Including Home & Gift Harrogate launching Harrogate@Home to replace postponed show.
Source rounds up more news from the licensing industry across the globe from the week.
Home & Gift Harrogate – which was due to take place from July 18-21 – is launching Harrogate@Home, a comprehensive online programme that has been designed to support, celebrate and champion the gifting retail community. In addition to a series of blog articles written by retail experts and exhibitors, Harrogate@Home will include fortnightly webinars and culminate in a three-day virtual event on July 20-22. This will also include exclusive live product launches from its line-up of brands.
The season three finale of Thunderbirds Are Go saw the Tracy brothers rescue their missing father, winning CITV a 53% increase in audience share among the show’s target viewers (boys aged 4-9) and 25% among children in general. To drive tune-in prior to launch, ITV Studios delivered an influencer stunt (devised by Highlight PR) to dramatise the series’ space theme.
Rainbow has launched the first edition of Meow, let’s sing, a singing contest aimed at fans of 44 Cats in the UK. The initiative, already live in Italy and Russia and beginning in France and Poland later in May, has landed in the UK thanks to official media partner Magic Star, Sony Music UK, which is supporting the contest with a dedicated digital campaign on social media. Up until May 30, children in the UK have the chance to win special prizes by recording a video while performing a cover of their favourite 44 Cats song, with the support of their parents. The winner of the contest will receive an exclusive 44 Cats large plush, while there will also be a number of other prizes up for grabs for the top ten, sponsored by exclusive UK toy distributor, Siso Toys.
Mattel is due to debut its master toy line for Genius Brands’ Rainbow Rangers in Walmart. The toys will feature key characters from the preschool show, currently airing on Nick Jr. in the US and key territories around the world. Each character represents a superpower such as super strength, music power, animal whisperer and invisibility among others.
Haven Global – the worldwide agent for YouTube stars Vlad & Niki – has signed a global partnership with Zuru, which will launch a full range of toys and games in 2021.
Preppy Pop has partnered with King Features to launch a limited edition Popeye men’s apparel line. The range will include button downs and signature polos with shipping beginning this month.
Dr Seuss Enterprises and Random House Children’s Books has kicked off a 30th anniversary celebration for Oh, The Places You’ll Go. The campaign began with a virtual graduation honouring the students of 2020 in the US, while there will also be a LinkedIn campaign where career experts and business leaders will talk about the inspiration of the book. Merchandise will include a Build-a-Bear collaboration, Tervis drinkware, party supplies and stationery, bracelets and scarves and socks. RHCB will also release a new colouring book in November featuring designs and patterns based on the classic title.
Zolan Agency has added a new design partner to its portfolio, YU.Me Design and Development. Founded in Florence in 2016, YU.Me means ‘to dream’ in Japanese, with the brand inspired by the rich tradition of Italian art and design. The nature-focused designs and design philosophy of living in harmony with the planet has attracted licensees in back to school, apparel, diaries, garden journals and pop sockets via Merch Management on Amazon. Licensing opportunities are available in all categories.
House of Turnowsky has appointed Kenzel Distribution and Trading as its exclusive stationery representative in South Africa and neighbouring countries.
Kidscreen has revealed that the ninth annual Asian Animation Summit is moving forward as a live event, scheduled to take place in Bali, Indonesia from November 18-20. The event will showcase as many as 30 animated concepts for kids from Indonesia, Korea, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan among others.
French animation studio Xilam Animation has secured a wave of new deals in Southern Europe across its portfolio including a pair of significant package deals in Portugal, which will see a total of 100 hours of content head to the territory, plus new sales in Turkey and Greece. The deals include series such as Oggy and the Cockroaches, Paprika and Zig & Sharko among others.
Guru Studio‘s hit preschool series True and the Rainbow Kingdom has returned to Netflix with True: Terrific Tales, a collection of eight True-inspired classic fairy tales.
The Jim Henson Company has licensed hundreds of hours of family friendly content – including multiple Henson classics – to streaming service, Roku. The content – which launched at the end of April – includes perennial favourites like the Emmy-winning series Mother Goose Stories and The Wubbulous World of Dr Seuss, as well as several titles available for the first time in years.
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