Licensing Hotline: In Brief

by Karen Raugust -- Publishers Weekly, 6/10/2002

Warner Bros. Consumer Products has authorized Dalmatian Press to publish color/activity, board and novelty books based on its Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network properties, including Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo and The Powerpuff Girls. The rights were formerly held by Golden Books.... Simon & Schuster's Little Simon division will  introduce two board books starring The Pixie Pops, created by artists Angela Belknap and Katie Plitt and represented for licensing by Lally Inc. S&S is the property's first licensee.... American Greetings and licensing agency The Joester-Loria Group have granted Modern Publishing the rights for six coloring and activity titles based on the relaunched Care Bears. The books will be released in July.... Playhouse Publishing acquired two brand licenses, Little Tikes for preschool board books and Campbell's for illustrated, interactive titles.... Sunbow Entertainment has optioned James Proimos's children's title The Many Adventures of Johnny Mutton (Harcourt, 2001) for development as an animated television series.... Borders and ABC Television partnered for an in-store sweepstakes last month to support the miniseries Dinotopia, based on James Gurney's children's books; grand prize was a trip to Dino-Land USA at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fla. Dinotopia, represented for licensing by The Beanstalk Group, will air as a weekly primetime series starting in January 2003.... McGraw-Hill Children's Publishing has released 24 Smithsonian nature board books, in four collections, co-published with Studio Mouse.