MGA Entertainment

Japanese licensing agency Dentsu has appointed the toyco as the global master toy partner for stop-motion anime series Pui Pui Molcar (pictured) from Tokyo’s Shin-Ei Animation

MGA will develop toys and a licensing program covering vehicles, apparel, electronics and accessories for the preschool-focused brand that will launch worldwide in summer 2022.

Centering around a group of guinea pigs who are turned into vehicles, Pui Pui (12 x eight minutes) premiered in January on TV Tokyo,  followed by a North American launch on Netflix in March.

Amazon Kids+

The e-commerce giant’s kids platform is focusing on financial literacy for three- to 12-year-olds in a new deal with Greenlight Financial Technology.

Under the agreement, Amazon Kids+ users can sign up for a free one-year subscription to the Greenlight Plan, which will teach them the basics of saving and investing.

Education around personal finance is rare in schools, and the pandemic—which has had a big impact on family finances—has led to an increased demand for resources that teach kids about managing their own money.

PGS Entertainment 

Having previously named Mattel as master toy partner, the LA-based distributor has now appointed three licensing agents to build CP programs for Gus, The Itsy Bitsy Knight from France’s Technicolor Animation Productions.

Bulldog Licensing will rep the brand in the UK and Ireland, with Planeta Junior overseeing Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Poland, and TF1 Licensing overseeing French-speaking territories.

The 52 x 11-minute fantasy series premiered in September on TF1, followed by Disney (Germany), Tiny Pop (UK) and DeAJunior (Italy) later that same month. Targeting kids ages four to seven, it’s about a young boy’s epic dream-land adventure to become a knight. Mattel will starting rolling out its product range in fall 2022.

bRAND-WARD 

ON Kids & Family has tapped the London-based consulting firm as its UK licensing agent for animated adventure series Petronix Defenders. 

The 52 x 13-minute show for four to sevens is in production now and set to launch in 2023. It’s the first upper preschool/family co-viewing title  from ON Kids & Family, which has historically focused on entertaining the six-to-10 demo. Petronix Defenders stars a team of young superheroes with magical backpacks who are on a mission to protect the world’s animals. The UK’s Tiny Pop, Germany’s Super RTL, France’s Gulli and M6 have already picked up the show.

Master toy partner Alpha will launch a first range of toys worldwide in time for Christmas 2023. No additional details on which categories bRAND-WARD plans to focus on were available at press time.

ON Kids & Family has already set up a handful of licensing agents for the property internationally, including Planeta Junior (Eastern and Central Europe), Megalicense (Russia and Ukraine), Plus Licens (Nordic countries) and Super RTL (Germany).