Property Profile: Puppy in My Pocket

ORIGIN: Based on the pocket-size collectable pets by MEG.
DISTRIBUTOR: Mondo TV holds worldwide TV and DVD rights to the series.
CREATOR: Joe Morrison
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: MEG in co-production with Giochi Preziosi and
Mondo TV.
MAIN BROADCASTER: The series premieres in Italy on Mediaset’s Italia 1 this fall. Mondo has lined up a deal with a broadcaster to launch the series across Europe in 2011.

TV SHOW: The series consists of 52 13-minute episodes. The first 13 episodes will be ready in fall 2010. Puppy in My Pocket is produced in full HD 2D animation with CGI effects.

DESCRIPTION: The stories are based on the power of friendship between children and their magically acquired new pets. The adventures take place both in the fantastical world, Pocketville, where the pets live before they’re assigned to a child in need of a friend; and in the “real world” where children in need of friends are matched with pets.

In Pocketville there’s a beautiful kitty princess named Ava who matches new friends, children and pets. One day, by the doing of her envious twin sister, Eva, she is accidentally sent to the “real world” while our protagonist, Kate, is sent to Pocketville in her place. In Princess Ava’s absence, Kate, together with her recently matched pet friend Magic, will make sure that Ava’s duties of matching children and pets continue to be conducted while Eva will try everything she can to stop them so that she can become the new princess!

TV SALES: At MIPCOM 2010, Mondo TV intends to finalize deals with more than 50 broadcasters worldwide who were pitched the property at MIPTV 2010.

MAJOR LICENSEES: The master toy licensee in Europe (excluding the U.K.) is Giochi Preziosi, which distributes the In My Pocket toy brand in the region. (The U.K. toy distributor is Corinthian Marketing.) Giochi Preziosi is also the European agent for licensing and merchandising. Key markets are Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal.

STRATEGY FOR ROLLOUT: Mondo TV reports that a major company is interested in acquiring the home-video rights for several territories, with a deal expected to be confirmed at MIPCOM. In addition, many deals have been signed in Italy across categories such as textiles, publishing, apparel, back-to-school, and others.

Micheline Azoury, head of international sales and brand manager at Mondo TV, will be showcasing Puppy in My Pocket at Brand Licensing Europe and she’s expecting strong interest. The In My Pocket toy franchise on which it’s based, originally launched in the early 1990s, “is very well-known and successful on a worldwide basis,” she says. In My Pocket has toy distribution partners in more than 50 countries, Azoury says, adding,“Cuccioli Cerca Amici [as it’s known in Italy] has become one of the most important toy brands in Italy in the last few years.”

To watch a clip of Puppy in My Pocket, please click here.