By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Cartoon Saloon Brand Development has secured new licensing partners for three of its entertainment brands ahead of the 2023 Licensing Expo.
The three entertainment brands include Puffin Rock, The Irish Folklore Trilogy, and My Father’s Dragon.
Puffin Rock began as a children’s TV series that follows puffin characters from the Irish coast as they go on exciting adventures.
A new animated feature film for the franchise called Puffin Rock and The New Friends will premiere in Ireland this summer and in select territories around the world later this year.
“With Puffin Rock and The New Friends, which just debuted at the Cannes Film Festival Market with WestEnd Film, we are delighted to have signed our first licensing partners for apparel and products that will allow new and old fans alike to extend their engagement with the movie,” said Cartoon Saloon manager, Brian Tyrrell. “As we head into Licensing Expo, we’re excited to have such high-quality partners on board across our brands, and we look forward to sharing further information there on our evergreen properties with our current and potential partners.”
Cartoon Saloon Brand Development has signed multiple new licensing partners for the Puffin Rock brand including eco-design manufacturer GreenRe, Snuggly Figs, and Value Add Games.
Green-Re will create a collection of sustainable stationery products for distribution across North America, the UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Snuggly Figs will produce a children’s clothing line for the brand made of eco-friendly and responsibly-sourced bamboo for distribution in North America. Value Add Games has been selected to develop an educational boardgame for release in the European Union.
An expanded range of sustainable plush products featuring new characters from the Puffin Rock film also be released.
Cartoon Saloon’s Irish Folklore Trilogy includes the three animated feature films The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and WolfWalkers.
The studio has signed GreenRe to create collections of sustainable stationary products based on the trilogy. GreenRe joins the franchise’s existing licensing partners which include Little Brown Young Readers, Xist Publishing, Pinfinity, Gallery Nucleus, and Trends International.
My Father’s Dragon is a family-friendly animated movie that was produced exclusively for theNetflix streaming platform. The film is inspired by a book by Ruth Stiles Gannett of the same name that was first published in 1948.
Cartoon Saloon has signed global publishing deals for My Father’s Dragon with Titan Comics for a graphic novel and Abrams Books for the recently-released The Art of My Fathers Dragon book.
Value Add Games and GreenRe will also be developing products for My Father’s Dragon for an educational board game and sustainable stationary products. These products will be distributed in the same territories as the products developed for the Puffin Rock brand.
A new range of recycled Plush will also be released featuring main characters from the My Father’s Dragon Netflix movie.
In addition to these established franchise’s, Cartoon Saloon Brand Development will showcase a new preschool brand called Silly Sundays to potential partners in the toys, publishing, apparel and accessories categories at the upcoming Licensing Expo.
The studio will launch the Silly Sundays preschool brand through an animated comedy series sometime in late 2023 through 2024. The upcoming series will broadcast on Cartoonito in the US, Latin America and EMEA.
Launched in 2019, Cartoon Saloon Brand Development is the licensing and merchandising division of the Cartoon Saloon animation studio.
Cartoon Saloon Brand Development works with global licensees to create and distribute branded merchandise inspired by the studio’s IP portfolio.
The division also manages the studio’s direct-to-consumer e-commerce platforms such as the company’s online Art Gallery.
Cartoon Salon’s online Art Gallery features limited-edition fine art prints, alternative movie posters, and art from artists within the studio itself.
In addition, Cartoon Saloon Brand Development creates, designs, and manufactures their own ethically-sourced and sustainably produced merchandise.