Major European producer highlights licensing opportunities in preschool-to-teen markets

Mondo TV, one of the largest European producers and distributors of animated content, is planning to present a large selection of brands from its portfolio to established — and potential — partners and at the forthcoming Las Vegas Licensing Expo, taking place from 21-23 June at the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre.

Visitors to stand G214 will be able to hear about a rich catalogue of in-house and co-produced properties that provide strong and diverse licensing opportunities for markets ranging from pre-school and children to tweens and teenagers.

As a line of plush toys, YooHoo & Friends has sold in the tens of millions since Aurora launched it in 2007. Now there’s a 52x11’-episode animated children’s series of YooHoo & Friends on the way in autumn 2017. Starring YooHoo, Pammee, Lemmee, Roodee and Chewoo along with 70 additional characters representing endangered, extinct and extraordinary animals, the show has a strong environmental message and of course, the charm, humour and enormous appeal of the big-eyed, bushy-tailed characters the Aurora line made famous.

With a number of licensing categories close to being awarded and licensee interest growing, Mondo TV and Aurora are planning a massive YooHoo & Friends Licensing Summit in Las Vegas, giving an update on the TV series, sharing the launch strategy for the property and outlining plans for a major international licensing programme.

Another co–production with Aurora is the delightful 52 x 13’-episode comedy-adventure series Cuby Zoo, an animated TV show for children about cube-shaped animal characters who look like toys but come to life when humans are away and play a vital but anonymous role in keeping the world in balance.

The first 26x26’ season of Sissi the Young Empress is already a hit in Europe and a second is on the way. The tale of a real, modern empress, it brings together beauty, style, emotion and compelling storylines and features a lead character girls have come to love and identify with. Its amazing success has brought an international extension of the licensing programme covering key categories — toys, games, publishing and beauty — with more opportunities already attracting interest.

For lovers of motor racing there’s already a strong buzz behind The Drakers (26x26’), which brings together racing cars, brave young drivers and a touch of sci-fi excitement as. two young boys, Chris and Fabri, try to win the Formula X World Championship.

The Treasure Island (26x26’) brings together the ever-popular theme of pirates with a new and thrilling reimagining of the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s young hero Jim Hawkins and his incredible adventures searching for treasure.

Imminent arrivals for younger viewers include Adventures in Duckport (52x11’), targeted at children age 4-8 and featuring many of the characters from the popular Suzy’s Zoo, saving the day or getting into trouble (and sometimes both), in a series of funny, exciting tales.

Another very promising title for the very young is a delightful animated short-form non-dialogue series called Eddie is a Yeti (52x3’), in which a little girl befriends a very unusual animal and tried to keep him out of trouble.

Bug Rangers is a 52x13’ show full of humour and funny stories in which a group of insect friends — Squiggz, Cosmo and Flutter — experience the challenges and fun of being bug-sized in a human-sized world.

There’s another unusual angle on life’s challenges in the animated family adventure drama from Korea, Nori RollerCoaster Boy (52x11’), in which a cute little rollercoaster living in Nori Park rollercoaster city has to defend his home from scheming bad guys.

But as well as these high quality co-produced or in-house animations, for the first time in the history of Mondo TV, the group is co-producing a live action teen drama. The 60x45’ series Heidi, Welcome Home, is currently in pre-production and will be available for release from November 2016. It reinterprets the classic children’s novel, Heidi, written by Johanna Spyri in 1880, adding comedy, humour, and music with a modern twist for a moving and charming story the whole family will love.

Another live action launch — but this time with a science fiction theme — is Yo Soy Franky a Nickelodeon Latin America live action series about Franky, who looks like a teenage girl but is actually an android trying to live among humans and cope with the world of feeling and emotions without being discovered. Mondo TV manages the licensing rights for Italy where the kids TV channel Boing showed the first series in January 2016. The second season is coming in the autumn.

Matteo Corradi Mondo TV CEO, says: “Mondo TV is coming to Las Vegas not just with a very strong slate of animated shows but for the first time with some funny, exciting and charming live action series. But they all have one thing in common: they have strong licensing prospects. We expect to be very busy so make sure you arrive early at stand G214!”