MarVista Scores Two New Kids’ Properties

LOS ANGELES,
March 13: MarVista Entertainment has picked up two new children’s properties
for the international TV and DVD market: BJ’s
Teddy Bear Club and Bible
Stories and The Hidden Treasure
of Wompkee Wood.

BJ’s Teddy Bear Club and Bible Stories, targeted to 1- to 5-year-olds, introduces
children to colors, letters, numbers and the stories of the Bible. Thirteen half-hour
episodes and a Christmas special are currently available, with 13 additional
episodes in production. First Look Home Entertainment released the DVD for the
U.S. market.

The second
pickup, The Hidden Treasure of
Wompkee Wood, is a one-hour
CGI-animated feature about fuzzy elfin characters who, thanks to their giant
ears, can fly. The DVD is distributed by Tycoon, with Red Sky Entertainment
developing a U.S. consumer products licensing program to coincide with the
debut of the new movie in fall 2008; and Mary Meyer, a specialty plush-toy company,
has created plush toys and finger puppets modeled on the story’s characters. A
new Wompkee virtual world website is set to debut this summer.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski