DeAPlaneta Entertainment has closed a deal to make Bandai the master toy license holder for animated series Milo. The toy range includes playsets and figurines, role play, vehicles, electronic educational toys and soft toys, and will be available for purchase from spring 2023. The deal covers the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, with other countries such as France, Germany and Italy set to follow.
Nic Aldridge, Managing Director Bandai UK, says: “We are absolutely thrilled to be appointed as Master Toy Licensee for Milo. From the moment we saw the animation, it really stood out to us with its fresh look, bright, bold colour scheme and its super-cute graphic style. We immediately felt that the series lent itself to having a strong product range to support the content.
“When we learnt more about the property, we were very impressed with its core values and positive messaging around careers. Career role-play is such a key play pattern for our preschool target age group, and we are really excited to develop a product range to further reinforce the fact that “Every job is AMAZING!”.
Ignacio Segura De Lassaletta, DeAPlaneta Entertainment Chief Executive Officer, says: “Our company is proud to have signed an agreement with Bandai, a leading company in the creation and distribution of toys from well-known and popular international successful productions. Bandai has fully understood the unique philosophy of the series and we are confident that together we will expand the brand into multiple territories and areas without ever losing any of the core elements.”
Milo is a preschool television series produced by Fourth Wall in association with DeAPlaneta Entertainment. It recently won the 2022 Best Children’s Series at the prestigious British Animation Awards.
Since launching in the UK on Channel 5’s Milkshake!, Milo has enjoyed high ratings and is also available on the broadcaster’s on-demand platform My5. Since launch in May 2021, Milo reached 1m kids between 4-15 and 3.3 million individuals aged 4+ in the UK. Overall, Milo achieved an average audience of 53k kids and a 17% share. Milo, which already has more than 4 million views on its official YouTube channel, will soon be expanding to new YT channels in other countries.
The series is also broadcast in Poland (MiniMini+), Italy (DeAJunior), Australia (ABCKids), Hungary (MTVA) and Latin America (Cartoonito and HBO Max), and it is continuing its global expansion with a forthcoming launch in China (Senyu). This spring, Milo also lands in Finland (YLE), Spain (Clan), Poland (Pulse TV) and the Czech Republic (Česká televise). This autumn, the series will also premiere on free TV in Italy (Rai Yoyo) and Sweden (SVT).
Milo (52 x 11’ episodes) features a cute cat who, together with his best friends Lofty and Lark, uses role-play to explore the wonderful world of vocations – from doctors and mechanics, to hairdressers, chefs and postal workers – introducing preschoolers to a variety of professions in a positive and entertaining way.
