The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has always been the perfect setting to see the most cherished characters in pop culture displayed on a grand scale. From the very first float—Felix the Cat—in 1927 to Mickey Mouse in 1934 and Popeye in 1957, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has always been a festive event with an eye on what’s hot—even while standing in the cold. One of the coolest things about the parade—beside the larger-than-life floats—is the chance to see some of the year’s most popular stars sing and dance while making their way through Midtown.

Nick Stars Perform at the Parade

The 84^th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will see several Nickelodeon stars offering “mini concerts” at the event. Big Time Rush will perform on the Hess’s Bridge to the Future float and Victoria Justice—from Victorious fame—will perform on the Build-A-Bear Workshop’s International Cele-bear-ation Clock Tower float. Grammy Award-winning India Arie will even belt out her Emmy-nominated song “”Nochebuena” on the Dora the Explorer float.

What’s New?

Although they won’t be singing as far as I know, the Samurai Power Rangers will make their first public appearance at the parade when they walk with the Planet Earth balloon. Additionally, Po the Panda, from Kung Fu Panda, will make his balloon debut.

—Mackenzie Allison

Nickelodeon has announced the launch of two new location-based guides featuring the voices of SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. Published by Spot It Out, LLC, and available for Tom Tom and Garmin GPS systems, the guides help parents identify thousands of family-oriented activities and fun destinations to enhance trips and family outings while being guided by the voices of SpongeBob SquarePants or Dora the Explorer.

The new guides use GPS technology to provide parents with a fun way to navigate a family road trip. Infused with ParentsConnect.com’s detailed lists of great restaurants, hotels, parks, and shops from all over the United States, the guides are specifically engineered to help parents answer the age old question, “What can I do and where can I go with the kids?”
Nickelodeon – Swell Family Destinations with SpongeBob powered by ParentsConnect includes tens of thousands of family-friendly locations across the country. Each listing comes with a brief, detailed review and description, operating hours, cost, and more. Simply choose one of SpongeBob’s favorite places and the GPS will guide the car to the location using SpongeBob’s voice. Nickelodeon – Dora the Explorer’s Guide to Family Adventures powered by ParentsConnect includes the same rich content, but with the voice and trademark phrases of Dora the Explorer.
Both options are available now at Amazon.com, Fry’s Electronics, nickshop.com, and other on-line retailers.

2K Play and Nickelodeon have announced Nickelodeon Fit, a youth fitness product designed exclusively for the Wii system. Scheduled for release this fall, Nickelodeon Fit provides a new way for kids to stay physically active as they exercise and engage with their favorite characters, including Dora, Diego, Kai-lan, and The Backyardigans, all together in a video game for the first time.

Developed in collaboration with physical education and exercise science expert Dr. Jackie Goodway, Nickelodeon Fit features 30 exercise games targeting cardiovascular activity, core muscles, upper and lower body strength, balance, motor skill development, and foot and hand-eye coordination. Using either the Wii Remote or the Wii Balance Board accessory, kids embark in an imaginative array of physically challenging activities. They can jump rope with The Backyardigans, go river rafting with Diego, leap over hurdles with Kai-lan, pogo stick with Dora, and even participate in a stamina-building relay race featuring all of the game’s characters.

Nickelodeon Fit incorporates a tracking feature so parents can monitor the progress of their children in metrics, including total exercise time and different intensities of physical activity on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. In addition, they can customize workout routines to focus on designated areas of improvement. For example, cross-country biking with Dora can be selected to address endurance and dirt boarding with Diego can be selected to help improve balance and dexterity.

Nickelodeon Fit is being developed by High Voltage Software, Inc. and features voice actors from the Nickelodeon television shows. The game is tested by children for age-appropriateness and exercise fun. It has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

For more information, click here.

Haim Saban, who launched the Power Rangers TV series in the ‘90s, has bought back the rights to the property. Disney has owned the Power Rangers since 2001, and Saban has now regained control of the brand in exchange for a reported $100 million.

In a new deal between Saban and children’s television network Nickelodeon, the network will begin airing past episodes of Power Rangers, along with 20 new episodes to be produced by Saban.

The acquisition is being made under Saban Brands, Saban’s new company aimed at acquiring entertainment and consumer brands. “I think this property has significant legs going forward if it’s in an environment where it is nurtured and supported as opposed to being part of a huge portfolio,” says Saban.

Watch the opening theme song and video  of the original Power Rangers here.

Preschool TV show Pocoyo, from Zinkia and ITV Studios Global Entertainment, is coming to the U.S. as part of Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. lineup starting later this spring.

The series revolves around the adventures of a 3-year-old boy named Pocoyo (“little me,” in Spanish) and his animal pals Elly  (an elephant), Pato (a duck), and Loula (a dog).

Bandai America, master toy licensee in the U.S. and  Canada, will be launching a new line of consumer products inspired by the CGI  series later this year. Television rights to the series are distributed internationally by ITV Studios, while Zinkia handles distribution for Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Latin America.

Check out the recently launched, kid-targeted Pocoyo website from Zinkia here.

As the July theatrical premiere of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies’ The Last Airbender (do NOT call it “Avatar”) nears, Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) has signed a several global and international territory deals.

Spin Master is launching action figures, vehicles and role play items featuring The Last Airbender heroes and villains, from the M. Night Shyamalan film based on Nickelodeon’s TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Mutli-territory and local deals include apparel categories signed with TV Mania, Collective Brands, Mlab Concepts and Aykroyds; publishing categories are covered by Simon & Schuster UK, Egmont UK and Egmont VGS, Random House and Alligator Publishing. Herding Heimtextil has signed a deal for bedding.

In the stationery categories Trends International, Alpa UK, Paperline Designs and Union-Transit Company have signed  deals, alongside Procos for party paperware. Poster and badges are signed to Pyramid International, accessories to Sandylion, dress up to Rubies, puzzles to Toyster and back packs to Vast Sky.

Starkey Laboratories, Inc has announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products (NVCP) to launch co-branded pediatric hearing aids. The pediatric earmolds, specifically created for children ages 0-13, will feature characters from Nickelodeon TV shows including SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly, Go, Diego, Go!, and Dora the Explorer.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Nickelodeon on this initiative,” says Chris McCormick, senior director of marketing and communications for Starkey. “We choose our partners carefully and feel that Nickelodeon will provide a fun and engaging way to connect with kids and make the entire process less frightening for them.”

Nickelodeon is marking the 10th anniversary of Dora the Explorer with a pro-social campaign titled Beyond the Backpack that champions overall school readiness for preschoolers. The campaign will serve as the key component of Nickelodeon’s overall plans for Dora the Explorer‘s anniversary, and will consist of a PSA campaign featuring Salma Hayek Pinault and Dora herself; a fundraising auction of limited-edition Dora backpacks, with designs by Hayek Pinault and other celebrities; financial grants; a dedicated website with downloadable toolkits for parents and educators; and local community activities across the country.

Beyond the Backpack is a multi-year, multi-platform program for preschoolers as they prepare for the important adventure of going to school. In partnership with The Children’s Defense Fund, National Parents Teachers Association (PTA), and other experts and leaders in school readiness who will form an advisory committee, Beyond the Backpack will help provide parents and educators with tools and resources that can help kids prepare for a well-rounded, positive school experience.
Beyond the Backpack is designed to call attention to the emotional, physical, experiential, and actual competencies that preschoolers need for those first steps into school, including: social skills and emotional intelligence; early literacy and math skills; in-school involvement and resources like school supplies; and health and wellness basics. The components of the campaign include dedicated PSAs; a website with information, links to partner organizations, and downloadable content for parents and educators; financial resources and grants; fundraising activities; and community events.
National PTA has signed on as Beyond the Backpack signature partner for the campaign. They will be providing long-term, multi-year grassroots support through the distribution of educational materials to their national constituency, and will co-author a parent’s toolkit for distribution.

To add further support to the Beyond the Backpack initiative, Hayek Pinault is featured in a forthcoming Beyond the Backpack PSA television campaign alongside Dora.  Hayek also is leading an effort with Nickelodeon to create a limited-edition series of celebrity-designed backpacks for auction this summer. Hayek Pinault, John Leguizamo, Slash, Shakira, and other celebrities will put their personal touches on special Dora-themed backpacks. A limited quantity of each backpack will be auctioned off globally, in countries including the U.S., France, the UK, Mexico, Canada, Spain, The Netherlands, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.  One hundred percent of the U.S. proceeds will benefit the Children’s Defense Fund, while 100 percent of international proceeds will go toward childhood education in each respective country.

The January/February issue of The Licensing Book is now online! In this issue, you’ll find:

• A feature on Nickelodeon at 30

• The hottest toys at Toy Fair

• The biggest news from around the industry

• A look at YMI Jeanswear

• Other features including People on the Move, Of Counsel with James Kipling, and a how-to-choose-a-property guide from brand development advisor David Niggli

We hope you like it. Check it out!