Buzz Report: Licensing Show 2007
By T. Benitez, K. Peterson & C. Annicelli -- Playthings, 6/21/2007 4:46:00 PM
NEW YORK, June 21, 2007—Licensing Show continued on Wednesday and Thursday with more announcements coming out of the exhibit halls. Below is some of the latest news Playthings found.
Fremantle Media, New York, will be focusing on game and reality shows, developing a marketing campaign around new games show Temptation, a remake of ’70s show Sale of the Century; the new Price is Right, following long-time host Bob Barker’s departure this summer; and The Next Great American Band, from American Idol’s creators. “Game shows are huge, which is just amazing for us,” David Luner, Fremantle’s senior vice president of interactive and consumer products, told Playthings. “It’s a great time to be in the game show business,” Luner said, adding, “We’ve had a lot of mobile meetings today … with game shows, you know the game. If you can deliver on that experience, you’ve got a successful game.”
Fox, Los Angeles, is getting ready for the launch of Space Chimps, the Jeff Daniels-voiced story of the first chimp to go into orbit. A major toy licensee will be named shortly; however, partners are already on board for the social expressions, back-to-school and publishing categories, and a major video game developer was just signed—and will soon be announced! “This is a project we’re very excited about,” Michael Peikoff, vice president of domestic licensing, told Playthings.
In other Fox news, The Simpsons celebrated a milestone 400th episode this spring, but the first feature film, out July 27, will really put Springfield on the map. So far, Fox has signed 600 worldwide licensees to date for both movie- and non-movie-related merchandise, including a multi-title game with Electronic Arts. And the upcoming Simpsons ride ( taking the place of the old Back to the Future attraction) at Orlando’s Universal theme park will be a “bellwether for the brand, moving it into multiple years,” Peikoff said. “It’s important from a merchandising point of view, because not only can we sell merchandise [at the park], but it’s also what it does for the brand in terms of sustaining it in the marketplace, and we’re very proud of that.”
Fox’s Family Guy also continues to be a strong property with 75 licenses worldwide and Mezco, New York, still on board to create action figures for Quagmire, Chris and crew, while 24 and Prison Break will have upcoming video games and apparel. Peikoff also shared that Prison Break is huge in France, while Family Guy and The Simpsons both do “extremely well in the UK and Australia. The humor translates overseas almost seamlessly.”
One property that Fox is keeping a tight leash on is Halo 3, the film based on the newest video game in the series, set to hit stores later this year. The property will likely attract a whole new group of hardcore gamers, teen and up, Peikoff said, noting that talks are ongoing for apparel, action figures from McFarlane (Master Chief, Brute Chieftain, Jackal Sniper, a Grunt 2-Pack and Cortana) and more licensees to come! McFarlane will also produce three die-cast metal/plastic vehicles—Warthog, Chopper and Ghost—which expected to hit store shelves in spring 2008 along with the figures.
For younger fans, Fox also has an array of properties and product on the horizon. The company was recently named licensing agent for Walden Media, producers of the The Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte’s Web and Bridge to Teribithia. Fox will develop licensed merchandise programs for the upcoming Prince Caspian, the second film in the Narnia series, as well as the additional upcoming live-action film products The Dark is Rising, City of Ember and the Tortoise and the Hippo, which is based on the popular Scholastic children’s book series about the friendship between the now famous African animal friends, Owen and Mzee. “Fox has got a very robust portfolio of brands,” Peikoff said. “Walden gives us a complementary layer, and we’re broadening our consumer base … We don’t want to be all kids’ [brands] but we certainly don’t want to be all adults’ [brands.] It allows us to leverage all parts of the demographics.”
Los Angeles-based Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) has teamed with brand business development firm Sense Partners, to find non-traditional licensing categories and strategic partnerships to deliver consumer goods, services, and lifestyle products.
For its own properties, MGM plans a new Pink Panther animated series, Pink Panther & Pals, for fall 2008. The series, which features a younger version of the famous feline, should appeal primarily to girls ages 4 to 7, Darren Kyman, MGM's director of worldwide marketing and promotions told Playthings. Merchandise will focus on products for girls a shade younger, 3 to 6. Meanwhile, for fans of the traditional Pink Panther, classic animated episodes are airing daily on Boomerang and the studio is prepping a second live action film for the revitalized franchise for 2009. In more boy-appropriate news, MGM's Storm Hawks animated series, launched earlier this month on Cartoon Network, will announce a video game partner in July, joining a licensee roster that includes Spin Master, Toronto, for toys.
New York’s King Features is releasing its first compilation of the first 60 Popeye black and white cartoons, with an additional 60 due out in 2008. Other product for the company will include collectibles that will eventually be in the works for Flash Gordon, the update of the classic by A.R. Gordon, which will air as a series of 22 episodes on the Sci-Fi channel beginning in August. For another classic, Betty Boop, a Nintendo DS video game is in the works. “We’re developing the animation now, and I think it’s great for girls,” Frank Caruso, King’s vice president, creative, told Playthings about the game. “Betty Boop is hotter than ever.”
For San Francisco-based Viz Media’s Linda Espinosa, vice president of content management, said there’s more to anime than people know, and the company is moving forward to capture an even younger audience with some upcoming properties set to hit the U.S. from Japan.
“People have always thought of anime as a bunch of ninjas that ran around with swords,” said Espinosa. “But if you really look, there’s a story, there’s romance…” Espinosa also said that one of our company’s focuses going forward “is to have more properties for the girl fan base.”
One anime series, Deko Boko Friends, is a band of unique characters like Water Chap, who waters smaller living creatures, and The Prince Egg, whose head cracks when he’s under pressure. The property, which launched two years ago as interstitials on Nickelodeon, is currently looking for a home, but it’s sure to have some cute product in tow for all 12 characters, especially since multiple categories have been explored successfully overseas, including plush toys, figures and children’s and tween accessories. The characters’ message is “You and I are different, and that’s what I like about you,” Espinosa said. “They’ve got a great message.”
Blue Dragon and its strong boy and girl characters should appeal to both boy and girl fans, Espinosa said, adding that its main designer also worked on the popular Dragonball Z, so in one sense a fan base already exists for the series. “It’s doing very well in Japan,” she said, noting that four episodes have already been created for the U.S.
For Los Angeles-based TOEI Animation, the classic Digimon is still its flagship property and is entering into its fifth season supported by a new Bandai America collectible card game, a video game from Namco Bandai out in November and additional soft and hard line merchandise through spring 2008.
Ragdoll, New York, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Teletubbies with a new program for apparel and accessories that reintroduces the now-classic characters in a softer palette and as clean line drawings, inspired by Japanese animation. The redesign gives the property “more of an edge,” Lynn Godfrey, senior director of marketing for Ragdoll, told Playthings. Tees, hats, bags and other products from key partners, including Wish, will have “great distribution” at Urban Outfitters, Virgin Megastores and Kohl’s among other venues, Godfrey said, adding, “We were able to build up quite a bit of momentum going into the spring … the response has been very positive.” Next up for the brand is the debut of new categories of products, such as Sketchers Cali Bits, “urban” shoes and jewelry items for the fall, as well as a new online boutique at Ty’s Toy Box, which should launch before the end of the year, Godfrey said. Ragdoll is also looking for another mass-market partner to add to its lineup.
Another 10-year anniversary was being celebrated for CopCorp., New York, who was at the show this year seeking new partners in multiple categories for its popular characters and brands, which include Pink Cookie, Franky & Minx and the hugely popular It’s Happy Bunny from artist Jim Benton. Benton was also on hand to showcase his work—and to draw for the crowd—in the art and design gallery. New designs for babies and expectant moms as well as those of his classic characters-with-attitude were on display in both areas. “It would be fun to expand into soda, or a [fast food] promotion,” marketing director Ken Wong told Playthings of the brand. The designs, however, would have to be carefully selected, he noted. “As we move beyond specialty into the mid-tier of mass, it has to get more mainstream,” he said. However, “tweens are always important,” he said, noting that the edgiest of designs that are very popular with them will continue to be key to sales at the brand’s core specialty retailers. Other news includes a new movie in development for Franny K. Stein, the star of six kids’ books, also from Benton. It may be a live-action or an animated film, Wong said.
And one of the biggest deals for CopCorp. heading into the show was its previously announced agreement with Fisher-Price as the master toy licensee for the (Not so) Scary Monsters.
Over at Hasbro, beyond the fans clamoring for a look at the Camaro from the upcoming Transformers deals were being made and promoted for the company’s still-popular girls’ brands, which include My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop. The biggest news in My Little Pony is that, for 2008, the collection of characters, which currently numbers near 300, will be brought down to “a core seven ponies,” according to company rep Shelly Eckenroth. “It’s really about the characters and the depth of those characters,” she said, noting that the strategy for the brand will see it move into products that are designed to develop the core characters in more detail. Meanwhile, Littlest Pet Shop, the fastest growing girls’ brand for the company, will debut new products in the coming months such as journals, apparel and accessories, each with new “discreet” styling of the brand into a subtle “LPS” logo to appeal to finicky tweens. “The look is the hook,” Eckenroth noted.
Hasbro is also licensing its classic game brands like Twister and Monopoly into apparel and accessories to be marketed in at least some retailers alongside the actual games, particularly for the college market. “This demographic wants to wear what they play,” Eckenroth said. Hasbro has also signed a number of gaming deals for the classic games, including in the mobile arena and in lottery gaming (scratch tickets). Meanwhile, Transformers will rumble into the video game and accessories market with products like Wii controller skins, Eckenroth said.
Transformers toys will, of course, be big this fall, as well as secondary product from other licensees, Eckenroth noted. “We really pushed our licensees to dig deep and design products that truly transform,” she said. Among those new items is an Optimus Prime that unfolds into an electronic laptop for kids, as well as a jacket that becomes a backpack or pillow from CoreGear.
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Tonka will be getting a new look soon, with a strictly 2-D style guide to appeal to a younger demographic, Eckenroth said. “The whole push this year is going after younger kids.” The classic Playskool brand is also getting a makeover, as Hasbro introduces new characters—and environments where they live and play—that will form the core styling of the brand in all areas, from new publishing to toddler toys to baby care products.
The focus for the Wildflower group this show was largely on its new British Charlie and Lola animated series for preschoolers, based on the books by Lauren Child. Airing on the Disney Channel every day, the series boasts “very strong” ratings, according to company principal Michael Carlisle. Early product tied to the series should be “just rolling out at the end of this year,” Carlisle told Playthings. Categories will include plush, apparel and games. Naturally Peter Rabbit, a new organic brand, also got some interest at this year’s show in the baby care arena, Carlisle said. “This property makes a lot of sense,” he noted.
Over at Nickelodeon, show attendees lined up to score points and plush toys on one of several consoles promoting its popular Neopets site, which has been “relaunched and revamped” for a new generation of kids, Sherice Torres, senior vice president of hard goods for Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products, told Playthings. Second only to Myspace.com, Neopets has become “the stickiest site on the Web” in terms of time kids stay on site, Torres said. The company is currently wrapping up deals for tween plush and vinyl figures, as well as youth electronic items that will tie back into the site, apparel, accessories, stationery and more.
The Wonder Pets! photo-real animated preschool series is also getting new product, with bobble heads and other toys from partner Fisher-Price launching in fall 2008. DVD and CD releases, as well as limited junior apparel will also debut, Torres said, noting that product tied to the series will also extend into the tween arena. “If it’s cute, you can get the junior girl.”
Nickelodeon was also heavily promoting the new live-action series The Naked Brothers Band; the property will also get a big push next year with product for both boys and girls—from apparel to calendars, posters, buttons and tie-in electronic toys—moving into mass next year, Torres said. The company’s core kids’ brands, The Backyardigans, Spongebob, Dora, Diego and Blue’s Clues, will also be getting quite a bit of new product next year in both the U.S. and internationally, including a new limited edition Hello Kitty/Blue’s Clues line from Sanrio that will send puppy Blue into the Hello Kitty world, an experience likely to appeal especially to tweens.
Cartoon Network, Atlanta, is revving up for the the continuation of Ben 10 with the creation of a stand-alone series, Ben 10: Hero Generation, which will launch in 2008. The story takes place 10 years later with a 15-year-old Ben, who is living as a normal boy when a new crop of aliens are on the attack. Luckily, his Omnitrix watch device readjusts itself to help him get a new army of heroes to help in battle.
John Friend, senior vice president of Cartoon Network, told Playthings that the channel's "engine is Ben 10," and more '07 product is scheduled around the current series, like a new video game, Ben 10: Protector of the Earth from D3 Publishing, along with more soft goods for the original Ben 10 and newer series next year and more sporting goods, back to school products, watches, toys and games. In 2008, the two lines will stand side by side at retail, before the new series gets a big push for holiday 2008. "The biggest thing on the kid side for us is Ben 10," Friend said. "We're approaching it as a universe." An animated movie for the series will air on August 10, and a live-action flick will air on November 21, he added.
For the Adult Swim lineup of more grown-up programming, Cartoon Network has kept a tighter hold on licensing the properties out, keeping offerings strictly to DVD releases. "We've kept our foot on the brakes hard," Friend noted. However, the network is beginning to explore partners for apparel and accessories, possibly action figures and other small collectibles for shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Metalocalpyse, and a new Aqua Teen video game will be available this fall.
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is also a hit for the network, Friend says, with a huge product line currently in Hot Topic. "That's working very well for us," he said. "We're extremely happy with how the launch has gone. We love working with Hot Topic."
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