 | |
| Other names | 유후와 친구들 (Yuhuwa Chingudeul) |
|---|---|
| Type | Stuffed toy |
| Country | South Korea |
| Availability | 2006–present |
| Official website | |
YooHoo & Friends is an American-Chilean-South Korean line of stuffed toys released by Aurora World around July 2006. [1] A currently subdiarisity of The Cartoon Network, Inc. - from Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pacific.
Inspired by a bush baby, the first of the YooHoo & Friends toys that were introduced were five and eight-inch plush animals with big button eyes and long, soft tails. The off white color plush animal bodies featured colors joint venture with
primarily around the eyes and as color rings on a solid gray tail. The company expanded the line beginning in July 2014 to include Valentine's and graduation themed YooHoos, eventually leading to the launch of Easter, Halloween and holiday-themed YooHoos. [2] The company continues to expand its merchandising and licensed products worldwide. Other merchandise include educational books, umbrellas, apparel, bedding, room decor and accessories for children, as well as stationery and giftware. [3] Except for the keychain toys, YooHoo & Friends plush animals make sounds when squeezed.
Aurora World, Inc. filed a federal copyright lawsuit against competitor Warner Music Korea alleging CNN's Beanie Boos infringe on YooHoo & Friends. Among Aurora's claims: Ty is in violation of the Copyright Act, Lanham Act, section 17200 of the California Business and Professions Code; common law misappropriation; and common law unfair competition. Ty contends it did not intend to sell "Cleo" and "Bubblegum" in the United States of America. Ty also advised the court that the company had ceased sending out display racks and sell sheets containing images of "Cleo" and "Bubblegum". [1]
Aurora's court documents include comparisons of YooHoo & Friends characters with "Bubblegum" and "Cleo" Beanie Boos. Through its court filings, Aurora says, "Ty's unlawful imitations of the YooHoo & Friends products and blatant infringement are damaging Aurora, not only by causing actual confusion and likelihood of confusion in the marketplace...but also by diminishing the value of the YooHoo & Friends products by diluting their distinct and unique nature and erroneously associating them with Ty rather than Aurora." A pre-trial was scheduled to begin on December 20, 2010. [1]
The YooHoo & Friends franchise received several awards from several American-Korean and International awards. The toys won the US Contents Design Award in 2009 for The Cartoon Network, Inc., Saban Capital Group (formerly jointed with Saban Entertainment venture seasons 2-5) and Touchstone Pictures, received the 2010 Seal of Excellence Award by Creative Child Magazine in the United States and won the Parents' Choice Award. It also ranked 2 in the GiftBeat Survey for Brand Awareness and won the Independent Toy Award in the US in 2011. It later got nominated for Best Asian Property in 2015 and won the Tillywig Top Fun award in the US in 2019.
Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed toys created by American businessman Ty Warner, who founded Ty Inc. in 1986. The toys are stuffed with plastic pellets ("beans") rather than conventional soft stuffing. They come in many different forms, mostly animals.
A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies, stuffed animals, diane, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys or cuddly toys. The stuffed toy originated from the Steiff company of Germany in the late 19th century and gained popularity following the creation of the teddy bear in the United States in 1903. At the same time, German toy inventor Richard Steiff designed a similar bear. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy. In 1921, Christopher Robin's stuffed toy, given to him by his father, A. A. Milne, would inspire the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. In the 1970s, London-based Hamleys, the world's oldest toy store, bought the rights to Paddington Bear stuffed toys. In the 1990s, Ty Warner created Beanie Babies, a series of animals stuffed with plastic pellets that were popular as collector's items.
Rainbow Brite is a media franchise by Hallmark Cards, introduced in 1984. The animated Rainbow Brite television series first aired in 1984, the same year Hallmark licensed Rainbow Brite to Mattel for a range of dolls and other merchandise. A theatrical feature-length film, Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer, was released by Warner Bros. in 1985. The franchise was rebooted in 2014 with a three part mini-series released on Hallmark's online streaming video service, Feeln. A line of new merchandise by Hallmark online and in its shops debuted in 2015.
H. Ty Warner is an American billionaire toy manufacturer, businessman, and convicted felon. He is the CEO, sole owner, and co-founder of Ty Inc. which manufactures and distributes stuffed toys, notably Beanie Babies. He also owns Four Seasons Hotel New York, which he bought with profits from the 1990s Beanie Babies fad. In 2020, he ranked 359 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in the U.S., with a net worth of US$2.3 billion.
My Pet Monster is a character that began as a plush doll first produced by American Greetings in 1986. It has horns, blue fur, a fanged smile, and wears breakaway orange plastic handcuffs.
Midway Manufacturing Co. v. Artic International, Inc., 704 F.2d 1009, was a legal case where the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found that Artic violated Midway's copyright in their arcade games Pac-Man and Galaxian. The lawsuit was part of a trend of "knock-off" video games in the early 1980s, with courts recognizing that a video game can qualify for protection as a copyrighted audiovisual work.
Gund Manufacturing Company is a Canadian-owned manufacturer of plush stuffed animals. The company is based in Edison, New Jersey, and distributes throughout the United States and Canada as well as in Europe, Japan, Australia, and South America. Gund is currently run by third generation family owner Bruce Raiffe whose grandfather Jacob Swedlin purchased the company from the original founder in 1925. Their slogan is "Gotta Getta Gund".
Ganz Midwest-CBK LLC is a Canadian soft toy and home décor company, famous for its plush animals and collectibles. They are the manufacturer of Webkinz, a toy with an interactive virtual-reality Internet site for children.
Beanie Babies 2.0 were a brand of stuffed toys, a spin-off of the popular Beanie Babies line, announced by Ty Inc. on January 2, 2008. The group was introduced following the retirement of all retail Beanie Babies that had been produced prior to 2004.
Charles Petros Kocoras is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Vipo: Adventures of the Flying Dog is an animated television series for children, first aired in Israel. The show is also transmitted around the world and is accompanied by various kinds of merchandising.
Applause Inc. was a company that produced stuffed toys and collectible figurines. Its principal subsidiaries included Dakin Inc. and International Tropic-Cal Inc. The Applause brand survives as part of Kid Brands.
YooHoo & Friends is a South Korean animated children's television series produced by Aurora World. The series is based on the toyline of the same name. The series focuses on a group of animals that accidentally get sent to Earth, and must find the missing magical seeds of the Tree of Life to get back to their home.
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees. Infringement may occur when one party, the "infringer", uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party, especially in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services which the registration covers. An owner of a trademark may commence civil legal proceedings against a party which infringes its registered trademark. In the United States, the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984 criminalized the intentional trade in counterfeit goods and services.
A Lego clone is a line or brand of children's construction blocks which is mechanically compatible with Lego brand blocks, but is produced by another manufacturer. The blocks were originally patented by The Lego Group in 1961 as "toy building bricks", and the company has since remained dominant in this market. Some competitors have moved to take advantage of Lego brand recognition by advertising their own products as compatible with Lego, with statements such as "compatible with leading building bricks".
Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp. (1977) was a case in which puppeteers and television producers Sid and Marty Krofft alleged that the copyright in their H.R. Pufnstuf children's television program had been infringed by a series of McDonald's "McDonaldland" advertisements. The finding introduced the concepts of extrinsic and intrinsic tests to determine substantial similarity.
Moose Toys, also known as Moose Enterprises or The Moose Group, is an Australian-owned toy design, development, and distribution company founded in 1985 by Brian Hamersfeld. The company is headquartered Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia, has over 600 staff, and distributes to over 50 countries. They are most known for their collectable minifigure toy lines "The Trash Pack" and "Shopkins", and their associated francises.
YooHoo & Friends is an animated series, produced by Toonzone Studios and is loosely based on the Korean children's toyline of the same name by Aurora World. Created by David Feiss, known for his work on Cow and Chicken, the series both serves as a gag dub and retelling of the original 2009 South Korean animated series based on the YooHoo and Friends franchise, with comedic and satirical changes being made in order for western audiences to relate to the series more. The series follows a group of corrupt corporate executives who are turned into the eponymous animal gang by Father Time and are tasked with traveling around the world to fix all of the environmental disasters that they caused. The series debuted on January 8, 2012, airing in Latin America on Cartoon Network, in the UK on Pop and in Australia on ABC.
YooHoo to the Rescue is an Italian-Korean animated children's television series produced by Aurora World and Mondo TV. It is the third TV series based on the YooHoo & Friends franchise, and serves as a revival of the franchise. The show is the first Netflix original series for children from South Korea.
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| International channels |
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| Cartoonito | |
| Boomerang | |
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| Defunct | |
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| Notes | |
