Charlie and Lola

TV Kids
Weekly, March 4, 2008

ORIGIN: Charlie and Lola is a fun-filled and imaginative
animated series for young children, adapted from the award-winning books by
author/illustrator Lauren Child.

DISTRIBUTOR: BBC Worldwide has global distribution
rights for Charlie and Lola, excluding U.S. TV.

CREATORS: Charlie and Lola is produced by Tiger Aspect
Productions.

TV SHOW: Charlie and Lola is a multi-award-winning series made
up of three seasons. There are 78 12-minute episodes and two 22- to 25-minute
specials. The show uses 2-D animation combined with cutout-style film archive
and photographs.

SYNOPSIS: Charlie and Lola is about the relationship between
brother and sister Charlie and Lola and tells the story of how they handle the
little issues that they, as young children, encounter every day.

Charlie is
seven—he likes rockets, making racing cars and playing football with his
friend Marv, who lives downstairs. Lola is four, but very nearly five. She
likes pink milk, chimpanzees and her best friend Lotta. She is fascinated by
everything and is very independent.

As they come
up against life's daily problems (be it a spider or learning how to share),
they use their own method of problem solving: imagination and fantasy. And when
Lola is unsure or worried, Charlie is there to support her with humor and
logic.

Aimed at 3- to
7-year-olds, the series is voiced by children and revels in their language, but
the key to the series lies in the special relationship shared between two
siblings.

CREDITS:

Author,
Illustrator, Creator and Associate Producer: Lauren Child

Series
Producer: Claudia Lloyd

Director:
Kitty Taylor

Art Director:
Leigh Hodgkinson

Writers: Carol
Noble, Bridget Hurst, Dave Ingham, Samantha Hill

Executive
Producer: Andrew Zein

COMMISSIONING
BROADCASTER: The
series airs on BBC Two in the U.K., Monday to Friday at 9 a.m.

TV SALES: 36 international sales to date,
including all the key territories, among them the U.S., France, Australia and
Germany. It has scored a 90-percent audience share in Norway, and a 45-percent
share in Belgium on VRT.

MAJOR TOY
LICENSEES: There are
26 licensees in the U.K. covering the independent and mid-tier retail sectors.
Golden Bear is the master toy licensee in the U.K. New wooden toys are being
launched this year and the Charlie and Lola Feature Plush will have TV advertising
for the first time ever this year.

Golden Bear’s
toy range also has distribution in Australia and Benelux, with further launches
in Germany and across Scandinavia later this year. Kids Preferred recently
launched the Golden Bear range at the New York Toy Fair, with further events planned
over the next few months.

OTHER
PRODUCTS: In the U.K.,
Wild and Wolf (ceramics), Rex (housewares) and Dragons of Walton Street
(furniture) are releasing products. Marks & Spencer is launching pajamas,
underwear and T-shirts, Mothercare will have nightwear, daywear and socks in
store for Spring/Summer ’08 and Next has just launched a Charlie and Lola bedding range. There is also a
stationery range from Roger la Borde, with new ranges planned this year for the
successful line. And, Talking Tables has a new party paperware range in stores
now.

Internationally,
the Wildflower Group is working with a range of licensees for North America and
Canada, including Roger la Borde (stationery), Dan River (bedding and bath),
Rix Products (games and tin products), SaraMax Apparel (sleepwear) and Children’s
Apparel Network (apparel for North America). Licensees launching products in
Australia this year include Australian Fashion Group and Designworks
(T-shirts), Trofe (gifts and stationery), Penguin (game and tin products) and
local distribution of Ravensburger’s puzzles. Charlie and Lola products will be available across
further territories including Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan), Germany,
Benelux and Scandinavia later this year.

In addition, a
stand-alone Charlie and Lola theater event using puppets is confirmed to run in the U.K. at
the Polka theatre in Wimbledon from April 26 until July 26. This will be the
first time ever that Charlie and Lola has appeared on stage.

There is also
a Charlie and Lola
magazine, which has a monthly circulation of just under 60,000 in the U.K.,
according to the latest ABC figures. It has also sold in Marks & Spencer:
the first time a preschool magazine has been sold in store.

Puffin books
have enjoyed tremendous success with Charlie and Lola—18 new titles will be released
this year and more than 3 million books have been sold internationally since
launch in 2005.

Eight Charlie
and Lola DVDs have
been released to date with a cumulative unit sales figure of just under 400,000
in the U.K. There is also a Charlie and Lola music album, which has sold 13,500
copies over the counter. The Charlie and Lola website (www.charlieandlola.com) has
23,000 U.K. subscribers.

STRATEGY
FOR ROLLOUT: “Charlie
and Lola has enjoyed
incredible success for us here in the U.K. and we have, to date, sold to some
of the strongest platforms across key territories,” says Gill Pritchard, the
director of children’s at BBC Worldwide. “Our strategy now is to build on some
of these platforms, communicating the enduring charm of the sibling characters.

“What is so
exciting for the future success of Charlie and Lola is that the characters—so
charmingly captured originally in Lauren Child’s books—have such a
universal charm,” Pritchard continues. “Charlie and Lola has been a hit in China, for example
as Cha Li Yu Lao La
on China Central Television (CCTV)—The Children’s Channel. It’s also been
a hit in the U.S. where it’s broadcast on Playhouse Disney and we’re excited to
be launching a range of apparel, toys and books with Kids Preferred this
spring.”

Pritchard adds
that the key focus now is to “continue to drive awareness and tune-in around
the TV platforms internationally whilst supporting and growing licensees across
the board.”