Rhino rocks Nick

Kid Rhino has inked a multiyear deal with Nickelodeon that will allow it to create, market and distribute CDs and audio cassettes based on the channel’s cartoon properties; Nick Jr., its preschool block of programming; as well as some special events. The agreement enables Kid Rhino to develop audio action-adventures, read-along and sing-along albums. The Best of Nicktoons, a compilation of 41 songs culled from several Nickelodeon cartoons, including Rugrats, Angry Beavers, Hey Arnold! and Rocko’s Modern Life, hit stores last month and retails for US$15.98 for the CD and US$9.98 for the audio cassette.

Noddy comes to life

PolyGram Video has signed a multiyear deal with BBC Worldwide and The Enid Blyton Company for the exclusive North American rights to distribute episodes of Noddy, the live-action show based on Blyton’s classic books about a toy that comes to life. Noddy, a co-production of BBC Worldwide, The Enid Blyton Company and Catalyst Entertainment Inc. is the first show BBC Worldwide has produced specifically for a North American market. Each episode fuses live-action scenes with animation footage from an older Noddy cartoon.

Dawson’s Creek flows into licensing

Sony Signatures Film and Television Licensing has mounted a licensing campaign for Columbia TriStar Television’s teen drama series Dawson’s Creek. Merchandise will be geared to teens and young adults, and so far, deals have been inked with PocketBooks (novel spin-offs), Western Graphics (posters), Portal Publications (calendars and mugs), Changes (T-shirts) and Head Start (headwear). The show, about four teens living in a New England town, launched last January on WB Network.

It’s Peanuts for EMG

United Media has appointed EMG Licensing to act as the agent for Peanuts in Canada. EMG’s immediate goals will be to attract new licensees in the apparel and giftware categories, as well as new advertising and promotional partners, according to a United Media release.

Fisher-Price unveils new campaign

Toy maker Fisher-Price has a new ad campaign called ‘It’s A Great Age for Fisher-Price.’ The multimillion-dollar campaign includes print ads in parenting magazines and 16 television spots. The ads target moms and, according to Fisher-Price, are ‘celebratory’ of childhood and the way children really play, as opposed to ads that describe specific product features. The campaign was created by Young & Rubicam in New York and will debut this spring.

Lego sets sail with ocean exhibit

Lego unveiled a new hands-on traveling museum exhibit for kids last month at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Developed jointly by the museum, the Youth Museum Exhibit Collaborative and Lego Systems, the 1,200-square-foot exhibit-Lego Ocean Adventure-is designed to spark children’s curiosity in the ocean and foster their appreciation of marine environments. The exhibit includes life-size Lego sharks, dolphins, sea turtles and fish. Lego Ocean Adventure is scheduled to visit 10 children’s museums in the U.S. and Canada through the year 2001.