Following the successful premiere of Stan Lee’s Super Hero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, on Kartoon Channel!, Genius Brands International, Inc. continues to grow its content offering with the acquisition of proven hit series from award winning third party producers WildBrain, ABC Australia and Nelvana.
Jon Ollwerther, recently promoted President of Kartoon Channel! & EVP of Business Development of Genius Brands, commented: “We are continuing to grow Kartoon Channel! each month, with more and more viewers enjoying what we believe is the very best combination of original, exclusive, and acquired content in the kid’s entertainment industry, including our hit Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. With Lou Fazio, former Executive Director of Programming & Acquisitions at Disney Channel, leading the charge, we are excited about our content pipeline, including 240 hours of newly acquired content from partners, including WildBrain, ABC Australia and Nelvana, which will begin to premier on Kartoon Channel! in June.”
Since launching in June 2020, Kartoon Channel!, which is now widely available and fully distributed in the U.S. across all platforms, has significantly expanded its catalog of original and third-party programming. On April 23, Genius Brands launched its first Kartoon Channel! original, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, which has since garnered over 22 million views, making it one of the fastest-growing children’s series today.
The new content acquisitions for Kartoon Channel! include classic evergreen and new popular series and feature films. From WildBrain, Genius Brands has licensed the rights to Super Mario Bros. (13 x 30′), Adventures of Paddington Bear (13 x 30′), Trollz (27 x 30′), Madeline (13 x 30′) and Liberty’s Kids (40 x 30′).
From Nelvana, movies and series acquired for Kartoon Channel! include Donkey Kong Country (39 x 22′), movie specials from the Franklin franchise, including Franklin and the Green Knight, Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure, A Franklin and Friends Adventure: Polar Explorer, A Franklin and Friends Adventure: Deep Sea Voyage, Franklin Back to School and Franklin’s Magic Christmas; and lastly, The Santa Clause Brothers movie special.
ABC Australia has licensed to Kartoon Channel! the rights to The Wiggles World (26 x 11′); and Wiggle Pop special (75 mins.), among others.