It’s never easy, but it’s been a particularly rough week for the industry, with some of the biggest companies in the business reportedly launching layoffs. But there’s always going to be interest in content for kids, and this week saw quite a few big names jump into the kids arena for the first time—working with established kids producers to do it. And here are some more nominees giving us something to celebrate this week:

Animaj: This innovative French studio has added a big name to its board! Olivier Dumont, architect of the success of mega-hit kids brands like Peppa Pig and PJ Masks (both billion-dollar IPs), has joined as an independent member, and the timing is fascinating. Animaj is hinting that it’s looking to expand beyond its strategy of acquiring brands (as it did with Pocoyo and Maya the Bee) into making original programming—and the former eOne and Hasbro exec could help power the growing studio’s evolution. If he really is on board to support the development of new IPs, that could pave the way for even bigger Animaj successes to come. 

Illumination and Nintendo: Wahoo! If there were still any naysayers who thought the first go-round was a fluke, Mario, Luigi and the gang spent the weekend proving them wrong. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is setting records and is now the biggest movie of the year so far. And while the first movie ended the video-game-movie curse and ushered in a new era of PG-rated family hits, Galaxy seems to be definitive proof that video games and kid-friendly IPs have eclipsed superheroes as the biggest properties in town.

Netflix: You’re a busy parent at the grocery store, and your kid finds a game on Netflix they want to play. Do you a) stop the cart in the frozen goods aisle, open the app store, try to remember your password, download a new app and hand the phone back to your child hoping they don’t get bored in a few minutes? Or b) tell them to find something else to watch? Well, now parents don’t have to worry about any of that, after Netflix stealth dropped a standalone gaming app for kids packed with licensed preschool games from Sesame, Peppa, Seuss and more. Word on the street had been that nobody was playing Netflix’s games, and it just wasn’t easy for kids to explore Netflix’s offerings on their own terms. Kudos to the streamer for not abandoning gaming, and instead making a game-changing move to do something about it.

Scholastic: Who better to adapt the story of a ragtag group of friends fighting evil creatures taking over the minds and bodies of their loved ones, than the guy who just won an Academy Award for a story about, uh… a ragtag group of friends fighting evil creatures taking over the minds and bodies of their loved ones? That’s right, Scholastic scored a major coup by snagging Sinners director Ryan Coogler—one of Hollywood’s hottest filmmakers—and his Proximity Media banner to produce a TV adaptation of its hit ’90s book series Animorphs. And as if that wasn’t enough, it’s being made for Disney+, home of genre YA hits like the Percy Jackson reboot. Now will any of the kids transform into a black panther? We can dream…

Toonstar: Can Toonstar bag a Gold Star? The AI-powered animation studio just secured its biggest deal yet: a multi-year partnership to turn HarperCollins books into digital animated franchises. Winning over a big-name publisher for a long-term deal doesn’t happen overnight—Toonstar has spent a decade positioning itself as an innovative, tech-forward player with strengths like cost-effective speed-to-market and digital-first expertise. Now it has the chance to show off those skills (while hopefully retaining its promised “artist-centered approach”) as it brings beloved books to life. P.S.—we’re hooked on the Friendship List series at the moment, so trust we’ll be all caught up by the time the toon rolls out!

So who had the best week in the bunch? Vote before 8 a.m. ET on Monday to let us know what you think:

Want to pitch us a Gold Star nomination? Send an email to submissions@kidscreen.com by noon on Thursdays. And check back every Friday for our next batch of nominees. Hope to see you on the list!