DHX Media Gets Busy With Apps

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgPress Release from DHX Media

Toronto, 14 March 2011. DHX Media has launched a new iOS app based on the hit animated preschool show Animal Mechanicals, at the same time as its Grandpa in My Pocket app goes global, further strengthening the position of the interactive division as an award-winning developer of games for online and mobile devices.

Based on the hit CBC-commissioned family series, Animal Mechanicals: Beetle Buggy Race, priced at $1.99, is available on all iTunes stores worldwide. Game play centers around helping Mechana-Fast Mouse on her mission to pick up all the Beetle Buggies that are scattered and stuck on the racetrack.  Gamers must drive quickly and carefully to gather the buggies and tow them to safety, all the while keeping an eye on the clock. With five different tracks, there are plenty of courses to master and buggies to collect.

Animal Mechanicals is an action adventure series for preschoolers that combines fantastical worlds, mythical animals and cool quests. And the best thing of all, they transform! The series currently airs in the US on The Hub. Kids CBC in Canada recently launched the third season of the hit show, bringing the total number of episodes to 73x11’. Other channels to feature the series around the globe include the Disney Channels in the UK and Asia; Radio-Canada, Discovery Latin America, Romania’s HOP, EBS in Korea; Al-Jazeera Children Channel and Prava I Prevodi, who acquired the title for Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.

In other news, the Grandpa in my Pocket: Horatio Heave Ho! ebook, which launched as an iPad app in the UK iTunes store last Autumn, is now available worldwide. Additionally, the iPhone/iPod Touch version is now available.  Both versions are available in English worldwide, priced at $2.99.

Horatio Heave Ho! is the Sunnysands Bank Manager who really wants to be a pirate.  When he decides to dig up the whole beach in search of treasure, Grandpa puts on his magic shrinking cap and shrinks.  Disguised as Captain Teenytoes, the smallest pirate ever to sail the seven seas, Grandpa sets out to persuade Horatio that there's more to life than treasure.  But, he can't do it without Jason. It’s teamwork!

The Grandpa in my Pocket: Horatio Heave Ho! ebook is narrated by the character of Jason Mason, and features the voices of other Sunnysands characters. It has assorted features including: tapping the little Grandpa on each page to make him run - if you catch him he will sparkle! Tap on Horatio and join in with his pirate roaring, and join in with the words and actions of the pirate song.  All of this is accompanied by wonderful images from the series and a full music soundtrack.

Anne Loi, SVP Finance and Operations, at DHX Media said: “Apps are the ideal, portable accompaniment to any popular kids television series, they certainly incorporate fun and interactive activities for fans of the show and their parents. We’re delighted to launch a new app for Animal Mechanicals and that the reach of Grandpa in My Pocket is now global.”

Grandpa in My Pocket, (32.5x30’ or 65x12’), which features live action with special effects, has sold to broadcasters worldwide. Channels airing the show include ABC TV Australia, Canal+ in France, French-speaking TFO, TVO and Knowledge in Canada, Al Jazeera Children’s Channel, Norway’s NRK and Sub Juniori in Finland, HOP Israel, RUV Iceland, okto in Singapore, Greece’s MCOM.  CBeebies has also acquired Grandpa in My Pocket for the Latin American and US Hispanic markets as well as Poland, South Africa and Asia.

Made with participation from Finance Wales, Grandpa in My Pocket is developed and produced by Adastra Creative.

About DHX Media Ltd.
DHX Media Ltd. is a leading international leader in television production and distribution, interactive content and entertainment licensing, with an emphasis on children, family and youth markets. With offices in Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver and Los Angeles and three award-winning production facilities, including the recently acquired Wildbrain Entertainment, DHX Media is the producer or co-producer of over 40 original television series and maintains a library of over 2,300 half-hours of television productions that spans both animated and live action programming.   Live action series include That's So Weird, How to be Indie and This Hour Has 22 Minutes; animated series include Animal Mechanicals, Kid vs Kat, dirtgirlworld, Franny's Feet, Martha Speaks and new preschool show Rastamouse. DHX Media Ltd. shares are listed on the TSX, the Toronto Stock Exchange.  www.dhxmedia.com [1]