- After kids disobeyed the ABC by watching Lee Bones Productions’ Do Not Watch This Show (pictured), the 2D-animated series has been greenlit for a second season. An adaptation of Andy Lee’s bestselling publishing franchise Do Not Open This Book, it premiered in July and attracted an average of one million viewers across ABC Family and ABC iview in its first two weeks. In the series, a blue monster refuses to accept that he is the star of a TV show and urges kids to stop watching. Season two is set to premiere in 2026.
- Also in Australia, distributor Fred Media (part of the WTFN Group) has added four live-action kids series to its catalogue: Screen Glue’s BBC series Art Adventures with Fred and Pete and Fred and Pete’s Treasure Tales (both 30 x 14 minutes), in which a comedic duo make art and go on treasure hunts, respectively; 1440 Productions’ The Yes Experiment (35 x 30), exploring what happens when parents have to say yes to every request a child makes for a day; and two seasons of Nine Network’s TheatreDome, an improv comedy show featuring drama students playing rapid-fire games.
- Cloudco has named PGS as a licensing agency for Care Bears, with the unique remit of expanding the brand into the global luxury market. PGS is responsible for developing partnerships with fashion houses, chocolatiers, artists and sculptors, among other high-end partners. Cloudco has also tapped The License Connection as an agent for the 45-year-old brand in Benelux.
- ZDF Studios and Studio 100 International have extended their multi-year deal to include German-speaking markets. Under the new agreement, Studio 100 titles including Maya the Bee, Mia and Me, Vic the Viking and Heidi will be available in Germany, Australia and Switzerland on ZDF Select and ZDFtivi channels.
- London’s 3D Sparrow and its licensing agency IMG Licensing have signed a deal with Blue Monster Entertainment to launch the world’s first Booba World. Set to open in the UAE’s First Avenue Mall Jumeirah early next year, this amusement center is expected to feature play zones and themed merch (including food and drinks) based on the dialogue-free animated comedy series. Booba, which is aimed at two- to eight-year-olds, is available in more than 45 countries and is one of the top 10 animated kids titles on Netflix. It also has more than 20 million subscribers on YouTube.
- On October 1, Hoho Rights is launching a YouTube channel for kids ages 14 and up called Animated Classics Channel. It will roll out with series from Welsh broadcaster S4C, including Operavox, Shakespeare the Animated Tales and Animated Epics, but Hoho is looking to add more “classic” content covering topics like religion, literature, opera and history from third-party producers.
- Wizards of the Coast has signed a licensing deal with Paramount Skydance to launch a Magic: The Gathering Star Trek TCG collection in November 2026. The cards will feature characters and moments from both the Original Series and the more recent series and films. Paramount has been aging down Star Trek recently to get a younger crowd invested in the decades-old sci-fi franchise. Most recently, for example, it premiered an animated series called Star Trek: Scouts in early September.
Newsletter
