Cookie Jar and DiC To Merge

After arriving at my hotel (which has internet) a hour ago, I've finally had a notion to say that The JAR (Cookie Jar's Primetime label) is gearing up this:


COOKIE JAR ENTERTAINMENT APPOINTED EXCLUSIVE NORTH AMERICAN LICENSING AGENT FOR MEXICAN WRESTLING PHENOMENON LUCHA LIBRE USA

THE JAR TO LAUNCH FIRST ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION SERIES IN JANUARY 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Burbank, CA (July 7, 2009) - Cookie Jar Entertainment, an industry leader in consumer products and television production, will serve as the North American licensing agent and programming distributor for Lucha Libre USA and the Lucha Libre AAA league, the longtime Mexican wrestling sensation primed to take on the North American consumer products and television markets. Building on Lucha Libre AAA's television success in Mexico and growing popularity in the U.S., Cookie Jar will reach wrestling fans of all ages with a host of consumer products available at retail starting in 2010. Cookie Jar will also distribute the first English-language Lucha Libre AAA television series in the U.S.

Cookie Jar will initially target the growing Hispanic population as well as Lucha Libre AAA's existing fan base in the U.S. Cookie Jar will then tap into the already successful North American wrestling market, reaching out to fans of competitive professional wrestling organizations. Lucha Libre AAA products for all age groups are set to hit shelves at major retail outlets in North America starting in 2010. Products will include action figures, apparel, books, back-to-school and novelty/collectibles.

Cookie Jar's new primetime label, THE JAR, will bring the first English-language series, with live Lucha Libre AAA wrestling events, to fans of all ages in the U.S. The next live tour will launch in 2010. Lucha Libre's famed luchadores including La Parka, Cibern?tico, Mascarita Sagrada, Konnan, El Masias, U.S.-born Jack Evans, El Mesias and Dr. Wagner will be featured in the live events.

"Cookie Jar is thrilled to represent Lucha Libre AAA, an exciting property with unlimited growth potential in North America," said Kirk Bloomgarden, EVP Worldwide Consumer Products and Marketing. "As the content strategist, brand planner, licensing agent and distributor, Cookie Jar will help make Lucha Libre AAA the next major wrestling brand in North America."

"We are excited to have Cookie Jar's expertise in licensing and distribution to aid us in making Lucha Libre AAA a household name, not just in Hispanic households, but every household in America," said Steven Ship, CEO Lucha Libre USA.

Lucha Libre has been an unstoppable phenomenon in Mexico for over 75 years, where its popularity is surpassed only by soccer. Loved by fans of all ages, only Lucha Libre AAA delivers the high-flying and explosive action of Mexico's beloved luchadores. With almost 50 million Hispanic-Americans in the U.S. and an already established professional wrestling fan base, Lucha Libre AAA is a rapidly-growing success on this side of the border.

In 2008, wrestling fans in the U.S. were introduced to the sport through Lucha Libre AAA's Legendary Battles of Triplemania, their first self-promoted pay-per-view special and the brand's English-language debut. It was followed by the return of the Lucha Libre AAA "Invasion Tour" this past spring.

About Cookie Jar Group
The Cookie Jar Group is a Canada-based global children's entertainment and education company dedicated to excellence. Through Cookie Jar Entertainment, the company is a leader in the creation, production, marketing and licensing of evergreen character brands that appeal to kids and families worldwide. Cookie Jar Entertainment's library of nearly 6,000 half-hour episodes features some of the world's most recognizable brands, including "Strawberry Shortcake", "Caillou", "Inspector Gadget", "The Doodlebops ", "Arthur" and "Johnny Test". The company owns non-character based brands for licensing such as Mommy & Me. Through its pan-European subsidiary, the full-service licensing agency Copyright Promotions Licensing Group, Cookie Jar represents numerous third-party iconic brands. Cookie Jar Group also has a one-third interest in international children's television channel Kidsco. Cookie Jar Education, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, is one of North America's largest providers of supplemental education materials, reaching nearly 2,000 teachers across the United States, through the Carson-Dellosa and HighReach Learning brands.

About Lucha Libre USA
For over 18 years Lucha Libre AAA has been the premier wrestling league in Mexico with the most famous wrestlers, and enjoys a near 80% share of ticket sales domestically. Lucha Libre as an art form is much beloved by the Latino culture, and is one of the most popular live events in Mexico after soccer, selling millions of tickets to a mass audience composed of families from across the socioeconomic strata.

Lucha Libre USA's mission is to introduce Americans to the phenomenon that is Mexican wrestling Lucha Libre. Currently Lucha Libre AAA is broadcast every weekend on Galavision/Univision. In June 2009 a one-hour syndicated series "Luchamania" was launched on regional Hispanic U.S. broadcasters. Lucha Libre USA regularly produces live events in major US arena's featuring Lucha Libre AAA.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Brook Hefner/Cookie Jar Entertainment
[email protected]; (818) 955-5454
 
Cookie Jar now has 2 days to complete a new bid for American Greeting's properties (Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and Sushi Pack), or else Moonscoop will take over with its bid on June 7th.
 
Every incarnation of the Toyline was produced by Kenner which we all know was brought by Hasbro at the turn of the century.

However, due to how popular MASK was / is in Europe, DIC has made it a huge point to maintain all broadcast and production rights on the series. I mean, keep in mind, Vor-Teh and ATOM both came out of europe too. Europe has been pretty faithful to have a strong transforming vehicle series remain popular for the better part of each decade since MASK.

Unlike other franchise which Hasbro has exerted all kinds of unreasonable control over, MASK is just outside of their reach to control (thankgod).

It might even be probable (although I have no basis to know for sure beyond an educated guess based on contract laws) that their license may have run out for producing toys for this series.
 
This was one of the things that I think really hurt Shout when they had the rights to the DIC libary all of the really "big name" or well remembered shows were owned by other parties. The other being that most of the shows that DIC had complete rights to hadn't been on the air in years. I think the only series(that had more than 20 or so episodes) that was able to get a complete release from Shout was the Super Mario Bros. Super Show.

MASK, I believe that Kenner came up with the concept and co-produced the show with DIC, I remember about two years ago on the Shout boards Brian Ward saying they had tried to get MASK cleared to put out a set but there was some "rights issues" that he couldn't go into more detail about due to legal reasons. MASK is owned by Hasbro and they released a Matt Tracker figure as part of the GI JOE 25th Anniversary line(stating that MASK was a branch of the GI JOE organization and VENOM was part of Cobra) that could of people excited, but then Hasbro stated that this was a one time deal and really just a sort of "tip of the hat" to older fans of both series. MASK has been released on DVD in other countires though.

The New Kids cartoon could get released on DVD but you'd probably need to get all five memebers to agree to it first.

Kidd Video - there is something about the songs that were used and performed by the "band" in live action as with as the actors themselves.

Does DIC/Cookie Jar have the DVD/TV rights for Beverly Hills Teens and Dinosaucers?
 
I already mentioned that Sony controls Dinosaucers since it was syndicated by Coca-Cola Telecommunications. BHT is a DIC original, so maybe.

As for Jaroo, I just saw the first episode of Pole Position over there, and it has the DIC logo (furthermore, it's the "vortex" logo that was used when the show was first broadcast). However, that doesn't mean that Cookie Jar is off the hook here. Of the shows the site has uploaded, seven of them are DIC shows: Cake, Horseland, Pole Position, Inspector Gadget, Liberty's Kids, Trollz, and Dino Squad. I hope the other six have their DIC logos as well. That, plus I also hope the other Pole Position episodes have their DIC logos as well. You see, there have been inconsistancies within episodes as far as logos go.

Anyway, the point is (and I've mentioned this before), we simply can't pretend as though DIC never existed. While there may be differing opinions as to the "quality" of DIC's shows, the company still has an enduring legacy, and plastering Cookie Jar's logo all over it may actually confuse some people, leading them to think/assume that they're "Cookie Jar originals", and/or that "Cookie Jar" (formerly Cinar) always made them, when in fact it's not the case (and only leaving the mention of the original creators in the credits doesn't cut; we also need the logos).

With this in mind, it is my hope that Cookie Jar will preserve (all of) the DIC legacy exactly as it is (i.e., not just the shows themselves, but each individual episode as well).

(If the above sounded like a rant, I apologize.)
 
If DiC stuck everything they've ever produced on one network without any reruns, how long would it last?

More importantly, who would actually watch it?
 
It isn't, and I agree with you, but keep in mind that the 1984 Green Vortex (not the Orange Vortex version) DIC logo actually zoomed in after the cars zooms forward (and I think it'll be pretty stupid if Cookie Jar would even try to actually plaster it). And besides on the DIC shows, most of those DIC shows (Cake, Inspector Gadget, Trollz, Dino Squad, Horseland & Liberty's KIds (which is intact with the Liberty News Network segments not seen since its run on PBS Kids)) are from KEWL Cartoons site (Cookie Jar's other video site).

Now on the Cinar part, I think it's because of the Cinar scandal and its demise that got Cookie Jar to plaster its name on the Cinar shows (I.E.: the Filmfair Paddington Bear series (not the Hanna-Barbera or later Cinar version) logos were plastered by CInar already in 1997 soon after they acquired Filmfair Animation (notice that the Filmfair logo actually appears at the end (and so to say, Filmfair before the Cinar acquisition never used their logo on their shows at all)). And, they even plastered their logo on Dark Oracle (which originally had their action Coliseum Entertainment logo, which folded into Cookie Jar in 2007).

Anyway, here are some shows I want on Jaroo:

Flight Squad
C.L.Y.D.E.
Heathcliff
Mummies Alive!
Sonic The Hedgehog (also AoStH)
The Legends of Treasure Island
The Dreamstone
Dr. Xargle
Where on Earth is Carmer Sandiego?
Mahi-Nation
Spider Riders
Johnny Test
Metajets
World of Quest
Animal Crackers
Robinson Sucroe
The Busy World of Richard Scarry
 
Kinda off-topic, but its been buggin' me for awhile.

When Disney purchased the Saban/Fox Kids back catelog, what shows did they gain the rights to? I know they got Power Rangers;but what else did they get?
 
I guess Cookie Jar's following in DIC's footsteps a tad bit:



Cookie Jar Group Scoops Up Cheer Brand Varsity



Varsity, a cheerleading and dance team apparel, instruction and competition brand, has tapped Cookie Jar Group to lead its licensing program.

Cookie Jar Group has plans to extend the brand into merchandise and entertainment, beginning in 2010. The group's licensing division, CPLG, will mange all worldwide licensing for Varsity, while Cookie Jar Entertainment will develop programming based on the brand.

The licensing program, targeted to girls ages 7 to 18, will seek partners in apparel, health and beauty aids, back-to-school, accessories and interactive. Another program, geared toward younger girls (3 to 6), will span toys, publishing, apparel and dress up.

For entertainment, Cookie Jar will develop both live-action and animated programming.

"The Varsity brand embodies spirit, pride, passion, athleticism and leadership," says Lisa Streff, senior vice president of domestic consumer products for Cookie Jar Group. "Cookie Jar is looking forward to capturing the brand's essence by developing a licensing program that is unique to Varsity."








Oh, and uh, here's an intriguing article about Michael Hirsh, Strawberry Shortcake and how the 1/3 founder of Nelvana and 1/2 founder of Cookie Jar created two empires in Canadian animation (that is until Nelvana was swallowed by Corus Entertainment in 2000).

Media: The great strawberry shortcake custody battle

Cookie Jar CEO Michael Hirsch will fight to the end to reclaim his title as Canada's king of kids' entertainment.


Inside the Toronto headquarters of the Cookie Jar Group hangs a large picture of the cartoon character Strawberry Shortcake, smiling and struggling to carry a massive strawberry while her friends frolic between mountains of cake. ?She?s a great character,? remarks Michael Hirsh, Cookie Jar?s co-founder and CEO. ?It?s a Strawberry Shortcake world. What could be better?? This is a typically optimistic statement from Hirsh, a pioneer in kids? entertainment in Canada, and one that ignores the trouble he now finds himself in: Cookie Jar is currently embroiled in a bitter international legal battle over the ownership rights to Strawberry Shortcake, as well as another cuddly children?s icon, the Care Bears.
Hirsh, 61, has dwelled among colourful cartoon characters since 1971, when he co-founded Nelvana Ltd. Once a three-person indie operation, Nelvana grew into a major player in children?s animation, producing such classics as Franklin, Babar and Rupert. In 2000, Corus Entertainment Inc. bought Nelvana for $540 million. Hirsh left just two years later amid speculation that he had trouble adjusting to no longer being the boss.
With Cookie Jar, his most recent venture, Hirsh is no less ambitious. He co-founded the company in 2004 from the wreckage of Cinar Corp., the notorious Montreal film and television entertainment firm brought down by financial scandal. Since then, Cookie Jar has expanded quickly.

It now has more than 400 employees around the world producing children?s television, developing toys and games, and managing an extensive licensing operation, and it will soon launch a block of programming on Saturday mornings on CBS, branded as Cookie Jar TV.

Hirsh scored his biggest coup for Cookie Jar last year with the purchase of DIC Entertainment Holdings Inc., a rival in California. As part of the deal, he entered into an arrangement to buy the intellectual property rights to Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears ? properties that generated more than US$5 billion in retail sales between 2002 and 2008 ? from Ohio-based American Greetings Corp. Gaining control of those characters was supposed to have been the icing on the cake.

But Cookie Jar failed to raise the US$195 million needed to buy the properties by the Sept. 30, 2008, deadline. It had another chance to buy them a few months later when a French animation firm called the MoonScoop Group put in an offer, but again it couldn?t raise the cash.

That?s when things turned sour. American Greetings filed a lawsuit against Cookie Jar, and on the same day, Cookie Jar launched its own suit against both American Greetings and MoonScoop, arguing the companies thwarted its efforts to acquire the properties. In one court filing, MoonScoop slams Cookie Jar, alleging its ?stated appetites have consistently exceeded its financial abilities.? Cookie Jar and American Greetings are both after millions in damages, and both are alleging fraudulent behaviour and breach of contract.

The messy lawsuit and the poor financing climate would suggest that Hirsh could be in over his head this time. Cookie Jar is a relatively new company, after all, one competing with established giants. But Hirsh has been in tight spots before, and those who know him say he should not be underestimated. Clive Smith, one of his partners at Nelvana, says Hirsh always had an insatiable appetite for growth, and he?s not the type to give up easily. ?He?s still on that same path,? he says. ?It?s world domination, actually.?

Michael Hirsh displays almost none of the bravado one might expect from a guy often credited with building an industry in this country. He is soft-spoken and reserved in conversation, and except for his garishly coloured shirts and ties, and chunky black glasses, he possesses few of the eccentricities common to kids? entertainment execs. (By contrast, call up former DIC CEO Andy Heyward on his cell, and you?ll be confused by his voice-mail greeting: ?You?ve reached Inspector Gadget?s personal command centre.?)

In a photograph displayed in Cookie Jar?s lobby, Hirsh is pictured with the Doodlebops, a live-action rock band he co-created for kids. The three characters smile maniacally under their outrageously coloured face paint, while Hirsh stands expressionless, looking almost uncomfortable. But make no mistake: kids? entertainment is his domain.

Born in Belgium, and raised in Toronto and New York, Hirsh was a voracious consumer of comic books and cartoons growing up. Superman, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny were among his favourites. As a teenager, he made experimental films that combined animation and live action. (He?s reluctant to talk about them today, other than to say that one was titled Voulez-vous coucher avec God?)

In the late ?60s, he enrolled in philosophy at York University and met Patrick Loubert, a student who shared his enthusiasm for film. Loubert, who later became Hirsh?s business partner, recalls Hirsh as a bit of an oddball, saying he typically clomped around the city in a pair of oversized soccer cleats. Hirsh left York after three years to concentrate on filmmaking, and later he and Loubert formed a venture called Laff Arts. The burgeoning outfit was financed with a credit card Loubert received in the mail, and it didn?t take them long to sink a few thousand dollars into debt. They soon recruited Clive Smith, a British animator living in Toronto. Smith was puzzled when first meeting them to discuss animation work. ?They wore these very strange baggy suits,? he says. ?It looked like they borrowed them from their fathers.? Nevertheless, Smith signed on to make animated and live-action shorts for Canadian television networks. In 1971, they incorporated a company and named it Nelvana, after an old Canadian comic book character, Nelvana of the Northern Lights.

Initially, the company produced zany, low-budget material: Smith cavorting around Toronto in a pencil costume or a trash bag, often with the thinnest of story lines. But Nelvana took a more serious direction when it began creating longer animations, like the half-hour special A Cosmic Christmas, which aired on the CBC in 1977. Smith was the artist of the bunch, Loubert handled production, and Hirsh quickly fell into the role of salesman, pitching the company?s programs and services to U.S. networks to build a bigger name for Nelvana. Loubert says he was amazed how quickly Hirsh developed this new skill set, and Smith was impressed by his thick skin. ?He must have had more rejections than I can imagine, and yet it never fazed him,? Smith says.

Hirsh also developed a keen sense of what children were after, and was quick to learn from the company?s mistakes. Nelvana?s first feature film, an animated musical called Rock & Rule featuring the voices of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, came in over budget and tanked so badly at the box office in 1983, it nearly bankrupted the company. To keep them afloat, Hirsh scored work animating cartoon series, co-producing episodes of Inspector Gadget with DIC. Nelvana didn?t own the intellectual property as it had in the past, but the work was lucrative.

Hirsh kept pushing the company in a commercial direction, and in 1985 it produced the first Care Bears feature film. ?I swear I grimaced at the thought of doing a Care Bears feature,? says Smith, who was more interested in pushing the boundaries of animation rather than the saccharine sweetness of lovable cartoon bears. ?But Michael went out and actually brought that project in.? The film grossed nearly $4 million on its opening weekend in the U.S., a big number for an animated kids movie at the time.

Part 2:
The success of the Care Bears project helped to bring in more business for Nelvana ? the company went on to co-produce animated versions of Beetlejuice, The Adventures of Tintin, and The Magic School Bus. In 1989, Hirsh recruited Toper Taylor, a former entertainment agent, to head U.S. operations. The two instantly bonded and began what would be a long partnership. Both were driven salesmen (Taylor worked his way up from mail clerk to agent at William Morris in California), and their styles complemented each other: Hirsh was the understated soft-seller, and Taylor the aggressive extrovert with slicked-back hair, tinted glasses and a booming voice. ?Between us, we have sold to everyone in the world,? Hirsh says in a rare moment of boastfulness. In 1994, the company went public in a $28.8-million IPO, with Hirsh as chairman, Loubert as president and Smith as executive vice-president.

The financial backing and increased public profile gave the team the clout to expand even further.

Around the Nelvana offices, Hirsh appeared abrupt and impatient to some ? employees had to work hard to keep his attention. ?You talked in sound bites,? says Patricia Burns, former vice-president of international production. ?Whenever we had to go into a meeting with Michael, we had to practise being as concise as possible.? Some employees were put off by his demeanour, but others found his honesty refreshing.

Hirsh was constantly looking for ways to grow the company, sometimes to the frustration of his team. ?He was always laying things on the table that were impossible to meet,? Smith says. ?This all trickled down, and everyone else had to rush around and follow up.? In 1996, he convinced his partners to sell Nelvana to a children?s entertainment company in New York, but then changed his mind, causing tremendous infighting among the founders. The deal was ultimately scuppered.

But another offer was soon to come. Four years later, Corus Entertainment bought Nelvana for over half a billion dollars. At the time, Nelvana was the largest independent producer of kids? entertainment in the world, and Corus was the largest kids? broadcaster in Canada. But Loubert and Smith were burnt out after three decades in the business, and by the end of 2001, both had left the company. Hirsh had different plans for himself.

?Michael had grandiose ideas,? Smith says. ?He wanted to share the CEO role with John Cassaday at Corus.? He was used to sharing power at Nelvana (although Smith says it was apparent Hirsh longed for it to be his company, appearing to want the final say in decisions). ?I told him, ?I think you?re crazy, Michael,?? Loubert says. ?He said he thought he could make it work.? But Nelvana was a division of Corus, and it was never going to be an equal partnership. For the first time in his life, the indomitable Hirsh had a boss.

Hirsh won?t say much about his time at Corus, except that he was no longer enjoying himself. (Cassaday wasn?t available for comment.) It?s not difficult to see why. After the tech bubble burst, ?media convergence? suddenly became a dirty phrase. It became obvious Corus had overpaid for Nelvana, as it started to scale back and cut staff. Hirsh, an empire builder by nature, was not about to help dismantle what he and his colleagues took 30 years to create.

He and Taylor left Corus in October 2002. The same day, Corus announced a $200-million writedown of Nelvana. Employees were shocked. ?Everyone was upset because the last parent was leaving,? Burns says, but when Hirsh spoke to execs later that day, he looked almost giddy. ?I think it had been really stressful, and it was a relief,? she says.
He was likely plotting his next move.

Cinar Corp. was once a Canadian success story, a huge producer of children?s entertainment worth more than $1 billion at its peak. But it fell apart in 2000 after it was rocked by financial scandal involving offshore bank accounts and improperly collected tax credits. Amid the rubble were a slew of valuable assets, such as Arthur and Caillou, and Hirsh and Taylor wasted no time before swooping in. In 2004, they purchased Cinar for just US$143.9 million, with help from a syndicate of private equity partners. Sorting through the mess to determine what the company actually owned and to settle outstanding lawsuits was an enormous undertaking. Taylor, then living in California and the father of a six-month-old, essentially relocated to Montreal and worked 18-hour days for six months to complete the deal.

For Hirsh, the purchase of Cinar?s assets was a victory of sorts. Cinar had always been Nelvana?s competitor. It was a stock market darling with an executive team that had strong government connections, and Hirsh even considered selling out to Cinar at one point. Now he downplays any satisfaction in buying the former rival, but Nelvana employees appreciated the symbolism. ?It must have been great for him to take over Cinar,? Burns says. ?It was just so Michael of him to do that.?

His return to the business was hardly surprising to anyone in the industry. ?I don?t know what else he?d do,? Loubert says. ?He?s not a guy with a lot of hobbies.? The company was renamed Cookie Jar, and a host of well-known names now fall under its umbrella, such as Mona the Vampire and Inspector Gadget. And the television show for Hirsh?s rock band co-creation, the Doodlebops, has been so successful that Cookie Jar is developing an animated version to export internationally. The band has toured both Canada and the U.S., and even appeared on an episode of The Today Show. Actor Billy Bob Thornton, a guest on the same episode, asked for the band members? autographs.

Much of Cookie Jar?s scale is due to acquisition, most notably with the US$87.6-million purchase of California-based DIC Entertainment last year, the same company that provided Nelvana with work animating Inspector Gadget in the ?80s. As a result of the purchase, Hirsh doubled his library of television shows to a total of 6,000 half-hour episodes, landed the company?s programming a spot on CBS, and scooped up the Copyright Promotions Licensing Group. The latter division owns roughly 2,000 licences in various European countries for properties ranging from South Park to Spongebob Squarepants.

The DIC acquisition also came with rights to market and distribute entertainment products and merchandise for Strawberry Shortcake. DIC bought those rights from American Greetings in 2001. As part of the agreement, DIC could not resell or transfer the rights to a competitor of American Greetings. Although the company is primarily a greeting card manufacturer, it objected to the sale to Cookie Jar in June 2008 and filed a suit to stop the deal. The companies reached a settlement within a month, however, and Hirsh agreed to buy the ownership rights for not just Strawberry Shortcake, but for the Care Bears and a newer group of characters called Sushi Pack from American Greetings ? all for US$195 million, more than twice the value of the DIC deal.

Part 3:
Hirsh was thrilled last year when the initial deal was announced, pontificating on the ?evergreen? status of the characters. It?s often easier, he says, to scoop up established characters than to create from scratch. The purchase of Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears, which have been popular for decades, was a reunion of sorts for Hirsh ? Nelvana animated both characters decades ago. He sounds paternal when talking about his properties. He refers to them as children and gets immense satisfaction from spotting them in a foreign country, knowing they?ve spread far afield.

But the sale was not to be. Hirsh had just more than two months to raise the cash, but markets deteriorated severely over the summer of 2008, and he didn?t have financing lined up by the Sept. 30 deadline. American Greetings found another buyer earlier this year when MoonScoop Group, an animation company in France, offered US$95 million. Strawberry Shortcake and the fuzzy paws of the Care Bears were slipping from Hirsh?s grasp.

Cookie Jar had the right to match any offer American Greetings received for roughly six months after the original close date, and Hirsh opted to match MoonScoop. According to legal documents filed by Cookie Jar, American Greetings gave Hirsh 30 days to close the deal, whereas MoonScoop had 75. American Greetings also threatened to seek millions in damages from Cookie Jar if it didn?t raise the cash and buy the properties, according to the filings.

The deadline passed, and again Hirsh did not pull the financing together, arguing that 30 days was unrealistic. American Greetings then sued for US$100 million in early May in Ohio, alleging Cookie Jar did not use reasonable means to raise the funds. Cookie Jar launched its own suit seeking at least US$25 million in damages just a few hours later in New York. It claims American Greetings and MoonScoop engaged in fraud to keep the Toronto firm from purchasing the properties. To complicate matters, MoonScoop also sued American Greetings this past August, alleging the Ohio company is trying to back out of their deal. No court dates have been set.

But the legal battle has not slowed Hirsh down, and Cookie Jar continues to expand. This fall, the company will launch Jaroo, a website to stream some of Cookie Jar?s many hours of content. It also launched a production arm focused on prime-time television recently. ?Children are growing up very quickly, and they?re watching The Simpsons and Family Guy,? he says. ?We want to have the next big prime-time thing.? More acquisitions are planned, and he wants to take Cookie Jar public, just as he did with Nelvana.

Given the similarities between his old and new companies, it?s tempting to wonder if Hirsh regrets selling Nelvana and starting over again. ?My mind doesn?t tend to go to ?what ifs,?? he says, before slamming his fist on the table like a mock dictator and snarling sarcastically, ?We could have been ruling the world!?

At his core, Hirsh enjoys the process of building and deal-making more so than presiding over an established empire, which makes Cookie Jar the perfect venture for him. ?The programming itself is what drives me,? he says, ?and I love the art of building a company.? He set a huge precedent for himself with Nelvana, of course. Just about any kid born after the late ?70s would have had the company?s polar bear logo seared into memory after seeing it at the end of so many cartoon shows. This suggestion prompts a genuine smile from Hirsh. ?Before people knew the name, they knew the bear,? he chuckles. ?Now they?ve got to learn Cookie Jar."
 
Whoa, episodes of Superhuman Samurai Cyber Squad? That's kinda neat.

Hey, they even have Magi-Nation episodes! Awesome, now I can finally catch up on the episodes I missed.
 
"Official" launch?

I don't know. I was there yesterday, and the site still said "beta". Can something "officially" launch even if it's still in "beta".
 
To them, yes.

And shows to be probably added soon in a few months:

CreepSchool (a series made in France by Alphanim and Cinar)
Potatoes and Dragons (also with Alphanim)
The Baskervilles (with Alphanim)
The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures
Dr. Xargle
Hey Vern, It's Ernest!
Night Hood
Spider Riders
Mary Kate and Ashley In Action!
Sabrina The Animated Series
Sabrina's Secret Life
Bump In The Night
The Wild West C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa
Portland Bill
Treasure
The Twins
Swamp Thing
Zoboomafoo
World of Quest
Will and Dewitt
Wishkid
Archie's Weird Mysteries
The Legend of White Fang
Wimzie's House
Papa Beaver's Storytime
Gerald McBoing Boing
Knights of the Zodiac
The Little Lulu Show
Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?
Journey to the West
Robinson Sucroe
C.L.Y.D.E.
Cat Tales
Thye Doodlebops
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The Legends of Treasure Island
The Busy World of Richard Scarry

Only shows not coming:
Arthur (WGBH has Domestic rights, meaning only in the United States, where Cookie Jar has International rights everywhere else)

Caillou (It'll probably sneak on Jaroo soon)

The Babaloos (Taffy has North American/Europe rights to the show, whereas Cookie Jar owns it elsewhere, like Patrol 03).

So yeah, with over 6,000 episodes and counting, it'll be a while before Cookie Jar unleash all of their library.


And here's the press release:



COOKIE JAR ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES JAROO.COM, ULTIMATE ONLINE VIDEO DESTINATION FOR KIDS
Log on to Jaroo.com for One of the Largest Selections of Free Full-Length Episodes Featuring Over 50 Popular Kids TV Series and Movies Including 'Inspector Gadget', 'Johnny Test', 'The Adventures of Paddington Bear' and U.S. Premiere of 'Mona the Vampire'
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Burbank, CA (November 3, 2009) - Jaroo.com launches today with one of the largest selections of full-length episodes of popular kids television programming and movies, both current and classic. The new free premium video destination for kids of all ages will initially offer over 50 popular TV series with more than 500 episodes available on-demand, any time, making entertaining your child or inner-child just a simple click away. Full episodes of such longtime favorites as "Inspector Gadget", "Johnny Test", "Super Mario Bros.", "Zelda", "The Adventures of Paddington Bear" and "Madeline" as well as the exclusive U.S. premiere of "Mona the Vampire" are available on Jaroo.com. Additional shows include "Ripley's Believe It or Not!", "Horseland", "Liberty's Kids" and live-action favorite, "Cake", plus many more. New episodes and shows will be added daily, with over 2,000 episodes offered over the next three months to ensure Jaroo.com will always remain fresh.

"What makes Jaroo.com truly special is the breadth of popular kids shows available in a single one-stop location," said Kenneth Locker, Senior Vice President Digital Media, Cookie Jar Entertainment. "Jaroo.com not only offers the largest variety of kids programming, but the site was specially designed to be easily navigated and hosted in a kid-safe, kid-friendly environment. It's for kids and fans alike."

For the kid and kid-at-heart, from animation to live action, Jaroo.com brings together the very best in children's TV entertainment online for easy viewing and effortless show discovery. Jaroo.com shows will initially come from Cookie Jar Entertainment's vast 6,000-episode library with future plans to add programming from other television distributors and original made-for-the-web content.

"With kids ages 2 to 11 spending 63% more time online than they did just four years ago (from 7 to 11 hours per month) according to Nielsen NetView, Jaroo.com was created to be a fun online destination committed to providing kids, parents and fans with safe quality programming without the worry of unwholesome content or unsightly ads," Locker added.

All Jaroo.com programming is available on-demand for free 24/7. Programming schedules are updated weekly. For a complete listing of shows available and to tune-in please visit www.Jaroo.com.

About Cookie Jar Group
Cookie Jar Group is a global children's entertainment, consumer products and education company dedicated to excellence. Through Cookie Jar Entertainment, the company is a leader in the creation, production, marketing and licensing of evergreen character brands that appeal to kids and families worldwide. Cookie Jar Entertainment's library of nearly 6,000 half-hour episodes features some of the world's most recognizable brands, including "Caillou", "Inspector Gadget", "The Doodlebops", "Arthur" and "Johnny Test". Copyright Promotions Licensing Group (CPLG), Cookie Jar Group's full service licensing division, represents numerous third-party iconic brands. Cookie Jar Group also has a one-third interest in international children's television channel Kidsco. Cookie Jar Education is one of North America's largest providers of supplemental education materials, reaching nearly 2,000 teachers across the United States, through the Carson-Dellosa and HighReach Learning brands.
 
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