Entara Acquires U.K. Licensing Rights to The Magic Roundabout

LONDON, June 7: The entertainment-rights company
Entara has secured the U.K. licensing rights to the classic French children’s
series The Magic Roundabout,
and will be developing a comprehensive U.K. licensing program from the series.

Created by Serge Danot in 1965, The Magic
Roundabout gained popularity in
the U.K. during the 1960s when it aired on the BBC.

Ellipsanime, Film Action, M6 and Disney Channel
France have teamed up to produce a brand new 3-D preschool animation series
consisting of 52×11-minute episodes based on the classic property. The new Magic
Roundabout series will premiere in
the U.K. on Nickelodeon’s preschool channel Nick Jr. and Germany’s ZDF has
acquired the German-speaking rights for the series.

Theresa Plummer-Andrews, the non-executive director of Entara, is the U.K.
executive producer for the new series. Previously, she was the head of acquisitions
and co-productions for Children’s BBC and worked on properties such as Bob
the Builder, Noddy, Fireman Sam,
and Postman Pat. Graham Ralph
co-directed the new series. He has directed The Forgotten Toy and Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs.

Daniel Isman, the CEO of Entara commented: “As
planned, we are rapidly moving ahead with our strategy to acquire unique and
cult properties to complement Entara’s current strong portfolio and this cult
classic, The Magic Roundabout,
is without a doubt a perfect addition. Our aim will be to attract a new
generation of children that have never heard of the show, which we are
confident we will achieve with the expertise of our highly experienced team and
skillfully developed licensing program.”