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Pre-school hit Sunny Bunnies celebrates UK retailer and broadcast commitment for 2021

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The popular pre-school IP Sunny Bunnies has secured further commitment to its feature plush range with major UK supermarket chains, department stores, and online retailers through 2021, including the likes of Argos, Tesco, Amazon, and other independent toy retailers.

The range, developed by the plush toy specialist, Posh Paws, launched only last year to a warm reception from retailers across the UK. Media IM Incorporated, the London content distribution company behind the pre-school series, is confident in the repeat success of the toy range for 2020 and 2021.

The commitment from the UK retail space follows news that Media IM has also signed three new UK broadcast deals for the hit series. Ketchup TV, the UK’s leading AVOD children’s channel has licensed seasons one and two for the UK and Eire, Channel 5’s Milkshake has secured a pre-sale agreement for season five, while Sky has signed for season three across its Sky Kids and Now TV channels, as well as the Sky Kids App.

Irina Nazarenko, co-founder of Media I.M. Incorporated, said: “Even in happier times, the UK kids’ market is one of the toughest in the world, which makes closing any UK deal cause for celebration.

“To have closed three broadcast deals and to have had our merchandise relationship renewed by two of the country’s leading retailers is a serious result. We’d love to take all the credit – but the real heroes are those unstoppable, irrepressible Bunnies…”

This latest round of UK sales follows on the heels of two landmark deals in late July, which launched Sunny Bunnies into several new Asian territories, as well as on to one of China’s biggest VOD platform.

A deal with Kidzone saw the first four seasons of Sunny Bunnies debut this summer on Pakistan’s leading children’s entertainment channel. The show is set to be extended to Kidzone’s pay-TV channels in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

In addition, Media I.M. Incorporated signed a non-exclusive two-year agreement with Chinese VOD giant Tencent for seasons one to three of Sunny Bunnies. The show is also on air on Youku, Mango TV and Huawei via a string of previous deals with major Chinese platforms.

Sunny Bunnies brand diversification also continues apace branching into gifs and stickers through giphy.com with 130 million views in one year with 20 million views in two days on the launch of the ‘bye!’ gif.

Produced by Digital Light Studio, the Sunny Bunnies are five beaming balls that can appear anywhere there is a source of light, from sunshine to moonlight.

In each episode, the cheeky creatures bring their fun and games to a different location – a circus, a sports stadium, a park – embarking on mischievous adventures and spreading laughter and happiness. And at the end of every episode, the fun continues with a collection of bloopers.

Sunny Bunnies lands slate of new broadcast deals in Asia, including China’s VOD giant Tencent

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The London-based animation and family content distribution firm, Media I.M Incorporated has detail a slate of new deals that will launch its global pre-school hit, Sunny Bunnies into several new Asian territories. The deal will also see the property land on one of China’s biggest VOD platforms, Tencent.

Tencent will now run seasons one to three of the Sunny Bunnies animated series. Also included in the deal is sub-brand Sunny Bunnies Get Busy, which teaches kids Sunny Bunny-themed arts and crafts. Tencent is recognised as one of the biggest VOD players in China with over 110 million paid subscriptions. It now plans to launch Sunny Bunnies later this summer.

The show is also on air on Youku, Mango TV, iQIYI, Hisense and Huawei Video via a string of previous deals with major Chinese platforms.

A second Asian deal for the pre-school sensation will see the first four seasons of Sunny Bunnies debut this summer on Pakistan’s Kids zone, the first HD children’s channel in the country.

Maria Ufland, co-founder of Media I.M. Incorporated, said: “The entire Sunny Bunnies project continues to gain momentum, with content rolling out in almost every territory around the globe and merchandising in our key markets. The last couple of months have been extremely difficult for kids and their families globally and we see rising demand for feel-good content which makes kids laugh out loud and puts a smile on their faces.

“We have been working hard to make the show fun and relevant for kids focusing on developing specials such as washing hands and exercising with Sunny Bunnies as well as creating more of Get Busy sub-brand to keep the kids occupied. Through Tencent, the Bunnies will have access to a staggering number of potential new fans, while the Kids zone Pakistan deal will see our little friends bounce into new and exciting Asian territories.”

Batool Tatheer, director content acquisition of Kids Zone Pakistan said: “We are excited to acquire Sunny Bunnies and have already received great response from our audience when we announced the upcoming show on Kids Zone Pakistan. We are looking forward for a fun ride together with the Bunnies.”

The Tencent and Kids Zone Pakistan sales follow on the heels of a deal in late April with 0+ Media in Russia, under which 0+ Media secured the licensing and merchandising rights for Sunny Bunnies across all the main categories of consumer products, along with the first four TV series for distribution across its networks in Russia and the CIS territories.

Produced by Digital Light Studio, the Sunny Bunnies are five beaming balls that can appear anywhere there is a source of light, from sunshine to moonlight. In each episode, the cheeky creatures bring their fun and games to a different location – a circus, a sports stadium, a park – embarking on mischievous adventures and spreading laughter and happiness. And at the end of every episode, the fun continues with a collection of bloopers.