London – Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products has been chosen by The Jim Henson Company to represent the merchandising business in the UK and Ireland for Dinosaur Train, its Emmy-nominated animated preschool series. Bringing together trains and dinosaurs, the series made its UK and Ireland debut on 12th March 2012 and currently airs every weekday on Nick Jr.
“Dinosaur Train is a Tyrannosaurus-sized hit on Nick Jr. and the way the show has grabbed the imaginations of audiences along with the success of product lines in other territories, means that the property is set to take a significant bite out of the UK market,” said Mark Kingston, VP Consumer Products UK, Australia, Russia, Israel. “Families love Dinosaur Train and we are sure that our license partners won’t have to Triceratops too hard to develop some incredible products around the property.”
Existing Dinosaur Train licensees in the UK market include TOMY, the global master toy licensee for the brand and Puffin for publishing products including paperback storybooks and board and novelty books. TOMY will debut new products for the brand in 2013, including the innovative range of small, medium and large Dinosaur Train InterAction Figures featuring SmartTalk technology that brings the dinosaur characters to life. In addition, a broad range of popular Dinosaur Train characters and train cars will be available, providing a variety of opportunities for imaginative play.
“Dinosaur Train has received an enthusiastic response from viewers in the UK and Ireland, and it’s a natural extension to our relationship with Nickelodeon that they lead our consumer products efforts in this region,” commented Melissa Segal, SVP Global Consumer Products, The Jim Henson Company. “We have great products from TOMY and Puffin hitting the market in 2013, and we look forward to working with Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products to build a robust licensing program across all categories and adding new product lines to entertain and engage our new Dinosaur Train fans.”
Dinosaur Train currently boasts approximately 70 licensees around the world. In the U.S., these include VTech Electronics (electronic learning products), MegaBrands (construction toys), Uncle Milton (science toys and kits), Pressman Toy Corp (board games), Patch Products (magnetic playsets and puzzles), Sunstar Americas, Inc. (toothbrushes and accessories), Rail Events (live events), DecoPac (cake and cookie decorations), Hallmark (greeting cards, ornaments, party goods), California Costume Collections (Halloween costumes), Cranston Fabrics (fabrics), and Crayola (Crayola Wonder, coloring books).
Nickelodeon is the number one commercial kids TV network in the UK. Launched in 1993, it comprises seven dedicated entertainment channels for kids aged 4-15: Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon HD, Nick Replay, Nicktoons, Nicktoons Replay, Nick Jr., and Nick Jr. 2. The Nickelodeon network now reaches more than 10 million viewers a month and is available in 14 million cable and satellite homes. The company has built a diverse multi-platform business by putting kids first in everything it does and includes critically-acclaimed and hugely-popular television programming from the UK and around the world, plus consumer products, online, events, recreation and feature films.
DINOSAUR TRAIN is an Emmy-nominated and Parents’ Choice Silver Honor TV series, and it consistently ranks in the top ten shows for kids ages 2 to 5** in the U.S. In DINOSAUR TRAIN, young viewers join Buddy and his adoptive family of Pteranodons on whimsical adventures through prehistoric jungles, swamps, volcanoes and oceans as they discover basic concepts in natural science, natural history and paleontology. The Dinosaur Train, a colorful locomotive, is customized to accommodate all kinds of dinosaurs, and has the ability to visit the Triassic, Jurassicand Cretaceous worlds, while the Train’s Conductor, a knowledgeable Troodon, provides passengers with fascinating facts along the way. Dinosaur Train is co-produced with Singapore animation company Sparky Animation, with the participation and assistance of the Singapore Media Development Authority.
Source: The Jim Henson Company