The Toy Book - 2016 NY TOY FAIR EDITION

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THE GOLDEN AGE
OF PEANUTS IS NOW
Flying Ace
Snoopy
100 THE TOY BOOK | FEBRUARY 2016 | TOYBOOK.COM
PEANUTS, THE GLOBALLY BELOVED
brand created by Charles Schulz in 1950, enjoyed
its biggest year to date in 2015, a year
that also marked the 65th anniversary of the
Peanuts gang. (Remarkably, Charlie Brown
still doesn’t look a day older.)
The brand—which enjoys an unprecedented
99 percent consumer recognition and
3 billion social media impressions annually—created
its biggest U.S. retail footprint
ever, with programs at Target, Toys “R” Us,
Macy’s, The Gap, Pottery Barn Teen, Safeway
Albertsons, Barnes & Noble, and QVC; halo
partners such as Le Sportsac, Coach, and Burton;
and promotional partnerships including
McDonald’s, Teleflora, U.S. Postal Service,
and Unicef. The Peanuts Movie, the
brand’s first-ever 3-D CGI-animated
feature film, became the No. 1
family film in the world for three
consecutive weeks, received a
Golden Globe nomination
for Best Animated Feature Film, and
earned a coveted 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes
score. Its box office grosses are approaching
$250 million worldwide.
Peanuts’ global licensing program, featuring
more than 1,000 licensees worldwide,
continues to be anchored by long-term partners
including MetLife, Hallmark, Cedar Fair,
ABC, and Universal Studios Japan. In particular,
2015 was a banner year for Peanuts toys,
with Just Play’s Happy Dance Snoopy feature
plush leading the charge, and multiple toy
awards showered upon the brand, including
the Toy Insider’s Top Holiday Toys.
As this year takes off like a Flying Ace, a
wealth of exciting new content and marketing
programs promise to create vast opportunities
for Peanuts licensees and retail partners
worldwide. A series of new animated shorts
based on the Peanuts comic strip will air in
the U.S. on Cartoon Network and Boomerang
this year. Toy licensees are developing
products in key categories, including
figures, play sets, plush, feature plush,
crafts and activities, games, puzzles,
vehicles, R/C, and seasonal toys. And
following the extraordinary success of The
Peanuts Movie, a fall packaging refresh will
focus on Peanuts CGI—the fresh, bold style
with which kids everywhere identify.
“This is the most exciting time for Peanuts
in years,” says Leigh Anne Brodsky, managing
director, Peanuts Worldwide. “Between
the creativity of the movie, the celebration
of timeless Peanuts milestones, and the fun
marketing events we have in store, it’s truly a
golden age of Peanuts.”
Among the upcoming Peanuts celebrations
and initiatives are the 50th anniversaries
of the Charlie Brown’s All Stars and It’s
the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown TV specials
and, in 2017, of the perennially popular
stage show, You’re a Good Man, Charlie
Brown. Original content initiatives this year
will include celebrating “The Many Faces of
Snoopy,” and a nonpartisan voter-education
collaboration with Rock the Vote.
Of course, Peanuts means kids and kids
mean… toys! This year’s toy line features fun
and innovative new products from:
• Just Play, featuring TV-driver Flying
Ace Snoopy feature plush, Snoring Snoopy
feature plush, and a new line of Peanuts blind
bag figures, plush, and figure sets celebrating
The Many Faces of Snoopy, including Flying
Ace, Masked Marvel, Flashbeagle, and Joe
Cool. Back by popular demand, Happy Dance
Snoopy will also be available next year, the
60th anniversary of Snoopy’s happy dance!
• Little Kids, including Peanuts bubble
toys and bubble wands.
• Ao Jie, featuring junior sports seasonal
toys, such as bowling sets, racquet sets, flying
discs, and jump ropes.
• Palamon, including updated Peanuts
character costumes for infants, toddlers, children,
and adults.
• Cra-Z-Art, featuring the best-selling,
newly redesigned Snoopy Sno Cone Machine,
originally introduced in 1979 and
named by Time magazine in 2011 as one of
the 100 best toys of all time.
• Sakar, including youth electronics,
including selfie sticks, flip cameras, Bluetooth
speakers, and walkie talkies featuring the
Many Faces of Snoopy artwork.
“In October of 1950, when Charles
Schulz launched his comic strip in just seven
newspapers, he introduced the world to wise,
witty, philosophical, and ingenious little characters—and
they quickly became a worldwide
phenomenon,” says Brodsky. “In 2016, we’re
proud to celebrate Schulz’s creation with an
array of content and products that capture
the magic of the Peanuts gang in brand-new
ways. We invite licensees from around the
world to join us and be part of the magic of
Peanuts.” »