JAM Media Taps JAKKS Pacific as Master Toy Partner for Becca’s Bunch
The California-based toyco secured exclusive global rights for toys based on the hit Nick Jr. series
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--On the heels of the successful launch of Becca’s Bunch on Nick Jr. US on September 24, producer and property owner JAM Media has named JAKKS Pacific as the global master toy licensee for the property!
JAKKS has secured the exclusive global rights to produce figurines, playsets and accessories, vehicles, musical instruments, plush (feature and non-feature), every day dress-up, role play, arts & crafts, board games and accessories, Halloween costumes and accessories, outdoor/indoor furniture, wagons, ride-ons, play tents, ball pits, balls and outdoor games, all based on the spritely bird and her group of animal friends. Plush, figurines, musical instruments, vehicles and playsets are planned for a Fall 2019 launch at US retail.
JAKKS joins previously signed Becca’s Bunch licensees Candlewick Press, which has taken publishing rights for the US, and Egmont, which is signed on for publishing in the rest of the world. Both companies are planning a Fall 2019 retail launch in key territories.
“This is a significant deal for us, and we could not have hoped for a better partner than JAKKS,” said JAM Media CEO John Rice. “JAKKS understands the fun and playful nature of Becca’s Bunch as a property, and is translating the huggable and tactile quality of its characters perfectly into a standout line of toys.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with JAM Media as master toy licensee for Becca’s Bunch,” said Tara Hefter, SVP Licensing, JAKKS Pacific. “Becca’s Bunch is an adorable preschool series that is already a hit in the UK. We are looking forward to bringing Becca, and her friends Russell, Sylvia and Pedro, to life through a variety of original toys, playsets, and role play.”
Nickelodeon has secured exclusive broadcast rights to the series in the US and pay-TV rights for the rest of the world. Becca’s Bunch premiered on Nick Jr.’s international channels and platforms in July and in the US in September. In addition, terrestrial broadcasters ABC Australia, CBC Kids (Canada) and France Télévisions (France) have picked up the series for their respective countries.
Becca’s Bunch (52 x 11 minutes) stars a cast of handmade puppet characters and features over 4,000 individually crafted props and set pieces. The series merges live-action footage, puppetry, 2D and CG animation to create a textured world that the audience will want to reach out and touch.
The show centers around Becca, a little bird with a big appetite for adventure, who loves helping her Wagtail Woods neighbors. Though she sometimes bites off more than she can chew, Becca knows that with her friends Russell, Sylvia and Pedro by her side, nothing is impossible. Thinking on their feet, Becca and her Bunch will urge kids to never give up, aim high and have big ideas—because once they do, like Becca, every day will become an adventure.
ABOUT JAM MEDIA
JAM Media (www.jammedia.com), with operations in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, is one of the leading creators and producers of multi-award winning animated and live-action content for the children’s and preschool audience. We pride ourselves on delivering high quality, innovative, story-driven brands across multiple platforms based around engaging characters with humor at its heart. The company was founded in 2002 by animator friends John Rice, Alan Shannon and Mark Cumberton.
About JAKKS Pacific, Inc.
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of toys and consumer products sold throughout the world, with its headquarters in Santa Monica, California. JAKKS Pacific’s popular proprietary brands include Perfectly Cute™, Real Workin’ Buddies™, Squish-Dee-Lish™, XPV®, Disguise®, Moose Mountain®, Funnoodle®, Maui®, Kids Only!®; a wide range of entertainment-inspired products featuring premier licensed properties; and C’est Moi™, a youth skincare and make-up brand. Through JAKKS Cares, the company’s commitment to philanthropy, JAKKS is helping to make a positive impact on the lives of children.
Nickelodeon Germany, Switzerland and Austria (GSA) has greenlit a brand-new locally-produced live-action series based on the online phenomenon of unboxing!
TOY TOY TOY – Die Unboxing Show will premiere on Saturday 3rd November 2018 at 19:50 Uhr on Nickelodeon Germany (Deutschland) and at 20:15 Uhr on Nickelodeon Austria (Österreich) and Nickelodeon Switzerland (Schweiz). Subsequent new episodes will continue to air every Saturday and Sunday evening in the same timeslots.
Hosted by Nickelodeon presenter Sascha Quade, the game show-esque format will pit two pairs of players (for example, mother and daughter vs. father and son, siblings vs. best friends, etc) against one another in a timed challenge to dig out an unknown toy from a giant box, which is easier said than done, as when it's time for "extreme unboxing", contestants will suddenly find themselves playing the game whilst wearing a T-Rex costume! Once the desired toy has been found and finally unpacked, it will naturally put through its pace. The most skilful team will win more points and the chance to enter the TOY TOY TOY final. Here, the winning team will move on to tackle a huge pyramid of packages within a time limit; whatever they open, they get to keep. So, on your marks, ready .... TOY TOY TOY! TOY TOY TOY – Die Unboxing Show will feature a broad spectrum of toys, for current kid favourites to toys that their parents and grandparents played with when they were growing up.
TOY TOY TOY – Die Unboxing Show is being produced in-house by Nickelodeon GSA and Starship Tube, a division of Starship Film GmbH. Nickelodeon GSA launched a search for contestants to take part in the new game show in July 2018.
The news follows Nickelodeon Germany announcing the first-ever SLIMEFEST Deutschland, which will be held on Saturday 1st December 2018 as part of the German Comic Con in the Dortmunder Westfalenhalle.
Below is Nickelodeon GSA's official SLIMEFEST 2018 press release announcing the aweslime news:
Auf die Plätze, fertig … 'TOY TOY TOY' – Nickelodeons brandneue Eigenproduktion bringt Spielechecker an die Grenzen ihrer Lachmuskeln
02/10/2018
Berlin, 2. Oktober 2018 – Was ist ein Slinky? Ein neues Pokémon? Ein besonders bequemer Schlüpfer? Oder eine Metallspirale, die Treppensteigen kann? Wer bei dieser Frage nur müde lächeln kann, ist ein waschechter 'TOY TOY TOY'-Experte. Nickelodeons neueste Eigenproduktion zeigt im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes spielerisch, die verrücktesten Spielzeuge aus deutschen Kinderzimmern – aber auch, mit was schon die Eltern oder Großeltern ihre Freizeit verbracht haben. 'TOY TOY TOY – Die Unboxing Show' startet am 3. November und läuft immer samstags und sonntags um 19:50 Uhr. Moderiert wird die Show von Sascha Quade.
Die Spielregeln sind schnell erklärt: Zwei Teams mit jeweils zwei Mitspielern (z.B. Mutter und Tochter gegen Vater und Sohn; Geschwister gegen Beste Freunde usw.) stellen sich einem unbekannten Spielzeug. Zunächst gilt es dieses aus einer großen Box zu befreien. Leichter gesagt als getan, wenn es heißt: „Extrem-Unboxing“ – und man plötzlich im T-Rex-Kostüm steckt. Ist das Objekt der Begierde endlich ausgepackt, wird es natürlich auf Herz und Nieren getestet. Das Team, das sich in den Disziplinen geschickter anstellt, erhält mehr Punkte und die Chance in das 'TOY TOY TOY'-Finale einzuziehen. Hier erwartet das Siegerteam eine riesige Pyramide aus Paketen. Und das Beste: Den Inhalt aller Pakete, die sie innerhalb eines Zeitlimits öffnen, dürfen sie behalten. Also: Auf die Plätze, fertig …. TOY TOY TOY.
'TOY TOY TOY – Die Unboxing Show' ist eine Nickelodeon Co-Produktion mit der STARSHIP FILM GmbH, die unter ihrem Banner STARSHIP TUBE Show- und Entertainment-Formate produziert.
Premiere von 'TOY TOY TOY – Die Unboxing Show' ist der 3. November. Neue Episoden zeigt Nick fortan immer samstags und sonntags um 19:50 Uhr.
GameMill Entertainment today shared more details about their newest title Nickelodeon Kart Racers!
Nickelodeon Kart Racers is a multi-player console racing game that features iconic Nickelodeon animated characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rugrats, Hey Arnold! and more, as they race on 24 different Slime-themed tracks, using slime to help them get ahead, while also causing other folks to slip up -- and maybe even get slimed! The game is rated E for Everyone in North America and PEGI 3 in the UK and Europe, and will be available on PlayStation®4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™ worldwide for holiday 2018.
GameMill today revealed the new slime system that will be implemented into Nickelodeon Kart Racers. And, yep, it’s about as gooey as you’d expect it to be!
Update (9/28) - The games official listing page on the Nintendo Switch store has revealed that the Nintendo Switch version of Nickelodeon Kart Racers will be 525 MB.
"The iconic Nickelodeon green slime, which made its debut in 1979, plays a critical role on the race track. Players will fill their slime bar by driving over the fluorescent green goo to activate speed boosts. Slime patches come in many shapes and sizes and do not come without risk; it is very slippery, so watch out! Other patches are so big, your kart will transform into a jet ski! If you're lucky, you might just unlock a shortcut. Thanks to the slime valve and item boxes, you never know when your favorite Nickelodeon character might get slimed!"
Whatever you do, don’t say, “I don’t know” around these guys, because chances are you’re going to get covered in green slime.
Key features of the all-new game include:
- Choose a racer from 12 of the most iconic characters: SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats and MORE!!!
- Race on 24 different Slimed-filled tracks including Bikini Bottom, NYC sewers, Tommy Pickle's house, Arnold's school and more!
- Awesome Co-Op and Local Multi-Player for non-stop action the entire family will love!
- Customizable Karts with multiple power-ups and special attacks!
- Team-based co-op multiplayer, players can perform devastating fused attack for TONS of FUN!
- Slime overload will have you turning you Karts into jet-ski racers!
Watch the latest trailer above and click here to view images showing off the slime-filled tracks! Stay tuned over the next few weeks for new assets and information on the game's multiplayer modes and environments as they are revealed!
You can get “slimed” for yourself when Nickelodeon Kart Racers releases worldwide on all major consoles (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch) on October 23 for $39.99 USD / £29.99 GBP / €39.99!
Update (9/30):Nickelodeon Kart Racers will only allow local battles, and the characters revealed during the game’s initial announcement will comprise of the full roster.
The PlayStation blog posted a write-up on some of the upcoming features of the very fun looking Nickelodeon Kart Racers. In the comments section of the blog, some further details about the racing game emerged.
Adam Johnston, the Creative Director of Bamtang Games, responded to some fans’ questions about Nickelodeon Kart Racers.
In speaking of online play, Johnston stated “We have made this game for 4 x local multiplayer to be able to maximize the features for most players. If we had gone with online-multiplayer then we would have had to nerf some aspects of pickups, attacks and Arena mode combat to account for lag. By keeping the gameplay local, we are able to make the game better for local multiplayer, which we think is the majority of kart racing sessions. Racing in multiplayer mode is fun, but the three different Arena battle modes seemed to be the favorite with testers.”
Johnston then went on to clarify what the character roster would be for Nickelodeon Kart Racers. As fan Rider8D related, there has been “some confusion on whether there are 12 characters in the game or if there are 12 represented franchises in the game.”
To clarify, Johnston responded “Hi Rider8D[,] 12 playable characters. thanks for asking”.
When asked if there are going to be any other characters brought in through DLC, Johnston stated that fans should “Keep asking! The more you ask, the more likely DLC will happen! We have a load of characters that we’d love to add to this game too.”
While the news of the game not having online play and a smaller roster than we initially thought, I’m still excited to pick up the inevitably fun Nickelodeon Kart Racers. The game releases on October 23 for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, and retails for a reasonable $39.99.
Nickelodeon Kart Racers is developed by Bamtang, and will be distributed by Maximum Games in the UK and Europe.
Below is Playstation.Blog's official write-up of Nickelodeon Kart Racers, by guest editor Adam Johnston Creative Director, Bamtang Games:
How Slime is Used to Great, Gross Effect in Nickelodeon Kart Racers
This kid-friendly kart racer includes familiar Nickelodeon characters, creative tracks, and plenty of that signature green slime.
Nickelodeon Kart Racers is a kart racer featuring characters and slime-filled tracks from iconic Nickelodeon shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Hey Arnold!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and more) that’s meant to be accessible for younger kids while also remaining a challenge for nostalgic, older players. It’s a classic kart racer, but has quite a few innovative features that have been fun to work on and are even more fun to play.
Though our team had not worked with these characters before in a game, our whole team knows and loves them. Our group ranges from 22 to 45 years old, so we all have fond memories of the same iconic characters.
Did You Know? Double Dare introduced the first messy Slime-y physical challenges to kids and families in 1986!
This game is a mixed-universe game and that kind of game needs something to glue the different IPs together (pun intended)! A great symbol of Nickelodeon’s irreverent humor and crazy antics is the iconic green slime. I remember seeing someone slimed for the first time, during the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Watching celebrities get unexpectedly slimed is one of the most exciting parts of the show and how can that not be a great game mechanic?
Nickelodeon shows have featured slime for over 30 years and it has never lost its popularity and appeal. My eight-year-old daughter was watching slime-making videos on the internet before we started on this game. It jumped out at us as a way that the game could scream Nickelodeon, have a super fun device for game mechanics and attract a younger audience that loves slime.
Did You Know? In 1990, Nickelodeon Studios opened in Orlando, Florida. Visitors are greeted by a Slime Geyser that erupts with Slime every 15 minutes.
Bright green slime is a great visual and it shows up throughout the tracks, making them interesting and varied, while still being intuitive. Slime fills your kart’s turbo meter, which can activate a speed boost so getting slimed can really determine who wins the race. The karts can even sail like a jet ski on top of slime pools! That creates a change in mechanics and visually looks awesome. Slime pickups and triggers give players secondary objectives and, of course, in true Nickelodeon fashion, you can’t stand on the winners’ podium without your racer getting covered in slime! The Vector Unit game engine supports water racing, so we saw that as a great opportunity to introduce a different racing experience. Your kart will transform into a jet ski and it’s easy to get turbo charged when sailing on slime. Plus, the areas are wide open, so you can go really fast.
Did You Know? In 2010 Katy Perry received one of the most epic Slime-ings in history while presenting at the Kids Choice Awards. The pressure of the blast was so high; it knocked her off her feet.
The important thing that kids have quickly figured out in play-testing is that slime helps the player; in their feedback, they’ve given the slime more importance than any other feature. They enjoy how it looks, behaves and is used in the game which makes us feel great because that’s what we have strived for.
We were super worried that slime would be a big challenge to technically embody so we used Nickelodeon’s special slime recipe to make a few gallons of slime for real, which was a lot of fun. Kids are no fools and they know the difference between slime and green water, so we had to study every element of the goo to truly capture the slime in-game.
Our FX and graphics programmers spent a crazy amount of time perfecting the virtual slime. There are over ten different kinds of slime art, including wavy slime pools, puddles, pipes, spray, splashes and more. Most are done with a mix of procedural particles, shaders and textures, sprites and UV maps. The extra effort was worth it; we’re really proud of the result.
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Update (10/2) - The achievement list for Nickelodeon: Kart Racers has been unveiled!
There are 27 achievements worth a total of 1,000 Gamerscore, none of which are secret:
Name - Description - Gamerscore
EYES ON ME - Win a victory lap. - 25
BABY THROTTLE - Win your first race. - 25
ANCHORS AWEIGH - Win a Cup in easy mode. - 25
A BABY'S DUTY - Win all Cups in easy mode. - 25
GOING STRONG - Win a Cup in Normal mode. - 25
BOUND FOR GLORY - Win all Cups in Normal mode. - 25
A BABY'S GOTTA DO WHAT A BABY'S GOTTA DO - Use boost for the first time. - 25
DASH AND DESTROY - Break 5 objects in a single race using boost. - 25
JACK OF ALL TRADES - Play as each racer at least once. - 25
ALL-STAR TEAM - Win with all racers. - 25
I'M SO GOOD - Win at the last second in Grand Prix Mode. - 25
SLIMED! - Activate the Slime valve for the first time. - 25
SLIME-MANIA - Activate the Slime in all the locations. - 25
SLIME ATTACK - Take down at least 3 opponents in a single race. - 25
SLIME MY RIDE - Use a custom power up for the first time. - 25
POWERFUL - Use custom power ups for all the racers. - 25
STOOP KID - Beat your record for first time. - 25
TURTLE BROTHERHOOD - Co-operative special attack for the first time. - 25
MAKE PAPA STU PROUD - Modify your kart for the first time. - 25
WARRIOR - Compete in the Arena for the first time. - 25
HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION - Compete 10 times in each Arena mode. - 50
DAS SUBWAY - Find a shortcut. - 50
SLIME RIDER - Put in the miles on the jetski. - 50
GETTING GOOD AT THIS - Win a Cup in Expert mode. - 50
THE BEST AROUND - Win all Cups in Expert mode. - 50
CHAMP - Win 9 victory laps. - 50
MOGUL - Unlock every upgrade in the store. - 200
Originally published: Tuesday, September 25, 2018.
Meet the mastermind creator of Invader Zim, Jhonen Vasquez! He sat down with Nickelodeon Animation to discuss how his upbringing inspired Zim, his beginnings at Nick and his current project, Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus!
….BOO! 😈 Nick scared the socks off of JoJo Siwa, Jace Norman, Cooper Barnes, Owen Joyner, Daniella Perkins, Amarr Wooten, Lilimar, and Scarlet Spencer & Micah Abbey from the upcoming Nickelodeon series Cousins for Life! Make sure to watch all the way to the end for some BOO-nus JACE CONTENT!! And catch Henry Danger, Knight Squad, Cousins For Life, and all your favorite shows on Nickelodeon!
PICK YOUR FAVORITES IN THE COMMENTS: Halloween Parties or Scary Movie Marathons 👻Mummies or Skeletons ⚰ Chocolate or Sour Gummy Worms 🕷?
