Family and children’s entertainment company Foothill Ent. has signed an agreement to develop multi-platform programming based on Whac-A-Mole, the $1.5 billion amusement park brand owned by Bob’s Space Racers. Initial creative plans involve the development of an animated television series for kids and a live-action reality/game show for families. Spearheading development for Foothill is Christopher Keenan, president of Creating 4 Kids and former senior VP of creative affairs for Warner Bros. Animation.
A hit with kids and adults, Whac-A-Mole is a fairly simple game that involves trying to hit plastic critters over the head with a soft mallet as they randomly pop up through an array of holes. The game first appeared in the amusement parks and carnivals in 1976 in the and has since become one of the most popular arcade attractions worldwide. Whac-A-Mole is so engrained in popular culture that it has been featured in such TV series as The Simpsons, Scooby-Doo, Hey Arnold and Scrubs. Tennis star Venus Williams has even played the mole in an American Express commercial.
San Francisco-based Dimensional Branding Group serves as exclusive worldwide consumer products licensing agent for Whac-A-Mole, and was responsible for the 2005 game licensing agreement with Hasbro Inc., which will launch a new Whac-A-Mole tower this Christmas.
Foothill will serve as exec producer on the television and internet projects, and will be looking for co-production partners at this years MIPCOM in Cannes.
The company recently announced its involvement with the new children’s animation series ICONICLES, which was commissioned by BBC. Created by Eric Radomski and Lois Lee of California-based entertainment content company phuuz ent., the cartoon is being developed and produced by Create Media Ventures and phuuz, in association with Foothill.
