Walden Media is acquiring the film rights to children’s book series, The Berenstain Bears. 21 Laps, Nelvana, and Walden Media will produce a family comedy, which will feature a mix of live action and CG-animated characters. Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps has produced movies such as Night at the Museum and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Nelvana produced the animated The Berenstain Bears television series, which airs on PBS.
The Toy Industry Foundation (TIF) has kicked off its month-long virtual Do Good Stuff-a-Thon in partnership with the My Stuff Bags Foundation. The event will allow individuals to stuff a duffel bag online by sponsoring items that go in each bag. Items include blankets, clothing, toiletries, and toys for foster children across the country. Individuals can participate during the month of November by visiting the Virtual Do Good Stuff-a-Thon webpage at the Toy Industry Foundation website.
Hamleys, a UK toy retailer, temporarily lost its website because its domain name was not renewed. Customers trying to visit Hamleys.com were directed to a holding web page by Network Solutions, the registers for the website, which displayed advertisements for rival toy companies. When clicked, the advertisements took customers to websites such as John Lewis, Amazon, and Argos. According to a company spokesperson, the domain name has now been renewed, and Hamleys.com is accessible again.
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.
The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) has announced its 2009 Best Toys for Kids list. Read the list after the jump.
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.
The 2010 Marketplace & Academy has changed to June 13-16, 2010. The event will still be held in Providence, R.I.
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.
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.
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…