The Little Prince

porate & Lifestyle brands. The powerhouse BLE line-up for Warner Bros. Discovery will include exciting content from across the DC franchise including film, television and animation offerings; new and exciting developments from within the Wizarding World and Animation franchises, including fan favourites, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, Tom and Jerry, Cartoon Network’s “The Powerpuff Girls,” Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” and more; new offerings from our leading real life brands across Discovery, Eurosport and Animal Planet as well as new introductions to HGTV and Food Network that capture our audiences passions for sports, sustainability and lifestyle; and HBO’s highly-anticipated, “House of the Dragon” launching on HBO Max, which gives fans a look at House Targaryen 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones.” WBD will also be embracing the WB 100th in 2023 through exclusive merchandise, collabs and mashups, fan experiences and even a peek inside the vault. It will be a complete celebration of the amazing stories, characters and worlds Warner Bros. Discovery is known for. The Moomins, created by Tove Jansson, celebrates 80 years in 2025. For the anniversary year Moomin Characters have decided to turn their focus back on where it all began: 80 years ago, at the end of the Second World War when Tove Jansson’s first story about the Moomins was published. Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands will be offering partners and licensees new anniversary marks and artworks as well as slogans and other communication assets. Several major projects for the anniversary year are already in the works. Additionally, Rights & Brands will showcase a wide selection of other brands, such as the joint works of Astrid Lindgren & Ilon Wikland (The

First-time exhibitor, Thomas Rivière, brand manager, The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince, sat down with Total Licensing for a pre-show interview.

This is your first time exhibiting at BLE - why now?

The Little Prince will celebrate its 80th birthday in 2023 and the brand is stronger than ever. The book is a worldwide phenomenon, with five million copies sold every year. Nowadays, “The Little Prince” book is in the public domain in most countries in the world (except France and the United States, in particular), and its fame has exploded along with the number of editions and translations published in these countries. With this in mind, we are looking to expand in those countries where The Little Prince has been known more recently, reinforcing this real worldwide phenomenon. We may have thought we had reached a maximum of products and projects a few years ago, and yet the growth of the brand is still there and is only expanding exponentially. “The Little Prince” has been here for almost 80 years and will still be there in 80 years, so we are constantly looking to renew ourselves with new products that correspond to the high-end image of the Little Prince.

Who are you hoping to meet at the show? And who from LPP will be at BLE?

At BLE, we’ll be able to gather our licensing agents from all over the world for the first time in three years and will be looking for new opportunities and to meet new partners. The Little Prince already represents more than 350 licensees and 15 licensing agents worldwide. I, Thomas Rivière, will be there as the brand manager of The Little Prince and great grandnephew of Antoine de Saint Exupéry, with Olivier d’Agay, Head of the Estate Saint Exupéry, and David Jolly, Marketing and Communication Manager.

What are you hoping to get out of being there?

We are always looking for new licensees in markets and countries where we are currently not present enough. Since 2015, we have been developing the Chinese market, which fell in love with The Little Prince at first sight and now accounts for 30% of our international sales. In India, on the other hand, where the book has also fallen into the public domain, there is still everything to do, which offers great prospects. I also dream of other nice partnerships in sectors where we are not yet present. Everything related to travel, for example, starting with beautiful luggage or perfumes. It has to be in the world of Antoine de Saint Exupéry, like our partnership with IWC, because these are aviator watches. I always have ideas for new products, but I want to do them with real Little Prince enthusiasts. Le Petit Prince is an iconic story with global appeal.

And what does your ideal consumer products programme would look like for Le Petit Prince?

The Little Prince is a trendy, fashionable and young brand and licensees have understood this very well. For example, our licensee, The Beast (China), follows the trends while keeping their visual identity and product quality. They invest a lot in photo shoots and always have polished visuals, videos and product sheets. This is typically the kind of product we are looking for in our brand.

Anything you’d like to tease ahead of the event?

A new 2D preschool TV animated series will be broadcast worldwide in 2023! It will be called “The Little Prince and Friends” and will feature two children who begin a fabulous journey through the stars with the Little Prince and his fantastic crew, the Fox and the Rose. Each episode highlights a strong value of the Little Prince. Prestigious brands like Reeds Jewelers will accompany us through the 80th anniversary of “The Little Prince,” and we will very soon be able to announce very large international partners for 2023. We have 350+ licensees in the world, and the phone just keeps ringing for more.

Brothers Lionheart, Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter, Lotta on Troublemaker Street and more), artist couple Carl & Karin Larsson, Norweigan brands PURENorway and Mauris of Norway, Finland’s most successful children’s books author Mauri Kunnas, and the works of iconic designer Stig Lindberg. Rights & Brands is also introducing two new brands: Kjell Aukrust, creator of Flåklypa Grand Prix, and Arnie Alligator, the lively musical alligator who has over 150 million views on YouTube. BLE 2022 coincides with the celebration of Art Ask Agency’s 20th anniversary as an independent brand licensing agency. Remaining focused on partnerships with The Frida Kahlo Corporation, Anne Stokes, Collection, Brandalised, Pets Rock and some others for different territories, the agency has also welcomed newcomer the Spanish fashion designer Custo Barcelona. With over 40 years of presence at international cat walks and with a very distinct design style, the Custo brand can reach well beyond apparel, into home decor, gifting, jewelry, fragrance and many other categories. Recently the agency has increased the number of DTR agreements in different territories. Metrostar will be showcasing a number of food brands for the first time, in person, at Brand Licensing Europe 2022. These include Kraft Heinz favourites such as Heinz Tomato Ketchup, HP Sauce, Heinz Beanz, Lea & Perrins and Heinz Tomato Soup. The agency is also excited to welcome Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport and Ribena from Suntory to the Metrostar portfolio. Another big feature of BLE22 for Metrostar is Elmer35; the launch of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant’s 35th anniversary licensing programme. The agency will be showcasing new assets, announcing new partners and brand events – and anticipating a personal appearance from Elmer himself! Finally, Metrostar is delighted to be able to welcome to BLE its international agents and partners working on The Jockey Club and Grand National brands. There are exciting new developments in this heritage lifestyle programme and the agency is looking forward to announcing these and celebrating them together. Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, the UK’s third largest soft drinks manufacturer behind Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport and Ribena, has appointed Metrostar as its licensing agency to manage brand extensions for its portfolio of drinks. This is the first time the brands have been available for licensing opportunities.

Licensing Management In-

ternational (LMI) announce they are “pleased to be exhibiting at BLE this year on stand A118. After what has been an ‘interesting’ couple of years for everyone, and the industry as a whole we are really looking forward to getting back to the show floor and meeting ‘face to face’ with new and existing licensees.” The company specialises in licensing classic Brands and portfolios on a global basis and continues to represent British Motor Heritage for the classic car marques including Austin, Austin-Healey, Morris, MG and Wolseley. BSA have now commenced distribution of a new GOLD STAR bike designed in Birmingham the home of the original BSA motorcycles. Recent classic properties now represented by LMI include Benny Hill,The Carry On movies, The Rubbish World Of Dave Spud, The Little Prince and Laurel & Hardy. Also Tarzan, ZORRO, with a plethora of new movies and TV shows planned along with Highclere Castle and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust are also part of the LMI portfolio. LMI will be featuring new products licensed by International Space Archives and hosting existing and potential licensees as well as its network of international agents. This year will see Walker Books showcasing a trinity of enduring global children’s brands in their care. With over 110 million copies sold in dozens of languages worldwide, the international appeal of Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury’s We’re Going