The Jim Henson Company (JHC) will be returning to BLE 2015, under the guidance of recently appointed Vice President of Global Consumer Products Federico San Martin, who now oversees licensing activities worldwide for the Company.
JHC will debut three brand new properties to the international consumer products’ marketplace, including Dot., Word Party and Splash!. The Company is currently developing global programs for all three brands, which are anticipated to launch at retail in the U.S. in summer and fall 2016.
JHC will also continue the global expansion of two of its original brands, Dinosaur Train and Doozers. Additionally, the Company will present Elias: Rescue Team Adventures under the company’s third party banner, HIP (Henson Independent Properties).
PROPERTY DEBUTS AT BLE:
DOT.:
JHC is introducing the all-new property, Dot., based on author and tech guru Randi Zuckerberg’s debut picture book of the same name. The Jim Henson Company optioned the rights earlier this year and is developing an animated series along with an accompanying global consumer products program, targeting the bridge market of four to seven-year-old girls.
The series follows the inquisitive and exuberant tech-savvy Dot, who embarks on hilarious adventures to satisfy her imagination, curiosity and latest passion. Dot is a whimsical, quick-to-laugh kid, who’s not afraid to get her dress dirty. For a girl as curious and creative as Dot, there’s no better way to spend the day than outside, exploring the world with her dog, her group of friends and any tool or tech that will help deepen their play and exploration. Each episode ends with Dot giving the viewers a call to action to get inspired and explore digitally and practically what excites them too.
WORD PARTY:
Word Party is the latest addition to JHC’s stable of preschool brands targeting the youngest kids in the family. JHC is currently in production on the series using the groundbreaking Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary technology from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™ that allows puppeteers to perform digitally animated characters in real time - enabling the animation to be more lifelike and spontaneous. Consisting of 26 x 11 minute episodes, the new series was commissioned by Netflix to premier exclusively on the platform in 2016.
Word Party—a highly interactive series supported by a strong curriculum that reinforces language building and music education--follows four adorable baby animals as they sing, dance and play their way through their daily routines, learning new and exciting words along the way! There’s FRANNY the baby cheetah who is not only smart, but also a natural leader of the group; BAILEY the sweet and sensitive baby elephant; PIP an energetic wallaby who just can’t stop hopping; and LULU the lovable baby panda and resident party animal who loves to celebrate learning each new word with a "Word Party!" Leveraging kids’ innate desire to be the “teacher,” the series invites the youngest viewers to help teach the baby animals new words and learn these new words themselves.
SPLASH!:
Splash! is a new children’s brand that aims to transform the relationship between children and our oceans across multiple platforms--engaging television episodes; consumer products; a cohesive suite of digital content, including a robust website and library of free mobile apps; and community engagement through coordinated outreach to children.
JHC is currently developing Splash!, the animated series, which plunges into the diversity and wonder of our natural undersea world. Each episode features two 11-minute comedic adventures introducing viewers to a strange new marine species or ocean phenomenon. Splash, an inquisitive yellowtail fusilier fish, leads his friends out of their sheltered Reeftown neighborhood on different currents, whisking them off to explore the oceans where they meet wildly diverse creatures and discover otherworldly undersea habitats, bringing back what they’ve learned to share with their friends and neighbors.
Young learners ages four to seven will join Splash and his friends, on adventures to discover more about the wondrous world of marine species and ocean phenomena.
EXPANSION OF HENSON PROPERTIES:
DINOSAUR TRAIN:
The Dinosaur Train brand continues to gather steam around the globe with a recently announced new master toy partner, Jazwares, joining the growing list of licensing and media partners. The toy re-launch is anticipated for fall 2016 in the U.S. and will roll out internationally thereafter. A new fourth season of the four-time EMMY®-nominated and Parents’ Choice Silver Honor animated series is in production. JHC will be meeting at BLE with potential international licensing partners across multiple categories.
Representing JHC’s Dinosaur Train across the region are Bulldog Licensing (UK); Studio Canal (France); LizenzWerft (Germany); SelectaVision (Spain); Megalicense (Russia); Jantar Projekt (Poland); Maurizio Distefano (Italy); and Al Jazeera (Middle East).
DOOZERS:
JHC is ramping up the consumer products program for its Parents Choice® Gold Award-winning CG-animated preschool series Doozers, inspired by the wildly popular characters from Fraggle Rock. At BLE, the Company will be announcing a new master toy partner, and securing additional licensees across key categories. In the U.S., Simon & Schuster is a publishing partner with two new Ready-to-Read titles published in August, and an additional title to debut in December 2015. NCircle is the home entertainment partner, with a new Halloween title to launch this fall.
Doozers is a modern series for modern families that encourages kids to design, create and innovate. Doozers debuted in the U.S. as the first Hulu Original series for kids, following earlier launches on Discovery Kids Latin America; Turner’s Cartoonito in the UK and Italy; Turner’s Boomerang HD in Germany; and Nick Jr. via Foxtel. Additional broadcast partners around the globe for the series, include France Télévisions (France), RTVE for Clan (Spain), Dreamia (Portugal), AMC Networks International for Canal Panda (Spain), TV New Zealand, MediaCorp (Malaysia and Singapore) for its Okto Channel, HOP! (Israel), Radio Television Brunei and Emirates Cable TV & Multimedia LLC’s E-Junior (UAE).
Additionally, the UK’s Video On Demand 365 Ltd. acquired SVOD rights to the series, and Letson Corporation Ltd. acquired AVOD rights for Russia. German home video distribution company Polyband, who will distribute Doozers DVDs in German-language markets.
The Doozer Creek mobile app has reached the #1 slot in iTunes in multiple countries.
Representing JHC’s Doozers across the region are Bulldog Licensing (UK); Biplano Licensing (France); Active Merchandising (Germany); Maurizio Distefano (Italy); CPL (Latin America); and Fusion Agency (Australia).
PROPERTIES PRESENTED AT BLE UNDER THE HIP BANNER:
ELIAS: RESCUE TEAM ADVENTURES:
HIP will be meeting with potential international licensing partners at BLE for the new preschool brand, Elias: Rescue Team Adventures, based on the animated series.
Elias: Rescue Team Adventures, (produced by Animando in partnership with Coaz Animation) is about a brave little rescue boat who teams up with his skillful friends on adventures to keep Cozy Cove safe. The series has garnered impressive ratings since its launch on NRK Norway in March 2014. More than 300 different consumer products have been introduced in the Nordic region to date, and negotiations are underway with several leading international broadcasters.