Snoop Dogg Takes Rap Music to a Whole New Level in New "Sanjay and Craig" Special "Street Dogg", Premiering 5/17 On Nickelodeon USA

Original Nickelodeon USA Press Release via TV by the Numbers:

Entertainment Icon Snoop Dogg Takes Rap Music to a Whole New Level in Half-Hour Special of Nickelodeon's Sanjay and Craig, "Street Dogg" Premieres Sunday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT)

Snoop Dogg Guest Stars as Street Dogg in the Brand-New Episode

Music sensation Snoop Dogg guest stars as Street Dogg, a rap icon who moves in next door to Sanjay and Craig in the special half-hour premiere of Emmy nominated series, Sanjay and Craig, "Street Dogg," Sunday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. Street Dogg is a cool, funny, friendly guy who is always eager to rhyme with the kids. He's come to town to escape the bright lights of LA, chill out, make some new music and live a quiet suburban life.

During the special, Sanjay and Craig discover that Street Dogg was once part of a rap duo with none other than Remington Tufflips, the boys' action-movie idol. They set out to reunite the former pair, but their failed efforts only lead to a town divided—and the mother of all rap battles!

Sanjay and Craig is an original animated series that follows the misadventures of Sanjay, an excitable and irreverent 12-year-old boy (Maulik Pancholy, 30 Rock) and his best friend Craig, a smooth-talking snake and master of disguise (Chris Hardwick, The Talking Dead). Together, they embark on awesome kid-inspired quests that are at times totally ridiculous, absolutely gross and weirdly sweet. The series was created by Jim Dirschberger, Jay Howell and Andreas Trolf, and is executive produced by award-winning animation team Chris Viscardi and Will McRobb.

Viewers can visit the Sanjay and Craig page on Nick.com, the Nick App and Tumblr to learn more about the show and its characters, get a behind-the-scenes look at the series and play new Frycade games. Episodes of Sanjay and Craig are available on Nick.com and the Nick App, along with platforms including iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, Vudu, Playstation, Hulu and VOD.

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Carte Blanche Powers Up With Saban Brands For New Range Of Products

Carte Blanche Group has announced two exciting new licensing deals with Saban Brands!

Following the phenomenal success of its 3D lenticular cards, Carte Blanche leverages its position as the UK's leading independently owned greetings card publisher to strike a deal with Saban Brands to produce a range of eye popping new products around two of its iconic properties, "Power Rangers" and "Paul Frank".

Saban Brands' UK Commercial Director, Tim Juckes comments, "We are excited to see this iconic series brought to life through 3D cards and will be launching with the new Power Rangers Dino Charge theme."

Carte Blanche will also be launching a range of fashion and lifestyle led greeting cards representing the globally recognised, pop-culture inspired "Paul Frank" brand.

Carte Blanche Founder & Chairman, Stephen Haines, comments: "The origins of Paul Frank, which was born in 1995 out of a garage in a Southern California beach town, really captured my imagination. Our design studio is looking forward to unveiling their creative concepts around this inspiring lifestyle brand at PG Live this June."

Saban's "Power Rangers" and "Paul Frank" adds a powerful new dynamic to the already strong Carte Blanche Greetings portfolio, with the launch to include a variety of innovative greeting cards and gift bag concepts which will reach retail in the UK and Eire later this year.

In additional "Power Rangers" news, Lionsgate has pushed back the US theatrical release date for their upcoming "Power Rangers" movie by six months to from Friday 22nd July 2016 to Friday 13th January 2017. No explanation from the filmmakers

Not much is known about the reboot film, other than that it will focus on a group of teenagers with special powers, who band together to fight evildoers bent on destroying the globe, and that the original Green Ranger actor Jason David Frank is expected to appear. Lionsgate, the studio behind the "Hunger Games" franchise, is distributing the film. Original "Power Rangers" creator Haim Saban is producing, alongside "Hunger Games" producer Allison Shearmur.

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Meet Mondo Gecko In The Next Brand-New Episode Of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", Premiering 5/10 On Nickelodeon USA!

Nickelodeon has announced the Turtley Awesome news in their latest TMNT promo that Nickelodeon USA will premiere the brand new episode of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" season three titled "Meet Mondo Gecko", which introduces fan-favorite Mondo Gecko on Sunday 10th May 2015 at 11:00am ET/PT!

Mondo Gecko image via TMNT Wiki

Mondo Gecko is a mutant Leopard Gecko with a zeal for skateboarding who first appeared in the hit 1980's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated series. In Nickelodeon's hit CG-animated series, Mondo Gecko will be voiced by Robbie Rist, who voiced Michelangelo in the live-action "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies in the 1990's.

Additional sources: TMNTPedia, TMNT Wiki.

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Nickelodeon Greenlights Second Season Of "Make It Pop"

Original Nickelodeon USA Press Release via NickPress.com:

NICKELODEON GREENLIGHTS SECOND SEASON OF DAILY SCRIPTED MUSICAL COMEDY SERIES, MAKE IT POP

Santa Monica, Calif., – May 4, 2015 – Nickelodeon today announced it has renewed its hit live-action, music-infused daily strip, Make It Pop, for a second season with 20 episodes. Demonstrating Nick's commitment to innovative formats and storytelling, since launch, Make It Pop is Nick's #1 show with K6-11 and G6-11. The series ranks as the most-watched long-form content on Nick.com and on the Nick App. The announcement was made by Russell Hicks, Nickelodeon's President of Content Development and Production. Make It Pop season one will debut on Nickelodeon's international channels beginning this summer.

Filled with new songs, lots of laughs and heart, season two sees Sun Hi, Corki, Jodi and Caleb continue their coming-of-age journey. After their triumph with the school musical, the band XO-IQ is called upon to represent Mackendrick Prep at a high stakes battle of bands and a new musical rival emerges.

"Once again, Nick has successfully tapped into a cultural force and created a meaningful, daily connection by bridging our audience with great, relatable storytelling and a shared love of music," said Hicks.

Make It Pop is a half-hour comedic, music-infused daily scripted series that follows three unique girls – social-media maven Sun Hi (Megan Lee), bookish Corki (Erika Tham), and fashion-forward Jodi (Louriza Tronco) – who come together with DJ hopeful Caleb (Dale Whibley) over their love of music to form their own K-pop inspired band. Each episode features original songs and performances with a K-pop twist and an EDM beat from the show's band, XO-IQ.

Make It Pop is co-created by Thomas W. Lynch and Nick Cannon and produced by DHX Media. Lynch and Cannon will serve as executive producers together with DHX Media's Steven DeNure and Anne Loi. The musical direction of the series is being led by Bill Silva Entertainment, with music supervision by Peter Coquillard and Pilar McCurry of Silva Music Publishing. XO-IQ is managed by Bill Silva Management. Doug Cohn is executive in charge of music for Nickelodeon.

DHX Media Ltd. (www.dhxmedia.com), a key player internationally in the creation of content for families and children, is recognized globally for such brands as Yo Gabba Gabba!, Caillou, Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test, Slugterra and the multi-award winning Degrassi franchise. DHX Media Ltd. is the owner of Family Channel, the most-viewed children's television channel in Canada, as well as the channels Disney Junior (English & French) and Disney XD in Canada. The Company markets and distributes its library of more than 11,000 half-hours of entertainment programming worldwide, and licenses its owned properties through its dedicated consumer products business. DHX Media Ltd.'s full-service international licensing agency, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group Ltd. (CPLG), represents numerous entertainment, sport and design brands. DHX Media Ltd. has offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Munich and Amsterdam, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols DHX.A and DHX.B.

Nickelodeon, now in its 36th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 20 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

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Rainbow To Host A Wonderful Winx Club Worldwide Reunion

Original Rainbow S.r.l. Press Release via Guide to the Licensing World:

Rainbow To Host A Wonderful Winx Worldwide Reunion!

Family entertainment specialist Rainbow has announced the first ever worldwide reunion will be held for all fans of Winx Club – the global phenomenon that is loved by millions of young girls across the globe.

Winx Club features six best friends - Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna and Aisha – who are all enrolled in Alfea College, the finest fairy school in all the realms. They take on many adventures together using strength, intelligence and teamwork and, when trouble arises, they transform into beautiful fairies and use the power of their friendship and their unique magical powers to fight villains and save the world from evil.

The trademark mixture of family-friendly storylines, fashionable themes and beautiful animation has made Winx Club a huge global hit and fans now have the chance to attend the magical reunion, which will be held in the town of Jesolo, near Venice, from September 3rd to the 6th. The event will be promoted in territories across the world through an amazing and unconventional marketing plan that will utilize local communication campaigns and promotional activities.

During the magical four-day event the town will be painted pink and special Winx Club surprises will be waiting on every street corner. Fans and their families will also get the chance to attend a special welcome party, take part in a fashion show and a creative lab and get involved with lots of singing, dancing and games!

"This is the biggest live Winx Club event the world has ever seen!" says Mr Straffi, founder and CEO of Rainbow Group of Rainbow Group. "This brand is built around friendship and the reunion is a fantastic opportunity for Winx fans from across the world to get together, make new friends and celebrate their favourite fairy heroines!"

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Winx Club Worldwide Reunion images via Licensing.biz and Animation Magazine.

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RMS International Extends Deal With Nickelodeon for "SpongeBob SquarePants" Arts And Crafts

RMS International has extended its partnership with Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) UK & Ireland for a range of "SpongeBob SquarePants"-inspired arts and crafts products across the UK and Ireland!

The firm, known for its Graphix and Block Tech toy brands and its stationery, art and craft and activity ranges, initially agreed on the licensing deal to run from January 2014 until September 2016.

Since then, the company has manufactured 19 "SpongeBob SquarePants" ranges, including puzzles, inflatable bop bags and colouring craft kits.

The new deal will add to RMS International's growing portfolio of brands and licenses with more to be announced later this year.

"We had been working on the licence agreement with Nickelodeon for several months and are delighted to have become a licensee," said RMS.

"The new range of products are great for kids with a creative side who want something to keep them amused. The products are of great quality yet well within pocket money budget, and with the recent SpongeBob SquarePants cinematic release, we are hoping they will fly off the shelves."

The initial line of children's arts & crafts, stationery and novelty items are now available at The Entertainer, CDS–The Range, W.Boyes, Store 21 and Pound Stretcher stores across the UK and Ireland.

Sources: Licensing.biz, License! Global.

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