4Kids Notches Up Deals for Viva Piñata

NEW YORK, October 31:
4Kids Entertainment has licensed its 3-D, CGI-animated series Viva Piñata to several global broadcasters, including Mexico’s Televisa and a number of
networks in Asia.

Additional broadcasters
include TV3 (New Zealand), Animax (South Korea), Momo Kids TV (Taiwan) and Kids
Central (Singapore). This adds to the current lineup of broadcasters for the
series, which already includes YTV (Canada), France 3 Television (France), RTL2
(Germany), Canal J Pay Satellite TV (France), Nickelodeon (the U.K., the Netherlands, Spain,
Australia and New Zealand, pay-TV in all markets except the Netherlands), NRK
(Norway), SIC (Portugal) and Children’s Channel (Israel), among others.

The series is a co-venture
production with Canada’s YTV, and introduces children to its cast of piñata
friends who solve mysteries and go on adventures around Piñata Island.
Characters include Hudson Horstachio, Fergy Fudgehog, Paulie Pretztail and
Franklin Fizzlybear, with more piñatas being discovered all the time.

The Viva Piñata brand extends beyond television, with its reach
into video-on-demand services, a new social party game on Xbox 360 and the PC
debut of the original Viva Piñata game.
The series can be seen on the 4Kids TV VOD Channel on Comcast and Cox On
Demand, granting viewers instant, 24-hour access to the series. Rolling out
December 30, Microsoft Game Studios, 4Kids Entertainment and Australia-based
developer Krome Studios introduced a new social party game, Viva Piñata
Party Animals, exclusively for
Xbox 360. The original Viva Piñata
game, initially released
exclusively for Xbox 360, will become available for Windows XP and Windows
Vista starting November 6.

4Kids Entertainment holds
the exclusive worldwide broadcast, home video, music and merchandising rights
for Viva Piñata. 4Kids has
tapped Vancouver-based animation company Bardel Entertainment for the 3-D
CGI-animation in hi-definition format.

“Viva Piñata’s visually stunning animation and witty cast of
characters have proven to be very popular among audiences worldwide,” said
Brian Lacey, the executive VP of international for 4Kids Entertainment. “Our
recent licensing deals reflect the continued global excitement and enthusiasm
generated by the series and we are confident Viva Piñata
will be a strong addition to the program line-ups of these prestigious
broadcasters.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski