- Universal Pictures has inked a deal with Cloudco Entertainment to reimagine the Care Bears as characters from Wicked: For Good in a limited-edition plush collection. Five new SKUs manufactured by master toy partner Basic Fun! will roll out to retailers across North America this fall, including 14-inch stuffed renditions of Good Luck Bear as Elphaba and Love-A-Lot Bear as Glinda.
- Moose Toys has acquired the fast-paced word-building board game Bananagrams for an undisclosed amount. This acquisition is part of Moose’s strategy to bolster its three-year-old games division, which generates US$100 million in revenue each year. The Aussie toyco also plans to create branded editions of the game for its original IPs (such as Magic Mixies and Shopkins) and licensed properties (Minions and Bluey, for example).
- Saudi Arabia’s MBC Group will air Acamar Films’ tentpole preschool series Bing on its MBC3 linear channel and streamer Shahid in the MENA region. This deal also gives MBC L&M rights to the property, which it plans to leverage in categories including toys, publishing and branded events.
- Just Play’s existing deal with the Mouse House for its Disney Doorables range of microcollectibles has been expanded to include Marvel characters. Featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man and Groot, the first 50-character set will launch later this week at major US retailers before rolling out in LatAm, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and other European countries in the fall.
- The UK government has stepped up to back the production of 10 new five-minute episodes of a CG-animated YouTube series called Activate that’s designed to combat childhood obesity. Produced by Studio AKA and fitness YouTuber Joe Wicks, who premiered the first episode on his The Body Coach TV channel earlier this week, the 10 new eps will air weekly throughout the summer featuring music provided by Universal Music UK.
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