Press Release from The Jim Henson Company:

Hollywood, CA: February 3, 2012: World-renowned family entertainment producer and distributor The Jim Henson Company has finalized a multitude of licensing deals for its preschool brand, PAJANIMALS, in key categories including home entertainment and apparel. The consumer products campaign will support the television series, currently airing exclusively in the U.S. on 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout®.  The announcement was made today by Melissa Segal, SVP, Global Consumer Products, The Jim Henson Company.

The Jim Henson Company is extending its home entertainment licensing agreement in the U.S. and Canadawith NCircle Entertainment to include new full episodes of the PAJANIMALS series. The first PAJANIMALS DVD title to be released under the new deal isslated for May 2012. NCircle previously distributed the original PAJANIMALS’ short form series. The Company has also entered into a licensing agreement with SaraMax Apparel Group, Inc. to create sleepwear, available in fall 2012, featuring the popular PAJANIMALS characters, Sweetpea Sue, Squacky, CowBella and Apollo.   

Additional new licensing deals signed featuring the PAJANIMALS characters, include the parade balloon company, StarBound Entertainment, who has created parade balloons featuring the PAJANIMALS’ characters with Apollo making an appearance in the recentPhiladelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade; California Costumes will be developing toddler Halloween costumes, which will be available at retail in time for the fall 2012 festivities, and LightHeaded Beds, who are developing illuminatedgraphic children’s headboards that will be available spring 2012 for purchase on their website www.lightheadedbeds.com.

“PAJANIMALS has already developed a loyal and enthusiastic fan base among parents and their young children, and now those fans will be able to enjoy interacting with their favorite characters on a new level,” commented Segal.  “Our continued relationship with NCircle, as well as collaborating with our new partners, will enable us to deliver products across key categories with which parents and kids will identify.”

PAJANIMALS follows the amazing adventures of four sweet and gentle characters—Sweetpea Sue the pony, the excitable duck Squacky, the creative cow CowBella and the optimistic puppy Apollo—who were designed and built by the world-famous Oscar® and Emmy® Award-winning Jim Henson's Creature Shop™ from original concepts by Los Angeles-based toy and clothing designer, artist Jeff Muncy. Through their imaginary journeys, these cuddly musical puppets venture out on amazing adventures of discovery, modeling the skills preschoolers need to move through their days successfully.

Produced in Northern Ireland as a co-production between The Jim Henson Company, Sprout and Northern Ireland’s Sixteen South Television, PAJANIMALS has obtained funding assistance from Northern Ireland Screen.  The Jim Henson Company’s CEO Lisa Henson and Executive Vice President of Children’s Entertainment Halle Stanford serve as Executive Producers for the series, along with long-time Henson producer, Alex Rockwell (Bear in the Big Blue House, Elmo in Grouchland) and Jeff Muncy. PAJANIMALS was created by Muncy and Rockwell. Serving as Executive Producer for Sprout is Senior Vice President of Programming Andrew Beecham, while Lisa O’Brien, Sprout’s Vice President of Original Programming and Development, serves as Executive in Charge of Production. Sixteen South’s Colin Williams (Sesame Tree, Big City Park, Big & Small) serves as producer for the series, with Michael and Patty Silversher (Winnie the Pooh, Animal Jam, Dinosaur Train) composing the music. PAJANIMALS was created by Jeff Muncy and Alex Rockwell.  The series airs in the U.S. on Sprout, the 24-hour digital cable channel dedicated to preschoolers. The Jim Henson Company is handling all ancillary use of the property including licensing, video and merchandising.