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NATPE EDITION Selling to the U.S. Hasbro Studios’ Stephen Davis www.tvkids.ws THE MAGAZINE OF CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING JANUARY 2012

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Page 1: TV Kids NATPE 2012

NATPEEDITION

Selling to the U.S.

Hasbro Studios’Stephen Daviswww.tvkids.ws THE MAGAZINE OF CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING JANUARY 2012

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Ricardo Seguin GuisePublisher

Anna CarugatiEditor

Mansha DaswaniExecutive EditorKristin BrzoznowskiManaging EditorSimon WeaverOnline DirectorPhyllis Q. BusellArt DirectorCesar Suero

Sales & MarketingDirector

Terry AcunzoBusiness Affairs Manager

Vanessa BrandSales & Marketing

AssistantMarissa GraziadioEditorial Assistant

Ricardo Seguin GuisePresident

Anna CarugatiExecutive VP &

Group Editorial DirectorMansha Daswani

Associate Publisher & VP of StrategicDevelopment

TV Kids© 2012 WSN INC.

1123 Broadway, #1207New York, NY 10010

Phone: (212) 924-7620

Fax: (212) 924-6940

Website: www.tvkids.ws

IN THIS ISSUEComing to AmericaBuyers from leadingU.S. kids’ channelsshare what’s on theirshopping lists 10

InterviewHasbro Studios’ Stephen Davis 16

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6 TV KIDS

This year marks the 40th birthday of BRB Inter-nacional. “And we want especially to celebrate itwith the Latin American audience!” says EmiliePasquet, a sales executive at the Madrid-based out-fit. As part of the celebration, BRB is kicking offthe year at NATPE by presenting six brand-newshows for the market: Kambu, Zoobabu, Canimals,Khuda-Yana, Bernard and Mica. “Bernard is [already]very well known in Latin America,” Pasquet says.

• Kambu• Zoobabu• Canimals• Khuda-Yana• Mica

BRB Internacional

In just a short time, FremantleMedia Enterprises(FME) has built up a strong children’s slate. “Thekids’ and family-entertainment slate is extremelydiverse, and the titles we are bringing to NATPEhave mass appeal on every level,” says AndrewBerman, FME’s VP of international distribution forchildren’s programming and family entertainment.Key titles are The Aquabats Super Show!, Max Steel,My Babysitter’s a Vampire,Tree Fu Tom and Monsuno.

• Max Steel• My Babysitter’s a Vampire • The Aquabats Super Show! • Monsuno • Tree Fu Tom

FremantleMedia Enterpriseswww.fmekids.com

“We’ll be at NATPE with our complete catalogue, lookingto strengthen the great relationships we already have inLatin America.”

—Emilie Pasquet

www.brb.es

Kambu

Monsuno

“We offer groundbreaking, high-quality, original andinnovative content which will resonate with and entertainkids worldwide.”

—Andrew Berman

There’s a mix of action, comedy and more on theslate for Mondo TV Spain. In addition to VirusAttack, Mondo is highlighting the animated seriesPuppy in My Pocket, based on the line of toys.There’s also Dinofroz, Playtime Buddies andGormiti.“I am confident about getting these series placedon pan-regional broadcasters after NATPE,” saysMaria Bonaria Fois, the general manager ofMondoTV Spain.

• Virus Attack • Puppy in My Pocket • Dinofroz • Playtime Buddies • Gormiti

Mondo TV Spainwww.mondotvspain.es

Virus Attack

Puppy in My Pocket

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Spain’s Sweatbox, which specializes in 2D and 3D animation,was behind the TV movie Talma and the Myth of Agharta,launched in 2008. Now, CEO Darío Durán is looking to getthe word out that Sweatbox is in production on a new project,Nightbreeds, and has its first episode ready to present. The26x30-minute animated series, targeted at 8- to 12-year-olds,tells the story of a fight between two rival vampire clans andthe Alliance, a force for freedom. The series is set in the year2050 in Port Providence, a city where humans and vampireslive together. Each episode tells the adventures of threeunusual heroes in the Alliance: Zack, Rosalyn and little Liz-beth. Together, they will ruin the plans of Thelonious, the mas-termind of evil, who is helped by his soldier slaves.

• Nightbreeds

Sweatbox

A kid-focused and parent-friendly website, Toon -Goggles.com aggregates animated children’s shows fromaround the world. For consumers, the site provides a desti-nation where kids ages 4 to 12 and their parents and care-givers can screen clips, trailers, episodes and features in asafe environment. All the programs are available to bewatched free of charge. For content providers, ToonGog-gles.com offers analytic data to help them prove interest fortheir animation that will assist them in deal-making. Theoverall goal of the site is to provide a global entertainmentplatform for the hundreds of professionally produced car-toon series that are created each year, but are unable to fitin with network TV time constraints.

Toon Goggles www.toongoggles.com

Cartoon Network Latin America recently scooped up theadventure series Redakai: Conquer the Kairu in a deal withZodiak Kids/Marathon Media. Cécile Cau, sales manager atZodiak Kids, says a key focus for NATPE is to “strengthenand increase our relationships with pan-regional broadcastersas well as achieving a richer understanding of free-to-air TVchannels’ current needs and expectations in Latin Americaand Brazil.” The company is placing its bets on the slapstick-driven Tickety Toc; The Basketeers, which features an animatedversion of basketball superstar Tony Parker; and Waybuloo.

• Tickety Toc• Redakai: Conquer the Kairu• The Basketeers• Waybuloo

“We hope to get the most out of international presales or secure a collaboration with a broadcaster or producer for financing.”

—Darío Durán

www.sweatbox.es

Zodiak Kids

“Our shows stand out by having as much editorial strength ascommercial strength.” —Cécile Cau

www.zodiakkids.com

Tickety Toc

Nightbreeds

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10 TV KIDS

The U.S. networks are among the most coveted by dis-tributors of children’s content. This is in part because

scoring a slot Stateside can mean raising the profile of aproperty tremendously, in addition to a slew of other bene-fits that boost the distributor’s track record on a global scale.However, it is no easy feat to accomplish. While the U.S. iscertainly among the most alluring markets for placing shows,it is also one of the toughest to crack.

The “big three”—Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and Car-toon Network—all produce a fair amount of original pro-gramming. These shows are developed by the channels with aparticular tone and target in mind, helping to ensure that thefinal product is one that’s in line with the overall mission oftheir brands. Third-party titles with the same core values arethen cherry-picked to fill the remaining parts of the schedule.

“Our Nickelodeon channels are comprised primarily of ouroriginally produced programming that we complement andenhance with global, regional and local acquisitions across ourkey genres and demos,” says Jules Borkent, the senior VP of globalacquisitions and international programming at Nickelodeon.

“At Cartoon Network we have a really healthy balancebetween original content and third-party content,” notes Adina

Pitt, the VP of content acquisitions and co-productions at Car-toon Network and Boomerang. “It ebbs and flows; at

any given time we might put on some of ourlibrary shows or we may be stunting new series.

The goal of the acquisitions is to complementall of the original content and I think we’vebeen very successful in doing that.”

“At Disney Channel, Disney XD and Dis-ney Junior [one of the greatest factors con-sidered when making buying decisions is],will the acquisition fit along with our origi-nal series, which have been developed withDisney’s DNA, and ultimately fit our brand,”Paul DeBenedittis, the senior VP of program-ming strategy, multiplatform, acquisitions and

co-productions for Disney Channels World-wide, says.

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Coming to

By Kristin Brzoznowski

AmericaWhile many U.S. kids’ channels rely heavily on

original programming, buyers and programmersare looking to acquisitions as a great way to

complement homegrown shows.

ZDF Enterprises’ Fun with Claude

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The flagship Disney Channel satisfies its schedule with mostlyoriginal content, “but we are always looking to complementour originals with acquisitions or co-productions,”DeBenedittis notes. “At Disney XD we have an increasedappetite for acquisitions, and with the 2012 launch of Dis-ney Junior we are always open to unique ideas that capturethe heart of the brand.”

WELL BALANCED Each of the three channels has a different target audienceand this provides ample opportunities for distributors shop-ping shows ranging from preschool to tween. “At DisneyChannel our target is kids first, with co-viewership opportu-nities among families, while at Disney XD we’re targetingboys 6 to 14, though our series must be girl-inclusive,”DeBenedittis says. “At Disney Junior our target is 2 to 7.”At Nickelodeon, the flagship channel skews evenly between

girl and boy demos, “so we look for content that all kids willenjoy and that will enhance our original programming line-up,” explains Borkent. “Of course, for some of our other chan-nels, such as Nicktoons, which skews more toward boys, andTeenNick, which skews toward girls, we’ll look for contentthat is targeted a bit more toward those demos.” When selecting acquisitions, Borkent says he takes into

account the number of episodes committed and available fora series, also keeping an eye out for “unique content and con-cepts that have broad appeal, and we like to find those oppor-tunities where we can sign on early and partner on thecreative process.” Nickelodeon partnered with Rainbow S.r.l. to co-develop

and co-produce seasons five and six of Winx Club, a prop-

erty popular with young girls around theworld. “We acquired seasons onethrough four from Rainbow to intro-duce the series to our audience andpresented seasons one and two as fourhour-long animated specials. We are inthe process of rolling out episodes fromseasons three and four. We are excited aboutthis property; the specials have performedwell globally.” Borkent says he’s also looking forward to the

global launch of Tickety Toc, a newpreschool show from ZodiakKids debuting early this year. For2013, Nickelodeon recently pickedup the CGI animated series Raving Rab-bids, based on the hit video-game fran-chise, for global broadcast out-side of France. In terms of past acquisi-

tions, Borkent points toEntertainment One’s PeppaPig and Power Rangers Samuraifrom MarVista Entertain-ment as top performers.“We originally acquired PeppaPig for Nick Jr. in the U.K. and extended distribution to NickJr. in the U.S. based on its great appeal and performance.” To sit in the schedule alongside these recent acquisitions

and the hefty slate of originals, Borkent says he’s currentlylooking for animated and live-action comedies.

Off and running:Cyber Group Studios’Manon is among theseries airing on theVme Niños preschoolblock.

Making a splash: Entertainment One’s Peppa Pig was brought toNick Jr. in the U.S. following a successfulU.K. run.

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This same is true for Disney’s DeBenedittis. “At Disney XDand Disney Channel, we’re always looking to acquire half-hour live-action comedies to complement our original seriesas well as animated comedy series. We’re also interested inexpanding our alternative/reality offering to complementsome of the recent additions this past year.”

GETTING A GIGGLEFinding a show that can bring the laughs is also a top priority atCartoon Network. “Currently our focus has been predomi-nantly on comedy,whether that’s live action or animated, and Idon’t see that changing any time soon,” says Pitt. “Comedy repeatswell. Kids come to us for comedy, but we don’t like to shut thedoor on any of the other genres; we are also known for reallytop quality action and a diversity of animation styles and genres.”Pitt notes that there’s also a good amount of alternative pro-

gramming on the air, defined by some of the channel’s bigger gameshows. “We had Hole in the Wall on the air, Destroy Build Destroy,Dude, What Would Happen; we like mixing the genres up a little bitto really see what our kids like. We have specials and movies, too.

Even through right now we’re focusing oncomedy, we would never say no to a pitch justbecause it was a genre we hadn’t thought of asa priority. You never know where that next hitshow you want is going to come from.”

BOYS’ CLUBCartoon Network has a precise demo it aimsfor with its original and third-party pro-gramming, says Pitt. “We target 6- to 11-year-olds and we definitely skew more boy,but, we like to say, with a nod toward girls.We definitely dominate in the boys’ space,but keep in mind that more boys watch car-toons in general. There’s a certain pointwhere girls start to look for other kinds ofshows. It’s not to say that girls aren’t watchingcartoons—clearly they’re coming to us—butthey’re very selective in the kinds of showsthat they’re coming to see on our air.” Pitt says she’s focused on serving the cur-

rent boy-heavy demographic rather thantrying to attract more girls to the channel,since this is the formula that has made Car-toon Network successful. “When we lookat the DNA of any show that we’re tryingto pick up, we definitely want to make surethat there’s a point of entry for our targetdemo. We don’t want to alienate the kidswho we know are coming to us, so it’sunlikely that you’ll see a show that reallytilts the scales.”Pitt adds that there are some exceptions

to the rules. “There are certain actionshows that are all adrenaline; they’re boy-skewed but if you happen to be a girlwatching them, terrific! However, you’renot going to see the type of shows that youmight associate with some of our competi-tors, which really tend to skew a little moregirl. We know exactly who our audience is

and we try to super-serve them.” Opening new doors in the U.S. for the kids’ distributors is

the burgeoning Hispanic audience. New channels and pro-gramming blocks have popped up to serve this growing sliceof the American population and many of them are heavilyreliant on acquired product. “Most of our kids’ programming is from acquisitions,” says

Doris Vogelmann, the director of programming and opera-tions at Vme Media and Vme Kids. Vogelmann sources programming for Vme’s daily preschool

block, Vme Niños, and for the 24-hour cable channel VmeKids. The programming for both is primarily aimed at kids 2to 6 as well as their co-viewing parents and caregivers, whoare mostly between the ages of 18 to 34. “For the kids’ programming on Vme and on the Vme Kids

channel we look for high-quality acquisitions that have well-constructed stories, relatable characters and solid learning objec-tives that fit with U.S. educational standards,” says Vogelmann. Vme is home to a host of beloved children’s characters,

including Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, Barney

Scary good fun: Disney Channel pickedup My Babysitter’s aVampire, produced byCanada’s Fresh TV,from FremantleMediaEnterprises.

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12 TV KIDS

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and Angelina Ballerina. The Muppets of Plaza Sésamo, theSpanish-language adaption of Sesame Street that was origi-nally produced for Latin America, have also struck a chordwith the Hispanic youth watching Vme.“We look for productions from all over the world,” Vogel-

mann adds. “Vme is always looking for the next hit shows thatempower kids with innovative, entertaining, curriculum-based content.” Also serving the Hispanic preschool market in the U.S. is

CBeebies. The channel has access to a catalogue owned byone of the largest distributors in the world, BBC Worldwide,which accounts for the lion’s share of its schedule. “Our con-tent comes from the BBC’s catalogue, a great selection ofshows specifically designed for the youngest of viewers, edu-cational, yet entertaining programming with the quality andintegrity of the BBC name,” says William Graff, the VP ofprogramming at BBC Worldwide Channels Latin America/U.S. Hispanic. “In addition to that, the BBC provides us withthird-party programs that it has acquired worldwide and thatfollow the high-quality stan-dards of the BBC.” One of the latest acquisi-

tions to hit the channel, BabyJake, is a hybrid of live actionand 2D photorealistic anima-tion produced by DarrallMacqueen. Top performingacquisitions overall include3rd & Bird, Waybuloo and Inthe Night Garden. “Besides [tapping into] the

BBC inventory, we also meetwith independent producersof preschool children’s pro-gramming at conventions tokeep up with industrytrends,” Graff says of his con-tent sources. “Combinedwith what we get from theBBC, this creates a good mixof shows that provide a widerange of themes and pro-

mote learning through active play. Welook for shows that promote interac-tion and encourage parents and care-givers to be involved in the child’sviewing experience.” CBeebies divides its day into blocks

that suit the mood and energy levels ofyoung children. For its morning block,programming that is more “active,exciting and colorful” is used to start theday, notes Graff. The discovery-focusedsegment features shows that encouragechildren to explore, learn, do and create.A playtime block accommodates a vari-ety of entertainment shows for kids andtheir families, followed by a bedtimeblock that has softer, gentler program-ming to prepare children for sleep.

PLAYFUL EXCHANGE“We look for programming that allows parents to see theirchildren develop,” Graff says. “We want high-quality contentthat engages a wide audience with well-crafted storylines, aclear purpose and strong visuals. Our goal is to create a prod-uct that parents and educators can trust and that provideschildren with knowledge through fun and interactive experi-ences that help them learn through play, as our slogan states.”Graff says the channel strives to remain competitive with the

strong players in the U.S. kids’ landscape. “We direct all our effortsand resources toward the positive growth of the CBeebies brand.We are committed to offering appropriate content that promoteslearning through play in a secure environment, and maintainingthe highest quality standards that have distinguished our brand.”While original shows can be brand defining, acquired series

have proven their value to buyers and programmers in theU.S. kids’ market. Distributors looking to shop their waresStateside can look forward to these new opportunities open-ing up in the children’s market.

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Barking up the right tree: MEG Toys and Mondo TV’s Puppy in My Pocket heads to Boomerang in2012, following a rollout on Turner outlets in EMEA and pan-Asia.

14 TV KIDS

Eyes on the prize:Zodiak Kids’ Waybuloowas produced for theBBC, which feeds theU.S. Spanish-languageCBeebies channel.

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Announcing Hasbro’s most recent set of quarterly results, BrianGoldner, the CEO of the toy giant, emphasized to investors thatthe entertainment segment was a key growth area for the com-pany. Indeed, its third-quarter financials showed a healthy 69-percent bump in entertainment and licensing revenues, includingimproved intake from the sale of TV programming. Leading thecompany’s TV-production activities is Stephen Davis as the pres-ident of Hasbro Studios. Mining Hasbro’s deep library of brands,which includes Transformers, My Little Pony and The Game ofLife, Davis and his team are generating productions for TheHub—a joint venture with Discovery Communications—and thenselling those shows to broadcasters around the world. He tellsTV Kids about the tremendous growth Hasbro Studios hasexperienced since its launch two years ago.

TV KIDS: How has Hasbro Studios grown over the last year?DAVIS: We’ve grown substantially. Just in terms of output,we’re in production now on our 13th series. By 2012, we willhave produced 590 half-hours of original production out ofour base of operation in Burbank. In addition to the U.S.,we’re producing shows in about seven other countries, fromChina to Japan to Korea to Canada. Our shows are perform-

ing extraordinarily well on The Hub, which is our first pri-ority. In the meantime, Finn Arnesen [the senior VP of inter-national distribution and development] has been able to sellour shows in 142 countries and they’re all performing well onall of the major broadcasters, [including] Cartoon Network,Mediaset, YTV and Yoyo TV. We are everywhere kids andfamilies are watching TV, so the strategy is definitely working.

TV KIDS:You mention producing shows outside of the U.S.How do you ensure that your international partners deliverthe same high quality that your Burbank studio maintains? DAVIS:We do all of the script development, as well as amajority of the front-end design work on our animated seriesin the studio in Burbank. We are very hands on with ouroverseas animation studios, and often we also do the post-production work in Burbank. We’ve got some very success-ful game shows on The Hub with Family Game Night,TheGame of Life, Scrabble, and we just produced our first overseasformat based on Family Game Night for Boing in Spain. [Forthe international adaptations] we’ll work with producers wehire, but we also have our own producers on the set to ensurethat we’re maintaining that quality control, that we’re true tothe brand DNA of our shows.

TV KIDS: Are you looking to produce broader general-entertainment game shows, in addition to those focused onkids and families?DAVIS: Our initial focus has been to produce kids and fam-ily game shows for The Hub, but we are selling formats of ourgame shows internationally that are attractive to an olderdemo. Interestingly, in a lot of the conversations that we’rehaving with overseas broadcasters, they really want the samething that The Hub and the other U.S. kids’ networks want inthe game arena—co-viewing. Our games lend themselves sowell to family play that when we’re formatting a game showfor the overseas market, we definitely have the whole familyin mind. We now have Kevin Belinkoff, our VP of games andreality, charged with driving a strategy that delivers greatgame-show formats for not only The Hub but for the inter-national market as well. The Spanish format of Family GameNight for the Boing channel in Spain was a great ratings suc-cess—with lots of fun and engagement for a broad audience.

TV KIDS: In 2011 you separated your current programmingand development operations, and created teams around spe-cific genres, with boys/action and girls/preschool. Why isthe new structure important for the future growth of Has-bro Studios?DAVIS: For us it’s all about focus. We want to have the great-est impact we can have, both in storytelling as well as in ourtoy and game business. When we started the studio two yearsago it was really all hands on deck; let’s mobilize the team,get everybody rowing in the same direction and deliver a lotof original production in preparation for The Hub’s launch,which was in October of 2010. Now that we have achievedthat successfully, I felt like we needed to begin to concen-trate our teams to [each] have a specific focus around genre,around development, around current [programming], and it’sworked really well. Mike Vogel, who runs development, andhis team are doing a phenomenal job both on our existingbrands as well looking for new opportunities with Linda

16 TV KIDS

By Mansha Daswani

Hasbro Studios’

Stephen Davis

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Steiner, who runs current [programming]. Linda and herteam have upped our game significantly with respect to over-seeing our current series. I’m really pleased with the way thatfocus is working. It’s kept our eye on the prize, which is mak-ing great stories, great characters, and reimagining our brandsfor The Hub and the international markets.

TV KIDS: Tell me about the process of mining that hugeportfolio of Hasbro properties. How do you identify thingsthat can be turned into entertainment brands?DAVIS: It’s wonderful because Hasbro has over 1,500 brands,so obviously we have a lot to choose from. We spend a con-siderable amount of time as a senior leadershipteam, both within Hasbro and working withMargaret Loesch, who runs The Hub, and herteam to really align Hasbro’s brand priorities withThe Hub’s programming priorities to reimag-ine, reinvent and reignite the Hasbro brands forTV. We have some very good, healthy debatesabout the various brands that’ll break through fortelevision. Having a wealth of brands to choosefrom, we can actually plan pretty far forward,which is a great position to be in. We can also be verynimble because we own and control a majority of ourbrands, so we only have ourselves to come to when we wantto make changes on the fly as one has to do. We also believestrongly in the voices of our creative stewards, our show run-ners. We’re pleased that we’ve been able to work with a num-ber of A-list talent in our business.

TV KIDS: How have you been attracting that top-level talentto the studio?DAVIS: We’re a pretty easy place to do business. We’revery writer, producer and director friendly and I thinkthat in an increasingly competitive business, talented peoplerespond to working in an environment where they feel liketheir creative opinions matter. We give them a real opportu-nity to look at a brand and have an active voice at the table

in the creative process, as opposed tobeing dictated to. We also find thattalent responds to the brands them-selves. In most cases our creative part-ners grew up on those brands—theyhave a fondness for My Little Pony,Littlest Pet Shop and Transformers,among others. It’s fun to be able toextend your creative energy onsomething you’re so fond of, that yougrew up with; that’s attractive. And Ithink they’ve seen the success we’rehaving on The Hub and they’re see-ing the success we’re having interna-tionally, and that’s a great thing to bea part of.

TV KIDS: Given the success you’rehaving and now with Mattel’s acqui-sition of HIT Entertainment, do youthink that toy brands in general aregoing to play a larger role in theglobal children’s content market?

DAVIS: Brands themselves will continue to have a significantimpact irrespective of where those brands may come from. Welive in an increasingly cluttered and fragmented entertainmentmarket: lots of great ideas, lots of creativity, lots of competition.Everybody is looking for a way to cut through that clutter—they’re looking for self-promoting brands, they’re looking forIP that people can respond to. Ultimately you may respond to aterrific brand but we also have to deliver from a storytellingperspective—I’m not sure everybody understands that. It’s notenough to say you have well-recognized IP; beyond that youhave to reignite it in a significant way, create stickiness around theseries and create viewer loyalty. That’s the real challenge.

A good pick: My Little Pony:Friendship Is Magicis a Hub originalseries based on aclassic Hasbrobrand.

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Dog days: The Pound Puppies brand started as a toy line inthe ’80s and went on to inspire an animated TV series andfeature film.

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