Nordic and Eastern European licensing agency Kidz Ent. has been appointed by Aardman Animations to represent its hit animated series SHAUN THE SHEEP and preschool property TIMMY TIME.
The first toy deals have already been secured for TIMMY TIME for the Nordic region, with Top Toy and distributor AMO and products are scheduled to launch at the end of this year. Other consumer product deals are in the pipeline, buoyed by strong TV broadcast across the region. TV is also confirmed in most Eastern European markets.
Currently in production, the 52x10 series has been pre-bought by CBeebies in the U.K. for debut in 2009 and it has been picked up by Disney Channels worldwide, including the U.S. TIMMY TIME combines Aardman's stop-motion style with the colourful simplicity of classic preschool animation.
Aimed at both boys and girls, TIMMY TIME is non-dialogue, but will feature a variety of animal noises, comedy, fun and strong character animation. Aardman's Jackie Cockle is creative producer and supervising director and Milles Bullough is exec producer.
Timmy, age 3 (in sheep years), is adorable, but he's a little lamb with a lot to learn. Each episode will follow a day on the life of Timmy in Nursery as he learns something about himself and all his friends -- an assortment of bright young animals, some farmyard, some domestic, some wild.
International Emmy Award-winning SHAUN THE SHEEP has proved to be a huge hit both in the U.K. and internationally. A new season of 40x7 episodes starts shooting early this year for CBBC and has already been picked up by ABC Australia, TF1 France, WDR Germany, YLE Finland, SVT Sweden, DR Denmark and Noga in Israel. The first series of SHAUN THE SHEEP has racked up television sales and licensing deals in more than 150 territories.
SHAUN THE SHEEP is also proving to be a major licensing success already securing 28 U.K. licensees, including Golden Bear as the master toy partner and Egmont as publishing partner, in addition to numerous international partners.
