Category Archives: Highlight

Disney to launch cloth face coverings and donate proceeds to the Red Cross

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Disney is launching a range of non-medical, reusable cloth face coverings featuring Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters for kids and families in the UK via its shopDisney platform.

As part of the launch, Disney will donate 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of the cloth face coverings, up to £500,000, to Red Cross organisations across Europe, including the British Red Cross and its ongoing work to support people in crisis, from now until November 30th this year.

Disney will also donate 100,000 cloth face coverings to vulnerable children and families in local communities across Europe through long-standing charity partners, including in the UK MediCinema, who aim to bring comfort and inspiration to children.

“We hope that Disney’s donation of critical funds and cloth face coverings will help bring comfort and support to kids and families in need during these challenging times,” said Mike Stagg, general manager, The Disney Store and shopDisney EMEA.

“This is another great example of Disney’s ongoing support to bring comfort to vulnerable children and families when they need it most,” said Kat Mason, MediCinema Chief Executive. “These cloth face coverings, with the Disney characters that children know and trust, will help our hospital patients feel more comfortable with staff and when they visit our in-hospital cinemas.”

The cloth, non-surgical face coverings come in small, medium, large and extra-large sizes and in a wide variety of prints featuring a range of fan favourite characters, including: Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Elsa, The Avengers, the Child – affectionately known as Baby Yoda – and more.

Disney’s cloth face coverings are available to pre-order from today in packs of four on shopDisney.co.uk. They are priced at £20 and are estimated to ship in August.

Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed returns to CBBC with second series this month

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Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed will be returning to television this month with a new, second series, courtesy of Beano Studios and its renewed broadcast deal with CBBC.

The new series is comprised of 52 episodes, each following the unpredictable and exciting adventures of Dennis and friends in Beanotown. it kicks off with episode one titled Beat the Bus that sees new teacher Miss Mistry taking Class Three on an outing to the Flumes ‘o’ Doom water theme park.

Last year Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed season one received nominations at Kidscreen, the British Animation awards and was nominated for an International Emmy. At launch it was the highest-rated animated show on CBBC for six to 12-year-olds and one of the top 10 shows for kids across all channels (including The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing).

Tim Searle, head of animation at Beano Studios, said: “Dennis and friends burst back onto our screens this summer, with loads more mayhem and mischief to look forward to in Beanotown. We’ve had a blast making the shows and hope that this new series will bring tons of laughs, inspire imaginations and encourage the everyday rebellion that’s been at the heart of Beano for over 80 years.”

Fans can find brand-new Dennis and Gnasher Unleased! games, quizzes and fun at beano.com/dennisandgnasher and to celebrate the series return Beano have launched a ‘family and friends’ discount if you subscribe to Beano comic

Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed returns to CBBC with second series this month

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Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed will be returning to television this month with a new, second series, courtesy of Beano Studios and its renewed broadcast deal with CBBC.

The new series is comprised of 52 episodes, each following the unpredictable and exciting adventures of Dennis and friends in Beanotown. it kicks off with episode one titled Beat the Bus that sees new teacher Miss Mistry taking Class Three on an outing to the Flumes ‘o’ Doom water theme park.

Last year Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed season one received nominations at Kidscreen, the British Animation awards and was nominated for an International Emmy. At launch it was the highest-rated animated show on CBBC for six to 12-year-olds and one of the top 10 shows for kids across all channels (including The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing).

Tim Searle, head of animation at Beano Studios, said: “Dennis and friends burst back onto our screens this summer, with loads more mayhem and mischief to look forward to in Beanotown. We’ve had a blast making the shows and hope that this new series will bring tons of laughs, inspire imaginations and encourage the everyday rebellion that’s been at the heart of Beano for over 80 years.”

Fans can find brand-new Dennis and Gnasher Unleased! games, quizzes and fun at beano.com/dennisandgnasher and to celebrate the series return Beano have launched a ‘family and friends’ discount if you subscribe to Beano comic

Acamar Films expands its licensing and marketing units to meet global demand for Bing

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Acamar Films has created a dedicated UK team and strengthened key global roles within the outfit to better service the growing demand for its flagship property, Bing, on the world stage.

As pre-school property’s popularity continues to increase in the UK, Louise Simmonds has joined Acamar as head of UK licensing and merchandising, reporting into executive director of sales, Natalie Harvey. Her experience includes 15 years with 20th Century Fox, where she led the UK CP Business and most recently was the vice president for EMEA across the Fox portfolio, working across brands such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

The dedicated UK licensing team also includes Claire Shaw and Janna Kirkby, who has recently been promoted to UK associate licensing manager.

Caroline Payne has also joined the team as UK marketing manager, covering both consumer and trade, and reporting into head of marketing Ruedilyn Schwegler. Most recently marketing manager at CinemaLive, Caroline was also at StudioCanal and Simon & Schuster and has worked on popular family entertainment brands including Paddington, Shaun the Sheep and Octonauts.

Laura Clarke has been promoted to head up licensing and merchandising in EMEA following successful CP launches, strong YouTube performance, optimum broadcast placement and the expansion of Acamar Films’ agent network in the last 12 months. Clarke joined Acamar Films four years ago from Mattel, where she was group director EMEA, and her wealth of experience working across all categories in the pre-school sector with major licensees also includes stints at HIT Entertainment and BBC Worldwide. She reports into executive director of sales, Harvey.

With an increasing appetite for Bing publications worldwide, Etta Saunders Bingham has joined Acamar Films in a global role as senior publishing manager, bringing an in-depth understanding and impressive track record of managing children’s brands from her work in licensed publishing and product development for a variety of successful companies including Half Moon Bay where she was head of licensing and publishing, and Parragon Publishing where she worked on an assortment of publishing titles.

Sandra Vauthier-Cellier, chief commercial officer, Acamar Films, said: “We are delighted to welcome such experienced new talent to Acamar Films, and also to recognise with these promotions the fantastic work our teams are doing to move and delight our audience, who are at the heart of everything we do.

“This new structure will enable us to strengthen our engagement with them via a multitude of touch points and expand that audience even further internationally.”

WildBrain CPLG to build lifestyle licensing programme for The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The entertainment, sport and brand licensing agency, WildBrain CPLG, has signed a deal with The Metropolitan Museum of Art to exclusively represent the iconic New York institution as it looks to build out a licensing programme across EMEA.

Housing it under its Lifestyle division, WildBrain CPLG will assemble a licensing programme for The Met designed to appeal to families, millennials, and a diverse international audience across categories, including homewares, apparel, accessories, stationery, gifting, toys and activities, health and beauty, and collaborations.

The licensing agency will create a merchandise programme that combines The Met’s collections and art works, with the diversity and energy of New York and the museum’s mission to ‘collect, study, conserve and present significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge and ideas.’ The team will initially focus on building product ranges that utilise assets from a cross-section of The Met’s 17 curatorial departments and are tied into current fashion and homeware trends.

Victoria Whellans, group brands director at WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle, said: “The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world’s most dynamic and inspiring museums and we’re very excited to add this prestigious institution to our expanding Lifestyle portfolio. As we begin building a unique licensing programme which will reinforce The Met as both educational and accessible, we look forward to bringing fresh, authentic and unexpected product ranges to a diverse selection of consumers across EMEA.”

Lisa Silverman Meyers, head of licensing and partnerships at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, added: “WildBrain CPLG has a unique passion for storytelling and shares our belief in the power that museums have to foster understanding through art and culture. Their dedication to our goal of bringing The Met to new places in new ways, paired with WildBrain CPLG’s proven track record of success throughout EMEA makes them an ideal partner for the Museum.”

Founded in 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art lives in three iconic sites in New York City – The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. The museum is home to two million works spanning 5,000 years of art and ranks as the most-visited art museum in the Western hemisphere.

The Met is also the number one tourist attraction in New York City, with over seven million visits and 30 million web visitors in 2019. The Met celebrated its 150th anniversary on 13th April 2020.

Aardman strikes major deal with Tencent for Shaun the Sheep streaming in China

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The iconic British animation studio, Aardman has just struck up a new deal with Tencent Video in a new move to grow the audience for its hit Shaun the Sheep property in China.

Tencent Video is the leading online video streaming platform in China. Under the new deal, it will become the home of Shaun the Sheep’s library of 170 episodes, including series six which launched earlier this year. The placement with Tencent Video complements Aardman’s worldwide deal with Netflix for the entire Shaun the Sheep catalogue.

Robin Gladman, senior distribution and acquisitions manager, said: “Our new deal with Tencent Video is a truly exciting next step for our business in China and a great moment for the studio.

“Tencent Video will become a fabulous new home for our biggest global brand ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and help us reach millions of families across the territory.”

The studio continues to build its Chinese licensing programme for the brand alongside its agents UYoung, securing prestigious partnership and building a strong and loyal fan base. Most recently Shaun the Sheep has collaborated in a creative promotional partnership in China with a line of children’s clothing with Italian high fashion sportswear brand FILA.

The Shaun the Sheep x FILA Kids ‘Shake it with Shaun’ themed campaign was announced with a vibrant teaser video on Children’s Day (China), which achieved an impressive 11M views in just 24 hours. The new product range consists of a complete range of apparel, footwear and accessories for children and the launch will be supported by in-store activities featuring Shaun the Sheep character costumes and interactive dance machines for shoppers to enjoy, as well as a Tik Tok online Dancing Challenge followed the Shake it with Shaun video expected to attract millions of fans to participate.

With its increasing global appeal for families, the team at Aardman continues to develop its portfolio of Shaun the Sheep attractions and live experiences in the territory, including the national touring stage show Shaun the Sheep – The Alien Visitor in partnership with Hand in Hand Theatre Company and Shaun the Sheep Go To Sanya, launching at the Mangrove Tree Resort World, Hainan in summer 2020.

The Entertainer partners with Riverside Brands for ELC brand extension programme

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The UK’s family owned high street toy retailer, The Entertainer has partnered with Riverside Brands to lead its brand extension strategy for Early Learning Centre.

Under the new partnership, both the Happyland and core ELC brand will look to build out wider brand extensions into categories such as apparel, nightwear, health & beauty, publishing, nursery and experiences.

It’s been billed as ‘an exciting partnership for all involved as The Entertainer focuses on growing the Early Learning Centre brand since its acquisition in February 2019’. The partnership also marks a significant move for a retailer into the licensing, highlighting the commitment of the group to support the ELC brand during highly tumultuous times for UK retail.

Stuart Grant, global sourcing officer at The Entertainer, said: “We are extremely excited to be partnering with Riverside Brands on this exciting opportunity for the Early Learning Centre brand. With such a strong heritage as an iconic part of early years development we are confident there is more opportunity for the brand to be an even bigger part of children’s early years by giving them greater access to the characters through carefully selected brand extensions.

“We are confident that Riverside Brands is the right partner to achieve this in a way that protects the brand by securing opportunities to compliment the existing brand heritage.”

Ashley Holman, managing director of Riverside Brands, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with The Entertainer on this exciting opportunity for Early Learning Centre. ELC has been a much-loved brand for nearly 50 years and we’re looking forward to making its iconic characters more accessible through brand extensions into areas such as apparel and bedding.

“Children love these characters, they’re an important part of their early years and we’re looking forward to making them available in categories which will compliment the core toy ranges.”

Rocket Licensing picks up CBeebies’ English language learning series Yakka Dee!

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Rocket Licensing has been appointed as the international licensing agent (territories excluding China) for the popular CBeebies show, Yakka Dee! Currently in its third series, the animation and live action programme is now in production for series four and five, which are due to air in 2021.

Yakka Dee! is focused on English language learning for pre-schoolers learning to talk, children with speech difficulties, and those learning English as a second language.

The series has been developed by the writer and director, Katie Simmons (Go Jetters, Show Me Show Me, and Mr Bloom’s Nursery) and director and producer, Lotte Elwell (Peppa Pig cinema experience, Teletubbies, My World Kitchen and more) alongside Steve Smith at Beakus animation studio (Olobob Top).

Dee helps children learn language through play, visual representation and repetition. Each five-minute episode focuses on one word, with a mixture of live action and animated content and bright, bold colours. The branding is modern and vibrant, eye catching and idiosyncratic and hugely appealing to the young audience.

Yakka Dee! launched in 2017, with a peak audience of 474,000 viewers (8.9 per cent audience share) and is currently aired twice daily on CBeebies. BBC Studios has also signed for distribution in Ireland, Brazil, China, South Korea, Latin America and Turkey.

In 2019, a YouTube channel was launched, experiencing 5.3 million views in the first two months. The channel now has 161K subscribers and 46 million views, and is growing exponentially on a daily basis. ‘Aprende con Yakka Dee: Panza’, a Spanish episode via CBeebies Español, has had over 80 million views on the channel since launch, while ‘Yakka Dee: Banana’ has received 30 million views and ‘Can you Say Tummy?’ has reached 17 million in just three months.

Initially, Rocket’s core focus for the property will be on toy and publishing categories, as well as educational product and resources, followed by other preschool product categories including apparel, accessories, social stationery, and games. Consumer demand for licensed product is high, with weekly requests from parents via the brand’s social media pages for toys.

Rob Wijeratna, joint MD, Rocket Licensing, said: “Yakka Dee! is a real gem in CBeebies’ programming, and combines all of the must-have attributes of a successful preschool property – fun, education and great characters – with contemporary, bright and instantly recognisable production.

“We are also proud to be representing an ethnically inclusive brand, with Dee as a non-white lead character having become an inspiring role model for many. The loyal fan-base is ready and waiting for consumer products and we’re excited to start talking to licensees.”

Yakka Dee producers Steve Smith, Lotte Elwell and Katie Simmons comment: “We are thrilled to partner with Rocket for Yakka Dee! licensing. We are so proud of our character, Dee, and have seen first-hand how she empowers children to speak with confidence, energising them and connecting deeply with them. We are looking forward to working with Rocket to create more touchpoints for our audience, and in so doing help more children.”

Sagoo teams with Graine Creative to launch Rilakkuma arts and crafts kits for kids

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The independent French agency, Sagoo has partnered with the French arts and crafts specialist, Graine Creative to produce five new kits for older children, based on the hit Japanese character brand Rilakkuma.

The deals adds to a rapidly growing portfolio of consumer products for Rilakkuma – the world’s most relaxed bear cub – in Europe, which already includes homewares from Blanc Cerise, and stationery, bags, accessories, and gift ranges from Blueprint Collections.

The Graine Creative range will initially launch with three products, including a crochet kit, aimed at children aged ten and over. The set includes everything needed for tweens to create crochet versions of Rilakkuma and his friend Kiiroitori.

Meanwhile, the new eraser set is aimed at children aged eight and over and includes plasticine and modelling tools to allow children to create Rilakkuma inspired designs, before baking them in the oven to transform them into erasers. Finally, the FIMO kit for children aged 14 and upwards, allows fans to create Rilakkuma characters to make into keyrings, brooches and various other accessories.

Rilakkuma is one of the top three most popular Kawaii characters in the world and since its launch by San-X in Asia in 2003, the relaxed bear has exploded in popularity and amassed over $2.5 billion in retail sales in Japan alone. The brand is recognised and loved throughout the world and has 359,000 fans on Facebook. Rilakkuma recently also became a star of Netflix, with 13 x 11’ stop motion animations available to watch on the SVOD channel.

Veronique Pichon, president, Sagoo, said: “Rilakkuma is growing in popularity throughout Europe and we are delighted to be partnering with some best in class licensees to bring the brand to retail. We are thrilled to be working with Graine Creative and are looking forward to further growing the consumer products programme throughout the territory.”

The Royal Mint celebrates Elton John with new commemorative coin

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Music icon and Rocket Man, Elton John is to be celebrated on a new commemorative coin courtesy of The Royal Mint. Available from today, the design is the latest addition to The Royal Mint’s new Music Legends series.

With a career spanning more than 50 years, the new coin to celebrate Elton John’s legacy has been designed by artist Bradley Morgan Johnson. Featuring unmistakable Elton John iconography, Bradley has used musical notes to create an image of glasses and a straw boater’s hat, inspired by one of Elton John’s most iconic looks. A Union Jack flag background punctuates the design.

The commemorative coins will be available to purchase in Gold proof, Silver proof and Brilliant Uncirculated editions with prices ranging from £13 for the Brilliant Uncirculated coin up to £64,950 for a Kilo Gold proof coin.

The Royal Mint has developed advanced striking and tooling techniques for the high end, premium coins in this collection. These designs feature a pulsating star pattern in the glasses’ lenses and a high relief finish on the hat, glasses and bow tie that further enhance the appearance of each coin.

Elton John said: “It really is a fabulous honour to be recognised in this way. The last few years have contained some of the most memorable moments of my career, and this is another truly humbling milestone on my journey.”

Clare Maclennan, divisional director of commemorative coin and The Royal Mint Experience, said: “Elton John is without a doubt a British music legend and is recognised as one of the most successful singer-songwriters of his generation. We are delighted to honour Elton’s significant contribution to British music on a UK coin.

“This is the second coin in The Royal Mint’s new Music Legends series, marking the work of our exceptional British musicians.”

In addition to the coin collection, The Royal Mint and Elton John are also working together to create a special one-off collector’s piece, which will be auctioned later this year. The unique coin will help raise vital funds for the Elton John Charitable Trust at a time when the wider charity sector has been hit with a reduction in donations.

The collaboration was brought together and facilitated by Bravado, Universal Music Group’s leading merchandise and brand management company.

Commemorative Coin Collection:

£5 Brilliant uncirculated coin cover Rocket Man – £13
£5 Brilliant uncirculated coin cover Dodgers Stadium – £15
£5 Brilliant uncirculated coin cover Illustration – £15
£5 Brilliant uncirculated coin cover The Very Best Of – £15
Half Ounce Silver Proof Coin- £60
One Ounce Silver Proof Coin – £90
Two Ounce Silver Proof Coin – £180
Five Ounce Silver Proof Coin – £485
Quarter-Ounce Gold Proof Coin – £555
One Ounce Gold Proof Coin – £2,195
Two-Ounce Gold Proof Coin – £4,310
Five-Ounce Gold Proof Coin – £10,695
Kilo Gold Proof Coin – £64,950