Following its U.S. debut on Nickelodeon last year, Rainbow Group‘s
44 Cats is continuing to pick up steam in North America!
As the series continues to grow in popularity worldwide, new licensees, broadcasters, and streamers are getting on board. As of May 1,
44 Cats is streaming on Netflix. The series is supported with a robust licensing program developed and managed by The Joester Loria Group in the U.S. and Branding Streams in Canada.
Most recently, Forever Clever inked a deal to produce games and novelty toys in both markets. The range will include action, board, card, and memory games in addition to novelty toys and play tents.
Additional
44 Cats products hitting retail this year include offerings from
Bandai, Harper Collins, Franco, Sakar, and Accessory Innovations.
The second season of the series debuted in Italy this spring and will expand globally later this year, including on Nickelodeon channels globally.
Produced by Rainbow in collaboration with Antoniano and Rai Ragazzi, the series is billed as a growing hit for ratings and web interactions, while making a significant impact on the licensing sector. Currently, more than 100 partners from across the world and a number of product categories have signed with 44 Cats, across both national and multi-territorial deals.
Set in the world of animals,
44 Cats follows the daily adventures of Lampo, Milady, Pilou and Meatball – four adorable kittens who are part of a music band named The Buffycats.
The protagonists live and play in the Clubhouse, a garage beside old Granny Pina’s house. Their adventures explore the themes of friendship and altruism: the four cats love helping others and always find creative solutions to everyday hitches and help other cats in need. The series promotes positive attitudes and conveys educational messages dealing with important themes such as tolerance, diversity and solidarity in a funny way.
Season two of
44 Cats will contain 52 x 13-minute episodes, bringing the number of episodes of the series up to 104 x 13 minute episodes.
44 Cats is currently on the air in more than 100 countries and in over 20 languages. The new season continues to follow the Buffycats in new cat-proof missions, with a soundtrack of original songs from Antoniano. The series combines great music and edutainment with high quality animation. The series also marks Rainbow’s (
Winx Club,
Regal Academy,
Club 57,
Mia and me,
Maggie & Bianca Fashion Friends) inaugural foray into preschool programming.
Rainbow recently released a new
44 Cats mobile game titled
44 Cats and the Lost Instruments.
44 Cats is inspired by the very popular Italian kids song "44 Gatti", which, in 1968, won the 10th edition of the Zecchino d'Oro and has since entered the collective imagination of Italians.
From
Toy World Magazine:
New licensed product and US streaming options announced for 44 Cats
Forever Clever is the latest name to join an expanding licensing programme for the popular pre-school brand.
After already naming Bandai, Harper Collins, Franco, Sakar and Accessory Innovations among its confirmed licensees, 44 Cats – produced by the Rainbow Group – now expands its licensing programme with Forever Clever for games and novelty toys in the US and Canada. The Forever Clever product range will include action games, board games, card games and memory games along with novelty toys and play tents.
Forever Clever joins an expanding licensing programme. Launched at the end of March, HarperCollins released two new titles; 44 Cats: Meet the Cats and 44 Cats: Cats Rock! at Target, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million.
From 1st May 2020, the first season of 44 Cats became available on Netflix. The series, which debuted in November 2018, is enjoying popularity worldwide. In the US, 44 Cats premiered on Nickelodeon in June 2019. In March 2020, a second season of the show premiered in Italy and the show will land on free to air broadcasters worldwide later this year.
The 52 x 13’ series deals with edutainment themes such as tolerance, diversity and altruism, combining positive values, action and comedy in a sophisticated CGI production. The show, which appeals to pre-schoolers and children aged 4-7, follows the adventures of Lampo, Milady, Pilou and Meatball – four kittens who are part of a music band named The Buffycats.
The licensing programmes are managed by licensing agents The Joester Loria Group in the United States and Branding Streams in Canada.
###
More Nick: Nickelodeon International Acquires '44 Cats' Season 2!
Originally published: Thursday, May 28, 2020.
Original source: The Toy Book.
Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon Preschool News and Highlights!
