Signs First Licensees for the Upcoming Puffin Rock and The New Friends Movie and Launches New 78 Episode Series Silly Sundays for Licensing

Kilkenny, Ireland  —  Ahead of Licensing Expo 2023, Cartoon Saloon Brand Development, a division of Five-time Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, BAFTA and Emmy-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon, announces a slate of new licensing partners for its leading brands, Puffin Rock, The Irish Folklore Trilogy, and My Father’s Dragon.

Based on the International Emmy Award-nominated TV series, Puffin Rock, the new Irish animated theatrical feature, Puffin Rock and The New Friends, will premiere in Ireland this summer and rollout in select territories around the world later this year. An action-packed story that celebrates the puffin’s magnificent natural environment, the movie features character favorites from the animated series–Oona, Baba, May, and Mossy–as they team up with new island arrivals Isabelle, Phoenix, and Marvin to crack the mysterious disappearance of the last Little Egg of the season and bring it home safely before a looming storm hits.

With the movie’s focus on the natural world, Cartoon Saloon has signed multiple new licensing partners, including eco-design manufacturer GreenRe for a line of sustainable stationery products with distribution across North America, the UK and Ireland, and Australia and New Zealand; Snuggly Figs for an eco-friendly and socially responsible children’s clothing line made of bamboo for North America; and Value Add Games for an educational boardgame for the European Union. A new expanded range of sustainable plush will also be available for the release featuring the new characters

“With Puffin Rock and The New Friends, which  just debuted at the Cannes Film Festival Market with WestEnd Film, we are delighted to have signed our first licensing partners for apparel and products that will allow new and old fans alike to extend their engagement with the movie,” commented Brian Tyrrell, General Manager of Cartoon Saloon Brand Development. “As we head into Licensing Expo, we’re excited to have such high-quality partners on board across our brands, and we look forward to sharing further information there on our evergreen properties with our current and potential partners.”

For the Annie Award-nominated Netflix Film, My Father’s Dragon, a timeless and classic story with inspirational qualities which has been pleasing kids and adults alike across the globe for over 70 Years, Cartoon Saloon has signed global deals with Titan Comics for a graphic novel and Abrams Books for the recently published The Art of My Fathers Dragon.  Value Add Games and GreenRe are also on board for the same products and territories as Puffin Rock and the New Friends. Also available is a new range of My Father’s Dragon recycled Plush, featuring the main characters Boris, Elmer, Tiger and Pikas.

And for The Irish Folklore Trilogy, the Academy Award-nominated features WolfWalkers, Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells, the studio has signed GreenRe for sustainable stationary products. They join existing partners, including Little Brown Young Readers (trilogy of graphic novels); Xist Publishing (beginner books – global); Pinfinity (AR enamel pin sets – global); and Gallery Nucleus (pin sets), as well as Trends International for posters in North America.

Additionally, Cartoon Saloon Brand Development will showcase its new brand, Silly Sundays to potential partners, specifically in the toys, publishing, apparel & accessories categories, at Licensing Expo. The new Silly Sundays preschool family-entered comedy series is set to deliver in late 2023 through 2024 with 78 x 7’ episodes for broadcast on Cartoonito in the US, Latin America and EMEA.

About Puffin Rock and the New Friends

Puffin Rock and the New Friends is a new Irish animated feature film from Oscar-nominated Kilkenny studio Cartoon Saloon and Northern Ireland’s Dog Ears. It is based on the International Emmy Kids Award-nominated TV series Puffin Rock and directed by Jeremy Purcell (Joe and Jack, Puffin Rock) with a script from Sarah Daddy, who was head writer on the original series. Chris O’Dowd (My Father’s Dragon) and Eva Whittaker (WolfWalkers) lead the voice cast. And WestEnd Films launched the movie at the Cannes Film Festival Market in May 2023, and the film is already picked up for theatrical release in a number of territories.

The film is produced by Oscar nominees Paul Young, Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey from Cartoon Saloon and John McDaid and Fionnuala Deane from Dog Ears.

About Silly Sundays

Silly Sundays is a feel-good preschool comedy series full of heart and deeply rooted in the theme of family. Everything centers around Sonia, Hugo, Mel, Mom, Dad, and Granny, on those days when there is nothing scheduled except spending time with family and friends. Created and directed by Nuria Gonzalez Blanco, the stories focus on their ups, their downs and mostly their fun times as they embrace every little moment together with 78 x 7 minute episodes.

About My Father’s Dragon

My Father’s Dragon is inspired by the Newbery Honor Book of the same name by Ruth Stiles Gannett about a young boy who, struggling to cope with a move to the city with his mother, runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. It was first published in 1948 and has since been published in over 20 languages. My Father’s Dragon is the first book of a trilogy whose other titles are Elmer the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland. All three were published in a 50-year anniversary edition in 2011 as Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon.

My Fathers Dragon is produced exclusively for Netflix and directed by Cartoon Saloon’s Nora Twomey (Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells, The Breadwinner), My Father’s Dragon is written by Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur), with story by Meg LeFauve and John Morgan, who are also Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn of Mockingbird Pictures (Raymond & Ray, Heart of Stone, and Albert Nobbs) are producing together with Cartoon Saloon’s Paul Young. The talented voice cast includes Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Golshifteh Farahani, Dianne Wiest, Rita Moreno, Chris O’Dowd, Judy Greer, Alan Cumming, Yara Shahidi, Jackie Earle Haley, Mary Kay Place, Leighton Meester, Spence Moore II, Adam Brody, Charlyne Yi, Maggie Lincoln, Jack Smith with Whoopi Goldberg, and Ian McShane. My Fathers Dragon premiered on Netflix in October 2022.

About the Irish Folklore Trilogy

Set in Kilkenny, Ireland in the mid-17th century, WolfWalkers tells the story of Robyn Goodfellow, a young apprentice hunter who comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack of wolves. Her life changes after she saves a native girl, Mebh, leading to her discovery of the WolfWalkers and her transformation into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.  WolfWalkers is co-produced with Luxembourg’s Melusine Productions and has won a raft of awards together with Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and BAFTA® nominations. WolfWalkers is currently available nearly worldwide on Apple TV+.

The Secret of Kells is a bewitching animated fairy-tale for children and adults alike that is a spirited retelling of the provenance of Ireland’s most cherished artefact, the Book of Kells. The stunning artwork was influenced by Irish medieval illustrations and was Cartoon Saloon’s first feature film and nominated for an Academy Award® in 2010. The film was a co-production with Vivi Film (Belgium) and Les Armateurs (France).

Song of the Sea takes inspiration from the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land.  Song of the Sea was nominated for an Academy Award® in 2015 and winner of the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature and was a co-production with Cartoon Saloon, Melusine Productions (Luxembourg), The Big Farm (Belgium), Nørlum (Denmark) and Superprod (France).

About Cartoon Saloon

Cartoon Saloon is a five-time Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, BAFTA and Emmy nominated animation studio helmed by directors Paul Young, Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey. From award-winning shorts (Cúilín Dualach, Late Afternoon) to feature films (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner, WolfWalkers and My Father’s Dragon) and TV series (Puffin Rock, Dorg Van Dango, Viking Skool), Cartoon Saloon has carved a special place in the international Animation industry over 23 years. My Father’s Dragon is Cartoon Saloon’s fifth feature film and produced exclusively for Netflix premiered in October 2022 and the Paul Young directed Screecher’s Reach, part of the Star Wars Visions Volume 2 premiered on May 04 last on Disney +. Later this year, Silly Sundays, created and directed by Nuria Gonzalez Balance will premiere on Cartoonito and RTE while Puffin Rock and the New Friends, directed by Jeremy Purcell will release theatrically across Europe later this year.

About Cartoon Saloon Brand Development

Launched in 2019, Cartoon Saloon Brand Development is responsible for all licensing and merchandising activities for Cartoon Saloon, including licensing opportunities for their impressive library of features and TV  shows – The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, WolfWalkers, The Breadwinner, My Father’s Dragon and  Puffin Rock along with upcoming projects Puffin Rock and the New Friends and the TV series Silly Sundays coming later this year. Cartoon Saloon works closely with licensees to ensure they have the necessary assets and access to creative teams to ensure that together we can provide high quality merchandise to fans across the globe.

Cartoon Saloon Brand Development also manages direct to consumer online stores including the company’s impressive Art Gallery with Limited Edition Fine Art Prints, Alternative Movie Posters, and unique Art from artists within the Studio itself.

In addition, Cartoon Saloon Brand Development also creates, designs, and manufactures their own ethically sourced and sustainably produced merchandise to sit alongside that of Licensee’s.