Entertainment Rights Plc (ER) had announced that it has acquired the distribution rights to Mattel's fourth feature length film, BARBIE AS THE PRINCESS AND THE PAUPER. ER will release the title in the U.K. on DVD and video on its own label Right Ent. ER has also secured international TV rights, excluding North America.
This new deal follows ER's success as the international distributor for television, video and DVD of Mattel's first three full-length feature films BARBIE IN THE NUTCRACKER, BARBIE AS RAPUNZEL AND BARBIE OF SWAN LAKE. All three titles have been sold to the preeminent national broadcast partners in more than 90 countries worldwide including Super RTL in Germany, M6 in France, Mediaset in Italy, Telecinco in Spain, TVB Hong Kong, SBS Korea and Network 7 in Australia. Through its distribution deal with Universal International and with combined U.K. sales from the Right Ent. label over seven million BARBIE videos and DVDs have been sold to date.
Mike Heap, ceo of Entertainment Rights, said, "We have developed a close working relationship with Mattel and have worked together to develop the BARBIE feature-film franchise as a phenomenally popular concept for young girls around the world. These films have also been the launch pad for our own highly successful home entertainment division Right Ent. which has established itself as an exceptional supplier of quality children's and family entertainment."
Steve Ross, svp of entertainment and business development at Mattel Inc., said, "We are thrilled to partner with Entertainment Rights on our fourth BARBIE direct-to-video feature. They have been with us from the beginning and they have proven to be an outstanding partner. The momentum generated from the BARBIE movies continues to build each year and the combination of the incredibly inspirational story of BARBIE AS THE PRINCESS AND THE PAUPER told as a musical, along with Entertainment Rights' expertise, should make this our most successful release yet."
Entertainment Rights is one of the U.K.'s leading specialist media groups focused on the ownership of children's and family programming, characters and brands. ER owns the rights to many classic characters including BASIL BRUSH, POSTMAN PAT and LITTLE RED TRACTOR. It recently purchased the TV library of Filmation, which includes HE-MAN and ARCHIE. For more information, visit www.entertainmentrights.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
