How to train your Dragon 2
What will be your key priorities for the UK toy market in the short-term? For 2014, it will be Postman Pat with Character Options, and Dragons (TV and movie line) with Spin Master and H Grossman.
Theatrical Is it true to say that your flagship brands – and perhaps the ones with the most potential in the licensing field – come from your theatrical portfolio? There are lots of ways to introduce new characters and stories into the world. Many of these within our DreamWorks Animation portfolio have come from movies and we’ll continue to tell our stories in this way and through other forms of media; great examples being How to Train Your Dragon 2 released in Summer next year, Madagascar with the Penguins of Madagascar movie to be released in 2015, and Kung Fu Panda 3 due the same year. These franchises have also had incredibly successful TV series accompanying them, keeping them front of mind with children and families alike. We also have franchises, such as Postman Pat,
where credentials have been established over a long and successful period of TV viewership that now has a movie scheduled for May 2014. In addition, we have franchises like Where’s Wally? whose heritage lies in publishing and apps, which lends itself to a more lifestyle approach with fashion credentials rather than traditional forms of content.
What are your key movie-related properties for 2014 and 2015? Release dates vary by country, but for 2014 it’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Postman Pat, How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Home. For 2015, it’s The Penguins of Madagascar, B.O.O: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations and Kung Fu Panda 3.
The challenges associated with licensing movies, for both licensees and retailers, are well-documented. How will you aim to meet these challenges? We are incredibly lucky to have a content pipeline that is both movie- and TV-based, in most cases within a single franchise. This means that we are not just reliant on movies but also have a stream of TV content that follows on from the movies, keeping the content relevant and front of mind for both families and children over many years.
Pre-school Pre-school is one of the most crowded sectors of the kids licensing sector. What do you see as the strengths
Madagascar 3
of your Pre-school brands? Both Postman Pat and Noddy have strong heritage with parents and grandparents, as well as being evergreen characters that continue to evolve and appeal to each new generation of pre-schoolers.
How important is the Postman Pat movie to the development of the franchise? It is really exciting to be able to bring Postman Pat to the big screen in CGI for the first time ever. Postman Pat: The Movie allows us to bring a different dimension to Pat’s story outside of the well-known and loved TV series. The full theatrical release from Icon/Lionsgate on the 23rd May next year will be high-profile, generating a massive spike in activity, and includes a stellar voice cast including Ronan Keating as the singing voice of Postman Pat, Stephen Mangham as his talking voice and also starring David Tennant, Rupert Grint and Jim Broadbent. The DVD release of the movie will then provide a second spike around BTS/Christmas. However, in terms of the all-important daily connection with pre-schoolers, the key driver of the franchise remains the great scheduling the stop-frame TV series has on CBeebies (airing daily in a prime time morning slot). The second season of Postman Pat: Special Delivery Service, which premiered in 2013, joins an already extensive catalogue of 132 episodes.
What other activities have you planned to support Postman Pat in 2014?
2014 will kick off with the launch of a Postman Pat stamp in January as part of the Royal Mail’s ‘Classic Children’s TV’ issue. We then have a host of live initiatives including more dates for Postman Pat Live “It’s showtime”, which tours from January to June, and a yet- to-be-announced new LBE partner. Postman Pat will also continue a key draw at the Postman Pat Village
at Longleat Safari park throughout their Summer campaign.
There have been several attempts to relaunch Noddy since its heyday. Can DreamWorks Animation Animation reinvigorate the property and establish it as a force in the Pre-school sector once more? Yes, and we will have more to announce on Noddy later on in 2014.
Finally, how important was the acquisition of the Chapman Entertainment portfolio to your Pre- school offering?
The acquisition of the Chapman Entertainment portfolio represents an amazing complement to our existing portfolio. We will seek to create specific long- lasting plans for the newest addition to our portfolio during 2014 in conjunction with our TV colleagues in the London office.
Postman Pat
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254