The Licensing Letter

Entertainment/Character

Frozen Selling 10 Times Faster Than Last Year

If you thought Frozen was a one-year wonder, forget it. Sales of Frozen licensed merchandise for the year are up 10 times above where they were last year at this time, according to Disney officials during a press conference. Earned licensing revenues for Frozen are up 23% over last year. Of course, the big Frozen surge came at the end of 2014. Even so, the Walt Disney Company … [Read more...] about Frozen Selling 10 Times Faster Than Last Year

Avengers Dress Up Hot Topic

Mall retailer Hot Topic is going all out Avengers as the exclusive merchant for a new fashion line tied to Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. A Captain America halter dress, a Thor sailor dress, a Stark Industries bomber jacket, and more from Her Universe and Disney Consumer Products will be available beginning May 12. … [Read more...] about Avengers Dress Up Hot Topic

DC Plugs Into Girl Power

DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, and Mattel are teaming for a new girls’ property, DC Super Hero Girls, which will launch this fall across multiple entertainment content platforms and product categories. Designed to appeal to girls 6 to 12, DC Super Hero Girls focuses on DC Comics’ female characters before they discovered their full … [Read more...] about DC Plugs Into Girl Power

Entertainment/Character Licensing Grows 6.0% in 2014, Most of Any Property Type

After declining every year from 2008 through 2012, entertainment/character licensing in the U.S. and Canada roared back to life in 2013 by posting 3.6% growth. Now the sector has proven that the turnaround was no fluke by achieving an even more robust 6% increase in 2014. According to The Licensing Letter's Annual Licensing Business Survey, entertainment/character now … [Read more...] about Entertainment/Character Licensing Grows 6.0% in 2014, Most of Any Property Type

Minions Go Mobile

The Minions are multiplying. A new partnership between video game maker Electronic Arts, Minions producer Illumination Entertainment and Universal Partnerships & Licensing will bring the quirky yellow creatures and other characters from upcoming illumination films to mobile games, beginning with Minions Paradise. The game will be free to download beginning this summer, … [Read more...] about Minions Go Mobile

Avengers Campaign Targets Fashion, Health

Disney Consumer Products announced what it’s calling one of “its biggest ever licensing programs” around the new Avengers: Age of Ultron film and offshoot programming; and given Disney’s track record, that’s no idle boast. The licensing program includes a push into what the studio considers high-potential categories, including female fashion and items intended to foster active … [Read more...] about Avengers Campaign Targets Fashion, Health

Licensing Silver Lining for DreamWorks

Consumer products licensing was the bright spot in a challenging 2014 for DreamWorks Animation, which saw its films Penguins of Madagascar and Mr. Peabody and Sherman under-perform in theaters. Consumer product revenue rose 77.5% to $22.1 million in the fourth quarter, while segment gross profit rose to $6.1 million due to higher sales of the studio’s merchandise, … [Read more...] about Licensing Silver Lining for DreamWorks

Disney Goes 4D

Disney and children’s publisher Bendon have teamed up to bring coloring books to life via new 4D technology. The Disney Color and Play app allows Disney characters to jump off the pages of the Bendon coloring books and into the kid’s iPad. Kids can also use the app to turn their own drawings into jigsaw puzzles. … [Read more...] about Disney Goes 4D

Ninja Turtles Tops $1 Billions

Global retail sales of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles exceeded $1 billion in 2014, according to a Viacom International Media Networks executive at a Nickelodeon-Viacom Australian media event. “Turtles are a bigger consumer products success story than we ever imagined,” said the exec. The company also has aggressive plans to keep Turtles momentum alive in 2016, including a second … [Read more...] about Ninja Turtles Tops $1 Billions