On December 16th, The Mattel Children’s Foundation partnered with the Los Angeles Football Club, Ford Motors, and LAFC part-owner Will Ferrell to provide an unforgettable holiday shopping event for deserving L.A. families.
Following a stellar debut season, Wondery, an Amazon company, announced it is greenlighting a second season of its breakout hit ‘Tis The Grinch Holiday Podcast, an original podcast series from Wondery and Dr. Seuss Enterprises. The festive variety show-style podcast features comedian James Austin Johnson (Saturday Night Live) returning as The Grinch, as he chats with celebrity guests who try to convince him to embrace the spirit of Christmas. Since its season one premiere in early November, ‘Tis The Grinch Holiday Podcast has consistently held the #1 or #2 spots in the Kids & Family category on Apple Podcasts, while also becoming only one of three podcasts for families that has broken the top 50 on Apple Podcasts overall this year (Source: Chartable and Podchaser, YTD 2023). The popular podcast currently holds the #1 rank within the Kids & Family category on Amazon Music. Season two of ‘Tis The Grinch Holiday Podcast will debut for the holiday season in 2024 early on Wondery+, before becoming widely available on Amazon Music and wherever listeners get their podcasts.
Loungefly, the fan-forward lifestyle brand from Funko, has announced an all-new collection in collaboration with Disney. Available on Loungefly.com and select retailers this January, the new accessories line unveils a stylish and wickedly glamorous take on the Evil Queen from Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
ZAG Foundation, the charitable division of global independent animation studio ZAG, is partnering with Dr. Alain Toledano’s Institute Rafaël to provide free non-medical cancer care to children in a nurturing, supportive and uplifting environment with age-appropriate activities. These therapies aim to provide support and promote healing well-being beyond medical interventions alone. The first launch will be focused at the Paris headquarters in 2025, with plans for locations in several other countries over the next five years. The announcement was made by Jeremy Zag, Founder and CEO, ZAG, and Dr. Alain Toledano, co-founder of Institute Rafaël.
University Games, the US’s top manufacturer of literary-based learning games for children, has taken another big step on its educational sojourn by acquiring The Learning Journey International, an award-winning maker of educational, sensory, active-play, electronic, and construction toys. JB and Debbie Frere, The Learning Journey’s founders, will continue to manage The Learning Journey.
This festive season, join families around the globe as YouTube Kids becomes a hub of holiday cheer and creativity, thanks to a special feature: Crayola’s four-episode holiday-themed playlist, ‘Magical Winter Moments || Holiday Crafts’ made possible by its ongoing creative partnership with TheSoul Publishing. Featured prominently on the YouTube Kids’ home screen from December 20th, 2023, to January 2nd, 2024, the specially created playlist will bring families together across global English territories and add colorful fun to their holiday celebrations.
IMC Toys, a prominent player in the toys and children’s content industry, announces an exciting collaboration with El Reino Infantil, a wold leading community for children in Spanish. Soon, Cry Babies Magic Tears, BFF and VIP Pets of Kitoons will become an integral part of the varied programming on El Reino Infantil’s YouTube channels. In a move to enrich the musical offerings of El Reino Infantil’s main YouTube channel, IMC Toys’ captivating musical content will be integrated into its main YouTube channel, which boasters over 60 million subscribers, promising to being an unparalleled musical and visual experience to it’s expansive global audience.
Gamefam, the leading metaverse game developer, publisher and strategist with a portfolio of live operated original games, virtual concerts and experiences that connect brands with new audiences, has unveiled its first-ever “State of Brands in Metaverse Gaming” report, including results from its most successful year to date. With top-performing titles and activations on Roblox and Fortnite, the company announced FY2023 as its most successful year yet, achieving more than 35% year-over-year revenue growth, scaling to more than 200 employees, and reaching 16 consecutive quarters of revenue growth. With over 30 games in its owned and operated network, Gamefam cemented itself as the metaverse’s top developer in 2023, with over 7.5 billion gameplay sessions across its portfolio this year – surpassing 29 billion gameplay sessions to date.
Penguin Ventures (the licensing team at Penguin Random House Children’s UK) has secured global rights to develop a licensed consumer products program for Tom Fletcher’s bestselling Puffin picture book series ‘Who’s in Your Book?’, from his manager Rachel Drake and literary agent Steph Thwaites at Curtis Brown. The series features a cast of beloved characters including Monster, Witch, Dragon, Elf and Unicorn.