Tag Archives: Edutainment Licensing

The NSPCC finds crowdfunding success for first Pantosaurus storybook following licensing plans reveal

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A crowdfunding campaign hosted by the NSPCC has raised the funds needed to put into the production the first Pantosaurus book, a story book that will help schools and families have simple, yet vital, conversations that will help keep children safe.

The successful backing is one of the first developments on the plans first detailed earlier this month for the NSPCC to begin brand-building a new children’s edutainment franchise that will encourage kids and families to have conversations around child safety and abuse without using intimidating or scary language.

Pantosaurus is a brigh yellow friendly dinosaur that helps parents, carers, and teachers #TalkPants to help support children to recognise what abuse is and how they can speak up. The new story book will be one of many modes of sharing the message of the campaign.

Created in 2013 by the NSPCC, #TalkPANTS has been helping parents, carers and teachers explain the Underwear Rule to young children aged four to eight in a simple and age-appropriate way, without using any scary words or even mentioning sex. 

Each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule, highlighting that their body belongs to them, they have a right to say no, and that they should tell an adult they trust if they’re worried or upset.

The first Pantosaurus story book will be a fun, visual way to help guide schools and families though difficult conversations in a simple and child-friendly way. With many children being visual learners, it will give parents and teachers an easy, natural way to start an important conversation. The ambition is to get the Pantosaurus story book into every primary that they visit, providing an essential resource.

The licensing programme for Pantosaurus is launching with the agents for the brand, Edutainment Licensing, at the upcoming Festival Of Licensing.

“We have a wonderful Story Bible for Pantosaurus which introduces his wider world allowing publishers to see the enormous potential for story books for children aged four to six years, for early readers aged seven to eight years and Chapter Books for children aged seven and upwards,” said Denise Deane, owner of Edutainment Licensing.

“We are excited to be showcasing this on our virtual booth during the Festival of Licensing Europe.”

Children’s charity NSPCC is entering the licensing space with Festival of Licensing launch

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The National Children’s charity, the NSPCC is entering the commercial licensing market for the first time, with plans to launch itself into the space at next month’s Festival of Licensing Europe.

The brand will be lead by the NSPCC’s Pantosaurus mascot, a bright yellow, friendly dinosaur known by millions that encourages parents, carers, and teachers to #TalkPANTS and help to keep children safe from abuse. The dynamic, pants-wearing dinosaur is on a mission to share the message, and to help support children to recognise what abuse is.

#TalkPANTS is an annual campaign created by the NSPCC that gives parents, carers and teachers the support they need to explain the Underwear Rule to young children aged four to eight in a simple and age-appropriate way, without using any scary words or even mentioning sex. 

Each letter of PANTS provides a simple but valuable rule, highlighting that their body belongs to them, that they have a right to say no, and that they should tell an adult they trust if they’re worried or upset.

The licensing programme for Pantosaurus is launching with the agents for the brand, Edutainment Licensing, at the upcoming Festival Of Licensing.

The NSPCC worked with Aardman, best known for being the team behind the famous Wallace and Gromit films, to create the Pants song and video. Featuring Pantosaurus, his family and friends in animated games and dancing, the two-minute upbeat song and catchy lyrics convey the important message in a fun, engaging way that once heard, is never forgotten.

Through a £3 million total media spend across six annual campaigns, the measured awareness of #TalkPANTS and Pantosaurus has successfully reached 2.7 million parents and carers with more than 8 million video views. The PANTS song and video has been used in mass marketing campaigns, the most recent being in August 2020.

“Our licensing strategy for Pantosaurus is underpinned by the huge awareness of the #TalkPANTS campaign, identifying licensees which share the NSPCC brand values,” said Clive Gardiner, head of digital, NSPCC.

“Since COVID19, demand for the NSPCC’s services have reached an all-time high, and it has become necessary to rapidly adapt to the changed times and find new ways to build awareness, spread important messages and generate income so the NSPCC can continue to still be here for children. Working with exciting specialist partners through commercial licensing for the first time can help achieve this.”

Research has demonstrated that Pantosaurus products will help children learn and remember the PANTS rules at their own pace. Many children are visual learners, and licensed products will give parents and teachers an easy, natural way to bring Pantosaurus and his messages into everyday life without scary words.

“It’s better to have these chats little and often and adapt it as the child gets older,” said Denise Deane, owner at Edutainment Licensing. “It will help to reinforce the messages and make sure they remember them.”

Edutainment Licensing named worldwide distribution partner for kids’ nature series Hooray Hippo

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Edutainment Licensing has been named the worldwide distribution partner for the animated series Hooray Hippo, a newly developed series from Caters Media Group that combines 2D animation with real life footage to teach children about landscapes and animals.

The series has been developed for boys and girls in the pre-school and early year age group. It is Hooray Hippo and her friend Billy the bird who travel the world using captured footage of animals in their natural habitats, filmed by top wildlife videographers, while reeling off fun facts to help children understand the world they live in.

The show will help them learn about different environments and how they might differ from their own, to identify animals and make observations about their characteristics, and to spot differences and similarities between animal species and where they live.

With offices across four continents, Caters Media Group helps power global publishers across digital, social and TV platforms with video, photo and text media. It is also dedicated to producing and sharing, original, engaging content for millions of fans across its own brands, such as Hooray Hippo, Life on the Edge, Deep Blue Discovery, Storytrender and Pawsome Pets.

Flossy and Jim lands stand-out poster position with Kennedy Publishing’s 100% Wow magazine

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Flossy and Jim, the creative team behind the Horace & Co series of children’s books has secured a stand-out poster slot within Kennedy Publishing popular tween girls’ magazine title, 100% Wow.

Aimed at girls aged nine to 12 years old, 100% Wow boasts girl-powered features, puzzles, and pop culture all designed to spark children’s imagination and inspire their creativity. In a deal brokered by Edutainment Licensing, parallels were drawn between the 100% Wow brand and Flossy and Jim, that has resulted in the character brand securing a poster position within the latest issue.

Brimming with inspiring celebs, hot trends and high-value competitions, plus popular gaming and movie content 100% Wow is designed specifically to bridge the gap between childhood interests and teen culture.

The Flossy and Jim ‘you are out of this world’ poster will feature in issue six which goes on sale from August 27th to October 1st in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda.

Horace & Co celebrates World Autism Awareness Week with BookrKids digital library

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It’s World Autism Awareness Week, and to champion the recognition and understanding of the condition among children across the UK, Horace & Co, the popular publishing property from Flossy and Jim, has just partnered with the BookrKids digital library.

Created by Lynette Dare, the co-founder of Flossy and Jim, when she began writing her own stories for her autistic son, Horace & Co uses its stories to encourage children to try new foods, meet new friends and prepare to visit new places.

The books aim to help all children relate to everyday scenarios and understand how the world works, as they discover that everyone has qualities that are different.

The BookrKids App is an easy to use library application for children aged two to ten years old and features a vast library of interactive, educational stories. The library has been curated by a panel of children’s literature experts and each is enriched with animation, narration, and text highlighting.

BookrKids also features a number of games related to particular stories, as well as sound effects and music.

“It’s proven that using the application helps children improve reading skills and develop a good relationship with stories and quality literature, while thanks to the special features, the traditional books are presented to them in a form that they can easily find attractive,” read a statement from the firm.

Edutainment Licensing named distribution UK, Australian and New Zealand distribution partner for Tiny & Tony

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Edutainment Licensing has been appointed as the distribution partner for Riki’s Tina & Tony series in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, as well as worldwide for school and library digital platforms.

The 3D series for pre-school boys and girls follows the adventures of baby hippo Tony and baby elephant Tina, two best friends who love playing games together.

They live in Cookie village with their good friends Foxy, Rabbit, Bear, Piggy and Clever Mouse – this cozy world is a reflection of games which happen inside the children’s rooms, where they make their own rules and where their favourite toys come alive.

In each episode they invent a new game following their imaginations and discover themselves in situations similar to those of real life preschool children.

There is an emphasis on the warmth and trust between the two friends and how they worry about each other which helps children develop empathy for each other.

The series is voiced by children and each episode is a complete story containing an educational adventure from which both parents and children can take away a lesson.

Flossy and Jim lands on photo-editing app Meitu as activity in China beings to pick up

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Flossy and Jim is making new headwinds in China having landed a new partnership with the global mobile app, Meitu. The deals arrives as life in China slowly begins to return to normal following a two-month period of lockdown across the region.

With partner in the region now back in the office and activity picking back up in the country, Edutainment Licensing has confirmed the new partnership that now brings Flossy and Jim to the popular photo editing app.

Available on Google Play and in the App store, and endorsed by celebrities and key influencers, the Meitu app was selected as one of iTunes top 10 apps of the year.

It has become one of the most popular photo editing apps of all time giving users access to an incredible suite of professional filters, frames, effects, stickers and other tools to turn their smartphone photos into works of art.

Launched in 2008, Meitu is a global innovator in mobile technology with its apps being used by more than 450 million monthly active users worldwide, generating more than 6 billion photos and videos each month.

Edutainment Licensing named distribution partner for FUN Union’s adventure series PinCode

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Edutainment Licensing has been named the distribution partner for FUN Union’s new adventure series, PinCode in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as worldwide for school and library digital platforms.

The 3D series for primary school children focuses on the adventures of Captain Pin and his crew and each episode contains an important and valuable science lesson as the crew members, under the leadership of Captain Pin, explore the principles of physics, chemistry and biology while traversing the world.

Each character has its own personality and strengths, bringing humour, fun and friendship to every challenge.

“We are delighted to be partnering with FUN Union to bring quality, uplifting, entertaining and educational content to our partners,” said Denise Deane, owner of Edutainment Licensing.

Diana Yurinova, CEO of FUN Union, added: “Our show highlight positive STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) role models for kids aged six to 11. Edutainment Licensing is specialised particularly in this type of content distribution, so we couldn’t imagine a better partner for PINCODE.

“Today’s children are remarkably creative, inventive and curious. They inspired us every day.”

Flossy and Jim: “The digital revolution is lifting barriers and letting in a lot of new ideas”

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Living by the sea in Devon’s picturesque Brixham, it’s little wonder why Lynette and James Dare, otherwise known as Flossy and Jim, the artistic duo behind the popular design brand of the same name, are awash with creative energy.

It’s a deep portfolio of design-driven, illustrative IP that the pair has to its name, spanning not only the world of Flossy and Jim itself, but an anthropomorphic universe of Horace (the Hamster) & Co, both of which have been developed to help support young people today.

Together, their’s is a mission to help today’s youth feel positive, a statement not only issued thought their use of bright and bold on-trend designs and the innate humour of both Flossy and Jim, and Horace & Co, but also through the way in which Lynette and James embody the brands themselves. 

Together, they both regularly present workshops n schools, talk to pupils about their personal journeys, and encourage them to believe in themselves. It’s good news, then, that the message of Flossy and Jim is beginning to travel far and wide thanks to a licensing programme that is gathering momentum under the watch of Edutainment Licensing.

Licensing.biz has a chat with Lynette and James Dare about Flossy and Jim, Horace & Co, and the latest developments for the portfolio.

It’s been a busy past few months for you guys – what do you think has fuelled or help drive the success of the brand on an international scale? How has this set you up for 2020… what are your expectations for the year ahead?

Working with young people in schools has really helped as we have been able to identify upcoming trends, find out more about our target audience and to develop our style guide. We have been able to create designs that are relatable to young people and help them feel more positive. Working with our agent at Edutainment licensing has been crucial to develop strategies and to secure deals, and attending BLE has really helped us to launch our brand in the UK and internationally.

Our expectations for 2020 is to keep working with young people, keep creating and to build our brand awareness even further.

Can you tell us a bit about Flossy and Jim and what you guys are bringing to the licensing space? How did it all begin for you, and did you foresee the kind of international recognition you have been picking up?

When we began creating the ‘Flossy and Jim’ designs in 2013, we were working part time in schools to deliver workshops to build confidence and self-esteem, by doing this we were meeting with our target audience and learning about what matters to them which helped us really understand our audience.

It became clear that a lot of these children and young adults were suffering with mental health issues and it was then that we realised that we wanted to create designs that would help, and shift the balance of negative content on social media. We never imagined that the brand would grow internationally, it has been amazing.

You guys seem to be coming from a unique angle with the more design led Flossy and Jim, combined with your approach to the publishing space through Horace & Co. How did this approach come about?

How will you now build on the recent success – what developments in licensing will you be looking towards for the year ahead?

At Flossy and Jim we create bold and bright designs that are relatable and help young people feel good. Kids love the ‘on-trend’ art style and can engage with the brands look and humour. Flossy and Jim is design led so we are able to provide new illustrations quickly and efficiently in an ever-evolving trend driven world.

The Horace and Co books were a personal project for about ten years. My son was diagnosed with autism at the age of three and we found daily activities like going to the doctor or going to the shop incredibly difficult. We discovered that drawing little stories really helped to prepare him for the next activity of the day. I looked for social stories like this to buy but could not find any so I decided to create my own.

The Horace & Co. books have been created to help children to relate to every day scenarios and understand how the world around them works. They’ll find out that everyone has qualities that are different, but those unique traits make them who they are, and loved. The titles have now been published with Signature Gifts as personalised books so the child is placed as the centre of the story.

We are currently in discussions for a really exciting publishing project that we hope to be able to share in the coming months.

It’s great to see you guys tap into the AR/XR sector. What inspired this move? How important will new and emerging technology be for the licensing space in driving innovation?

We LOVE augmented reality and we are inspired by how far technology is developing. When we got the opportunity to bring Horace the Hamster and his friends to life, how could we say no? We are very excited to work more in the AR sector and bring more designs to life.

We recently joined the government coalition ‘Future.Now’ headed by the Lord Mayor of London and we pledged that we would do what we could to ensure no young person is left behind in the digital revolution. We feel that alongside our work in schools, AR is a fantastic way to inspire children into the world of technology while they are learning and having fun.

One of the biggest changes we have seen is the challenge of being able to work with the high street retailers – this has resulted in us partnering with online retailers which has been great.

What is the health of the design space at the moment? is enough being done to encourage creativity here in the UK,

The creative sector remains one of the UK’s leading industries and from our experience of working in schools, we feel the arts should become a greater priority in the national curriculum, especially in the midst of the digital revolution.

Aside from this, it has recently been discovered that young people are on the brink of the worst ever mental health crisis. The importance of children’s self-expression as a means to a healthy and happy mind, is an essential part of their education.

A common fear amongst young people we teach is that ‘robots will take away all of their future jobs’. We always say ‘they cannot take away your imagination and creativity!’

Do you think the licensing sector is encouraging enough for creativity?

The licensing sector for us has been very encouraging. We love watching our designs go from an idea, into a product and then to market…it’s addictive actually!

What role does creativity have to play in rejuvenating the UK’s retail landscape?

Retailers are going to have to get more creative and innovative in their ideas to capture their audience in a highly saturated market. It’s going to be interesting to see how the development of technology alongside the efforts to be more ethical and sustainable will drive creativity to a whole new level.

As illustrators watching the digital revolution unfold, we can see barriers being lifted and with that comes new ideas. It’s a very exciting time.

Flossy and Jim’s Horace & Co storybooks land partnership with AR specialist Bookful

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Flossy and Jim has embarked on a new partnership with the award-winning AR app Bookful to bring the Horace & Co storybooks to its mobile library.

Bookful is the brainchild of Inception XR, a content platform that delivers extended reality (XR) to readers. It boasts a library of over 100 books and games for children, creating a universe where books are brought to life in augmented reality.

Under the new deal, the Horace & Co titles will be available for download via the app and will include Horace the Disgusted Hamster, Custard the Wibbly-Wobbly Dinosaur and Where are you Mr Blue?

Each book featured in the app – available on the App Store and Google Play – will allow children to read the story with 3D animations that can be projected in the user’s environment using AR technology. This is supported by a suite of assistive reading functions including narration, subtitles, and interactive activities to engage the reader.

“We are so excited to be bringing books to life through augmented reality, the titles are sure to entertain, educate and delight both children and parents alike,” said Denise Deane, owner of Edutainment Licensing who brokered the deal.

“Bookful is about creating meaningful screen time,” said Benny Arbel, CEO, Inception. “We are on an educational mission to get kids excited about reading, and through 3D and AR reclaim some of the digital screen time for our favourite books and stories.”

The titles are to be marketed to English Language territories worldwide and will also be available in Mandarin, Japanese and Korean for a growing number of distribution partners in Asia and beyond.