By Sadhana Bharanidharan & Cole Watson

Peacock

Mittens & Pants (pictured), the adorable baby animal show produced by Toronto’s Windy Isle Entertainment, is expanding its global pawprint. Thunderbird Distribution has sold US rights to the 39 x seven-minute live-actioner to NBCU streamer Peacock for a Q1 2024 debut. And three other ad-based streamers—HappyKids, Kidoodle.TV and Sensical—have also bought in and will roll the preschool series out this month. Canada’s CBC Kids and British broadcaster Sky Kids commissioned Mittens & Pants last year. Since debuting in February, the show has quickly attracted other buyers around the world, including Warner Bros. Discovery in Asia Pacific and France Télévisions.

Sesame Workshop 

MGA Entertainment subsidiary Little Tikes has inked a licensing deal with Sesame Workshop to launch a new Elmo-themed bedtime cartridge for its Story Dream Machine projector. It contains three read-along stories and is packaged with an Elmo figure that kids can place on the projector to generate different lighting effects. Little Tikes launched its Story Dream Machine earlier in August to help kids develop positive bedtime routines and reading skills. 

Sesame has also partnered with Cameo Kids to bring Elmo and Cookie Monster to the personalized message platform. Both characters are now available to star in custom videos celebrating kids’ birthdays and delivering heartwarming messages. 

Princess Sam Entertainment Group

Maurizio Distefano Licensing (MDL) has inked a first Italian licensing deal for Princess Sam’s CG-animated fantasy series Tara Duncan (52 x 13 minutes). Starting in January 2024, publisher Edizioni Play Press will roll out a range of Tara Duncan coloring, activity and puzzle books in Italy for kids ages six to nine. Public broadcaster Rai Kids picked up the first season of Tara Duncan in April for its Rai Gulp channel. 

Watch Next Media 

France Télévisions and Super RTL have renewed Watch Next Media’s 2D-animated series Nate is Late for a third season (52 x 11 minutes). The show focuses on two kids who constantly get sidetracked by unexpected hijinks, making them perpetually late for school. Watch Next subsidiary Kids First is the toon’s global distributor, and has sold its first two seasons (104 x 11 minutes) in the Middle East (MBC and E-Junior), Canada (TV5), Australia (Channel 9) and China (Tencent).