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Q4 HIGHLIGHTS
Below: The successful partnership with M&S on kidswear will continue for autumn/winter.
Splendiferous times Following the successful launch of the Roald Dahl x Natural History Museum ‘Extraordinary Explorers’ kidswear collection at M&S, a new collection will land in stores for autumn/winter. The range includes cosy knitwear and PJs, matching tops and jogger sets, shirts, dresses, plus essential socks and underwear. Also new for the season will be bedding and homeware. In the toiletries category, the partnership with Bloom & Blossom has evolved further with The Enormous Crocodile. Roald Dahl has also recently welcomed Wild & Wolf’s children’s brand, Petit Collage, to its licensee base, with games and puzzles launching in time for the Christmas season. The company’s partnership with Mr Kipling continues into its fourth year and, for the first time, there is a national roll out of some terrifying treats with The Witches for Halloween. 2020 will conclude with new gifting lines from Kimm & Miller. Books, of course, remain at the heart of the business and Q4 sees expansion of the preschool publishing range with two novelty titles – The Enormous Crocodile Finger Puppet Book and Revolting Things to Touch and Feel. There will also be The World of Roald Dahl publishing in October, including quizzes, puzzles and fun fact files. For 2021, Roald Dahl will be introducing The Twits to its licensing programme, with a year-long programme of activity that begins with the publication of two new book titles.
An Odd world One Animation will be heading to Festival of Licensing with global preschool comedy brand, Oddbods. Having added half a billion monthly YouTube views to its 20 billion global views to date, Oddbods captures 42% of its targeted demographic (2-6 year olds) in the UK each month, which equates to four million unique children. Average watch time has also soared to 29 minutes per child. The brand has been providing support and resources to families through the pandemic. This has included a partnership with Google’s Rivet for Oddbods books to help build child literacy levels, alongside its collaboration with Weyo for the ‘Oddbods Oddlife’ app which helps kids develop healthy routines. The merchandise offering, meanwhile, spans toys, apparel, dress-up, back to school and arts and crafts. A new partnership with Redan Publishing will also see Oddbods launch in Fun to Learn Favourites and Friends publications in Q4. New seasonal content will see the launch of an extended Halloween episode – Oddbeards Curse – which will debut on YouTube Kids. Above: Oddbeards Curse is due to debut on YouTube in time for Halloween.
French fancies French animation studio Xilam Animation will be highlighting a number of properties at Festival of Licensing. Lupin’s Tales is a new comedy series for upper preschoolers which is due to be delivered in Easter 2021. The series follows a young wolf who experiences adventures against the backdrop of well-known international fairy tales. Xilam is looking for publishing, toy and plush partners. Non-dialogue comedy series Where’s Chicky? is targeted at a cross demographic audience and see a little chick turn up in a new environment every episode. The series has a strong digital presence including four billion lifetime views on YouTube. Xilam is looking to build a lifestyle-focused merchandising programme for millennials, alongside a cross-category offering for kids. Following the 20th anniversary of Oggy and the Cockroaches, Xilam is now launching a rebooted version of the series. Scheduled for autumn 2021, Oggy and the Cockroaches - Next Gen sees Oggy take on the responsibility of parenthood. Left: Lupin’s Tales Xilam will launch two further brands based on Cube Creative series and is a new comedy targeted at upper preschoolers: Pfffirates which is full of action and visual series for upper comedy, alongside comedy adventure series Tangranimals which takes a age preschoolers. playful approach to geometry.
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LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2020