Granny Ranny's Coming Attractions

Shaun the Sheep and his barnyard gang are back with more chaos in the countryside! The Oscar®-winning creators of “Wallace and Gromit™” do it again with sheep-tacular new adventures and shear wackiness. Shaun is a sheep who doesn’t follow the flock, and along with the other sheep and those naughty pigs, there’s sure to be plenty of mayhem in the meadow. Follow along with Shaun and his barnyard buddies Shirley, the Farmer, Bitzer the sheep dog and the naughty flock in these six hilarious episodes:

• “Sheep On the Loose” – Nearly all the sheep take the bus to the fun fair. Shaun and Shirley must convince the Farmer that the flock is out to pasture.

• “Saturday Night Shaun” – Shaun finds the Farmer’s old record player in the dump and organizes a rave in the barn – but trouble looms when the Naughty Pigs crash the party.

• “Tidy Up” – The sheep’s field is a mess, and the Farmer tells Bitzer to clean it up – but he makes the mistake of getting Shaun and company to help.

• “Shaun the Farmer” – The Farmer is sick in bed, so, with Bitzer playing nurse-maid, it’s up to Shaun to handle the daily chores around the farm – with disastrous results.

• “Camping Chaos” – An unfriendly camper sets up his tent in the sheep’s field. When he goes off exploring, Shaun and the flock decide to do some exploring of their own.

• “You Can’t Stand the Heat” – It is a scorching hot day, and the flock is desperate to cool down in the Sheep Dip. There’s only one thing in their way: the sun-bathing Farmer!

It’s a farmyard of fun when Shaun the Sheep™ and his hilarious flock of wooly friends leap onto DVD in the all-new Shaun the Sheep: Sheep on the Loose arriving in stores June 9, 2009.
Shaun the Sheep is an international hit on DVD, selling more than a million units in Europe in only one year! Five-minute shorts of the series also currently air in the U.S. on the Disney Channel. The complete episodes are only available on DVD.

Team up with Bob the Builder and his Can-Do Crew in five fun-tastic episodes as they build an exercise park at Bobland Bay, construct a new ice cream parlor complete with a giant ice-cream cone on top, and help with the new shelter to keep the machines cool. Join Muck in a machine wash you won’t forget and see how Benny and Scoop learn that they can accomplish anything with a Can-Do attitude. Get ready for a truck-tacular experience and see that teamwork and friendship are the building blocks for fun and adventure!

Bob the Builder™ and his Can-Do Crew lay the foundation for teamwork in the all-new Bob the Builder: Truck Teamwork, featuring never-before-seen content available ONLY on the DVD on June 9, 2009. Budding builders can see what it takes to get the job done as everyone’s favorite builder and his machine team up to face new challenges. Utilizing the power of positive thinking, problem-solving and follow-through, Bob, Scoop, Muck, Gripper, Grabber, Bristle, Flex, Tumbler and the rest of the Can-Do Crew always have the right tools and the right attitude to work together and complete any job. Can they fix it? Yes they can!

The Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) honoured Canada’s top English-language children’s programs at the 2009 Awards of Excellence Gala. The jury of Canadian and international industry creators, craftspeople and professionals selected the following award winners:
– Grand Prize for Best Program – All Categories: Johnny Test produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment broadcast by Teletoon (sponsored by Main Sponsor CBC).

– Special Jury Award: Mighty Jungle II produced by Halifax Film a DHX Media Company, broadcast by CBC (sponsored by Shaftesbury Kids).

– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Ages 3-5 category: Are We There Yet?: World Adventure produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment broadcast by Treehouse (sponsored by Hit Entertainment).

– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Ages 6-8 category: Mark’s Moments produced and broadcast by TVO (sponsored by Sinking Ship Entertainment).

– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Ages 9-12 category: Booky and the Secret Santa produced by Platt Productions & Shaftesbury Films and Television broadcast by CBC (sponsored by Family Channel).

– Award of Excellence, All Genres, Teens category: Degrassi: The Next Generation produced by Epitome Pictures broadcast by CTV (sponsored by Muse Entertainment Enterprises).

– Award of Excellence, Animation, Ages 3-5 category: My Friend Rabbit produced by Nelvana Limited and broadcast by Treehouse & QUBO (sponsored by Epitome Pictures).

– Award of Excellence, Animation, Ages 6-8 category: Wapos Bay (Raiders of the Lost Art) produced by Wapos Bay Productions broadcast by APTN and SCN (sponsored by 9 Story Entertainment).

– Award of Excellence, Animation Ages 9-14 category: Storm Hawks produced by Nerd Corps Entertainment, broadcast by YTV (sponsored by marblemedia).

– Award of Excellence, Interstitials All Ages category: Roll Play produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment, broadcast by Treehouse (sponsored by TVOKids).

– Award of Excellence, Best Original Cross-Platform Content Tied Into a Children’s Program: www.anashinteractive.com (Anash and the Legacy of the Sun-Rock) produced by Reel Girls Media (sponsored by the Bell Fund).

In addition to granting awards for the best programs, the ACT presented two special awards celebrating the remarkable work of two homegrown creators:

The prestigious Outstanding Achievement Award was handed to Patricia Ellingson of TVO who has enjoyed an exceptional career in children’s programming in Canada. ACT’s Board of Directors is recognizing Patricia Ellingson for her commitment to excellence in children’s programming, as well as her leadership and guidance in developing TVO Kids. Winners of this prestigious prize, are chosen for the quality of their contributions, their leadership, their ability to innovate and inspire and their commitment throughout their career to young Canadians (sponsored by the Independent Production Fund).

The Emerging Talent Award went to Christin Simms, writer, script-writer and creative producer for Sinking Ship Entertainment. Christin has already demonstrated exceptional talent and promise in the children’s programming industry, notably in the development, story editing and writing of the new prime time animated series, Producing Parker (Breakthrough/CanWest Global) and most recently, in writing, story editing and creative producing on Sinking Ship’s pre-historic adventure series “Dino Dan” for TVO and Nickelodeon (sponsored by Corus Entertainment).

At the post-Gala reception marking its 35th anniversary, ACT officially launched An Alliance Devoted to Kids, a short history written by Robert Roy, one of the Alliance’s founding members back in 1974. All Gala attendees received a complimentary copy.

The Alliance for Children and Television (ACT) positively affects Canadian children’s lives by using advocacy, recognition, research and training to enrich the screen-based media they experience.

More specifically, the ACT Awards of Excellence support creators and encourage the celebration of the best kids’ programming in English and French Canada. ACT provides opportunities for creative and professional development through workshops, seminars and special events, such as Media-Jeunes and the Children, Youth & Media Conference. ACT also conducts studies on Canadian youth programming to better understand the media’s impact on our young people. Lastly, ACT is at the forefront in lobbying governments and drawing attention to the cause of children’s screen-based entertainment.

For more information on the ACT please visit our website at: http://www.act-aet.tv/.

Leading family entertainment producer and distributor Chorion has signed a number of licensing deals for The World of Eric Carle in the US and Europe. In the US, Crayola will begin a collaboration with The World of Eric Carle with a large format coloring book. JEM will produce tees for juniors and children. Zoobies bring their patent-pending 3-in-1 plush, pillow, blanket concept to The World of Eric Carle characters and Carson-Dellosa will produce a range of classroom products including bulletin board sets, borders, cut-outs and work holders.

Leapfrog Enterprises, Inc., has also signed to produce the Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? book for its Tag™ Junior system for 2-4 year olds which will teach about the life of animals through the lens of Eric Carle.

Continuing on from the success last summer in the US with The World of Eric Carle, Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar, the world’s largest casual dining restaurant chain with nearly 2,000 locations, will distribute a themed Family Activity Booklet throughout the Spring.

These deals follow a raft of promotional activity for The World of Eric Carle and its celebration of the 40th anniversary of the iconic picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which kicked off in March 2009.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written by Eric Carle sells one copy every 30 seconds somewhere in the world and has eaten its way into the hearts of literally millions of children around the globe. The beloved picture book has been translated into more than 45 languages and has sold over 29 million copies and a brand new The Very Hungry Caterpillar pop-up book has been released in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, Taiwan and Norway.

Just in time for summer, The Zula Patrol: Animal Adventures in Space! will take kids on a humorous, fun-filled adventure that offers an intriguing look at the natural world around us – while the Patrol’s wacky, lovable alien crew fends off an invasion of their planet! No job is too tough for Bula, Multo, Zeeter and their pals, who go on a series of missions that will leave kids and parents laughing as they discover the wonders of metamorphosis, ecosystems, and other fascinating phenomena.

The new feature-length DVD is based on the award-winning TV series, The Zula Patrol, which airs Saturday mornings on NBC as part of the qubo programming block and weekdays and weekends on public television stations.

The Zula Patrol: Animal Adventures in Space! follows the intrepid team from Zula in humor-filled stories that begin with a challenge, and end with a resolution, as they explore how insects, reptiles, mammals, plants and rocks form and interact with each other. In Larvae or Leave Me (the first episode), Skip the grasshopper can’t find his friend Wriggly the caterpillar – until he discovers, with help from The Zula Patrol, that Wriggly has transformed into a beautiful butterfly!

Four additional stories on the DVD are: Egg Hunt, There Goes the Neighborhood, Choosing Sides and Camp Worm. No job is too big for The Zula Patrol, as they search for stolen frog eggs, help restore life to a canyon ecosystem, solve the mystery of the missing honey, and tunnel through dirt with their worm comrades to help the trees grow – and end up thwarting a threatened “alien invasion” from another planet.

Are you familiar with the Fresh Air Fund? It is an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. In 2008, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

The Fresh Air Fund received a tremendous offer by some very generous donors. Right now any gift you make to The Fresh Air Fund will be matched dollar for dollar by a group of generous donors! If you can give $25 that means $50 for inner-city children. $50 becomes $100! But you must make your donation June 30thto take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

The Fund is still in need of hosts for this summer. Host families open their hearts and home to a child to give a fresh air experience that these children never forget.