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Industry | Toys, Baby & Pre-school products |
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Founded | 1979 |
Headquarters | London United Kingdom |
Products | N/A |
Revenue | N/A |
Number of employees | N/A |
Website | http://www.goldenbeartoys.com/ |
Golden Bear Products Ltd. is a British toy manufacturing company that was formed in 1979 by John Hales and Christine Nicholls. [1] Golden Bear operates from its headquarters in Telford, Shropshire [2] and opened an office in Hong Kong in 2001. [3]
The company has sold a broad range of licensed and branded products including Thomas and Friends , My 1st JCB, Charlie and Lola , Pingu , Noddy , Peppa Pig , Brum , Bob the Builder , Cars , Dora the Explorer , Hana's Helpline , Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom , Sooty and Teletubbies . [4] They also produce new properties, like Bush Baby World.
"My First Thomas & Friends" is a range of chunky plastic toys. The range started in c.1994, and was advertised for young infants who enjoyed the series. The models were safe for younger fans to play with, and included most of the major and minor characters from the TV Series. [5]
The company also acquired the rights to sell the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville. [1] [2] In 2012 the company also launched a range of pre-school vehicles under the brand name Go MINI which was officially licensed by BMW MINI. They also launched a range of Something Special toys featuring the popular BBC character Mr Tumble. [6]
Teletubbies is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on their bellies. Recognised throughout popular culture for the uniquely shaped antenna protruding from the head of each character, the Teletubbies communicate through gibberish and were designed to bear resemblance to toddlers.
HIT Entertainment Limited was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 after learning Henson intended to sell the company to The Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Barney & Friends, and Angelina Ballerina.
Anne Wood, CBE is a British Puppet Creator and an English children's television producer, responsible for creating shows such as Teletubbies with Andrew Davenport. She is also the creator of Tots TV and Rosie and Jim. She was a recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award.
Play Along Toys was a Florida-based toy company, and a wholly owned division of Jakks Pacific.
Tomy Company, Ltd. is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as Tomiyama Toy Manufacturing Company (富山玩具製作所), became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pirate. In 2006, Tomy merged with another toy manufacturer, Takara, and although the English company name remained the same, it became Takara Tomy in Asia. It has its headquarters in Katsushika, Tokyo.
Merrythought is a toy manufacturing company established in 1930 in the United Kingdom. The company specialises in soft toys, especially teddy bears. Merrythought has handmade traditional teddy bears in the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge, Shropshire, UK since 1930.
Milkshake! is a British children's television programming block on Channel 5 and is currently aimed at children aged 2 to 7.
Merchandise for the Thomas & Friends franchise has been produced to capitalize on the success of the television series Thomas & Friends. Whilst merchandise was produced alongside due to the popularity of the first of The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1945, and the original broadcast of the television series in 1984 in the United Kingdom, large numbers of manufacturers have sought to produce Thomas-branded items after the television series was broadcast in the United States and Japan.
Mega Brands Inc. is a Canadian children's toy company that is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel. Mega Bloks, a line of construction set toys, is its most popular product. Its other brands include Mega Construx, Mega Puzzles, and Board Dudes. The company distributes a wide range of construction toys, puzzles, and craft-based products.
Fisher-Price, Inc. is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. It was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression by Herman Fisher, Irving Price, Helen Schelle and Margaret Evans Price.
Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games. Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the Big Boy restaurant mascot.
Spin Master Corp., formerly known as Spin Master Toys, is a Canadian multinational toy and entertainment company. Spin Master employs over 1,600 people globally with offices in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.
Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in The Sooty Show in 1955. The main character, Sooty, is a mute yellow bear with black ears and nose, who is kind-hearted but also cheeky. Sooty performs magic tricks and practical jokes, and squirts his handler and other people with his water pistol. The franchise itself also includes several other puppet characters who were created for television, as well as an animated series, two spin-off series for the direct-to-video market, and a selection of toy merchandising.
Charlie and Lola is a British animated children's television series based on the Charlie and Lola children's picture book series by Lauren Child, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for CBeebies. It ran for 3 series from 7 November 2005 to 24 April 2008, winning multiple BAFTA Children's Awards throughout its run. The animation uses a collage style that emulates the style of the original books.
Tiny TV was a brand name used by Turner Broadcasting for a slate of international programming blocks that targeted preschool-age children. The block primarily aired on Cartoon Network in regions such as Australia, India, Scandinavia, South Korea, and Taiwan. Tiny TV was also broadcast on Boomerang in Latin America and Southeast Asia, as well as Pogo TV in India.
Jocelyn Stevenson is a British-American writer and producer, largely for children's shows. She has received the BAFTA Special Award.
WildBrain Family International Limited, operating as WildBrain London, is a British multi-channel network owned by Canadian media company WildBrain. It distributes and produces preschool and children's video content for YouTube and other digital platforms. The division officially launched in 2016; it reuses trademarks associated with Wildbrain Entertainment, an animation studio that had been acquired by DHX. It maintains offices in London.