Serious Kids and broadcasters bite into Taste Buddies 

The UK-based distributor has picked up worldwide sales and merchandising rights to Pikkukala, a 2D/CG-animated series (52 x seven minutes) produced by Dibulitoon and Ink & Light. Taste Buddies (pictured) is about a six-year-old boy who cooks up tasty dishes with the help of a group of tiny food-focused helpers. RTVE, 3Cat, RTEjr and YLE have already commissioned the series, which is about to start production, aiming to wrap by June 2027. Serious Kids, which has worldwide rights excluding Spain, Finland and Ireland, plans to bring the first episodes to Annecy this year. One Taste Buddies book title has been published in South Korea and Finland, and producer Ink & Light sees potential in games, kitchen products and educational materials.

Jakks Pacific and Disguise team up with SEGA 

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is getting new toys and costumes, thanks to a multi-year partnership for the Paramount Pictures feature film that’s scheduled to premiere on March 19, 2027. SEGA has tapped Jakks once more to make a range of products including action figures, plush, playsets and costumes, and the plan is to launch them globally at retail and online in early 2027 ahead of the film’s release. Jakks already has a licensing deal in place with SEGA for Sonic, and the brand’s existing products are some of its top-sellers every year, said Jakks chairman and CEO Stephen Berman, chairman and CEO of Jakks.

Bonkers Toys inks a global master toy license for a VR game

The San Diego-based toyco has granted Another Axiom the rights to turn Gorilla Tag into a line of products that includes plush, figures and collectibles, hitting US retailers in 2027. Gorilla Tag is a five-year-old multiplayer VR game in which players run, jump and climb through elaborate maps, playing play tag as gorillas. Last year, the game hit one million daily active users, and it has had 15 million unique players during its lifetime.