Kids’ audio system Tonies adds Disney and Pixar hits to growing licensed line-up

The children’s audio system Tonies has added a slate of Disney and Pixar characters to its line up of licensed character Tonies, welcoming children’s favourites Frozen, Cinderella, Toy Story and Finding Nemo to the fold. The new characters will join the portfolio in October and November this year ahead of what the firm’s believes will be a ‘bumper Christmas for the brand.’

The Toy Story Tonie will be available from October 22nd this year and will feature a 17-minute re-telling of the modenr classic, as well as timeless tunes such as You’ve Got a Friend in Me, performed by Randy Newman.

The Frozen Tonie, meanwhile, includes four iconic songs from the hit film, such as Let It Go and For the First Time in Forever, before transporting listeners to Arendelle and telling the story of Elsa and Anna’s magical journey.

Next up, children will be transported to an underwater world with the Finding Nemo Tonie, which tells the aquatic tale along with songs like Sea Cruise and Under the Waves.

Lastly, one of the original Disney princesses will also be gracing the Toniebox; the Cinderella Tonie will tell this enchanting story and play four songs including the iconic Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.

The Frozen, Finding Nemo and Cinderella Tonies will be available from November 12th.

Tonies UK, general manager, Manon Sel, said: “We are excited to announce four fantastic additions to our Disney and Pixar collection, all of which are sure to fill bedrooms across the country with audio magic this Christmas. The perfect stocking filler, these family favourites join an already stellar line-up and enhance our expanding range of stories and songs.”

Launched in the UK in 2018 by Patric Faßbender and his friend and co-founder Marcus Stahl, the Toniebox is an intuitive speaker system that is revolutionising story time for children. An interactive way for three to eight-year-olds to play their favourite stories and songs, they can simply place a Tonie on top of the box and the audio content related to that Tonie will begin to play.

Over 14 million Tonies and 1.5 million Tonieboxes have been sold across Europe since the launch and 2020 started with the exciting announcement of the brands’ expansion to the USA – expected towards the end of this year.

Disney celebrates 25 years of Disney Pixar’s Toy Story with virtual Pixar Fest launch

Disney has launched a new virtual family festival celebrating the 25th anniversary of Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story, and its 20 years of support of the charity, MediCinema.

Called Pixar Fest, the event will premiere on Sunday, August 9th with a collection of Pixar movies on Disney+, weekly watchalongs, animator masterclasses, quizzes, arts and crafts for kids, and new product releases.

Tasia Filippatos, SVP Disney EMEA, said: “Pixar revolutionised the art of animation 25 years ago with the release of Toy Story and since then has brought us some of the most iconic and unique moments in filmmaking history. Pixar Fest will give fans of all ages the chance to celebrate their favourites through a host of activities and even cast their vote in ‘The Golden Lamp Awards’. We hope the line-up brings some summer holiday fun and movie magic to homes across the UK.”

As part of its ongoing worldwide commitment to provide comfort and inspiration through movie moments and help reduce isolation for seriously ill children in hospitals, Disney has also pledged £750,000 to MediCinema to help reach more children by developing and building additional state of the art hospital cinemas in UK and Italy.

Visits to these cinemas help improve wellbeing, and combat isolation and the anxiety of spending time on the wards.

Kat Mason, chief executive of MediCinema, added: “In our 20th anniversary year and 20 years of working with Disney, we are incredibly happy to be the recipient of this donation that will help ensure our cinema services can impact so many more children and their families.

“In addition, all money raised from the prize draws will help to make sure we can keep our current services running, which is more important now than ever for children and their families facing time spent in hospital.”

Disney has marked the launch of Pixar Fest with the release of never-seen-before Toy Story artwork, which showcases the early designs and evolution of Buzz Lightyear. It features early character sketches including a variety of different faces, suit colours and wing designs, before he was transformed into the Buzz we know today.

Pixar historian, Christine Freeman, said: “Buzz is one of our most popular characters, and it’s fascinating to see the different ways that Pixar’s artists imagined him during the evolution of his design. Even his name changed over time – from Tempus of Morph to Lunar Larry, to Buzz Lightyear. You can see the LL belt buckle (for Lunar Larry) in a few of these early designs.”

Ever since Woody and Buzz landed at movie theatres in 1995 in the first fully computer-animated feature film, Pixar movies have become favourites of fans across the globe.

To date, there have been 23 full-length Pixar films and 21 shorts, collecting 37 Academy Awards with Disney Store’s top-selling Pixar merchandise of all time including its Buzz Lightyear talking action figure.

The line up of virtual activity taking place throughout Pixar Fest, includes Sunday watchalongs on Disney’s social channels with streamed movies on Disney+ such as Toy Story, Cars, Inside Out, and The Incredibles, as well as Pixar quizzes hosted by Edith Bowman.

Patients in MediCinema hospitals will be able to watch along on bedside screens at the same time.

On top of this, talent including Tony Hale, animators and celebrities including Katie Piper, Danny Jones, Myleene Klass and Aston Merrygold will be unveiling their favourite Pixar moments over the last 25 years as part of ‘The Golden Lamp Awards’- with MediCinema nurses and volunteers shortlisting a special Moments that Matter category for fans to vote for their top Pixar moment.

Meanwhile, shopDisney’s Pixar Fest Party At Home packs, which include everything fans need to host their own Pixar party will also be up for grabs via weekly competitions, while an online masterclass with a Pixar animator, hosted by film aficionado Mark Kermode, to teach fans how to draw Pixar characters and learn some of the secrets behind the animations, hosted on Disney’s social channels on 12th August.

BAFTA Kids will put on a virtual animation masterclass on 15th August where children submitted their questions to discover everything that they need to know about how to become a top animator.

Fans can also help to raise funds for MediCinema through Pixar Fest’s Charity Tuesdays to win money-can’t-buy Pixar prizes, including a drawing lesson with a Pixar artist and an exclusive piece of Pixar artwork through prize draws run by MediCinema.

Fans around the globe will be able to celebrate their favourite Pixar characters with new products from Mattel and Funko. Also launching is a new range of merchandise honouring the heritage of Pixar at shopDisney, including a new line of Aliens products that feature the Toy Story favourites as different characters from Pixar movies, including WALL•E and Up’s Russell.  Other “Pixar Alien Remix” toys will see Toy Story’s Aliens dressed as other Pixar characters including Carl from Up, Dot from A Bug’s Life, Dory from Finding Nemo, Edna from The Incredibles, Sulley from Monsters, Inc. and Princess Merida from Brave.

Pixar Fest will run from August 9th to September 6th this year.

Disney celebrates 25 years of Disney Pixar’s Toy Story with virtual Pixar Fest launch

Disney has launched a new virtual family festival celebrating the 25th anniversary of Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story, and its 20 years of support of the charity, MediCinema.

Called Pixar Fest, the event will premiere on Sunday, August 9th with a collection of Pixar movies on Disney+, weekly watchalongs, animator masterclasses, quizzes, arts and crafts for kids, and new product releases.

Tasia Filippatos, SVP Disney EMEA, said: “Pixar revolutionised the art of animation 25 years ago with the release of Toy Story and since then has brought us some of the most iconic and unique moments in filmmaking history. Pixar Fest will give fans of all ages the chance to celebrate their favourites through a host of activities and even cast their vote in ‘The Golden Lamp Awards’. We hope the line-up brings some summer holiday fun and movie magic to homes across the UK.”

As part of its ongoing worldwide commitment to provide comfort and inspiration through movie moments and help reduce isolation for seriously ill children in hospitals, Disney has also pledged £750,000 to MediCinema to help reach more children by developing and building additional state of the art hospital cinemas in UK and Italy.

Visits to these cinemas help improve wellbeing, and combat isolation and the anxiety of spending time on the wards.

Kat Mason, chief executive of MediCinema, added: “In our 20th anniversary year and 20 years of working with Disney, we are incredibly happy to be the recipient of this donation that will help ensure our cinema services can impact so many more children and their families.

“In addition, all money raised from the prize draws will help to make sure we can keep our current services running, which is more important now than ever for children and their families facing time spent in hospital.”

Disney has marked the launch of Pixar Fest with the release of never-seen-before Toy Story artwork, which showcases the early designs and evolution of Buzz Lightyear. It features early character sketches including a variety of different faces, suit colours and wing designs, before he was transformed into the Buzz we know today.

Pixar historian, Christine Freeman, said: “Buzz is one of our most popular characters, and it’s fascinating to see the different ways that Pixar’s artists imagined him during the evolution of his design. Even his name changed over time – from Tempus of Morph to Lunar Larry, to Buzz Lightyear. You can see the LL belt buckle (for Lunar Larry) in a few of these early designs.”

Ever since Woody and Buzz landed at movie theatres in 1995 in the first fully computer-animated feature film, Pixar movies have become favourites of fans across the globe.

To date, there have been 23 full-length Pixar films and 21 shorts, collecting 37 Academy Awards with Disney Store’s top-selling Pixar merchandise of all time including its Buzz Lightyear talking action figure.

The line up of virtual activity taking place throughout Pixar Fest, includes Sunday watchalongs on Disney’s social channels with streamed movies on Disney+ such as Toy Story, Cars, Inside Out, and The Incredibles, as well as Pixar quizzes hosted by Edith Bowman.

Patients in MediCinema hospitals will be able to watch along on bedside screens at the same time.

On top of this, talent including Tony Hale, animators and celebrities including Katie Piper, Danny Jones, Myleene Klass and Aston Merrygold will be unveiling their favourite Pixar moments over the last 25 years as part of ‘The Golden Lamp Awards’- with MediCinema nurses and volunteers shortlisting a special Moments that Matter category for fans to vote for their top Pixar moment.

Meanwhile, shopDisney’s Pixar Fest Party At Home packs, which include everything fans need to host their own Pixar party will also be up for grabs via weekly competitions, while an online masterclass with a Pixar animator, hosted by film aficionado Mark Kermode, to teach fans how to draw Pixar characters and learn some of the secrets behind the animations, hosted on Disney’s social channels on 12th August.

BAFTA Kids will put on a virtual animation masterclass on 15th August where children submitted their questions to discover everything that they need to know about how to become a top animator.

Fans can also help to raise funds for MediCinema through Pixar Fest’s Charity Tuesdays to win money-can’t-buy Pixar prizes, including a drawing lesson with a Pixar artist and an exclusive piece of Pixar artwork through prize draws run by MediCinema.

Fans around the globe will be able to celebrate their favourite Pixar characters with new products from Mattel and Funko. Also launching is a new range of merchandise honouring the heritage of Pixar at shopDisney, including a new line of Aliens products that feature the Toy Story favourites as different characters from Pixar movies, including WALL•E and Up’s Russell.  Other “Pixar Alien Remix” toys will see Toy Story’s Aliens dressed as other Pixar characters including Carl from Up, Dot from A Bug’s Life, Dory from Finding Nemo, Edna from The Incredibles, Sulley from Monsters, Inc. and Princess Merida from Brave.

Pixar Fest will run from August 9th to September 6th this year.