Raggs to rich online world

Not to leave the preschool set out of the virtual worlds trend, Raggs.com is launching its new website this weekend, featuring characters and full-length streaming episodes from the Raggs public television series, which focuses on music- and learning-based activities.

The site, created under the supervision of educational adviser Dr. Shalom Fisch, aims to get young imaginations going as well as stimulate critical-thinking abilities, from music mixing, matching and coloring games and sending e-cards. Teachers and public TV stations can also access educational material about the show's themes, and info regarding the show's airtime in their areas, live appearances and products. More online content is to be updated and added in the new year.

Also to kick off the holiday season, the site is offering a free song download of "Santa Paws" until January.

Nat Geo gets in the game

National Geographic Games is the latest division to come out of the nonprofit organization, which will work with existing publishers and developers to create fun quality games and carry out the org's core themes of inspiring people to care about the planet. The initiative also hopes to reach a new generation of families across a variety of platforms, including console, handheld, online and mobile, combining Nat Geo's resources from mission programs, TV, entertainment and publishing.

Leading NGG as president will be Paul Levine from National Geographic Ventures, and Chris Mate, a former exec at Take2 Interactive and Bethesda Softworks, is coming on as VP and GM to oversee and manage daily global operations.

In partnership with Namco Bandai Games America and Sony Computer Entertainment to globally publish and distribute the org's branded titles. Herod's Lost Tomb is the first in-house produced game released this month, featuring content from National Geographic magazine and channel, available for free in both a Flash version at www.nationalgeographic.com/channel and downloadable for PC, Mac and iPhone. Already released this month from Namco Bandai is pet-simulational game National Geographic: Panda for Nintendo DS, which also includes Nat Geo articles to teach players about the animals.

Disney Interactive Studios brings Bolt to console and mobile platforms

Just in time for the theatrical release of Disney Animation Studios' Bolt this Friday comes the movie-based video game from Disney Interactive Studios, for US rollout on Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PS3, PS2 and PC.

The family-friendly game follows the storyline from the film and for a limited time, will include a code for Movie Money that can be accessed online to print a US$5 certificate for movie admission, valid through the US and can be redeemed through January 31, 2009. Players can also enter to win a family vacation for four to Walt Disney World Resort at www.boltvideogame.com, with sweepstakes valid from today through January 31, 2009.

Bolt: The Mobile Game will also be available this month on most major wireless carriers, with an SRP of US$6.99.

DQ Entertainment enters co-production for The Large Family

India-based animation DQ Entertainment, has entered into a co-production of The Large Family's second season with Coolabi Productions (UK), Cbeebies (UK), BBC Worldwide (UK), Go-N Productions (France) and TF1 (France), slated for a 2009 broadcast.

The 2-D animated series is based on the best-selling books by Jill Murphy, follows the daily lives of a human-esque elephant family, with a global estimated budget of approximately US$3.2 million.

4Kids stomps ahead with Dinosaur King Euro toy distribution

It looks like Dinosaur King toys will be roaming more key European countries as 4Kids Entertainment International has secured toy distribution for its hit TV series.

Products from master toy licensee Playmates Toys will be distributed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Benelux by Upper Deck, Nordic countries by Top Toy, France and Italy by Giochi Preziosi, Portugal by Concentra, and Spain by Famosa, all scheduled for European rollout in spring 2009.

Each SKU in the toy line, targeting boys ages four to seven, includes exclusive trading cards from Upper Deck, and allows kids to emulate the series and battle one of 100 dinosaurs with collectible cards, figures, spinning tops, remote-controlled dinos and mechanized figures, with more product to follow later in 2009.

Dinosaur King premiered on Jetix UK this past March and over one million sets of eyeballs have already tuned in.

Corus and marble name Innovative Storyteller winner

Toronto-based Corus Entertainment and marblemedia have named Afzal Huda the first winner of the Innovative Storytellers Award.

Huda, a grad student from Toronto's Ryerson University, will receive a $20,000 grant towards his master of arts in media production program, and a series of one-on-one sessions with execs from Corus and marblemedia. The award is given to outstanding Ryerson grad students whose theses explore connection between content, new tech and audiences.

Already an award-winning producer, Huda has worked on the Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated Into the West produced by Steven Spielberg. He's also written, produced and directed the award-winning short film Call Me a Paki, a National Film Board-supported project that premiered on CBC, which was screened at more than 20 festivals and won the Alberta Film and Television Award.

Bob the Builder makes home in Legoland

A new 4-D adventure awaits Bob the Builder and his Can-Do Crew in Legolands around the globe.

The movie Bob the Builder in 4-D: Bob the Builder and the Roller Coaster, commissioned by HIT Entertainment and Merlin Entertainments Group will be showing daily at Legoland theme parks worldwide in March 2009. The movie from SD Entertainment and Threshold Animation Studios will first debut in California and Windsor, UK Legolands, followed by Denmark and Germany's parks and Legoland Discovery Centers in April.

Teamwork is a key theme in the movie, where Bob and his friends learn the importance of starting each project with a plan, in this case, building a roller coaster, starting first with a model using Lego Duplo bricks before starting work on the real roller coaster.

The 10-minute film is a one-year exclusive for Legoland and uses 3-D CG animation with special glasses and special effects (wind and mist right in the theater) to achieve an overall 4-D effect.

Horrid Henry hits the right notes with EMI

Novel Entertainment will soon be tuning Horrid Henry to just the right key. In a deal with major record label EMI, the popular publishing property will have its own 18-track album, set for released on December 1st, 2009.

A four-track single is already available on iTunes, with all songs exclusively penned for the album by Novel's Lucinda Whiteley and Lester Barnes, as well as Matthew Corbett, Mike Wilkie and Philip Pope from Lockdown Media. Many of the songs can also be heard in the Horrid Henry - Live and Horrid! touring stage show, which opens in London's West End this Friday November 21.

The songs will also be featured in the upcoming 2-D second series of Horrid Henry, which is currently in production and is slated for delivery on CITV in spring 2009.

Wild Pumpkin and CPLG go gaga for Gogo's

Gogo's Crazy Bones, the collectible figures craze that's taken UK kids by storm, may soon be finding homes on international playgrounds thanks to the appointment of new international agents.

UK-based Bulldog Licensing has inked two new rep deals in Australia and Germany, respectively. Down Under, Wild Pumpkin, which also holds the rights to Care Bears, WWE and LazyTown, will be handling L&M plans, while to distribution goes to Moose Enterprises. CPLG, meanwhile, will launch the property in Germany, where it joins a portfolio that includes Marvel, Sesame Street and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Aimed at boys and girls four to 11, demand for Gogo's Crazy Bones has nearly exceeded supply in the UK, attracting the attention of several licensees. To date, Bulldog has signed publishing (Penguin), wheeled toys (Halsall) and Poetic Gem (apparel), among others.

People moves: Melanie Beer joins HarperCollins Children's Books

It looks like her more 10 years of licensing experience will serve Melanie Beer well in her new role as head of licensing and content development for HarperCollins Children's Books UK.

As of December 1, Beer will be put her skills to good use by exploiting merch, film and TV rights for the publisher's properties to go beyond the book, reporting to rights director Lucy Vanderbilt and children's MD Mario Santos, as HarperCollins aims to attract IP owners to build entertainment properties from the ground up.

Prior to joining the publisher, Beer held positions at BBC Worldwide, Warner Bros. and Jetix, most recently serving as global merchandising and licensing director at ITV in London.

TRU and Safe Kids Worldwide introduce safe toy and tips list

Toys 'R' Us is taking an extra step to help gift-givers in deciding on the best and safest purchases for children on their shopping lists this Christmas.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, a child injury prevention organization, US emergency rooms treat approximately 217,000 toy-related injuries, so both TRU and the org have partnered to develop a Safe Holiday Toy Shopping and Play Tips list. The microsite (www.toysrus.com/safety) houses information from gift selection, proper assembly, maintenance and supervision. Sales associates in bricks-and-mortar stores will also offer toy selection advice, as well as through TRU's new Gift Finder on its e-commerce site.

The microsite will focus on educating parents, caregivers, friends and other family members from now to the end of December, and through the rest of the year.

Sleepless cartoon scores Nick Australia prize at SPAA

This year's grand prize winner of the US$25, 000 Nickelodeon Australia and industry org SPAA's Land a Pilot contest is Insomniacs by Shane Elsmore and Simon Adams.

The creepy kids series was selected from a group of seven finalists from around Australia, and beat out a total of 90 submissions to score the prize.

The annual competition calls for new kids series concepts that will appeal to 10- to 12-year-olds and can coverlive-action, comedy, drama or reality genres.

The winners will now work with Nickelodeon over the next six months to further develop the series and produce a pilot.

4Kids and Jim Henson go Global in Japan

4Kids Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company have inked a multi-year agreement with Global Brands Group to serve as the sub-agent and master licensee for the Jim Henson Designs property in Japan.

As sub-agent and master licensee, Global Brands Group will look to bring Jim Henson Designs into several categories, including accessories, apparel, domestics, footwear, gifts and more in Japan.

As well, Global Brands will spearhead promotional and marketing events throughout the country.

People moves: Film Roman names new studio head

Jay Fukuto has been promoted to the position of head of the studio at Film Roman.

In the new position, Fukuto will oversee all of the company's animation production operations for television series, feature films, home entertainment, commercials and visual effects.

Most recently, he was head of production for Film Roman and produced a range of content, including adult toon King of the Hill and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! for Nick Jr.

Prior to joining Film Roman in 2006, Fukuto was VP of entertainment for MGA Entertainment, where he served as the executive in charge of the Bratz and Alien Racers series.

Wii Music hits the road

Nintendo Wii will be hitting the road this month with a live event in retail locations across the US.

The event includes live demonstrations of Wii Music, a game that contains 50 songs and lets users interact with more than 60 different instruments.

Street performers and interactive game demos are slated to land at malls this weekend in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, LA, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, DC.

In other news, sales of the Wii and Nintendo DS continue to top the charts with industry researcher NPD Group, with 1.29 million of the consoles (803,210 Wiis, 491,176 Nintendo DS systems) finding their way into US homes in October 2008. That put Nintendo's total hardware unit sales up 25.7% over October 2007, accounting for 59.3% of the industry's total hardware unit sales that month.

People moves: Breakthrough names new head of distribution

Toronto, Canada-based distribution company Breakthrough Entertainment has appointed Nat Abraham as its head of distribution.

Abraham will oversee daily operations including worldwide sales, presales and co-pro opportunities.

Formerly head of Canadian sales and acquisitions at the company, Abraham has been at the forefront of recent acquisitions including Science of the Senses.

Previous to joining Breakthrough, Abraham served as VP at 20th Century Fox and Astral Communications.

Jetix suffers revenue slide as subscriber numbers rise

As the global economic slowdown continues to dig in, European kids net Jetix suffered a 44% dip in net profit to US$26 million for the 12 months ended September 2008.

Overall revenue was down 18% to US$171 million over that period and operating profit dropped by 48% to US$16 million.

The downturn was anticipated by the company and was largely due to adverse exchange rate conditions. On the positive side of the ledger, subscriptions to the net increased by 1.8 million, to total 52.3 million across Europe. A large portion of the increase came from improved penetration in the Russian and Romanian markets.

As well, CEO Paul Taylor pointed to the success of newly launched co-pros Jimmy Two-Shoes and Kid vs. Kat.

Mega reports earnings, plans Chinese plant closure

Montreal, Canada-based Mega Brands reported US$22.2 million in earnings for Q3, compared to a US$5.2 million loss during the same period last year.

Including a US$150 million non-cash goodwill impairment provision, net loss from operations was US$127.8 million while net loss was US$122.1 million in Q3.

Following the end of Q3, Mega decided to downsize operations at the former Rose Art manufacturing facility in Shenzen, China and outsource production to qualified third-party suppliers that already manufacture over 50% of its products by sales revenue.

The transfer of production will be completed by the end of 2008.

Net sales in the Q3 of 2008 decreased 12.6% to US$160.9 million compared to US$184.1 million in the corresponding period last year.

The decrease reflects softer than expected sales in certain product categories and weakening consumer demand as well as additional identified product recall charges compared to 2007 Q3.

Big Tent expands Discovery Kids roster

New York City-based Big Tent Entertainment has lined up two new licensees for Discovery Kids.

Kidz Toyz has signed on to create Discover Kids-branded walkie-talkies which will be launched in the US and Canada in fall 2009.

Kids Station has expanded its deal with Big Tent to include new Discovery Channel branded DVD players, electronic journals, text messengers and digital photo frames.

The product line is also slated to hit mass retail in fall 2009.

Decode and Neptuno ink broadcasters for Poppetstown

Toronto, Canada-based Decode Enterprises and Neptuno Films have brought several new nets onboard for 52 x 11-minute preschool series Poppetstown.

Pubcaster TVO and the Knowledge Network in Canada and Disney Channel Latin America are the latest kidcasters to pick up the new series. The official Canada-Spain co-pro has also scored deals with France's Canal J, TeleQuebec and Disney International.

Neptuno has distribution rights for Spain, Portugal and Latin American while Japanese partner OLC has the rights for Japan. Decode Enterprises is handling sales for all other territories.