Aurora World announces the arrival of additions to its YooHoo plush line

Brandora Redaktion - February 2020

Aurora World – a leading character and content company and the owner of the globally successful YooHoo brand – has announced the arrival of its eagerly awaited additions to the new YooHoo plush line, first launched in 2019. The line is inspired by the successful new animated show YooHoo to the Rescue, which has been broadcasting on multiple platforms for nearly a year.

The expanded 37 SKU line launches mid-2020. The new plush will be available in four different sizes and combines the established line of favourite characters from the 3D animation YooHoo to the Rescue season 1 with new characters introduced in season 2 and 3. Season 3 (13 11-minute episodes) launches on Netflix this spring.

In the newly introduced 11” sized YooHoo plush (available in the US and Canada), there will be eight plush made up of main seven characters, along with the popular RingRing the Panda character. In addition, with season two on the air and season three due soon, eight characters from season two and six characters from season three will be added to the best-selling 5” & 8” YooHoo collection of 33 characters launched in 2019. The new characters include Gina the Giraffe, TJ the Sea Turtle, and Bellus the Congo Peafowl.

Fans of Stackies line will also love the new eight characters (Stackies series 2) which include some of the most popular new supporting characters, such as Shooga the Sugar Glider, Pookee the Meerkat, and Mango the Flamingo. Stackies series 1 line, launched in 2019, combined the seven main characters with RingRing the Panda.

This plush line will benefit strongly from synergy with the animated series YooHoo to the Rescue and Aurora World’s established plush toy business, of which YooHoo is a leading part. It will not only meet demand from fans for plush based on their favourite characters from YooHoo to the Rescue, but will also enhance the collectability of the brand.

The 3D CGI 26 x 11’ animated children’s show, YooHoo to the Rescue, launched on Netflix in March 2019 in 20 different languages in 190 countries. YooHoo to the Rescue is one of the first Asian pre-school IPs to be chosen as a Netflix Original Series. The next season (13 x 11’), featuring new endangered animal friends from around the world, successfully launched in October 2019. Season three (13 x 11’) launches this spring on the Netflix platform. The show also appears on TV channels in Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Russia (including Frisbee, TVP ABC, Canal Panda, Clan TV and Carousel).

The new YooHoo plush toy line first arrived with the 3D animation YooHoo to the Rescue season one in 2019 and has already launched across many countries. The additions to the plush line, also based on new characters introduced in season two and three, will be supported by a strong promotional campaign. The new line and its additions are expected to match the popularity of the original YooHoo plush range – a multi-million-selling success all over the world since its launch in 2007.

As well as a renewed plush toy line based on the new series, a licensing and merchandising programme is under way across many other categories. There are several products ready for launch in territories worldwide from a number of licensees, including Panini (stickers, mini figurines, trading cards), Nuvita (baby products), Kennedy Publishing and Media Zawada Services (magazines), and Dev Games and Tap Tap Tales (digital apps). As with the plush, the many new characters and habitats introduced by the new season of the popular animated show will enhance and expand the collectability of a number of product lines.

YooHoo to the Rescue is a funny, exciting and beautifully designed animated series with strong environmental themes, in which YooHoo and his crew travel from the magical forest of YooTopia to Earth to confront threats to nature and wildlife, meet many different endangered animal species from around the world and make new friends along the way.

Headquartered in Seoul, Korea, Aurora has established a varied business portfolio that includes a vast global reach in the plush market through brands like Miyoni, Sea Sparkles, Sparkle Tales and, above all, YooHoo.

Jay Noh, Director of Content Business, Aurora World, says: “The strong environmental themes of YooHoo to the Rescue, encompassing many animals and habitats, have inspired some truly wonderful characters who have clearly won the hearts of young viewers. These new characters are a welcome addition to the successful new YooHoo plush line and will, I am sure, be enormously popular with kids everywhere.”