Wrapped Up: 2006 Licensing Show

By Cliff Annicelli, Tina Benitez & Karyn Peterson -- Playthings, 6/23/2006 12:53:00 PM

NEW YORK—Whether it’s brand new properties, the revitalization of properties from the Reagan years, or multi-generational classics, for most exhibitors who talked with Playthings during this week’s Licensing Show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, it seems the focus of merchandising in 2006/2007 is on keeping the attention of children while trying to grab older fans and collectors at the same time.

Pop-cultured
With Superman Returns ready to take flight in theaters June 28th, Warner Bros. Consumer Products is moving on to its upcoming new animated series and corresponding merchandising program for Cartoon Network’s Monster Allergy. It stars Zick, a 12-year-old boy who has, yes, allergies that give him superpowers that enable him to see crazy monsters all about. Warner Bros. is working on sealing a master toy licensee deal by fall of this year for an initial product launch in 2007.

Tweety “Pop-Up,” retail shops, with merchandise (accessories, limited-edition products) designed by Nicky Hilton (Paris’s sis), will be available to trendy, boutique-retailers beginning spring 2007. Warner Bros. is also working on securing new licensees to re-launch the ‘80s animated series, The Thundercats. Warner Bros. has the classic as well as new licensee to develop product for children, including an updated Thundercats look and collectibles for early fans.

Fox Licensing and Merchandising will launch product based on animated series The Simpsons and Family Guy this year as well as TV series 24, which will premiere on the big screen by 2008. Briarpatch, Millburn, N.J., is working on developing strategy and skill games to launch 2007, while B1 Media, Studio City, Calif., will create DVD, board and playing pieces based on the series. The Simpsons hits the big screen July 26. New video games from Electronic Arts will begin to launch later this fall into next as well as toys and other licensed apparel from more than 600 licensees. Mezco, New York, has a new line of Family Guy action figures and dolls available this fall. Licensing around Fox’s upcoming Eragon film this December, includes collectibles, games and puzzles, prop replicas and Halloween costumes.

“Generation Fox,” is the company’s new merchandising program targeted for the 13- to 34-year-old fans of Napoleon Dynamite, The Simpsons, My Name is Earl, In Living Color, The Princess Bride and more. Products will include 3-D novelties and figures for Princess Bride and In Living Color. Mattel will develop toys for Ice Age The Meltdown, with Harper Collins on board for books and Vivendi Games in the mix for multi-platform games. A Simpsons Season 9 DVD will also be available this holiday season with Season 10 ready June 2007. Fox is also developing a new film, Space Chimps, which will launch July 2008. Licensees are yet to be announced. The CGI story follows Ham, a chimpanzee who’s the grandson of the first primate to ever go into space (true story).

Joester Loria/American Greetings Properties’ (AG Properties) Care Bears will take on a new look in 2006. According to Tamra Knepfer, senior vice president, consumer products for AG Properties, with the girl bears appearing more “girly” (thanks to hand bags, accessories, etc.) and the boys, more like boys. Knepfer says that in order to keep a brand like Care Bears strong, you have to continuously go in and take some risks. “There will be more different bears with a new look,” she says. “We have to breathe new life in the Care Bears to keep it in business. If you update a property and don’t continue to do so, you won’t have a long shelf life. You need to take risks to put some adrenaline into it.” Toys are produced by Jakks Pacific Play Along Toys division, Malibu, Calif.

Hasbro, Pawtucket, R.I., will launch a Playskool baby-branded care product line and offer consumers an exclusive baby care aisle in more than 6,100 CVS stores. The aisles will be stocked with Playskool items and wrapped in Playskool colors from floor to ceiling. The My Little Pony brand will come to video again in The World’s Biggest Tea Party and focus on Pinkie Pie pony. A live Pony tour is also set to kick off this fall.Optimus Prime and the rest of the Transformers come to the big screen this fall as well. Comic books, next-gen video games, books, watches from Seiko, greeting cards, apparel and, of course, toys are also in the mix.

Not to be outdone in the baby biz, Mattel, El Segundo, Calif., spotlighted an assortment of Fisher-Price licensed baby gear, including strollers and cribs and Adidas baby shoes with built-in rattles!

Meanwhile, toymaker Jakks Pacific got a piece of the Licensing Show spotlight by taking over the master toy rights to Pokemon, currently held by Hasbro. In addition to that deal, rights holder Pokemon USA said Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the brand new, ninth season of the series and will be broadcast on Cartoon Network (CN) beginning this fall. Pokémon Chronicles, never before seen in the U.S., premiered June 3 on CN during the Toonami block. Classic Pokémon episodes (seasons 1-5) will air on CN’s Boomerang channel.

Pokemon USA expects to announce deals for a DVD game and the first music deal (CDs) for the property in eight years in the near future.

MGM Consumer Products has named Bandai America, Cypress, Calif., as the new master toy licensee for the upcoming Cartoon Network animated series Team Galaxy. Other properties Rocky, Stargate and The Pink Panther also have merchandising tie-ins.

New York-based United Media has developed a licensing program around the more than 35-year-old animated series El Chavo, a push to offer something more to the Hispanic market. A new animated series, featuring daily stories of an 8-year-old boy, called El Chavo, who lives in a barrel, will premiere later this year.

Speaking of Hispanic characters, one of the first, Zorro, is coming back to children’s TV courtesy of BKN. This time the masked man gets a modern twist that trades horses for Harley’s – or at least a mean looking street bike and is set in a bleak, near-future cityscape. BKN is working towards releasing the animated series, Zorro: Generation Z, in fall 2008.

For Maya & Miguel and several of its other key children’s properties, Scholastic is putting the finishing touches on “a major consumer promotion” scheduled for November, the company said. Meanwhile, the frenzy-setting Goosebumps book series returns from ‘90s oblivion as a new graphic novel series, including an “edgier, more irony”-filled “Back from the Dead” series.

Nickelodeon series The Backyardigans, Avatar and Go! Go! Diego will also have merchandising programs tied to their shows in the fall and 2007. For the recent comedy Nacho Libre, starring Jack Black, are talking dolls from Kamhi World, Clearwater, Fla.

MGA Entertainment, Los Angeles, is complementing the upcoming Bratz movie, Bratz, The Motion Picture, due in 2007. Karaoke and other electronic products from The Singing Maching Company, Coconut Creek, Fla., will follow.

Girls are getting lots of attention at Disney Consumer Products, where it seems Disney Princesses and Disney Fairies will be all the rage in the near future. Besides announcing that actress Britney Murphy will be the first person to voice Tinker Bell in the CGI-animated theatrical feature of the same name scheduled for 2007, DCP said at the show it’s planning a series of Fairies direct-to-video releases, books and other merchandise for a property they expect will skew just slightly older than Princesses—and be a lot less pink. The company expects that by 2010, more than 20 percent of its revenue will be derived from female-friendly properties, while Mickey and Pooh-derived business continues to decline as a percentage of total revenue, according to DCP chairman Andy Mooney. “We think Fairies can easily be a $1 billion franchise” in less than five years, Mooney said.

Freemantle Media, on top of managing the ongoing licensing program for TV smash American (and 30-something other markets) Idol, has inked a deal with Dreamworks for a Baywatch movie for 2008 and adds a purely one-for-the-kids series to its roster with Prehistoric Park, a new CGI-animated series that it hopes to debut this October. A broadcast partner was still in the works at press time.

At Sesame Workshop, Pinky Dinky Doo is on “a slow build” by design, the company says. Look for master toy licensee Gund to deliver specialty market product in 2007.

Amity Entertainment is relaunching The Big Comfy Couch with added emphasis on its two main characters, Loonette and Molly. Comfy Couch merchandising will feature a new Loonette and Molly logo in a move to make them more recognizable at retail, while the series itself will add elements focusing on children’s health/obesity issues in addition to its traditional focus on social/cognitive skills and development.

Another social skills-focuses series, ToddWorld, is the focus of its first coordinated retail effort, says SupperTime Entertainment, with a merchandise push at character-centric online retailer www.tystoybox.com. The company is looking to expand the properties licensing beyond its current categories: plush (Action Products), books, (Little Brown), DVDs (HIT Entertainment), games and puzzles (Talicor) and stickers (Smilemakers).

Retro-stylings
Classic Media TV, Beverly Hills, Calif., is launching some favorite characters in most major categories like apparel, home furnishings as well as toys and collectibles. For Classic Media’s 42-year-old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Galison/Mudpuppy, New York, will develop mini cube puzzles and note cards while Fisher-Price is on board to produce a View-Master. Commonwealth Toys, New York, will develop plush and Madame Alexander, New York, will produce dolls and USAopoly will launch some new puzzles and games for the reindeer. Other Classic Media properties getting a toy push this year include Rocky & Bullwinkle with 12-inch Bobbleheads with coin bank and voice clips from Bothell, Wash.-based Funko! Aurora plush will help celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Lambchop.

This Halloween, Fox is releasing an all new version of the classic Casper, which first premiered in 1945, with Casper: A Spirited Beginning on DVD. To support the movie, Dark Horse Comics, Milwaukie, Ore., will release polyresin statuettes and figurines imported from Paris-based designers Demon & Merveilles; Electric Tiki will produce limited-edition hand-painted mini resin statues; As exclusive publisher, Golden Books/Random House will release a line of Casper books for young readers. Dark Horse will also make 8-inch vinyl figures and sculpted pre-painted ornaments for Underdog; and Electric Tiki limited-edition mini statues, min-busts and sculpts for Underdog as well as Dick Tracy. Life-Like Products will develop Tracy-inspired model trains.

United Media has their retro-style in place. In celebration of the 20^th anniversary of Dirty Dancing, Lionsgate will re-release the movie on DVD. The company is currently looking for a partner for a DVD game and board game. A Dirty Dancing reality series, which will pair strangers together to dance, will air this fall with host Chris Judd (ex-Mr. JLO). Charles Schulz’ Peanuts celebrates the 40^th anniversary of The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Paramount will release the original verion to mark the 40^th anniversary of the Halloween special on DVD; Funko! Has developed Peanuts Bobblehead toys. New products and promotions in conjunction with the anniversary will also be available throughout the year.

Larry Harmon Pictures, Hollywood, Calif., are pushing Bobo the Clown and the 80^th anniversary of Lauren & Hardy this year with a unique merchandising program that includes collectibles, like the Dark Horse Comics Movie Icons figures of L&H that come in a classic-style, silver movie tin. Warner Bros. Consumer Products are pushing Hanna Barbera properties Scooby-Doo!, Tweety, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones and The Jetsons to the kids and collectors with action figures from McFarlane Toys, Tempe, Ariz. Series 2 will be out this fall.

Archie Comics is quietly gearing up for its namesake property’s 65^th anniversary this December. Final plans are still being finalized, but licensing agent Brand Central LLC has been busy lining up apparel, stationery, social expression and other tween and teen-girl appropriate product categories for the Archie merchandising push’s core demographic of girls ages 7-14. The company’s seeking deals that “establish us for the next three or four years,” according to Steve Herman. “We think the anniversary will kick up a lot of interest.”

An Nickelodeon goes way, way back for it’s fall 2007 theatrical release Beowolf. Collectible action figures are expected to lead the merchandising for the latest retelling of the epic eighth-century English poem.