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Hasbro reacquire distribution rights to original cartoon | NEW: 2007 movie coming to Blu-ray!
Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 12:25 pm
by Halfshell
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Transf ... ights/9624
Maybe. Sort of. Possibly. Ish. It's all a bit unclear.
Hasbro Doubles Its Programming Portfolio with Sunbow Library Acquisition
PAWTUCKET, R.I., May 14th 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) - Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) today announced that it has reacquired the worldwide distribution rights to the Sunbow Library of Hasbro Classics programming from TV-Loonland, which held the rights to license the content.
Under the terms of the deal, Hasbro has regained ownership of nearly 1,000 episodes of classic programming featuring some of the Company's most established and well regarded brands, including G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, MY LITTLE PONY and LITTLEST PET SHOP, as well as timeless properties like MR. POTATO HEAD and CONNECT FOUR. This acquisition increases Hasbro's content library to nearly 2,000 episodes of programming covering over 30 brands.
"As we deliver new immersive entertainment experiences to audiences worldwide, it was extremely important that we had the rights to fully control the usage of our intellectual properties," said Brian Goldner, Hasbro's Chief Operating Officer. "Entertainment is becoming increasingly important in helping us to strengthen and build our brands globally, and this will enable us to engage consumers in new and exciting ways."
"We are very pleased with this deal, which is mutually beneficial for both Hasbro and TV-Loonland," said Simon Flamank, CEO of TV-Loonland. "It allows us to repay the majority of our outstanding debt and invest in new strategic opportunities, while providing Hasbro with the ability to bring its world-class brands to diverse audiences in new and entertaining ways."
Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, CRANIUM and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world. ©2008 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TV-Loonland is a brand management company primarily in the children's and youth market focusing on high-quality content which it develops and produces in house as well as co-produces with third party producers and partners. With offices in key locations throughout Europe (Paris, Munich and London) and in the USA (Miami), TV-Loonland is ideally positioned to identify, produce and market top quality brands across all media including TV, Home Entertainment, Licensing & Merchandising as well as digital media.
Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 1:08 pm
by AndyTurnbull
Well they've gotten TF back so who knows. Perhaps now we might get a Season 1 dvd without the bloody stupid additional sfx.
Andy
Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 4:04 pm
by RID Scourge
I know they're doing dvd battle packs with the GI Joe figures. Perhaps they might do something like that or release a few eps on cd with later TFU releases (kinda like they did with Cybertron)?
Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 5:43 pm
by Blitzwing
Nice... now I won't have to pay $120 for Season 3 part 2.
Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 6:42 pm
by inflatable dalek
AndyTurnbull wrote:Well they've gotten TF back so who knows. Perhaps now we might get a Season 1 dvd without the bloody stupid additional sfx.
Andy
To be honest I can't see them going to the effort of making new prints when 99% of the people buying the DVD's probably aren't going to notice they're any more error ridden.
Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 9:04 pm
by AndyTurnbull
inflatable dalek wrote:To be honest I can't see them going to the effort of making new prints when 99% of the people buying the DVD's probably aren't going to notice they're any more error ridden.
Don't say things like that! I could get by for months even a year living in hope of it happening until the harsh economic reality crushes that dream!
Andy
Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 9:35 pm
by martyboy70
inflatable dalek wrote:To be honest I can't see them going to the effort of making new prints when 99% of the people buying the DVD's probably aren't going to notice they're any more error ridden.
Damn you Sir with your structured thinking,irrefutable logic and knowledge of real world economics.
Damn you to hell i say.
Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 5:40 am
by inflatable dalek
Actually it would be nice if they made sure all the episodes of Five Faces of Darkness (and possibly season 1, I only have the unremastered Maverick release of that one) had the right title sequence. No need to re-remaster or redo anything other than switching credits about...
Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:19 am
by snavej
Why did they sell off the rights in the first place? Were they high or something?
Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:34 am
by Halfshell
They didn't sell them, they licensed the rights to distribute them. Sunbow/Marvel created the cartoon based on Hasbro characters/designs, so whilst Hasbro own most of the copyright, they don't generally make DVDs - they make toys.
The rights to distribute the cartoon are generally held by a DVD publishing studio (much like the rights to create a live action movie are held by Paramount). This just means that Hasbro have shelled out to reclaim the rights from the company that had them.
It's like the original comics - they were licensed to Marvel, who created them. Titan reprinted them for a while. Now they're being reprinted by IDW, because IDW have the license to do so.
Hasbro could, if they wanted, buy back the rights from IDW and then do what they want with them. Same kind of thing.
The company who had the rights to produce DVDs weren't, so Hasbro have bought the rights back.
[/gross oversimplification]
Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 10:51 pm
by Nevermore
More details:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Transf ... wered/9692
Plus:
We've gotten advanced, inside word (you heard it here first!) that the 2007 Transformers live-action film with Shia LaBeouf will be coming to Blu-ray Disc on September 2nd, in a 2-Disc Special Edition (similar to last year's HD DVD version)...