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Moonbug Entertainment acquires Blippi and Cocomelon to become world’s largest digital kids media firm

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Moonbug Entertainment has acquired the popular kids’ entertainment properties Blippi and Cocomelon. It’s a move to become one of the world’s largest digital kids media companies.

 Blippi is a live-action program that has struck a chord with parents and kids through its engaging and accessible educational content, successful toy line, and sell out live shows, while CoComelon – the world’s largest YouTube channel – brings an animated show whose hallmark positivity helps kids constructively go about their daily routines.

These acquisitions boost Moonbug’s monthly subscribers to over 235 million across its more than 100 platforms globally, with more than 7 billion average monthly views, making the outfit the largest digital kids entertainment company in the world.

“Blippi and CoComelon represent what lies ahead in the years to come for children’s entertainment: dynamic characters with a close relationship to their audience through content, licensing, merchandise, and social media. We could not be more excited to welcome these shows to our line up,” said René Rechtman, co-founder and CEO of Moonbug.

“Moonbug is transforming the industry by constantly creating new content, forming strong partnerships with merchandisers, and making entertainment more accessible to viewers,” said Simon Philips, senior in-house advisor at Moonbug. “Digital-first properties are at the forefront of children’s programming and revolutionizing the way families consume content – with these new acquisitions, Moonbug is a proven leader in the industry.”

Moonbug plans to apply its model of rapidly scaling the brands with proven global potential by adding characters and storylines and distributing the shows more broadly across its global distribution network. By expanding their content and reach, Moonbug will enable both shows to leverage new licensing and merchandising opportunities, as well as original productions and new brand partnerships.

By coordinating content and product releases, Moonbug has the ability to analyze data and work with retailers to address trends in real time–rather than looking back at what was successful after the fact or guessing at what might be successful in the future.

Investors have taken notice of Moonbug’s success in applying its model to its current programming line up, including Little Baby Bum, My Magic Pet Morphle, Supa Strikas and many more. The recent $120 million financing round was led by Growth Equity (GS Growth), part of Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division, and Fertitta Capital. The Raine Group and Felix Capital participated.

Funds will be used for growth and to make additional acquisitions in the continued drive by Moonbug to consolidate the most interesting and popular properties in the kids space.

Pokemon launches its first board game: Pokemon Trading Card Game Battle Academy

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The Pokemon Company International has released the first board game adaptation of its best-selling Pokémon Trading Card Game – the Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy – at participating mass and hobby retailers around the world.

Designed for Trainers of all types, including parents and children who may be new to the Pokémon TCG, Battle Academy reimagines strategic Pokémon TCG gameplay as an ‘easy-to-learn’ experience for the family. The launch of the game will also be rolled out across PokemonCenter.com, the official online destination for Pokémon merchandise in the US.

“For more than 20 years the beloved Pokemon Trading Card Game has connected people across the globe over their shared love of collecting cool cards, trading them with friends, and playing the official game,” said JC Smith, senior director of consumer marketing at The Pokemon Company International.

“With Battle Academy, we are excited to give families a fun and accessible way to spend quality time together while bonding over someting both kids and longtime fans of the franchise adore: Pokemon TCG cards.”

The game comes with everything needed to master the basics of the Pokemon TCG, and each Battle Academy box comes with a two-player game board, three 60 card decks, tutorial guides, gameplay accessories, and a code for the free-to-play Pokemon Trading Card Game Online on iOS, Android and on Pokemon.com. 

Thomas & Friends celebrates International Friendship Day with interactive mosaic image

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Thomas & Friends unveiled a new digital artwork by renowned artist Nathan Wyburn to celebrate this year’s International Friendship Day on July 30th. The interactive mosaic image is made up of 400 pictures made by children from around the UK of themselves with their friends which they drew on their return to nursery and pre-school earlier this month.

The interactive mosaic image features a zoom function that allows viewers to look up close at each individual picture that collectively make up a gigantic image of Thomas, The Fat Controller and Royal engine Duchess based on a poster image of ‘Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine’, the episode which aired earlier this year as part of the brand’s 75th Anniversary celebrations.

The successful 22-mins special featured an introduction from Harry, the Duke of Sussex and starred actress Rosamund Pike as the voice of royal engine Duchess and now has its own toy line available to buy in shops and online.

Children from around the country have shared their drawings of themselves with their best friends. Plus, some exciting friends of the brand including Peter Andre, whose son, Theo and daughter, Millie have also joined in the fun.

The picture also includes some well-known celebrity friendships, including Ant and Dec, Ed Sheeran and Stormzy, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton and Idris Elba and Dwayne Johnson. These images were drawn by Thomas & Friends book illustrator, Daniel Crisp and included in the digital artwork for people to hunt for at www.thomasfriendshipday.com

Claudia Caron, marketing manager at Mattel, said: “In this special 75th anniversary year for Thomas & Friends, we are celebrating friendship in as many ways as possible. This includes taking a look at what it means to be a good friend and how we can nurture these important relationships, so they bring us a lifetime of joy and happiness.

“We know how difficult it has been for children not being able to see their friends recently, so we wanted to commission this very special artwork made up of all their pictures to immortalise these special friendships, and to raise a smile amongst everyone who sees it during these challenging times.”

The partnership is also being supported with further marketing support, including digital and social activations.

 

Panini UK: “We had large numbers of requests from UK Tour de France fans, so we listened”

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Panini UK will be working with Tour de France organisers this year with campaigns running across its social media platforms to engage the cycling community in its 2020 Tour de France stickers and cards collection. Its UK launch arrives in direct response to a ‘large number of requests’ from UK fans.

The new launch – scheduled for this August 6th – will mark the first time that Panini UK and Eire has overseen its own Tour de France collection. The new stickers and cards collection arrives on UK shores following a surge in the number of requests from UK Tour fans when the collection launched to the international market for last year’s event.

The 2020 Tour de France – while moved back to a start date of August 29th this year – is one of the few sporting events not to be cancelled this year owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chris Clover, head of marketing, sport, at Panini UK, told Licensing.biz: “Panini UK and Eire are really excited to be launching our first Tour de France collection this year. We have received a large number of requests from UK Tour fans, asking us to bring the collection to our shores, and we have listened.

“As a global leader in sports collectables, Panini understands the huge passion and following that the Tour has this side of the channel, and we can’t wait to let collectors get their hands on the new album.”

Panini launched its first international partnership with the Tour de France last year. The 2020 event will be the first time Panini UK brings the collectables collection to the UK.

“Last year was the first that Panini launched an official Grand Tour collection and we are incredibly proud to have been entrusted with creating a collection for such a historical event, which means so much to cycling fans all over the World,” said Clover.

“We will be ensuring the collection has a promotional platform designed to get albums to all the fans that we know are keen to start collecting and we will be working closely with the Tour organisers across our social media to engage the cycling community.”

Six new licensing deals takes Peaky Blinders into new categories for Q4 ‘retail boost’

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Endemol Shine Group, alongside the brand owner and production company Caryn Mandabach Productions, has detailed a suite of six new licensees – spanning a new and varied product range –  inspired by the multi-award-winning hit series Peaky Blinders.

It’s believed by the licensing unit that the new products across multiple consumer categories will provide a ‘much-needed boost to the retail industry for Q4’ and have been billed as perfect additions to any Peaky Blinders fan’s Christmas lists.

Already an existing licensee, Half Moon Bay, who have a successful range of glassware, will be launching a premium range of mugs, shot glasses, whiskey stones and hip flasks inspired by the property.

Meanwhile, Kimm and Miller is launching a range of crafted, bespoke gift sets which will include tea and ceramic mug gift set and a whiskey fudge tin gift set. Both ranges will be available in major retailers in AW20.

The boutique bedding specialist Dreamtex Ltd will be launching bedlinen, flannel blankets and a towel, all featuring the Shelby Company branding in a simple black and white design. Reversible bedding sets will be available in single, double and king sizes to cater for all ages.

In the entertainment space, Steamforged Games is bringing Peaky Blinders to table tops with an official card game, Peaky BlindersTM: The Card Game featuring the iconic characters that fans know and love. In the true spirit of the award winning TV drama, the game centres on bluffing and tricking your opponents and will be suitable for three to six players.

Following on from the success of the board game which sold out across multiple retailers, Just Media has developed a Peaky Blinders travel game which will incorporate elements of the current strategic board game, slated for release next year.

Fans will be finally able to host the ultimate Peaky Blinders themed party thanks to a range of party accessories that Smiffy’s will launch in time for Halloween, together with fancy dress outfits inspired by the main characters.

Funiglobal has also come on board as the international e-commerce destination for the Peaky Blinders fancy dress costumes for both Men and Ladies, available for our fans to buy in time for Halloween.

Other forthcoming products include the first licensed videogame, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind from Curve Digital which will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC later this summer.

Jane Smith, group director, brand licensing and gaming, Endemol Shine Group said: “Landing deals with six new licensees demonstrates the strength of Peaky Blinders and its place in the market, and I am thrilled this popular brand shows no signs of slowing down. These latest products are for very different retail areas and without a doubt will bring something for every fan out there.”

Susan Waddell, commercial director, Caryn Mandabach Productions, added: “We are delighted that the fans of the show will now have an even broader range of officially licensed Peaky Blinders inspired products.”

Created and written by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises and Locke), the multi-award-winning BBC One series is produced by Peaky Blinders official brand owner Caryn Mandabach Productions and Endemol Shine Group’s Tiger Aspect Productions.

Endemol Shine Group represent a range of global ancillary rights for Peaky Blinders which is distributed by Endemol Shine International across more than 183 countries and airs widely on Netflix internationally including the USA.

In July 2020 Endemol Shine Group was acquired by Banijay, creating the world’s largest international content producer and distributor spanning 22 territories with over 120 production companies and a multi-genre catalogue boasting over 88,000 hours of original standout programming.

Kids Insights now launches into Canada and Australia as its global expansion continues

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Kids Insights, part of the kids’ market intelligence experts, The Insights People, is continuing its global expansion plans in order to meet the growing international market demand, with new launches into the Canadian and Australian markets. By adding the regions to its roster, they become the 10th and 11th operational markets for the firm.

This follows the company’s recent expansions into Brazil and Mexico, where it launched earlier this year.

Both Kids Insights Australia and Kids Insights Canada will be surveying 400 age and gender representative children between the ages of three and 18 in each respective country every week – or 21,000 a year – enabling the business to provide its data to clients in real-time and monthly insight reports identifying, tracking and evaluating current trends.

The launch into these two markets means that the company now surveys more than 4,000 children a week, and will now be surveying more than 200,000 kids a year across five continents and 11 countries in total.

The Insights People now operates in the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and Canada, and works with clients such as Amazon, F1, LEGO, MediaCom, Pokemon, SEGA, Warner Bros and Viacom and has recently grown to a team of 31 based in Manchester city centre.

Nick Richardson, CEO of The Insights People said: “We are delighted to be launching into both Australia and Canada. Like all of the markets in which we operate in, these markets are going through an extensive period of change. Agencies and brands are looking to understand these fluid and dynamic markets, and we have supported these countries and have also received huge demand for our award-winning service.

“Launching Kids Insights in Australia and Canada also represent an important milestone, as we are now surveying an additional 21,000 children in both countries, giving us a new total of 200,000 a year, and providing all of this data to our clients in real-time with expert analysis from our growing team of researchers and analysts.

“We look forward to supporting businesses in Australia and Canada and businesses looking to enter these markets with industry-leading independent data and insights.”

The company will also host a free a webinar under the title “The New Normal Within Kids Ecosystem”, which will be taking place on August 5th. This webinar will give attendees the chance to get an unrivalled overview of the changing nature of children’s attitudes, behaviours and consumption patterns as well as identifying some of the latest trends to watch out for.

To register for the free webinar, visit http://kidsinsights.com/webinar/

Anime specialist Crunchyroll hits 3 million streaming subscribers

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The anime specialist, Crunchyroll has hit a new milestone of 3 million subscribers to its global streaming service, highlighting both the growing audience for the animation genre and the platform’s own accelerating growth.

The WarnerMedia-owned business was founded in 2006 and had reached one million streaming subscribers in 2016. By the end of 2018 it had reached the 2 million subscribers mark. Having started out as a San Francisco-based online forum for uploaded anime clips and message boards, it has grown to over 70 million registered users in 200 countries.

The platform now proposes to be the world’s largest anime library with more than 1,000 titles and 30,000 episodes. Last year, Crunchyroll found a new home under WarnerMedia as part of the entertainment giant’s launch plans for HBO Max and a hub of anime curated by Crunchyroll.

The anime platform also recently detailed a slate of summer licensing partnerships across a plethora of categories and series.

“We are excited to announce these new licensing partnerships that serve our fans with quality products based on the shows they are passionate about,” said John Leonhardt, head of consumer products.

Titles from across the Crunchyroll portfolio that will enjoy new licensing partnerships include Bananya, Black Clover, Food Wars, and Mobile Suit Gundam, which will see new apparel and accessory ranges launch via Bioworld and posters from Trends International; Given which has been granted to both Great Eastern and Bioworld for apparel and accessories; Welcome to Demon School! Iruma Kun, Haikyu, The Quintessential Quintuplets, Sarazanmai, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, which have each been granted to Great Eastern for apparel and accessories; and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Dr Stone, Mob Psycho 100, and Yuri!!! on Ice, which were granted to Trends International for posters.

On top of this, The Junji Ito Cat Diary: Yon & Mu was granted to Ripple Junction for apparel and accessories, and Radiant was granted to Bioworld for apparel and accessories.

Other titles available for license include the new Crunchyroll Originals Tower of God, a dark fantasy action series, and The God of High School, a high-energy tournament competition series, both based on Webtoon comics of the same name, as well as Onyx Equinox, the story of a young Aztec boy fighting for humanity in Mesoamerica.

Crunchyroll currently manages all-rights for more than 350 anime titles, working with more than 100 global licensees to provide anime fans with the best lifestyle, fashion, and home goods products from their favourite series.

Crunchyroll also operates a direct to consumer retail destination, which recently launched a Godzilla streetwear collection with Toho International, Inc. through the in house streetwear brand Crunchyroll Loves. This DTC fan connection is further strengthened by Crunchyroll’s robust online community, with more than 40 million followers across social media.

 

Genius Brands International rolls out its Kartoon Channel! app to iOS as it looks to take on Netflix and Disney+

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Genius Brands International has extended the launch of its new, free digital Kartoon Channel to iOS with a new dedicated Kartoon Channel! app available on Apple iOS. It follows it initial launch across multiple AVOD and OTT platforms last month.

Kartoon Channel! was launched onto the scene as a rival to the Netflix and Disney+ streaming platforms, to offer kids a library of content, including Genius Brands originals and acquired content including the likes of Babar, Angry Birds, Stan Lee’s Mighty7, Baby Genius, Llama Llama, and more.

It’s according to GBI that the Kartoon Channel! has already seen a ‘groundswell of growth’ since its launch on June 15th 2020.

Margaret Loesch, executive chairman of Kartoon Channel!, said: “There are great platforms available today for kids, such as Netflix and Disney+, however, they are pay platforms.”

Andy Heyward, Genius Brands Chairman and CEO, added: “There are two attributes that distinguish Kartoon Channel! from them. First, our Kartoon Channel! is free. When we launched this platform, we were very clear that we would be ‘like a Netflix for kids, but free’.

“In today’s times where families are challenged to make budgets work, having a high-quality free on-demand content service for kids is a huge point of value. The second, and no less important, our channel offers Curated Content. At a time when kids are home from school and camps are largely closed, we are bringing children content that is value-driven and enriching, and not just “empty viewing calories.”

The Kartoon Channel! and the new complementary iOS app offer access to a wide variety of family-friendly content, with more added daily, featuring Genius Brands originals and acquired content, including Babar, Angry Birds, Stan Lee’s Mighty7, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, Baby Einstein, Baby Genius, Llama Llama shorts, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club and more.

Additionally, Genius Brands is adding more family-friendly gaming content, including Minecraft’s Journey to the End and Fairy Horse Quest, Octodad, PixArk, and Big B Roblox Challenge, from Tankee. Genius Brands will also premiere on Kartoon Channel! the upcoming comedy-adventure series, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, currently in pre-production and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on Kartoon Channel! in Q1 2021. Additionally, the Kartoon Channel! app features a camera mode with filter capabilities for hours of safe entertainment for young ones.  

Barbie unveils 2020 Campaign Team set to encourage girls into public leadership roles

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Mattel is pursuing its goal of exposing girls to future-shaping role models, this time with the announcement of its Barbie 2020 Campaign Team range, a new career set that focuses on characters in public leadership roles.

The new career set includes four diverse dolls with roles that make a winning public leadership campaign, including a candidate, a campaign manager, a fundraiser, and a voter. The aim is to show girls the importance of a political team working together to win.

With seven runs for office since 1992, Barbie has a long history of showing girls they can and should be in office. Ahead of the 2020 election, the brand is launching this new doll set alongside a full marketing program aimed at the next generation of leaders by highlighting the importance of voting and taking a stand and showing girls how to run a campaign.

The set highlights dolls of different ethnicities, including a Black candidate, to remind all girls they can lead from the polls to the podium.

“Since 1959, Barbie has championed girls and encouraged them to be leaders whether in the classroom, community or someday, of the country,” said Lisa McKnight, SVP and global head of Barbie and Dolls, Mattel. “With less than a third of elected leaders in the US being women, and Black women being even less represented in these positions, we designed the Barbie Campaign Team with a diverse set of dolls to show all girls they can raise their voices. Our goal is to remove barriers to leadership by giving girls the tools to imagine and play out their future roles.”

The brand has teamed up with She Should Run, a non-partisan non-profit that provides guidance and support to women considering a run for office. Together, Barbie and She Should Run are directly addressing the top barriers to girls’ leadership, which have been determined as self-limiting beliefs that are in line with what the brand seeks to address through the Barbie Dream Gap Project.

In addition to being a longtime partner, She Should Run is a recipient of funds from the Barbie Dream Gap Project and has dedicated resources in part to Help Her Lead, a course designed to support young girls, particularly girls of colour, in their pathway to political leadership by giving adult role models the resources and guidance to engage and inspire them early in life.

To effectively build political leadership ambition, role models can host intentional conversations about why it’s important to lead, demonstrate their own involvement through fundraising or volunteer efforts and role-play leadership activities, like giving a speech.

“With the upcoming elections and the current push for equality and representation, 2020 is an incredible time for us to inspire young women and girls to lead,” said Erin Loos Cutraro, founder and CEO of She Should Run. “Understanding the role we play in empowering our daughters is the first step – we have to have healthy conversations at home and encourage curiosity. By getting them excited today, we’re giving them the confidence to raise their voices and run for office tomorrow.”

Additional educational resources, including play ballots and printable activities, prompts for girls to write their own campaign speeches and more will be available on Barbie.com/CampaignTeam and a new “Ask Barbie” video will be live on the Barbie YouTube channel.

The Barbie Campaign Team, sold as a set, is available for $39.99 from major online retailers starting today.

Licensing Link Europe named worldwide licensing agent for Monty & Co

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Licensing Link Europe has been appointed to represent the worldwide rights to develop a licensing and merchandising programme around Monty & Co, a new pre-school puppet series from Pipkins Productions.

The series – which completed production of 34 x 11-minute episodes in February – has already been acquired by CBeebies and started airing on the channel from July, 25 this year and thereafter on the iPlayer. At this stage, 52 x 11-minute episodes are planned.

Each episode is written as a mini-drama in the life of wallaby Monty and an eclectic group of characters living above a ‘mend, reinvent and recycle’ shop. Episodes deal with everyday issues of sadness, anger and fear, however all stories and themes are delivered with comedy and song in a happy, safe and loving environment.

Monty & Co has been created by Pipkins Productions, a collective of artists who have previously worked on Pipkins with Hartley Hare (which ran for over ten years in the UK) and subsequently on the Muppet movies, Avenue Q, Spitting Image, the PG Tips Monkey, Mopatop Shop, Chucklevision, Coronation Street and The Famous Five among others.

Licensing Link Europe will initially be targeting categories including toys, publishing, arts and crafts, role-play, nightwear and daywear.

Ian Wickham, director at Licensing Link Europe, said: “The calibre and collective resumés of the team behind Monty & Co are like a list of ‘who’s who’ in both children’s and adult drama and entertainment. The storytelling, the songs, the production quality and puppetry have a wholesome charm that stands this show apart from anything else on television and FVOD in the UK.

“We believe parents will be very enthusiastic about the content and structure, as Monty & Co delights and enchants their pre-schoolers with its imagination, role-play, fun and a healthy dose of slapstick silliness. It’s gently educational too.”

Nigel Plaskitt, executive producer of Monty & Co, added: “High quality merchandising and publishing are really important to us.  We have always had an overall view of the whole project of reaching out to children and their families, taking the characters into their homes and everyday life.”.