DIC Ent. and American Greetings Corp., creator and owner of the Strawberry Shortcake property, have signed a five-year, multi-million dollar distribution agreement with Fox Home Entertainment. In addition to distributing animated programs based on the popular girl’s franchise in the U.S. and Canada, Fox will handle Care Bears, Madeline, Inspector Gadget, Dennis the Menace and other select titles in DIC’s extensive library of children’s programming.
Fox Home Entertainment was named the home entertainment partner for Strawberry Shortcake in 2003 and has sold more than nine million DVD and VHS units in the U.S. This latest deal extends the company’s distribution of the property to include additional DVD-exclusive animated titles, a new CGI-animated movie and a live-action series.
Introduced by American Greetings in 1980, Strawberry Shortcake quickly became one of the biggest licensing programs, generating more than $1 billion in retail sales between 1980 and 1985. Since its 2003 revival, the franchise continues to take in millions of dollars a year and has more than 400 licensees worldwide, according to DIC.
This year Fox released the Strawbery Shortcake titles World of Friends and Berry Fairy Tales, and plans to put out Cooking Up Fun on November 14. DIC, American Greetings and Fox will release approximately four new titles directly to DVD in 2007.
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