Allcroft Reacquires Rights to Mumfie

SANTA MONICA, March 19:
Britt Allcroft, the creator of the classic television series Thomas the Tank
Engine and Friends and Shining
Time Station, has reacquired the
underlying rights to Mumfie, a
kids’ property that she created and produced for broadcast in the 1990s.

Allcroft
has acquired the following rights, among others: a 110-minute Mumfie the
Movie, which can be divided into
five 30-minute episodes, and the 30-minute Mumfie’s White Christmas special. The transaction also includes 26 original
songs penned by acclaimed lyricist John Kane, Emmy-winning composer Larry
Grossman and Emmy-nominated producer/arranger Steve Horelick, as well as the
right to produce and exploit new Mumfie productions, and merchandising and artwork rights for Mumfie.

Allcroft
purchased the rights through her Santa Monica-based Britt Allcroft Productions
from Bridgefilms, a joint venture company in the HIT Entertainment group, which
has owned the property since 1999. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Allcroft wrote and
produced the series Britt Allcroft’s Magic Adventures of Mumfie for worldwide broadcast in the 1990s. Between 1994
and 1999, Britt Allcroft’s Magic Adventures of Mumfie, featuring the adventures of a “special little
elephant with a great big heart,” aired on FOX in the U.S., ITV in the U.K.,
and in other television markets worldwide.

Allcroft was inspired to
produce Mumfie by a book she
owned as a child featuring the artistry of Katherine Tozer. She created the
character Mumfie, along with a cast of friends that included Scarecrow, Whale,
Napoleon Jones and Pinkey the Flying Pig.

“Getting
Mumfie back fulfils a dream I
have had for years of getting a second chance to provide Mumfie the nurturing he needs,” Allcroft said. “With the
explosion in cable, satellite and digital technologies, there are exciting new
opportunities to revitalize Mumfie
to help satisfy the growing hunger for entertainment that families can grow up
with.”

Jim
Weight, the director of Bridgefilms and HIT Entertainment, added, “We are
pleased to reach a satisfactory agreement that is in the interest of both our
investors and Britt Allcroft. Britt’s passion for the property gives us
confidence Mumfie remains in
good hands.”

—By Irene Lew