The Walt Disney Company has gained approval from the Chinese government to build a theme park in Shanghai. The theme park will be Disney’s fourth outside the U.S. According to Bloomberg, the park will cost approximately $3.6 billion and occupy 1,700 acres. Disney and its partners are now allowed to move forward in construction plans.
Month: November 2009
ASTRA’s 2009 Best Toys for Kids
The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) has announced its 2009 Best Toys for Kids list. Read the list after the jump.
Cookie Jar Entertainment Launches Free Kids Television Programming Website
Jaroo.com, a new website that offers free videos of current and classic kids television programming and movies, has launched. The website will initially feature more than 50 TV shows with more than 500 episodes available, including Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test, Super Mario Bros., Zelda, The Adventures of Paddington Bear, and an exclusive U.S. premiere of Mona the Vampire. New episodes are expected to be added daily.
2010 ASTRA Date Change
The 2010 Marketplace & Academy has changed to June 13-16, 2010. The event will still be held in Providence, R.I.
Ouija Board Game to Become Movie
According to a Hollywood Reporter blog, Universal Pictures and Hasbro are working on a screen adaptation of the board game Ouija. The movie is being described as a “supernatural action-adventure movie” written by Lost executive producers/writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. It’s expected that certain rules of the game will find its way into the plot, such as never use Ouija alone, never use it in a graveyard, and always say good-bye.
New Eebee “Cooking-With-Your-Baby” Book
Every Baby Company will release a cooking-with-your-baby book, eebee’s Mix&Mash adventures, on November 4. The oversized baby board book, published by Sterling Publishing, Co., Inc., will feature six nutritious and simple baby food recipes that can be prepared by mashing, smashing, ooshing, gooshing, shaking, coating, or stirring. Playful rhymes are written on each page, accompanied by images of eebee and real babies engaged with and discovering real food. Mix&Mash also includes a DVD for parents that has demonstrations of each recipe and suggested activities.
TysToyBox.com to Launch an Olivia Shop
Chorion has signed a deal with TysToyBox.com to launch an Olivia shop at the e-tailer’s website for North America. TysToyBox.com will feature new Olivia products, including exclusive personalized T-shirts and DVDs based on the animated preschool series. Olivia merchandise will be available on Ty’s Toy Box shop in Canada later this year. Read More…