WILDBRAIN CPLG SIGN PLAYMOBIL MONDO TV

Following WildBrain CPLG’s appointment to handle worldwide rights for Playmobil, the Italian team is now identifying opportunities to grow the local licensing programme for the iconic IP across a range of categories, including apparel, accessories, publishing and digital gaming. The partnership, which formally starts this April, spans across both the core and franchise Playmobil brands from the Horst Brandstätter Group, including Wiltopia, Novelmore, Adventures of Ayuma and more.

Transformers will mark its 40th Peppa Pig will commemorate its 20th and Dungeons & Dragons will be 50. As part of these celebrations, a wave of new content will debut, such as new exclusive series and specials for My Little Pony on Netflix and YouTube. The seventh Transformers film, Rise of the Beasts, will be released in June, followed by an animated feature in 2024. Across the wider Hasbro/eOne portfolio, PJ Masks is back this year in the new series, Power Heroes, airing on Disney+ and Disney Jr.

Mondo TV has attracted interest for many of its brands including The Gruffalo.

WildBrain CPLG has also recently announced that it has expanded its multi-territory representation of Hasbro/eOne properties to include Italy. With the Italian team now focused on building the local licensing programme for the Hasbro/eOne portfolio, there are multiple brand anniversaries in the pipeline, including My Little Pony celebrating 40 years this year. In 2024

For Peanuts, 2024 will mark the 50th anniversary of Snoopy’s first appearance as his Beagle Scout character in Charles M. Schulz’s iconic comic strips. To celebrate this milestone, the Italian team plan to develop new lines centred around “Snoopy’s Outdoor Adventure,” with key themes including camping, being outdoors and scouting. The new Wednesday series from MGM and Netflix is a global success and social media phenomenon. A spinoff from the original The Addams Family, the new series charts Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. In the consumer products sector, the demand for Wednesday merchandise has already started, with the first products hitting shelves now and many partnerships also in the pipeline.

Mdl Appointed For Ape Brand

Maurizio Distefano Licensing has been appointed as licensing agent for Army of Apes, a brand based on the NFTs that make up Bored Ape Yacht Club. The Bored Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 10,000 NFTs made up of diverse illustrations of cartoon monkeys that are distinguishable from each other by a number of features, making each illustration unique. Each Bored Ape is generated by a program that mixes 170 different possible features including facial expressions, clothing, headgear. Some combinations are rarer than others. These NFTs have been valued at more than $1 billion so far, making The Bored Ape Yacht Club one of the most valuable NFT collections in the world.

The Army of Apes brand, now available for licensing, consists of a selection of the most famous ape illustrations. Many categories are now being targeted by Maurizio Distefano Licensing for this unique brand, taking advantage of a comprehensive style guide featuring on-trend images, personalities and graphics. They include apparel, homeware, accessories, food, beverages, publishing, toys and stationery.

Mondo has managed a Gruffalo licensing campaign on behalf of global licensor Magic Light Pictures, that now boasts an apparel line by Illustrabimbi, a carnival costume from Ciao, stamps/colouring sets from Multiprint, puzzles and games from Ravensburger, epiphany socks from Emmeci and educational games from Ludattica. RCS launched an album of Gruffalo stickers supported by a major TV campaign. The storytelling from FABA, meanwhile, were so successful that the company extended its license to include Room on the Broom and Stick Man. With over 10 years as a licensed property, Gorjuss maintains a host of important partners in Italy; Mondo have therefore strategically procured a series of new licensees which will prove instrumental in widening the brand’s current distribution channels. The successive signings of Coriex for rainwear, footwear and summer accessories, Cromo for greetings cards and gift wrap, and Multiprint for a range of colouring products and travel art kits will see Gorjuss break out into these new channels this year. 20232024 will also see Emmeci release Gorjuss epiphany stockings, and Sbabam develop collections of small toys for Italy.

Among Mondo TV’s own co-productions, much is expected for Grisù who was first seen on Italian TV in 1976 and is returning in 2024 in a brand-new show for 4-7-yearolds co-produced by Mondo TV, ZDF Enterprises and Toon2Tango. Mondo TV holds exclusive rights for the global Grisù licensing programme, which, in Italy, has already attracted a number of major names, including Giunti for storybooks, Pon Pon Edizioni for colouring and activity books and magazines, Europublishing for a newsstand range, including watercolour sets and stationery sets, and Ravensburger for puzzle and memory games.