Disney has signed a new multiyear book licensing deal with Random House Inc. which sees the end to its 70-year relationship with Golden Books Family Entertainment. The golden spined children's books, which have graced the shelves of bookstores to grocery markets, will no longer feature Disney characters. The decision to sign with Random House came after the terms of their deal with Golden Books were not profitable. The financial terms of the five-year deal were not disclosed due to competitive reasons.

Mattel, Inc. has signed a new multiyear worldwide licensing pact with Nickelodeon to renew and expand its current toy license agreement. The deal will include toy categories such as action figures, dolls, plush toys, games, handheld games, puzzles, and infant and preschool products. Mattel now controls all properties from Nickelodeon's children's television programming services, as well as Nickelodeon's motion pictures division, Nickelodeon Movies. As part of the deal, Mattel will be the international toy licensee for Nickelodeon's RUGRATS and BLUE'S CLUES in more than 30 countries.

Hasbro has signed a multi-year deal with HIT Entertainment for the licensing rights to their successful toon, BOB THE BUILDER. The current BBC series is scheduled to debut on Nick Jr. sometime next year. BOB garners 52% of the pre-school audience in the U.K. for its time period. Last holiday season the toys based on the series sold out in the U.K. Hasbro hopes that the series will build the same kind of fan base in the States as other foreign imports have done recently. Currently, Mainframe is producing a series called ACTION MAN based off Hasbro's British toy line of the same name.

Rhino is releasing the action stuffed soundtrack to the POWERPUFF GIRLS. On July 18, 2000, "Heroes and Villains" will hit shelves with music performed by top alternative artists. Songs from the series and inspired by the Powerpuff Girls will be featured on the album. Artists such as David Byrne, Devo, Frank Black, Shonen Knife, Apples In Stereo, Optiganally Yours, Kormeda, Cornelius, The Sugarplastic, Dressy Bessy and Bis will be featured. Series creator Craig McCracken set out to find bands that inspire him to participate on the compilation.

The Harvey Entertainment Company and Felix the Cat Productions have come to a new corporate agreement to bring Harvey characters to Latin America. Harvey Entertainment has appointed Felix the Cat Productions, Inc. as their exclusive licensing agent for Latin America. In turn, Donald Oriolo, president & CEO of Felix the Cat Productions, and the other heirs of Casper creator Joseph Oriolo have turned over to Harvey all rights and claims to the trademarks and copyrights of the Casper character.

Wolfmill Entertainment has signed a worldwide licensing deal with Living Toyz for a line of action figures based on Wolfmill's upcoming CGI animated feature film ELFQUEST. The fantasy-action film follows the journey of Cutter, a young elven chief, and his tribe across a hostile world to find a safe refuge. Before the theatrical release of ELFQUEST, Los Angeles-based Living Toyz will produce several sets of action figures based on the original ELFQUEST comic book designs by Warp Graphics.

London-based publisher Dorling Kindersley has lost US$40 million on the book adaptation of STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE. The educational and CD-Rom publisher had 13 million of the STAR WARS books printed for last holiday season and sold fewer than 3 million copies. After the initial news was released earlier this year, shares plummeted 40% and CEO James Middlehurst resigned. Chairman and 30% shareholder Peter Kindersley has taken over the head position. An unnamed worker told the LONDON DAILY EXPRESS that founder Kindersley has "fallen victim to a terrible error of judgment." Mr.

Burger King, a leading hamburger chain, has decided to back RUGRATS IN

PARIS with a licensing campaign to coincide with the film's Thanksgiving

release. Burger joint cross promotion of films released in the holiday

season means big money for both parties. Burger King opted to work out a

deal with the Nickelodeon/Paramount sequel to RUGRATS: THE MOVIE, which it

backed in 1998, instead of DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS,

starring Jim Carrey. Insiders say Burger King may drop US$20 million into

The Harvey Entertainment Company and PG Capital, an apparel industry

investment company, have finalized a joint venture for a new apparel

company, Harvey Fashion LLC. The new company will be responsible for

manufacturing, selling and marketing a complete apparel collection, based

on the popular Harvey Classic Character library. Paul Guez will serve as

chairman of the board and CEO. The creation of Harvey Fashion LLC replaces

and extends the scope of an earlier Harvey apparel venture planned with

On Wednesday, December 26, 2000, a second child was reported to have

suffocated on Burger King's promotional POKEMON ball. The 4-month old,

Indianapolis, Indiana boy was found dead by his grandmother who left the

toy in the crib with the sleeping child. Millions of the toys were recalled

on December 11, 1999 after a Sonora, California girl was found in her

playpen with half the ball over her nose and mouth. U.S. federal officials

accused the Miami-based fast food chain of being too slow in recalling the

Cartoon Network, featured on Poland's Wizja TV, is the #1 rated channel on

the programming package and now Cartoon Network Magazine rules the

newsstand. The first issue sold over 500,000 copies making it the top

magazine in Poland. In just three days, the magazine sold out and

publishers ordered an immediate reprint. The Polish version of the mag with

comic strips, quizzes, posters and articles featuring Cartoon Net's legion

of toon heroes and heroines is based off the British version and is the

Is Pikachu anti-Semitic? The answer is no, even after questions to the
contrary circled when parents complained of a swastika-like symbol
appearing on the Japanese language cards for Pokemon's Golbat and Ditto.
These two cards, not yet released in the U.S. card collection, include a
Japanese symbol called a "manji," which is a mirror image of a swastika.
The symbol, however, is a centuries-old, Japanese symbol for good fortune.
Not wanting to create any bad financial karma, Nintendo has announced that
it will discontinue the questionable cards.

In continued coverage of the war to empty the pockets of the POKEMON
people, Bandai America Incorporated, the company responsible for the Power
Rangers and Tamogotchi virtual pets, unveiled a new line of toys based on
the POKEMON-like DIGIMON: DIGITAL MONSTERS, at an event held at FAO Schwarz
in New York. Since the debut of the TV series in August on Fox Kids,
DIGIMON has become the #1 ranked show in its time period among all
competition with Boys 6-11. Kids can also visit the DIGIMON Web site which

The war between TOY STORY and POKEMON over kids' piggy bank change has
moved to a new battle field -- the local burger joint! McDonald's Corp.,
the U.S.-based, world-wide burger chain, has released TOY STORY 2 toys in
connection with the recently released film. The McDonald's promotion,
featuring a collection of 20 different characters from the TOY STORY 2
movie, will be distributed with each Happy Meal purchase. The chain will
also offer six TOY STORY 2-themed candy dispensers for $1.99 each with the

Playmates Toys has acquired the license
to create action figures based on the animated series THE SIMPSONS. There
will be eight initial figures, including Homer, Bart, Lisa, Grandpa,
Krusty, Mr. Burns, Moe, and Barney, which will all be part of the World Of
Springfield Intelli-Tronic line. Each figure will feature the voice of the
cast member who plays the character on the show. There are also plans for
three dioramas, including The Simpsons' living room, Homer's work station

Walt Disney Records' DISNEY SWINGING CHRISTMAS is a collection of
holiday favorites performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It includes "The
Twelve Days of Christmas," "Jingle Bells," "Nutcracker Medley" and "The
Christmas Song," among others. The compact disc is available now exclusively at The Disney Store and Disney Theme Parks for US$8.99. . . The TOY STORY 2
soundtrack features songs and score by Randy Newman (TOY STORY, A BUG'S
LIFE), and performances by Grammy Award-winning Sarah McLachlan,

Burger King, the US-headquartered fast
food chain, began offering Pokemon toys on November 8, 1999. The eight-week
promotion includes 57 different toys in 56 days -- one with each kid's
meal. The toys, each of which are packed in a Poke Ball and include one of
151 trading cards, is said to be the largest licensing effort ever for
Burger King. The toys are part of the licensing for the feature film
POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE which opens November 10, 1999. Consumers can also
purchase one of six 23K gold plated trading cards for $1.99 with the

On November 19, Tim Burton's first film since MARS ATTACKS!, SLEEPY HOLLOW, which features a CGI Headless Horseman created by Industrial Light & Magic, will be released. McFarlane Toys, the company responsible for the excellently crafted SPAWN action figures, is releasing several SLEEPY HOLLOW figures. The figures began appearing in retail stores the first week of November, including Toys 'R Us, KB Toys, comic book shops, Spencers, Musicland/Sam Goody, Electronics Boutiques, Babbages, and others.

The fourth stamp in the Looney Tunes series, which will be released
sometime next year by the US Postal Service, will feature two characters
created by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros., Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.
The Bugs Bunny stamp began the series in 1997, followed by the Sylvester
and Tweety stamp in 1998 and the Daffy Duck stamp in 1999. The luckless
genius inventor, Wile E. Coyote, and his speedy nemesis, the Road Runner,
have appeared together in more than forty cartoons since their debut film,
FAST AND FURRY-OUS, was released in 1949.

On November 2, 1999 Rhino Records will release GO SIMPSONIC WITH THE
SIMPSONS, musical selections from the often very musical THE SIMPSONS.
Consisting of more than 50 tracks of songs, themes, and underscore music,
GO SIMPSONIC not only picks up where its predecessor, SONGS IN THE KEY OF
SPRINGFIELD, left off, but also digs deep into the first nine seasons,
capturing selections that didn't make it onto the first collection. GO
SIMPSONIC also makes available for the first time four never-before-heard