangers official YouTube channel, the short-form series follows Tiny and Small as they embark on lots of educational adventures together from learning about recycling and nursery rhymes, to finding out more about music, shapes and counting.

Available for licensees, Tiny & Small Dreams will feature a unisex palette on a clean white base, with pops of colour, flat character art, stitching detail and applique details. The range will be launching on the Clangers official store this quarter.

Director of content at Coolabi Group, Michael Dee, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be starting the new year with some brand new Clangers episodes on CBeebies and also celebrating our core pre-school family audience by focusing on the youngest members of the Clangers family, Tiny and Small, with a series of creative new brand extensions including live experiences and licensed apparel.

“YouTube is an essential platform for content creators to reach preschoolers. The Tiny and Small Show is full of educational messages, songs and adventure, and we are confident that it will resonate and be embraced by little Clangers fans across the globe.”