Netflix orders LEGO One Piece special 

Instead of just preparing a typical recap ahead of its next season, the streamer has ordered an animated two-part LEGO One Piece (pictured) animated special for a September 29 premiere. LEGO Group, Shueisha and Atomic Cartoons are producing the special, which retells moments from the first two seasons of the live-action One Piece series. Season three of the action/adventure anime adaptation about pirates seeking treasure was renewed for a third season, set to debut in 2027.

The emoji Company gives a thumbs-up to ETS Group 

The lifestyle brand, which owns more than 1,000 trademarks, has named ETS Group as a licensing agent for Italy and Switzerland. ETS is tasked with developing products across fashion, stationery, publishing and lifestyle categories featuring emojis. The emoji Company has previously signed licensing deals with Puma, Penguin Random House and the kids audio platform Tonies.

Manga Arabia is adapting Nippon Animation series into comics 

The comics company has partnered with the Japanese studio to turn its classic anime series Little Princess, Future Boy Conan and Romeo and the Black Brothers into Arabic-language comics to meet anime demand from MENA audiences. These are decades-old series that collectively ran for more than 100 episodes.

Winsing secures sales for GG Bond: Kung Fu Heroes 

Chinese studio Winsing Animation has inked broadcast deals for season two of its action/adventure series about piglets who use martial arts to battle evil. In China, CCTV, Jiajia, Guangdong and streamers Tencent, iQIYI, Youku and Mango TV picked up the season, which started airing earlier this month. The studio has also produced the feature film GG Bond: Race Through Time, which is scheduled for a May 1 premiere in more than 10,000 cinemas across China.

Winx owner Rainbow launches decor exhibition 

Here’s an unusual one. Rainbow, the Italian prodco behind kids series Winx Club, is launching an art exhibition with students from an Italy design school that reimagines art and characters from the IP into decor. The students will showcase their creations in the Home Fairy Exhibition, which runs from April 17 to May 8. The government of Lombardy (a region in northern Italy) and the Italian school collaborated with Rainbow to set up the exhibition. Winx Club is a 20-plus-year-old brand, and Rainbow’s flagship property, which focuses on a group of magical fairies.

Image courtesy of Netflix.