Nickelodeon UK Announces Plans To Host A Halloween Weekend Over Saturday 27th October 2012 And Sunday 28th October 2012!

Nickelodeon UK and Ireland has announced on their "What's On" schedule section and on their brand new "Halloween on Nick" webpage on the official Nickelodeon UK and Ireland website, Nick.co.uk that, to celebrate the spookiest and scariest month of the year and Halloween, Nickelodeon UK will be hosting a second special Halloween Weekend programming stunt and block on Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK over Saturday 27th October 2012 and Sunday 28th October 2012 which will feature some of the most terrifying episodes of Nickelodeon's most popular original series ("Nicktoons"), including "SpongeBob SquarePants", "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness", "Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures", "iCarly", "Victorious", and "Big Time Rush", plus Nickelodeon's supernatural original television movie "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf"!

The Halloween horror fun begins on Saturday 27th October 2012 at 9am with the haunted episode of "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness" called "The Po Who Cried Ghost". The the blood curdling screams (of laughter) continue with an encore of the brand new "SpongeBob SquarePants" Halloween episode "Ghoul Fools" at 9.30am. Then at 10am, the fright-fest continues with an "Epic Haunting" in "Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures", and at 10.30am, there's a encore of the brand new spooky episode of "iCarly" titled "iHalfoween". There's more graveyard shenanigans at 11am with the "Victorious" episode "Tori The Zombie", and at 10.30am, Nickelodeon celebrates Halloween in big time style with the frightening "Big Time Rush" episode "Big Time Halloween". Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the TV, the first day of Nickelodeon UK's "Halloween Weekend" concludes with the original Nickelodeon television movie "Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred", where we join Fred Figglehorn (Lucas Cruikshank) on his latest quest to expose his new music teacher, Mr. Devlin, as a vampire! If you missed any of Nickelodeon UK's Halloween Weekend, don't panic! Nickelodeon UK will encore the first day of their Halloween Weekend again from 5pm (with Nickelodeon Star Victoria Justice takes Nickelodeon viewers on a journey to Wolfsberg, Romania in the original Nickelodeon television movie "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" replacing "Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred" at 8pm)! All shows repeated one hour later on Nick UK's plus-one (+1) timeshift channel, Nickelodeon+1.

The first day of Nick UK's Halloween Weekend might be over, but that's no reason to howl at the moon! There'll be more frightening Halloween mayhem on Nickelodeon UK when their Halloween Weekend continues on Sunday 28th October 2012 with Nickelodeon UK airing special Halloween episodes of favourite Nickelodeon shows throughout the day! The second day of Nickelodeon's Fright-fest weekend starts at 9.30am with the spooktacular brand new "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode "Ghoul Fools", then at 10am, SpongeBob is determined to find out everything there is to know about Vikings in "Dear Vikings", and then in the "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode called 'Ditchin' at 10.15am, Patrick Star persuades SpongeBob to ditch class, but fun soon turns to guilt. The Halloween fun continues at 11.30am with the haunting brand new "iCarly" episode "iHalfoween", and at 1.30pm, Nickelodeon viewers and "Fred" fans get to meet Evil Fred in the two-part special of "Fred: The Show" called "Evil Fred", where, after the kids and neighbours have witnessed Fred committing petty crimes, most of which happen to Kevin's house, Fred declares his innocence, but nobody believes him. Then there's a Thoroughly Haunted Marathon from 3pm with Halloween-themed episodes of hit Nickelodeon shows, with the scream-out-loud episode of "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness" called "The Po Who Cried Ghost" at 3pm, the spooky "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode "Ghoul Fools" at 3.30pm, an "Epic Haunting" in "Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures" at 4pm, Halfoween mischief in the "iCarly" Halloween episode "iHalfoween" at 4.30pm, the freaky episode of "Victorious" called "Tori The Zombie" at 5pm, Halloween mayhem in the "Big Time Rush" Halloween episode titled "Big Time Halloween" at 5.30pm, concluding with the moon-howling Nickelodeon original telemovie "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" at 6pm!

Below is Nickelodeon UK's schedules for both nights of their "Halloween Weekend" programming stunt, from Nickelodeon UK's "What's On" schedule section on the official Nickelodeon UK and Ireland website, Nick.co.uk:

Saturday 27th October 2012:

5:00pm - Kung Fu Panda: Legends: The Po Who Cried Ghost: Po's worst childhood fears come true when he comes face to face with hopping ghosts! Note: This brand new "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness" episode will premiere on Nickelodeon UK a few hours before it's North American premiere on Nickelodeon USA!

5:30pm - New SpongeBob SquarePants: Ghoul Fools: SpongeBob and Patrick get caught in the feud between a crew of ghost pirates and the Flying Dutchman.

6:00pm - Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures: Epic Haunting: Bucket and Skinner's latest plan to achieve epic status requires them to spend the whole night in the town's legendary haunted house.

6:30pm - iCarly: iHalfoween: The gang invent a new holiday to enjoy Halloween twice a year. But when Nevel, disguised as a costumed guest, pulls a prank on Carly and her friends the party spins out of control.

7:00pm - Victorious: Tori The Zombie: Tori gets the lead in a high profile school musical, but freaks out when a stage makeup project goes wrong and she's left looking like a zombie on opening night. [subtitles]

7:30pm - Big Time Rush: Big Time Halloween: It's Halloween in Palm Woodsylvania, and the monstrous personas of Big Time Rush come to light as James, Logan, Carlos and Kendal each assume their otherworldly forms. [subtitles]

8:00pm - The Boy Who Cried Werewolf: A family inherit an estate from a mysterious Great Uncle. They find that it has a strange history and is located in a village with dark secrets. Then one of them begins transforming into a werewolf!

Sunday 28th October 2012:

9:30am - New SpongeBob SquarePants: Ghoul Fools: SpongeBob and Patrick get caught in the feud between a crew of ghost pirates and the Flying Dutchman.

10:00am - SpongeBob SquarePants: SpongeBob is determined to find out everything there is to know about Vikings in 'Dear Vikings', and then in 'Ditchin', Patrick persuades SpongeBob to ditch class, but fun soon turns to guilt. [subtitles]

11:30am - iCarly: iHalfoween: The gang invent a new holiday to enjoy Halloween twice a year. But when Nevel, disguised as a costumed guest, pulls a prank on Carly and her friends the party spins out of control.

1:30pm - Fred: The Show: Evil Fred - Part 1: Kids and neighbours have witnessed Fred committing petty crimes, most of which happen to Kevin's house. Fred declares his innocence, but nobody believes him.

1:45pm - Fred: The Show: Evil Fred - Part 2: Kids and neighbours have witnessed Fred committing petty crimes, most of which happen to Kevin's house. Fred declares his innocence, but nobody believes him.

3:00pm - Kung Fu Panda: Legends: The Po Who Cried Ghost: Po's worst childhood fears come true when he comes face to face with hopping ghosts!

3:30pm - New SpongeBob SquarePants: Ghoul Fools: SpongeBob and Patrick get caught in the feud between a crew of ghost pirates and the Flying Dutchman.

4:00pm - Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures: Epic Haunting: Bucket and Skinner's latest plan to achieve epic status requires them to spend the whole night in the town's legendary haunted house.

4:30pm - iCarly: iHalfoween: The gang invent a new holiday to enjoy Halloween twice a year. But when Nevel, disguised as a costumed guest, pulls a prank on Carly and her friends the party spins out of control.

5:00pm - Victorious: Tori The Zombie: Tori gets the lead in a high profile school musical, but freaks out when a stage makeup project goes wrong and she's left looking like a zombie on opening night. [subtitles]

5:30pm - Big Time Rush: Big Time Halloween: It's Halloween in Palm Woodsylvania, and the monstrous personas of Big Time Rush come to light as James, Logan, Carlos and Kendal each assume their otherworldly forms. [subtitles]

6:00pm - The Boy Who Cried Werewolf: A family inherit an estate from a mysterious Great Uncle. They find that it has a strange history and is located in a village with dark secrets. Then one of them begins transforming into a werewolf!

[Source: Nickelodeon UK Fanblog NickUKHub.]

The Official Nickelodeon UK Website, Nick.co.uk, Unveils Their "Halloween On Nickelodeon 2012" Website

To celebrate the spookiest and scariest month of the year and Halloween, the official Nickelodeon UK and Ireland website, Nick.co.uk, has unveiled their brand new thoroughly haunted official "Halloween on Nick - Halloween Weekend" website at nick.co.uk/shows/halloween which is packed full of freaky fun guaranteed to give you goosebumps!

On Nickelodeon UK's brand new "Halloween on Nickelodeon 2012" website, visitors can watch super scary online streaming video clips from Halloween-themed episodes of the hit Nickelodeon shows "iCarly", "Spongebob Squarepants" and "Big Time Rush", and the popular Nickelodeon original television movies "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" and "Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred", play mega creepy online games based on the hit animated Nickelodeon original shows (Nicktoons) "Spongebob Squarepants", "Back at the Barnyard", "Danny Phantom", and "Fanboy & Chum Chum", plus vote for who they think is the scariest "SpongeBob SquarePants" character - "FrankenBob SquarePants", "Robob SquarePants", "BrainBob SquarePants" or "ZombieBob SquarePants"!

Click on the links below to watch Nickelodeon's thoroughly spooky Halloween-themed video clips and play Nickelodeon's spine-chilling video games:

Creepy Games:

SpongeBob SquarePants: Ghoul Getter - Float or perish!

Back at the Barnyard: Creepy Candy Craze - Barnyard scares!

SpongeBob SquarePants: Dark Abyss - Don't get lost!

SpongeBob SquarePants The Ghost Slayer - Slay the ghouls!

Danny Phantom: Action Jack - Blast the ghosts!

SpongeBob SquarePants: FrankenPatrick Star - It's alive!!

Fanboy & Chum Chum: Hocus Pocus Pox - Chicken Chum Chum!

Scary Clips:

Watch spooky goings on in SpongeBob SquarePants: "I Was a Teenage Gary"

Watch Fred Figglehorn (Lucas Cruikshank) turn invisible with his invisibility cloak in "Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred"

Find out what's scaring Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants: "Scaredy Pants"

Find out what makes the Nickelodeon TV Movie "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" Wolftorious

Get Big Time Scares with Big Time Rush: Big Time Halloween

Enter a haunted house in the "iCarly" Halloween episode "iScream on Halloween"

There's animal attraction in a second video clip from "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf"

Freak Fun:

Who's the scariest?

Vote on the scariest SpongeBob

FrankenBob SquarePants
Robob SquarePants
BrainBob SquarePants
ZombieBob SquarePants.

Viz Media Develops A New Original Graphic Novel Series Based On NickToons' Hit Boys Animated Action Adventure Series "Monsuno"

From Anime News Network:

VIZ Media Develops Monsuno Original Graphic Novel Series

Viz Media Develops a New Original Graphic Novel Series Based on the Hit Boys Animated Action Adventure Series Monsuno, Airing on Nicktoons

New VIZ Kids Series Debuts 2013

San Francisco, CA, October 15, 2012 – Viz Media, LLC (Viz Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, continues to expand its library of original graphic novels as it announces the acquisition of the North American publishing rights for Monsuno, an epic boys action adventure where kids discover, command and battle creatures with destructive potential. A race to harness the power of Monsuno ensues between this group of heroic kids and the evil forces focused on destroying the planet. The Monsuno publishing series will debut with a graphic novel, written by Brian Smith with artwork by Erwin Prasetya, delivering all new, original adventures beginning late Spring 2013 under the company's VIZ Kids imprint. Monsuno Volume 1 is rated ‘A’ for All Ages, and will carry an MSRP of $7.99 U.S. / $9.99 CAN.

Like the animated series, the Monsuno graphic novels will follow Chase Suno and his friends as they search for Chase's father and discover the power of Monsuno. The first adventure introduces a new villain to the Monsuno universe, and kicks off long before Chase had ever heard of Monsuno, when scientists experimented with Monsuno essence. One such scientist, Dr. Moto, tried to create her own Monsuno, but the experiments went horribly wrong. Trapped in an icy lab, Dr. Moto's tests have continued, and now Chase, Bren and Jinja have stumbled upon the horrifying results!

“Being a teenager with access to controllable 15-foot-tall hybridized monsters is everything you'd want it to be and more in this action-packed new series coming next Spring from VIZ Kids,” says Beth Kawasaki, Senior Editorial Director. “Our Monsuno graphic novel series will deliver original stories inspired by the hit animated program seen widely on Nicktoons, and offer inspirational characters, gripping action, and high-stakes adventure that combines with a dose of impromptu humor to produce a fun adventure with monstrous potential! Look for this new title coming soon in 2013!”

The Monsuno series, created by Jared Wolfson and Jeremy Padawer, is co-produced by Pacific Animation Partners LLC, a joint venture between Jakks Pacific, Inc. and Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc., with Fremantle Media Enterprises and The Topps Company, Inc. Jakks Pacific is the creator of the underlying Monsuno property and master toymaker for the Monsuno toy line. The Topps Company produces Monsuno trading card games, confectioneries and related products.

For more information on Monsuno or other VIZ Kids properties, please visit: VIZKids.com.

About Viz Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Viz Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha, Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., Viz Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha magazine and blockbuster properties like Naruto, Bleach and Inuyasha, Viz Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. Viz Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about Viz Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

Also, from Publishers Weekly:

Déjà Vu at New York Comic Con with Archie, Disney, Nancy Drew

Kids love familiar things, and there were plenty of familiar faces at New York Comic Con: Archie continues to revive older properties such as Sabrina, Disney was selling both Rick Riordan’s prose books and his latest graphic novels, and Papercutz premiered its latest Nancy Drew graphic novel. There was a parade of original graphic novels as well and plenty of digital innovation, including plans by iVerse to team with Brodart to market its digital comics service to libraries.

Most of the attention at the con focused on projects that have already been announced, but Viz Media had some news about its VizKids line: They announced two new licensed series, Monsuno, which is based on the Nicktoons cartoon, and Uglydoll, based on the line of plush toys and other merchandise. James Kochalka, who won an Eisner Award earlier this year for Dragon Puncher 2, is among the contributors to the Uglydoll books.

There were no licensed characters at the First Second booth, where marketing director Gina Gagliano was celebrating the fact that both Zack Giallongo's Broxo and Mark Siegel's Sailor Twain were on the New York Times bestseller list. Ben Hatke was there to sign copies of his new book, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl, along with Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), MK Reed (Americus), and Mike Cavallaro, who illustrated Jane Yolen's Foiled and the sequel, Foiled Again, which is due out in January.

Similarly, the focus at the Lerner Graphic Universe booth was on original work, with signings of Colleen AF Venable's Guinea Pig, Andres Vera Martinez and Na Liu's Little White Duck, and Lars Jakobsen's Mortensen's Escapades.

Disney Publishing Worldwide brought in Orpheus Collar, the illustrator of the graphic novel adaptation of Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid, and several other creators for panels and signings, and they were giving away a Red Pyramid poster, a Marvel preview booklet, It’s a Small World tote bags, and Heroes of Olympus water bottles.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch was one of the stars of the Archie Comics panel; they recently released an e-book of 50 Sabrina stories, and an animated cartoon, Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch, will debut in summer 2013 on The Hub. In addition, the publisher has compiled Tania Del Rio's manga-style Sabrina comics, which were published as color comics during the manga boom of the mid-2000s, into four black-and-white, manga-sized volumes; the first one will be out in February 2013. The panelists discussed a number of upcoming storylines, including an Archie/Glee crossover: “It sort of works out that each Archie character has a Glee counterpart, so it’s very interesting to see the characters sort of blending together,” said writer Dan Parent. Also in the works are a Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man crossover and a Sonic encyclopedia.

Papercutz had mini-comics with excerpts from its Annoying Orange graphic novel, which will debut in December, as well as the first issue of Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, which features an eight-year-old Nancy Drew and is drawn by veteran Archie artist Stan Goldberg. Their bestselling Ninjago graphic novels, based on the Lego ninja series, were also available, and the giveaways at the booth included Ninjago and Power Rangers posters.

Aside from the hugely popular Pocket God comic, children's comics have not been a big factor in the digital channel, but that may be about to change. At its panel, iVerse announced that it has signed a distribution deal with Brodart to market its digital graphic novel service to libraries. The service, which was announced at San Diego Comic Con, will allow library patrons to read graphic novels on any digital device. Libraries will pay for the graphic novels on a per-checkout basis, but the service also includes quite a bit of free content. The new service is scheduled to launch for public libraries in January, with a school library service to follow.

iVerse also announced an exclusive digital deal with Ape Entertainment, which publishes licensed comics based on DreamWorks movies, Sesame Street, video games, and other properties, as well as original comics and graphic novels. The other digital comics distributor, comixology, announced that it will carry the digital versions of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the science comics published by G.T. Labs, and it has added a “parent-friendly sync” to its Comics 4 Kids app that allows parents to share kid-friendly comics digitally with their children.

At the ICv2 Conference that preceded the convention proper, a group of editors and creators talked about what makes a good children's comic. Ed Massessa, senior manager of product development for Scholastic Book Fairs, pointed to a good cover: “Our bestselling graphic novel at Scholastic of all time is Smile by Raina Telgemeier. The story was wonderful, I don't think it would not have gotten the attention that it did if it had not had that knockout cover on it. Just a big ol' smiley face with braces.”

Amelia Rules creator Jimmy Gownley advocated for interesting characters, noting that Smile would have been "almost bland," because the story was so universal, if the main character hadn’t been so likeable. Françoise Mouly of Toon Books said that her books' high production values, such as good paper and design, set them apart. And Mark Banaszak, managing editor of Diamond Bookshelf, summed it up neatly, saying, “Something that is well made, and something that is not written down to kids – that is kind of key, because you can tell, and I think kids can tell, when someone is trying to write something intentionally simplistic versus just at a level where they can understand.”

FremantleMedia Enterprises, JAKKS Pacific Inc. And Dentsu Entertainment USA Announce Plans To Make Second Season Of The Boys' Animated Action-Adventure Series "Monsuno"; To Be Complemented With New Line-Up Of Toys And Merchandise

From OnScreenAsia:

FME, JAKKS Pacific and Dentsu to extend Monsuno series

The new series will be complemented with new line-up of toys and merchandise.

FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), JAKKS Pacific Inc, and Dentsu Entertainment USA will be creating another season of the boys' action-adventure series Monsuno, committing to another set of 26 x 30' episodes. This extension of the series will be complemented by a new line-up of action figures, accessories, combat sets and battle gameplay from JAKKS Pacific.

The Monsuno series, co-produced by Pacific Animation Partners LLC—a joint venture between JAKKS Pacific, Inc. and Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc., with FremantleMedia Enterprises and The Topps Company, Inc.—has now been sold to more than 140 markets globally, with Nickelodeon taking on the brand in key territories around the world including the United States, where the series airs on Nicktoons. Other markets include the UK, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Africa, the Middle East, Canada, Australia/New Zealand, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Japan.

FME is responsible for the exclusive worldwide distribution of Monsuno TV Programming outside of Asia and is the master licensing agent for the brand outside of Asia. JAKKS Pacific, meanwhile, is the master toy licensee.

Sander Schwartz, President Kids & Family Entertainment, FME, commented, “Monsuno is proving to be one of the most popular boys brands in the world. We're pleased to support the brand with our partners by bringing all-new episodes to international channels. The new, fresh look of the toys and upcoming merchandise will be a great complement to the show.”

Also, from Licensing.biz:

BLE 2012: New season of Monsuno on the way

More broadcast territories announced; toys get refreshed for 2013.

Another season of 26 30-minute Monsuno TV episodes is in production.

FremantleMedia Enterprises, Dentsu Entertainment USA and Jakks Pacific reached the agreement, which will also see the latter produce a fresh line-up of action figures, accessories, combat sets and more.

Monsuno has been sold to more than 140 markets globally. In the UK it's the number one show in its time slot with boys aged six to 12.

In Australia Monsuno won the Australian Toy Association's Boys Toy of the Year. In the UK the brand has a 25 per cent share of the battling toys category.

Sander Schwartz, President for Kids & Family Entertainment at FME, said: “Monsuno is proving to be one of the most popular boys brands in the world. We’re pleased to support the brand with our partners by bringing all-new episodes to international channels.

"The new, fresh look of the toys and upcoming merchandise will be a great complement to the show."

Jared Wolfson, Director of Marketing and Creative Producer for Boys Entertainment at Jakks Pacific, added: "With new episodes, new toys and new worldwide audiences, Monsuno has just become an even more powerful global franchise.
"We are really excited to be deepening our relationships with our global partners and driving worldwide success for the brand."

Tags: brand licensing europe 2012, monsuno

Nickelodeon's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Steal The Show At BLE 2012!

From Licensing.biz:

BLE 2012: Top ten show stealers

We highlight some of the brands which made a splash at this year's show.

Turtles

Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was arguably THE story of BLE. From the costumed characters to the ever-present sponsorship, to the keynote adderss [address] featuring original series creator Kevin Eastman - the Turtles were everywhere. They even had a Turtle van delivering pizza to hungry visitors outside Olympia.

Coverage:

> An interview with Turtles creators old and new
> New Turtles, SpongeBob and Dora movies shown off
> TMNT creator: 'The new Turtles toys are awesome'.

You can continue reading Licensing.biz's top 10 brands at Brand Licensing Europe 2012 here on the official Licensing.biz website.

eOne Signs Deals For Nick Jr. UK's "Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom" And "Peppa Pig"

From Kidscreen:

eOne signs deals for Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and Peppa Pig

eOne has signed two new deals for Peppa Pig. The first will see Peppa Pig toys launch in Benelux following a deal brokered by eOne’s third party agent License Connection with toy firm Blue Ocean Toys. The toyco has a three-year contract to manufacture and distribute toys selected from Character Options’ Peppa Pig toy range and product will distribute in spring 2013. Peppa Pig is seen on Nickelodeon in the territory.

Peppa will also be added to multivitamins through health supplement company DTP Europe. A range of four Peppa Pig branded multivitamins for kid will launch at UK retail from January 2013 targeting grocery stores and pharmacies across the region. Each box contains five bags of Peppa Pig character shaped fruit flavored gummies. Peppa will be the first licensed brand to appear on DTP's FITVITS vitamins.

eOne has also renewed its contract with Golden Bear for the master toy license for Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, with new products poised for launch next year. The company has created a new look for the Ben and Holly’s product range after recently refreshing the color palette and logo on packaging to enhance its appeal to the brand’s core girl audience. A new range of plush and plastic toys focusing on Holly, Fleur and Violet has been developed by Golden Bear to complement the toy line. These will be available in a variety of formats and price points including key chains, beanies and large plush.

To drive awareness of new products launching from Golden Bear and other Ben and Holly licensees, eOne is working with broadcast partner Channel 5 Milkshake!, charity partner Jeans for Genes, nursery chain Leaps and Bounds and national play program Tumble Tots to execute consumer marketing activity that will generate high awareness of the brand during this period. In addition, eOne has developed new interactive mini-games called Magic School Games which will be hosted on its official online channels and third party websites targeting pre-schoolers and parents. The brand is also debuting of its first live [show] which kick-starts an extensive tour of the UK.

Tags: Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, Blue Ocean Toys, DTP Europe, eOne, Golden Bear, License Connection, Peppa Pig

Skylanders Giants Invades London Zoo; Announces Media Partnership With Nickelodeon

From MCV UK:

Skylanders invades London Zoo

The sequel to 2012's biggest selling kids game is taking over London Zoo.

Skylanders Giants will have its own space at the Zoo on Sunday (October 21st) with a variety of fun and games, including a Skylanders-inspired Treasure Hunt. Not to mention a chance to play the game.

The morning is for 'VIPs' including Mummy bloggers, media with kids and celebrities. Meanwhile, the afternoon is open to the public. Throughout the day, zoo staff will be handing out promotional information, while a giant 'Tree Rex' will also be on display.

Furthermore, this morning (Friday October 19th) 296 GAME stores opened their doors before school for the launch of Skylanders Giants. 32 stores including those in Aberdeen, Nottingham and Poole opened at 7am with the rest opening before 8:30am.

“We can’t wait for this new giant Skylanders adventure to start,” GAME marketing director Anna-Marie Mason “The franchise has captured the imagination of kids around the world and taken the game and toy industry by storm.”

The launch events are part of a multi-million pound marketing onslaught for Skylanders. Activision says the campaign will run right over Christmas and into 2013, and includes media partnerships with Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney. There will also be mainstream spots during The Simpsons and The X Factor final.

The game's digital campaign is also expected to deliver 29m impressions.

Skylanders Giants arrives today (October 19th) on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii and 3DS. Skylanders is currently the UK's best-selling games brand of 2012, when you include toys and software.

Tags: Activision , skylanders , london zoo , giants

Also from MCV UK:

One Giant leap - The Return of Skylanders

It is a myth that the market for kids’ video games is declining.

Tie-ins for the latest Cartoon Network IP or Disney movie may not be selling in the same numbers as they were ten years ago. But video games have long outgrown its role as another piece of SpongeBob SquarePants or Toy Story merchandise.

Up until recently, only Pokémon, Mario and Sonic have managed to break out and become more than just video game brands. But today things have changed.

Lately, in the UK, kids IP such as Moshi Monsters and Angry Birds have flooded retail with toys and accessories, while across Europe you’ll find extensive licensing programmes for Ubisoft’s Rabbids and Sony’s Invizimals.

The latest to join the list of video game-cum-kids phenomenon is Activision’s Skylanders. A toy/game hybrid that has dominated retail this year. By combining the sales of the game with its toy accessories, it’s actually made more money than any other game this year. More than Borderlands 2. More than FIFA 13.

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

The second stage of Skylanders’ bid to become a $1bn kids sensation began last week with the arrival of Skylanders Giants.

The new game was joined by a range of new toys (super-sized ones plus ‘Lightcore’ models that light-up), while a range of Skylanders merchandise is poised to swamp the High Street. Stores will soon be filled with Skylanders plush toys, accessories, apparel, trading cards, stickers, books, backpacks, annuals, skateboards and scooters.

“Currently we have almost 100 licensees outside of the United States,” says international licensing director Andrea Green.

“Our largest base is here in Europe, with their largest in the UK. Licensing has already become a major part of the entire Skylanders experience.

“A wealth of products are already on shelves and this will only continue to increase as we head into 2013.”

She added:?“Our licensees are best in class. We are only looking to work with those companies committed to triple-A quality. We expect the same passion and execution that we bring to our game.

“Some of our most passionate licensees came to us as their children play Skylanders. It makes for a very strong motivated partnership.”

Licensing is only one part of Activision’s plans for global domination with Skylanders. The publisher is spending millions on marketing Giants, and in the UK that includes advertising around The X Factor final, The Simpsons and via partnerships with Nickelodeon, Disney and Cartoon Network.

Activision’s European marketing director Ian McClellan adds: “This Christmas is going to be giant. In Skylanders Giants, we have an incredible innovation that brings together the world of video games and the world of action figures. This means that we not only have campaign elements that showcase the quality of the video game, but we also have elements that showcase the amazing new line-up of characters.

“Our focus of the campaign is bringing the Skylanders to life. And so expect to see new and creative ways of highlighting all the great innovation and fun of Skylanders on TV, in the digital and social spaces, as well as in retail.

“It is very exciting to see the level of excitement across the industry.”

SKY'S THE LIMIT

What separates Skylanders from Moshi Monsters and Angry Birds is that retail is absolutely central to the franchise.

Sure, there are digital elements to Skylanders. There’s an iOS title for one thing, not to mention the browser virtual world Skylanders Universe. But it’s the retail game and the toy add-ons that are critical to the experience. And even the digital parts of Skylanders rely on the toy range.

Traditional games retailers – Tesco, GAME, HMV and the like – all feature Skylanders. GAME in particularly opened early to celebrate the launch of Giants last week. But Activision’s major global partner for the brand is Toys R Us.

“All our stores dedicate a large amount of space to this great concept,” says Mike Coogan, the director of marketing and E-commerce at the toy chain.

“The toys and games are complemented by an interactive display in every store. The display showcases the strengths and powers of each Skylanders figure on a television display, simply by the customer placing the packaged figure on the portal of power.

“Toys R Us and Activision have a very close working relationship throughout the world and work on a business plan together to promote, advertise and maximise sales of Skylanders. We have a formidable plan for Giants for the launch and for throughout the rest of 2012 and into 2013, in order to continue to be a crucial destination forall Skylanders Giants and accompanying licensed products.

“This includes great in-store and online merchandising, communication and advertising together with superb promotions, deals, prices and exclusive product.”

McClellan adds: “We have had incredible support from all our retail partners this year on Skylanders. This support is absolutely pivotal to the franchise, and we are very excited to see Skylanders coming to life in store.”

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

For all the talk about the level of violent content on show at E3 – plus this year’s big shooters such as Resident Evil, Hitman, Call of Duty and Halo – Christmas 2012 is a family friendly one.

Dominating the charts over the next few weeks will be Skylanders, Moshi Monsters, Angry Birds, Mario, Pokémon, Wonderbook, Sonic and so on. Brands that are as big with retailers as the core shooters that steal all the headlines.

And there’s not a toy tie-in, movie licence of cartoon adaptation in sight.

It just goes to show that today, games companies like Activision are as likely as Nickeloden or Hasbro to develop the next mass media children’s phenomenon.

Video games for kids really have never been bigger.

Tags: Activision, skylanders, return, giants