In a move designed to significantly ramp up its consumer products business, Vancouver’s Thunderbird Entertainment has established Thunderbird Brands, its first division exclusively focused on this revenue stream.
Brands will be led by Richard Goldsmith, president of Thunderbird’s global distribution and consumer products division, which he launched when he joined the company in 2021. His expanded portfolio will now include securing product, experience and service licensing rights for Thunderbird’s proprietary content and also select third-party IPs.
Thunderbird Brands has also assumed North American licensing rights for The Last Kids on Earth. Originating as a book series by Max Brallier, this tween IP was adapted as a 2D-animated Netflix series by Thunderbird’s Atomic Cartoons in 2019. Cyber Group Studios remains the agent for the brand outside of North America.
Thunderbird is also eyeing opportunities in toys, publishing and apparel for Windy Isle’s Mittens & Pants (pictured), which it acquired CP rights to in July. CBC Kids has greenlit a second season (42 x seven minutes) of the preschool live-actioner, which will launch on July 3. Goldsmith previously told Kidscreen that Mittens & Pants shows strong playset potential, given that it revolves around baby animals living in a colorful town with their own houses and vehicles.
Additionally, the unit is leaning into “collectibility and themes of creativity” for products based on Mermicorno: Starfall, which features a group of half-unicorn/half-aquatic creatures keeping their oceanic world safe from nefarious threats. This 2D-animated series from Atomic Cartoons and Tokidoki is slated to premiere Stateside on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max in 2025.
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