With licensing playing an increasingly prominent role in the toy industry, Toys ‘n’ Playthings previews the licences to keep n eye out for in 2009.
A year of pre-school
BBC Worldwide’s In the Night Garden will maintain its high profile in 2009 with a number of new products on show at Toy Fair this year. New to launch at this year’s show is the In the Night Garden Crayola arts and crafts range form Vivid Imaginations and nusery toys from Golden Bear.
In the Night Garden is also growing in the outdoor play market with furniture, wooden toys and other outdoor play itmes from Martin Yaffe/Danjam, alongside the outdoor range and playtents from Worlds Apart. Master toy licensee Hasbro is set to exhibit its large Ninky Nok, Sleepytime Igglepiggle, Dressy Upsy Dasiy, Switch a Story and On the GoWorld playmat toys. The In the Night Garden theme continues with puzzles from Ravensburger and art/craft/games from Flair.
Following the 10th anniversary year, the Teletubbies licensing programme continues to grow. New to the Teletubbies licensee stable for 2009 is Jumbo, which has produced a new range of Teletubbies puzzles.
The BBC’s Charlie and Lola will branch out in 2009 with a new range of plush and wooden toys from master toy partner Golden Bear alongside puzzles from Ravensburger.
TV Loonland’s BAFTA nominated Little Princess animation series remains one of Mikshake’s most popular shows.
Following the launch of first ever toy range by Martin Yaffe in 2008, spring/summer 2009 will bring beanies, which feature Little Princess in different outfits. A set of three beanies featuring Gillbert, Little Princess and Scruff will also be available. The Little Princess Greenhouse playhouse comes with accessories including plant pots, tools and a watering can. In addition, licensing agreements are already underway with DanJam for wooden toy products and Club Rugs. Other key categories will focus on the greetings and occasions markets.
Chorion kicked off a year of celebrations for Noddy’s 60th anniversary in November 2008 with an extensive consumer and retail marketing campaign leading up to the 2009 debut of the brand new 52-episode TV series along with a new toy range, and an engaging new live experience. Chorion has recently signed a number of major licensing partners for the brand including NSR as master toy licensee. Bandai will be distributing the reange in the UK.
Since Fifi and the Flowertots launched in 2005, the property has continued to grow and is now the number one girls’ pre-school brand in the UK.
Chapman is currently filming the third series of Fifi and the Flowertots. As well as featuring the voice of Jane Horrocks as Fifi Forget-me-not, the new series will introduce a number of new characters to freshen up the property.
Fifi can now boast over 50 licensees and 600SKUs. Master toy licensee Vivid Imaginations will have a new product line ready for autumn/winter and all Fifi products will have refreshed packaging ready for Toy Fair.
At just a year old, Chapman’s Roary the Racing Car is the fastest growing pre-school property in the UK. The programme, narrated by racing legend Sir Stirling Moss, follows the adventures of a group of racing car friends at Silver Hatch race track. The response to the first series has been incredibly positive and Chapman is now filming a new series with brand new characters. Using state of the art filming techniques and a mixture of CGI and stop-frame animation, Roary is sure to be a hit with boys in 2009.
The licensing programme is growing all of the time with 32 licensees currently signed in the UK. Chapman is still looking to take on new licensees.
Sesame Street continues to grow in strength in the UK. New claymation show Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures airs daily on Five and is an exciting programming extension to the channel’s Elmo’s World, which continues to be aired every Sunday morning. With 52, five-minute episodes commissioned by Five, the series focuses on friendship, understanding and respecting differing perspectives.
Elmo continues to delight children and adults alike with Mattel’s latest incarnation of the furry red monster, Elmo Live which launched in October. Elmo Live waves his arms, sits, stands, he eve crosses his legs while regaling children with stories, jokes, songs and games.
Bob the Builder is celebrating his 10th year of getting the job done in 2009 and HIT Entertainment has kicked off a year-long celebration campaign in his honour. Plans for the year ahead include a specially commissioned 4-D movie, Bob the Builder and the Rollercoaster, which exclusive to LEGOLand family theme parks from March. Bob has also been given a new CGI look, with the first brand new series airing on CBeebies and Nick Jr from the end of the year.
Thomas & Friends will start preparing for its 65th anniversary in 2010. HIT has many exiting new developments for 2009 including innovative consumer product offerings with Thomas moving into the world of electrics and worldwide debut of Thomas in CGI set to broadcast in late 2009.
A year of girls
Angelina Ballerina from HIT has been given a refresh for 2009 with an all new CGI animated television show, a new broadcast platform and a second, follow-up stage show with English worldwide debut on Nick Jr. in the UK in autumn 2009 and features new characters an destinations. The all-new series expands the world of Angelina and her friends into new areas of dance including tap, modern, jazz and classic.
Disney has major plans for both Disney Princess and Disney Fairies. The return of favorite fairytales and the release of new ones provides an ongoing basis for the success of these franchises-including the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 2009 and theatrical release of Walt Disney Studios The Princess and the Frog in 2010 (see movies). Tinker Bell premiered on Disney DVD and Blu-ray in November 2008 and was the first of four new Disney Fairies movies. The second film, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure will be launching autumn. Dust tree.
A year of boys
Disney/Pixar’s Cars will see a great deal of support in 2009. Brand new Cars Toons have been created by Disnye/Pixar-a new animated short series directed by John Lasseter starring Lightning McQueen’s rusty but trusty friend Mater. 2008 saw the multi channel launch of Mater the Grater on Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney and Disney Cinemagic. 2009 will see continued support including fun-fuelled new products and the premieres of the other Cars Toons.
Top Gear from BBC Worldwide is proven to be a favourite with boys, lads and dads and this yer products available include Top Trumps from Winning Moves and Minichamps’ die-cast models.
4Kids Entertainment International’s Yu-Gi-Oh is also preparing for a busy year and Sandra Vauthier-Cellier, managing director at the company comments: “2009 is going to be a significant year in the toy sector for our brands. Our two trading card games go from strength to strength: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s is the next chapter in the hugely successful Yu-Gi-Oh franchise and Chaotic made its debut in the UK in October 2008- both will take hold in the UK and begin their Euroean roll out in 2009.”
A year of family
Following a spectacular Christmas special on the BBC, Doctor Who is returning in some fantastic new lines from Character Options presenting ‘collect and build’ figures, Time Squad collectable figures, further classic figures and the Doctor’s Book of Impossible Things. Doctor Who games are also a well-covered category with a brand new DVD game from Screenlife in the shops. This joins Winning Moves’ Top Trumps and Flair’s Uno and Etch a Sketch games
Are You Smarter than a Ten Year Old? has two versions of the programme, one presented by Dick & Dom in the daytime and the other presented by Noel Edmonds in peaktime. This show has recently been rebranded Noel’s Are You Smarter than a Ten Year Old?
The show has proved popular with licensees. Hasbro has developed a board game and a DVD game, Character Options has the licence for handheld electronic games and Re:creation has developed a card game presented in a tinbox. Start Licensing is hoping to develop a few more partnerships in a focused way such as gift confectionery, a live event and promotional partnerships.
A year of film
Warner Bros believes that Harry Potter is the biggest film franchise in history and there are still three more movies to come. Due to the writers strike and a lack of big blockbuster movies being released in 2009, Warner Bros. has a unique opportunity to own the big screen this summer with the release of the sixth Harry Potter movie. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in July 2009. Warner Bros Consumer products will also be kick-starting plans for the Harry Potter finale and outlining the blueprint that will ensure the property’s long term future as an evergreen brand including theme park and touring exhibition.
New from Disney in 2010 will be The Princess and the Frog. This new musical is set in New Orleans and marks Disney’s return to the timeless art form of traditional animation. The film teams Ron Clements and John Musker, creators of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, with Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman to tell the most beautiful love story ever told complete with frogs, voodoo, and a sining alligator.
Hannah Montana reaches more than 164 million unique total viewers worldwide and 2009 will see the Disney Channel take Hannah to the big screen in a feature film Hannah Montana The Movie.
The phenomenal launch of High School Musical 3: Senior Year in 2008 saw the film become the biggest opening ever for a musical in UK history and High School Musical 3 became the fastest selling soundtrack in official UK chart history, going platinum in just three days. Support for the franchise will continue throughout 2009 with new product, a DVD launch, TV and other activity.
Toy Story featuring Woody and Buzz Lightyear makes a return to cinemas in autumn 2009 and this time the characters are bought to life in 3D. Early 2010 will see the 3D theatrical release of Toy Story 2 and then in summer 2010, the hugely anticipated Toy Story 3 will release in cinemas. |