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THE GOLDEN AGE OF PEANUTS IS NOW PEANUTS, THE GLOBALLY BELOVED brand created by Charles Schulz in 1950, enjoyed its biggest year to date in 2015, a year that also marked the 65th anniversary of the Peanuts gang. (Remarkably, Charlie Brown still doesn’t look a day older.) The brand—which enjoys an unprecedented 99 percent consumer recognition and 3 billion social media impressions annually—created its biggest U.S. retail footprint ever, with programs at Target, Toys “R” Us, Macy’s, The Gap, Pottery Barn Teen, Safeway Albertsons, Barnes & Noble, and QVC; halo partners such as Le Sportsac, Coach, and Burton; and promotional partnerships including McDonald’s, Teleflora, U.S. Postal Service, and Unicef. The Peanuts Movie, the brand’s first-ever 3-D CGI-animated feature film, became the No. 1 family film in the world for three consecutive weeks, received a Golden Globe nomi-
Flying Ace Snoopy
100 THE TOY BOOK | FEBRUARY 2016 | TOYBOOK.COM
nation for Best Animated Feature Film, and earned a coveted 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. Its box office grosses are approaching $250 million worldwide. Peanuts’ global licensing program, featuring more than 1,000 licensees worldwide, continues to be anchored by long-term partners including MetLife, Hallmark, Cedar Fair, ABC, and Universal Studios Japan. In particular, 2015 was a banner year for Peanuts toys, with Just Play’s Happy Dance Snoopy feature plush leading the charge, and multiple toy awards showered upon the brand, including the Toy Insider’s Top Holiday Toys. As this year takes off like a Flying Ace, a wealth of exciting new content and marketing programs promise to create vast opportunities for Peanuts licensees and retail partners worldwide. A series of new animated shorts based on the Peanuts comic strip will air in the U.S. on Cartoon Network and Boomerang this year. Toy licensees are developing products in key categories, including figures, play sets, plush, feature plush, crafts and activities, games, puzzles, vehicles, R/C, and seasonal toys. And following the extraordinary success of The Peanuts Movie, a fall packaging refresh will focus on Peanuts CGI—the fresh, bold style with which kids everywhere identify. “This is the most exciting time for Peanuts in years,” says Leigh Anne Brodsky, managing director, Peanuts Worldwide. “Between the creativity of the movie, the celebration of timeless Peanuts milestones, and the fun marketing events we have in store, it’s truly a golden age of Peanuts.” Among the upcoming Peanuts celebrations and initiatives are the 50th anniversaries of the Charlie Brown’s All Stars and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown TV specials and, in 2017, of the perennially popular stage show, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Original content initiatives this year
will include celebrating “The Many Faces of Snoopy,” and a nonpartisan voter-education collaboration with Rock the Vote. Of course, Peanuts means kids and kids mean… toys! This year’s toy line features fun and innovative new products from: • Just Play, featuring TV-driver Flying Ace Snoopy feature plush, Snoring Snoopy feature plush, and a new line of Peanuts blind bag figures, plush, and figure sets celebrating The Many Faces of Snoopy, including Flying Ace, Masked Marvel, Flashbeagle, and Joe Cool. Back by popular demand, Happy Dance Snoopy will also be available next year, the 60th anniversary of Snoopy’s happy dance! • Little Kids, including Peanuts bubble toys and bubble wands. • Ao Jie, featuring junior sports seasonal toys, such as bowling sets, racquet sets, flying discs, and jump ropes. • Palamon, including updated Peanuts character costumes for infants, toddlers, children, and adults. • Cra-Z-Art, featuring the best-selling, newly redesigned Snoopy Sno Cone Machine, originally introduced in 1979 and named by Time magazine in 2011 as one of the 100 best toys of all time. • Sakar, including youth electronics, including selfie sticks, flip cameras, Bluetooth speakers, and walkie talkies featuring the Many Faces of Snoopy artwork. “In October of 1950, when Charles Schulz launched his comic strip in just seven newspapers, he introduced the world to wise, witty, philosophical, and ingenious little characters—and they quickly became a worldwide phenomenon,” says Brodsky. “In 2016, we’re proud to celebrate Schulz’s creation with an array of content and products that capture the magic of the Peanuts gang in brand-new ways. We invite licensees from around the world to join us and be part of the magic of Peanuts.” »