TV-Loonland AG

Last updated
TV-Loonland AG
FormerlyTMO Film GmbH (1989-1997)
TMO-Loonland Film GmbH (1997-2000)
Company typePrivate corporation
Industry Animation
Film
Television
Genre Children's animation
Founded1989;35 years ago (1989)
FounderPeter Volkle
DefunctApril 5, 2011;13 years ago (2011-04-05)
FateBankruptcy
Successorm4e AG
Headquarters
Unterföhring
,
Germany
Divisions Loonland Merchandising
Loonland UK
Loonland Home Entertainment
Loonland Films
Loonland Online GmbH [1]
Subsidiaries Loonland Animation Ltd.
RG Prince Films
Salsa Entertainment
SRE Corporation
Sunbow Entertainment
Telemagination
Metrodome Distribution

TV-Loonland AG was a German branding and management company that specialized in the production of children's programmes. The company's offices were located in Europe (Paris, Munich and London). The company's mascot is a sheep on a blue dome.

Contents

History

TMO Film GmbH was founded by Peter Volkle in 1989. [2] The company first began working on animated content within this time, and by 1993 began to produce popular animated content. The company then released its first film - Die Schelme von Schelm, in 1995. In the same year, the company opened up an animation studio in Hungary called Loonland Animation in Hungary which TMO later purchased a stake in. The company then rebranded as TMO-Loonland Film GmbH in 1997. The company later purchased a stake in RG Prince Films in Korea, and increased the number of programmes being produced. [3]

At the start of 2000, the company was rebranded to TV-Loonland AG. [3] In March 2000, the company announced their plans to go public at the end of the month, and signed a first-look distribution deal with Sony Wonder for German-speaking and certain CEE regions. [4] The company also began to search for a UK sales agent for a planned expansion to the United Kingdom. [5] In September 2000, the company purchased British animation studio Telemagination. [6] In April 2000, Alliance Atlantis subsidiary AAC Kids signed a European co-financing and distribution deal with TV-Loonland. [7]

On October 3, 2000, following their initial distribution deal months prior, TV-Loonland announced they had purchased Sony Wonder's television business assets. The deal included full ownership in animation studio Sunbow Entertainment, alongside a programming library that included shows based on Hasbro properties. [8] [9] In exchange for the purchase, Sony Wonder retained North American home video rights to their catalogue and worldwide music rights.

On May 15, 2001, the company shuttered Family Harbour. [1]

In November 2001, Loonland purchased a 29.9% stake in UK distributor Metrodome Distribution. [10] This stake was later increased to a 54.4% operational control within the company by August 2002, [11] and then a 75% stake by January 2003. [12] However, by 2007, this stake was reduced to 61.2%.

In August 2005, Loonland was sued by shareholder group Aktieninvestor.com, after the company deliberately excused them from its AGM in August 2005, following violation of Section 21 of the Securities Trading Act when the latter tried to apply a hostile takeover within Loonland. The lawsuit ended in favour of TV-Loonland. [13] On September 27, 2005, the company launched a feature-film division called Loonland Pictures, and signed deals with the local branch of 20th Century Fox and NFP Marketing as marketing and distribution partners for the companies' movies, the first of which being Heidi , which would be released theatrically in the country at the end of the year. [14]

In October 2007, TV-Loonland announced they would sell off their 61.2% stake in Metrodome Distribution. [15] In May 2008, Romanian company MediaPro purchased 50.1% of Loonland's shares in Metrodome for £3.2 Million, leaving them with 11.6% which MediaPro could purchase out in the future. [16]

On May 14, 2008, Hasbro acquired the Sunbow programs based on its properties, which are now part of the Hasbro Entertainment library. [17] [18] [19] [20]

In December 2009, TV-Loonland announced they would file for bankruptcy protection. [21] On April 5, 2011, most of Loonland's catalogue and remaining assets were sold to a fellow German entertainment company called m4e AG. [22]

In February 2017, Studio 100 acquired a majority stake in m4e AG. [23] Currently, Studio 100 owns the rights to most of the Loonland catalogue.

Programmes

Original

Acquired from Sony Wonder/Sunbow Entertainment

Distribution only

Specials

Original

Acquired from Sony Wonder/Sunbow Entertainment

Movies/Direct-to-Video

Original

Acquired from Sony Wonder/Sunbow Entertainment

Related Research Articles

Lagardère News, formerly known as Lagardère Active, is the media activities arm of the French Lagardère Group. It owns the radio stations Europe 1, Europe 2, and RFM, the newspapers Le Journal du Dimanche and the magazine Paris Match.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TriStar Pictures</span> American film studio

TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is a corporate sibling of fellow Sony studio, Columbia Pictures.

Sony Pictures Television Inc. is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainment and a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.

<i>The Cramp Twins</i> TV series or program

The Cramp Twins is an animated television series created by British cartoonist Brian Wood based on his 1995 graphic novel of the same name. The show was produced by Sunbow Entertainment, Telemagination, and TV-Loonland AG, in association with Cartoon Network Europe.

StudioCanal S.A.S. is a French film production and distribution company. The company is a subsidiary of the Canal+ Group, owned by Vivendi. As of May 2024 the company has 14 production companies in Europe and the US, and holds around 9,000 titles in its extensive film library.

DreamWorks Classics is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded as Classic Media in 2000 by Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman, The studio's library consists of acquired intellectual property catalogs and character brands, as well as the licensing rights for various third-party properties. In 2012, Boomerang Media sold Classic Media to DreamWorks Animation, who rebranded the company as DreamWorks Classics. DreamWorks Animation became a subsidiary of NBCUniversal in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbow Entertainment</span> Defunct American production company

Sunbow Entertainment was an American animation studio and distributor, founded on June 23, 1980, and owned until May 4, 1998, by Griffin-Bacal Advertising in New York City and in the United States. Griffin-Bacal's first animations were animated commercials for Hasbro's G.I. Joe toy line. The success of the animated commercials led partners Tom Griffin and Joe Bacal to form the company. Due to their close working relationship with Hasbro, Sunbow came to be recognized as the toy giant's unofficial television arm.

Sony Pictures Kids Zone is the kids and family entertainment label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the former record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment.

<i>The Transformers</i> (TV series) 1980s American animated series

The Transformers is an animated television series that originally aired from September 17, 1984, to November 11, 1987, in syndication based upon Hasbro and Takara's Transformers toy line. The first television series in the Transformers franchise, it depicts a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Films</span> Animation production arm of comic book publisher Harvey Comics

The Harvey Entertainment Company was the production arm of comic book publisher Harvey Comics. It was founded in 1957.

WildBrain Ltd. is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest independent library of children's television programming, including the assets of acquisitions such as Cookie Jar Group, Epitome Pictures, and Wildbrain Entertainment among others, distribution rights to the Jay Ward Productions library, and a stake in the Peanuts franchise.

Studio 100 N.V. is a Belgian production company that operates television channels, animation studios and theme parks worldwide. The headquarters of the company is in Schelle, along with offices in Breda, Munich, Paris, New York, Sydney and Los Angeles.

Jetix Europe N.V. was a European television broadcasting company that owned children's television channels and programming blocks across the Europe and Middle East, such as Jetix and Jetix Play.

Fat Dog Mendoza is an animated television series produced by Sunbow Entertainment, Sony Wonder Television, and TMO-Loonland. The series is loosely based on a Dark Horse one-off comic book of the same name. The first Cartoon Network Europe co-production, it premiered on Cartoon Network UK on February 28, 2000.

Carl "Charlie" Woebcken is a German film producer and President/CEO of Studio Babelsberg AG and Managing Director of the production service subsidiary Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures as well as production company Babelsberg Film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allspark</span> American production and distribution company

Allspark, formerly known as Hasbro Studios, LLC, was an American production and distribution company owned by toy and multimedia company Hasbro and based in Burbank, California that was in operation from 2009 to 2019. Originally just a television division, many of its shows were based on Hasbro properties and were broadcast on multiple media platforms, including Hasbro's joint venture Discovery Family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BKN International</span> German childrens television company

BKN International AG (BKNI) was a German kids TV production and distribution company that formerly operated as the international division of BKN, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SIP Animation</span> Defunct French animation studio

SIP Animation was a French animation studio, and a defunct subsidiary of BVS Entertainment. By 2009, the company had produced over 390 hours of animated content.

References

  1. 1 2 "TV-Loonland shuts Family Harbour". C21media. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  2. ↑ "Volkle, Peter". Twst.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 "TV-Loonland AG". Archived from the original on 9 March 2001. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ Blaney, Martin (March 6, 2000). "Germany's Loonland on the prowl for UK sales agent". Screen. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  6. ↑ "TV-Loonland buys UK Telemagination". Broadcast. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  7. ↑ Kelly, Brendan (2000-04-07). "Just kidding around". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  8. ↑ Meaux, Francoise (2000-10-03). "MIPCOM: TV-Loonland acquires Sony Wonder | News | Screen". Screendaily.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  9. ↑ "TV Loonland buys up Sony Wonder units". Variety. 2000-10-03. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  10. ↑ Blaney, Martin (November 6, 2001). "TV-Loonland takes 29.9% stake in Metrodome". Screen. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  11. ↑ "TV-Loonland takes control of UK's Metrodome". C21media. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  12. ↑ "TV-Loonland builds UK video presence". C21media. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  13. ↑ "Legal victory for Loonland". C21media. Archived from the original on 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  14. ↑ "TV-Loonland Starts Up Loonland Pictures". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  15. ↑ "Significant Interest for TV-Loonland Stake in Metrodome". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  16. ↑ "TV-Loonland to sell Metrodome stake". The Hollywood Reporter . May 16, 2008. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Hasbro Reacquires Sunbow Cartoons". ICv2. 2008-05-14. Archived from the original on 2015-06-04. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
  18. ↑ Arnold, Thomas K. (2007-03-14). "Kids label Sony Wonder going under: sources". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  19. ↑ Arnold, Thomas K. (2007-03-14). "Sony ceases Wonder label". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  20. ↑ Ball, Ryan (2007-03-15). "Sony Wonder Closing Shop?". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
  21. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (2009-12-09). "TV Loonland files for bankruptcy protection". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-19.
  22. ↑ Getzler, Wendy Goldman (2011-04-05). "m4e acquires TV Loonland content library". Kidscreen.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-01. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  23. ↑ "Studio 100 Takes Stake in m4e". Licenseglobal.com. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  24. ↑ "The Fantastic Flying Journey world tour kicks off in the U.K." Kidscreen.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  25. ↑ "Pongwiffy moves into production". C21media. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  26. ↑ "Double toon deal for TV-Loonland and ZDF". C21media. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  27. ↑ "TV-Loonland's Metalheads Prepare For Battle". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  28. ↑ "TV-Loonland Partners to Produce CGI-Animated Dragon's Rock". Archived from the original on 2022-08-28. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  29. ↑ "TV-Loonland & ZDF tivi Team on Rudi and Trudi". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  30. ↑ "TV-Loonland makes Pat & Stan sales, more eps". Kidscreen.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  31. ↑ "Loonland's Owl Flies to BBC". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  32. ↑ "TV-Loonland and CarpeDiem greenlight new animated tween series". Kidscreen.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  33. ↑ "TV-Loonland Reboots MIP-TV 2002". Archived from the original on 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  34. ↑ Blaney, Martin (2001-03-06). "TV-Loonland signs first big deal with BBC". Screen. Archived from the original on 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  35. ↑ "Alliance Atlantis, TV Loonland Acquire Neptuno's Connie The Cow". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  36. ↑ Grant, Jules (February 27, 2007). "Spanish networks reach for Skyland". C21Media. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  37. ↑ "TV Loonland". 15 April 2006. Archived from the original on 15 April 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  38. ↑ "TV-Loonland To Distribute Nippon's Penelope". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2021-09-05.
  39. ↑ "TV-Loonland calls at La Station". C21media. Archived from the original on 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.