February 28, 2022

Roblox game ‘Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition’ hits over 140 million visits

The Roblox role-play game officially launched on Roblox in May 2021, and it’s a been a hit with millions of fans across the globe with over 140 million visits to the game already, and consistently features in the Most Engaging game slot on the Roblox homepage.

Based in the world of Warriors, the game lets fans create and customize their own cat characters, explore the vast landscapes and different areas from the stories, join a Clan and interact with other players to make their very own Warrior Cats story.

Watch the trailer for Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition below:

The Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition Roblox game is free to play on Roblox and out now.

October 22, 2021

Coolabi Group plans to “Spook Kids Silly” this Halloween with comedy brand “Scream Street”

International rights owner, Coolabi Group and its spooktacular stop-motion animation, Scream Street are celebrating the launch of Series 2 on CBBC and BBC iPlayer, with a hybrid campaign of fun brand activations, promotional partnerships and brand extensions for the much-loved comedy this October.

Based on the hit book series of the same name by Tommy Donbavand, the fast-paced and hilarious series features a whole host of new characters and adventures that are guaranteed to entertain the whole family this Halloween.

 

The campaign takes in a brand new Roblox game, new promotional partnership with Frankie & Benny’s and Deliveroo, a partnership with entertainment company, Comedy Club 4 Kids, media partnerships with kids titles MEGA Magazine and Girl Talk, the release of new ‘Spooktacular Joke Book’ from Walker Books, a live experience at Alton Towers, and the return of the ‘Halloween at Home’ party pack available free to all families, via the CBBC and Scream Street websites.

Following a preview of the first five episodes in Halloween 2020, all 26 x 11’ episodes of Scream Street Series 2 will launch on BBC iPlayer from 23rd October, with ten brand new episodes playing out across Halloween week on CBBC from 25th October, bringing the total number of episodes created to 78.

 

The first exciting brand extension for Scream Street is on Roblox, one of the biggest go-to platforms for kids to play, hang out and socialise with their friends online and has a global reach of over 115 million monthly players.  After successfully launching ‘Escape Scream Street’ on Roblox last year, establishing the Scream Street brand on the platform and engaging with the platform’s vast audience, a new Roblox experience called ‘Scream Street Playground’ will launch on the platform on 22nd October.

‘Scream Street Playground’ is a playground-like game which will allow players to visit various locations in the town with friends starting with Resus Negative’s house. At launch players can play two different themed games – ‘Candy Smash’ and ‘Masks’ – with more mini games added over time as the town is expanded.

 

A promotional partnership with leading family restaurant Frankie & Benny’s has also been announced. The initiative, which launched earlier this month, will see Scream Street activity sheets distributed to families in all their restaurants in the UK. It features a competition prize for a free family theme park visit, with prizes of Scream Street books for runners up. The partnership will also form part of Frankie & Benny’s Halloween meal with Deliveroo, a Scream Street themed food offering for the Halloween school holidays and will run until 16th November.

 

Coolabi Group, Comedy Club 4 Kids and MEGA Magazine have also co-produced a fun and informative video series about stand up comedy for kids on MEGA’s official YouTube channel. The four part series called ‘Screaming with Laughter’, launched this week and features a rib-tickling crash course on how kids can kick start their comedy careers. Episode topics include ‘How To Be A Fangtastic Comedian’, ‘How To Write Spooktacular Jokes’, ‘Doing A Dead Good Performance’  and ‘Scary Stage Fright’.

Coolabi and Comedy Club 4 Kids will bring their partnership to life with an in-person family series launch and kids stand-up comedy event. Taking place at Everyman Kings Cross on Saturday 23rd October for media, influencers and families to attend and spook themselves silly learning some of the tricks for the trade.

 

The event also marks the release of the Scream Street’s brand new ‘Spooktacular Joke Book’, from Walker Books, which came out earlier this month, and features over two-hundred jokes about vampires, zombies, witches and all of the scarily funny characters from Scream Street.

 

Continuing a successful partnership with Girl Talk, established in 2020, Coolabi Group has teamed up with the media title once again to co-produce content for the magazine’s YouTube channel, Girl Talk World. This Halloween, talented 13-year-old chef Sienna Cecco, a specialist in Italian cuisine, will cook up a deliciously spooky storm, creating a Scream Street themed cook-a-long dish.

 

Michael Dee, Director of Content for Coolabi Group, comments: “We are completely delighted to be launching the much-anticipated new series of Scream Street on CBBC and iPlayer this Halloween. It’s a fun and engaging brand, which is evidenced in the range of partnerships and promotions we have delivered to amplify the launch and bring Halloween fun to families across the UK.”

 

In addition, the Scream Street costume characters will be making an appearance at Alton Towers from now until 12th November for daily in-park meet and greets and an interactive dance challenge experience, where visitors can learn the moves to the much-loved Scream Street theme tune.

 

The fang-tastic celebrations continue with the return of the successful free downloadable ‘Scream Street Halloween at Home’ party pack, which launched last year. The newly updated pack will be available to download on the Scream Street and CBBC website and is filled with some spine chillingly cool activities to get the party started, from Scream Street character masks and puzzles, to cupcake toppers, decorative tent cards and monster making crafts.

 

Scream Street returns to CBBC on 25 October with all episodes available to stream on BBC iPlayer from 23 October.

October 7, 2021

Award-winning Clangers announce magical musical plans

International rights owner, Coolabi Group and its BAFTA award winning kids show, Clangers, are celebrating a host of musical activations for the much-loved brand including partnerships with Nordoff Robbins, Amazon, for the brand-new Clangers Talk Kids+ Edition, a licensing deal with tonies® and an official Clangers album release with Grammy Award winning composer, John du Prez.

Coolabi Group is excited to announce that Clangers will be partnering once again with music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins for a brand new interactive three part series of ‘On Stage at Home Live’.

Launching on Monday 11th October at 10am with its first session followed by two more morning sessions on 18th October and 25th October, the fun and free musical Zoom sessions for preschool children will be hosted by CBeebies presenter and performer Cat Sandion and Nordoff Robbins music therapist Emily Grimes. They will feature dancing from the Clangers and a specially created kindness song for viewers to sing, dance and learn important life skills on how to be kind.

On being part of the upcoming sessions, Cat Sandion commented: “I believe that music and sound exploring is really important to a child’s development, I incorporate both into everyday life with my little ones at home. I’m so excited to be a part of the sessions and hope that they bring grown ups and children together to make music and have fun!”

The sessions are an extension of the hugely successful series ‘On Stage at Home with Clangers’, which launched during the first lockdown in 2020 on the Clangers and Nordoff Robbins YouTube channels with six musical videos and culminated in hundreds of thousands of views. The videos also demonstrated the positive impact that music can have on everyone’s health and wellbeing. In March 2021, the team returned with the first ‘On Stage at Home Live’ Zoom workshop for preschoolers, which went down a storm with parents.

Nordoff Robbins are a charity that believes in the value of music for all people in our society, and Nordoff Robbins music therapist, Emily said “I’m so happy to be back making music with Clangers and everyone involved. Music can be so beneficial to children and last time we had children making music from their homes, schools and hospitals and it was such a joy to see, I hope we can reach as many children with music making as possible!”

The stop-motion animated show has music at its heart and the Clangers’ Little Blue Planet is infused with a variety of weird and wonderful sounds and songs so celebrating the theme of ‘Music & Sound’ with new products and musical partnerships is a natural fit for the Clangers brand.

In addition, a new version of Clangers Talk Kids+ Edition, a voice-activated Alexa Skill for Amazon, is now available. Clangers Talk originally launched in 2019 and quickly became one of Alexa’s most popular kid’s skills on the device, allowing children to communicate with Clangers, who respond with whistles and songs and now includes popular nursery rhymes and Clangers audio stories.

The brand new Clangers figurine from audio box company, tonies® is now available, with six magical stories, voiced by none other than Clangers narrator, Sir Michael Palin. The Clangers tonie transports the listeners’ imagination instantly to The Little Blue Planet and is available via selected toy retailers, bookshops and the tonies® website,

‘The Clangers Album’ by award winning composer, John Du Prez featuring the magical sounds of the Little Blue Planet has been released on the Ocean Music label, and is available to buy in all high street and online music shops. John Du Prez has produced eighteen magical tracks on the 12” LP version, available in a choice of pink and blue vinyl, and an extra 4 bonus tracks for the CD and digital download.

Jeremy Banks, CEO of Coolabi Group said: “We are absolutely over the moon to be announcing these brand new Clangers partnerships and product releases which celebrate all the fantastic music and sounds that make Clangers so magical and unique.“

For further details on the ‘On Stage at Home Live’ zoom sessions and to sign up, please visit https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/on-stage-at-home-live/

 

The Clangers Tonie, which is compatible with all Toniebox music players, is available to buy now from selected toy retailers, bookshops and via the tonies® website www.tonies.com

 

Clangers Talk is available now to subscribers of Amazon Kids+ on Alexa.

 

‘The Clangers Album’ is be available to buy or download from all high street and online music shops now.

August 12, 2021

Children’s audio system tonies® launches new Tonie with the beloved Children’s TV series, Clangers

Children’s audio system, tonies®, has announced today the launch of its new ‘Clangers’ Tonie, that will be released for sale on the 11th August.

Narrated by Sir Michael Palin, , the brand-new Clangers Tonie figurine can be placed on top of the Toniebox audio system to transport little listeners instantly to the unique and imaginary world on the little blue planet – ‘that is somewhere out in space’.  The Clangers are unique, imaginary creatures; a loveable close-knit family with flappy feet and long pink noses.

As a great introduction to the CBeebies TV show for little ones, the new Tonie plays six magical adventures that take children on an exploration of the Clangers’ planet under the stars, where they will be joined by Small, Tiny, Mother, Major and Granny Clanger. Little ones will rejoice as they follow the Clangers into misadventure, with the family’s inquisitive nature bringing them face to face with other magical creatures in the audio stories.

Now, more than ever before, parents are searching for alternative ways to entertain, educate and inspire their children. The new ‘Clangers’ Tonie will spark children’s imagination with its immersive,  enchanting content, that is totally screen-free.

As well as encouraging independence, the magical stories told by the new ‘Clangers’ Tonie will inspire conversations and the development of emotional bonds with parents. In fostering this deeper connection, tonies® keeps little ones entertained in a way that is meaningful, enriching and, most importantly, fun!

Jeremy Banks, CEO of Coolabi Group said: ‘We are absolutely over the moon to be announcing this new partnership and the ‘Clangers’ Tonie release. The partnership celebrates all the fantastic music and sounds that make Clangers so magical and unique.’

Pinky Laing, UK Partnerships at tonies® comments: ‘tonies® is committed to helping children through the power and magic of storytelling. We are delighted to be working with Coolabi Group to release our new the Clangers audio Tonie for families. Telling the nostalgic, loveable and iconic tales of the pink, knitted creatures that live together on a little blue planet, we hope that the new Tonie will develop bonds amongst parents and their little ones.

Fostering a love of narrative and adventure, the launch of our new Tonie continues our commitment to engage the next generation by introducing them to beloved classic stories, such as The Clangers.’

Tonies are available from selected toy retailers, bookshops and via the tonies® website www.tonies.com, RRP £14.99.

There are two types of Tonies available:

  • Content Tonies include both classic and contemporary tales popular bedtime songs. ‘How and Why’ Tonies also allow children to bring the magic of learning to life, with educational audio content exploring the world of horses, dinosaurs, astronauts and whales.
  • Creative-Tonies play recorded or pre-downloaded content which can be upload via the Toniecloud or the free Tonie-App. Perfect for when kids want to listen to something a little bit more personal. tonies® release free content for downloading every month.

The Tonies and Tonieboxes operate through a wireless digital system which connects to an NFC chip within each Tonie using Wi-Fi. Each Tonie is beautifully hand painted, making them desirable and collectable for kids.

Tonieboxes RRP £69.95, Tonies RRP £14.99, Creative-Tonies RRP £11.99

Key product details:

  • Suitable for children 3+
  • Sewn from sustainable, quality fabric
  • Portable (seven-hour battery life)
  • Can be used with headphones
  • Available in multiple colours
  • Re-chargeable
  • Robust
May 19, 2021

Coolabi Group’s Clangers launches on ten major VOD channels across China through its partner Fantawild

Today, international rights owner Coolabi Group has announced that its award-winning pre-school show, Clangers, is now available on China’s major VOD channels, following a successful deal by Chinese animation leader Fantawild.

 

Clangers is now available on a host of huge VOD platforms including Beijing based platform iQiyi, Chinese media giant Tencent Video, Chinese streamer Youku, digital platform Mango TV, mobile video service NewTV and the world’s largest IPTV operator, BesTV. Other Chinese VOD platforms include GITV, Sino Media and Prosee.

 

Seventy-eight episodes from Series 1 and 2 of the award-winning stop-motion animation are being uploaded across nineteen days, following the launch on 15th May, with new episodes coming daily leading up to Children’s Day on 1st June 2021. With an estimated potential audience of 700 million people across China, the show will be promoted across all of the platforms, with a supporting promotional push on social media platforms WeChat, Weibo and TikTok.

 

Coolabi began its partnership with Fantawild back in 2019, since which Fantawild has also engaged with a number of key licensees to introduce Clangers products to the Chinese market throughout the year.

 

Coolabi Group CEO, Jeremy Banks commented: “We are delighted that Fantawild has been successful in placing Clangers across all of the major VOD channels in China, and look forward to introducing our lovable ‘space mice family’ to children across China following the launch on 15th May.”

 

Clangers is an award-winning stop-motion animation about a family of lovable, pink, mouse-like creatures who communicate in whistles and live on the Little Blue Planet. Since the new series aired in 2015, it has won a series of major international honours including BAFTA, Pulcinella Awards and Kidscreen awards and is now airing its third series on CBeebies in the UK.

 

Fantawild Animation Inc. is the most influential animation studio in China, specialising in the whole industrial chain from creation and production to global marketing, it has created China’s most popular cartoon “Boonie Bears”, and its merchandise sales reach over 467 million USD.

 

Daisy Shang, Executive President of Fantawild Holdings Inc commented: “After Clangers’ long-running success in the UK and wide distribution in other parts of the world, we are very excited to share this beloved brand with Chinese audiences. Welcome to the Fantawild family and welcome to China!”

 

Ben Li, Deputy General Manager of Fantawild Animation Inc also said: “We are so grateful to now officially have Clangers as part of our team. The launch day on the 15th May was such an exciting moment for us. We can’t wait to see more and more of our audience grow to love Clangers as much as we do here at Fantawild.”

 

Coolabi Group is a leading independent international media group and rights owner specialising in the creation, development and brand management of high-quality children’s and family intellectual property rights. The company owns the rights to over 200 book series and 20 TV series. Its shows have aired in more than 140 territories on channels including ABC, Cartoon Network, CBeebies, CBBC, Disney, Netflix, and Nickelodeon.

May 7, 2021

Coolabi launches Roblox game for publishing phenomenon Warrior Cats

Friday 7th May, 2021: Independent international media group and rights owner, Coolabi Group has announced today that it has partnered with Roblox specialists, Aldrich-Callen Studios to develop ‘Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition’, a brand new 3D role-play game for global online platform Roblox based on its best-selling fantasy brand, Warrior Cats (Warriors).

The new ‘Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition’ game, which is set in the Forest Territory from the hugely successful book series, will invite players to create and customise their own cat character, explore the vast world of Warriors, join a Clan and interact with other players to make their very own Warrior Cats story.

Warriors is a thrilling feline fantasy book series about five clans of wild cats – ShadowClan, RiverClan, ThunderClan, WindClan and StarClan. The series was created by Working Partners, a Coolabi Group company, and has become a publishing phenomenon following the release of over 80 books, spanning 38 languages and sold over 41 million books to date. The most recent book, Warriors: The Broken Code: The Place of No Stars, is also a New York Times bestseller, debuting at number eight.

The news of the interactive game comes two years after the launch of the award-winning WarriorCats.com, an official digital destination for Warriors’ colossal and ever-growing global fan community, which attracted over 1.3 million visitors in 2020. Since the book series launched, legions of passionate fans across the globe have created fan art, animation and fiction, with user-generated content receiving over 42 million monthly views collectively on YouTube. There are also over 1000 dedicated Warriors YouTube channels with a new fan video uploaded every 30 mins on average.

 

Last year Coolabi Group conducted a survey with over 10,000 members of its Warrior Cats fanbase established that not only do they love gaming, but Roblox was one of the most popular online platforms.

Naomi Dare, Director of Digital at Coolabi Group comments:  “We’re excited to be launching a Warriors game on Roblox as we know that so many 9-12 year olds are on the platform, with over half of this age group in the USA playing on Roblox at least once a week. This tends to be the age that people start reading Warriors, so not only does it serve our existing fan base who are desperate to role play in a Warriors world, but it should also attract new fans to the brand too.”

 

The ‘Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition’ Roblox game is free to play on Roblox and out now.

www.warriorcats.com