Disney Junior presents first-ever Fun Fest

The first-ever Disney Junior Fun Fest, a one-day event celebrating the entertaining and music-filled stories of the number-one preschool TV network’s hit series, will bring the magic straight to fans on Friday April 29. 

Held at Disney California Adventure park in Anaheim, California, the one-day event will include sneak peeks at upcoming Disney Junior series, special announcements, surprise appearances, a “Doc McStuffins” stage show highlighting 10 years of the beloved series, and an “Alice’s Wonderland Bakery Unbirthday Party”, a hands-on cupcake decorating course inspired by the new Disney Junior series that is also being offered for guests throughout Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival from March 4 through April 26.

The event will kick off in the morning with a cavalcade of Disney Junior characters welcoming fans and making their way through the park. Throughout the day, there will be main-stage attractions with fun games, trivia and music to keep preschoolers and their families singing and dancing together. Guests can also enjoy regular Disney Junior programming at Disney California Adventure park, including the “Disney Junior Dance Party!” and the “Spidey and his Amazing Friends” photo wall at the Hollywood Backlot.

Additional details, a schedule of events and special appearances will be announced soon.

 

Entertainment One’s PJ Masks to make season six return with global launch on Disney Junior

Hasbro’s global entertainment studio, Entertainment One will see its popular preschool series, PJ Masks return for a sixth season as it launches globally on Disney Junior in 2023.

Season six will see the superhero trio Catboy, Owlette, and Gekko make their return for ‘their greatest adventures yet,’ as they encounter all new villains in the city, a new planet in outer space, and the discovery of a new frozen wilderness.

“Our audiences can’t get enough of Catboy, Owlette and Gekko, and we’re excited to introduce them to even more friends in season six,” said Olivier Dumont, president of family brands at eOne. “Disney Junior has long been a key global partner and supporter of the series and we’re so happy to continue our relationship with them and take the brand to new heights.”

 PJ Masks has become a global phenomenon since its launch on Disney Junior in 2015 as a leading storyteller for preschoolers across the globe, broadcast in over 180 territories worldwide across several FTA and VOD platforms. The heroes have a digital footprint including 17 billion lifetime views globally on YouTube and 216 million global music streams as well as 138 million lifetime app downloads.

The brand is also maximized through a multitude of consumer products programmes from apparel and role play, to publishing and location-based entertainment, firmly established in 85 markets worldwide – with the sixth season being brought to life at retail with a new full line of toys from Hasbro from 2023.

PJ MASKS Season Six will launch with 52 x 11-minute episodes, including three super feature-length 44-minute episodes and six half-hour specials that tap into the exciting new themes that preschoolers will love.

Boat Rocker Studios taps Haven for Dino Ranch licensing programme in Australia and New Zealand

Boat Rocker Studios is strengthening the licensing presence for its popular animated pre-school series, Dino Ranch across Australia and New Zealand, with the appointment of the leading Australian agency, Haven.

The award-winning licensing agency will be actively seeking partners across a wide range of categories for the new series, drawing on its more than 25 years’ experience of delivering brand extension programmes for high profile properties.

Haven’s appointment has been made to coincide with the launch of the 3D animated Dino Ranch series on Disney+ in Australia this month, following its successful premiere on Disney Junior and DisneyNOW in the US in January. The show currently ranks as the number one US cable series among children aged two to five, while the official Dino Ranch YouTube channel has reached 5.14 million views and 2.8 million unique viewers within just nine weeks of launch.

Tom Punch, founder and managing director, Haven said: “We’re delighted to be working with Boat Rocker on this dynamic new series. It’s so fresh, diverse and relatable – there’s nothing else quite like it and we know that audiences across Australia and New Zealand are going to be as excited as we are with Dino Ranch.”

Dino Ranch, created by Matt Fernandes of Industrial Brothers and produced by Industrial Brothers and Boat Rocker Studios, is full of dino-driven fun and allows young viewers at home to discover the thrill of ranch life while navigating the great outdoors. It also introduces preschoolers to problem solving, the foundations of forging life-long friendships, strengthening family and community bonds.

Kate Schlomann, EVP brand management and content marketing, Boat Rocker Media, said: “We’re very pleased to announce that Haven are saddling up for Dino Ranch licensing in Australia and New Zealand. Their vast knowledge and experience of these key territories, coupled with the immense appeal of our unique and thrilling new show, should soon round up a whole herd of great new licensees across multiple categories.”

BBC Studios taps Brainbase Assist to power its growing licensing programme for Bluey

BBC Studios has underscored its commitment to the Bluey licensing programme, turning to the end-to-end IP management firm Brainbase and its Assist platform to help it streamline and manage its global licensing operations for the popular pre-school property.

The move comes as BBC Studios continues to grow the successful Bluey brand in the consumer products and licensing sector. The collaborations will enable BBC to ‘make strategic franchise decisions’ all based on insights garnered from the Assist platform.

Brainbase is a venture backed company specialising in IP management.

“We are ecstatic to welcome BBC Studios to the Brainbase family,” said Brainbase co-founder and CEO, Nate Cavanaugh. “Our team is excited to see Bluey’s consumer products come to life on our platform, and to provide best-in-class technology to support its globally-recognised IP and rapidly growing consumer products business.”

Bluey has seen a surge in demand from audiences since it started airing on Disney Junior and Disney Channel in the US and becoming available to stream on Disney+.

“As we continue to grow the wildly successful Bluey brand, we noticed an increasing need to create an intuitive and collaborative centralized system,” said Suzy Raia, VP consumer products and business development, BBC Studios.

“We are beginning our relationship with Brainbase to improve partner management and help us make strategic franchise decisions based on insights.”

Brainbase’s flagship product, Brainbase Assist, helps licensing teams unify their global operations into a single software platform – from deals, product approvals, royalty reporting, digital asset management, and dashboard analytics.

Top licensed properties for BBC Studios include Bluey, the multi-award-winning animated preschool series that has taken Australia and the US by storm; Doctor Who, one of the longest running action-adventure television series in the world spanning 56 years and winning over 100 awards; and His Dark Materials, with the launch of a dedicated global online store following the successful debut of the second season on HBO.

BBC Studios joins a Brainbase customer roster with leading brands including Bonnier, BuzzFeed, kathy ireland Worldwide, Sanrio, the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty, SYBO Games and the Van Gogh Museum, among others.

Chuggington: Tales from the Rails lines up European broadcast partners including UK’s CBeebies

Herschend Entertainment Studios’ new pre-school series Chuggington: Tales from the Rails, will make its debut across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Poland via a raft of new broadcasting partners from early 2021.

The series has been picked up by CBeebies, RTE, TF1, Super RTL, and TVP ABC. The European broadcasters will begin airing the series from early next year, following the US launch on Disney Junior and DisneyNOW in June.

“Disney Junior US, CBeebies, RTÉ, TF1, SUPER RTL, and TVP ABC have each entertained children with the fun adventures of Chuggington from the very beginning,” said Natalie Setton, HES’ vice president commercial, content distribution, and licensing.

“The new episodes of Chuggington are as relevant to today’s preschoolers as ever before and we are thrilled to have our long-running broadcasters give the “gold-seal” of approval on our fresh content packed with new themes, humor, and stories, created for an all new audience.”

Chuggington: Tales from the Rails introduces an all-new audience to the three young trainee trains, Wilson, Koko, and Brewster as they ride the rails on new adventures of teamwork, friendship, and fun. The new series digs deep into unique locations and character personalities to explore the dynamic world of Chuggington that’s home to a diverse and playful community of trains known as Chuggers.

European broadcasters will also be supporting the countrywide premieres of Chuggington: Tales from the Rails with the launch of a series of animated/live-action hybrid shorts,Discover Chuggington: All Aboard, featuring real kids who are transported into the fictional 3D world and interact with the characters through activities, adventure, and music.

Licensing agents across the regions will be announced shortly, covering key category offerings and product mix, including publishing, secondary toys, puzzles and games, food and drink, sleepwear and apparel, and bedding.

The new toy line from Alpha Group, the franchise’s global master toy partner, is set to debut at retail in Autumn 2021.

One Animation lands Disney Channels US deal for Oddbods Halloween and Christmas specials

One Animation has secured a new deal with Disney Channels US to bring a package of long-form seasonal specials and shorts of the popular animated comedy series Oddbods to air across Disney XD, Disney Junior, and in DisneyNOW for the coming Halloween and Christmas period.

The Halloween-themed special Party Monsters and the Christmas-themed special The Festive Menace will air on Disney XD, Disney Junior, and in DisneyNOW. Also part of the package is pirate adventure Oddbeard’s Curse, and additional Halloween and Christmas shorts, which will air on Disney XD and in DisneyNOW.

Michele Schofield, SVP, content distribution at One Animation, said: “We are very excited this package of Oddbods seasonal content has found a home on Disney XD and Disney Junior in the US. Each of these episodes and shorts is brimming with the humour and charming adventures Oddbods fans know and love, and we look forward to bringing some seasonal magic to viewers over Halloween and Christmas with these dedicated specials and shorts.”

The latest deal builds upon Disney Channel US’ previous acquisition of season one of Oddbods short-form episodes, which first debuted on Disney XD in 2015 and later in DisneyNOW. Oddbods has also recently been nominated for its third International Emmy Kids Award, with season three of the show being shortlisted under the ‘Kids Animation’ category.

Oddbods is a three-time Emmy Award-nominated, non-dialogue comedy featuring seven highly unique pals. Together, despite their differences, they survive the perils of everyday life, unintentionally turning ordinary situations into unexpected, extraordinary and always humorous events.