Genius Brands International, Inc. (“Genius
Brands”) (NASDAQ:GNUS) announces a sneak peek event for season one
of the Company’s new animated children’s series,
Stan Lee’s
Superhero Kindergarten, Co-Executive Produced by and
starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger, which will
officially premiere on:
Kartoon
Channel! in spring 2021. To
download the app, please
visit https://linktr.ee/kartoonchannel.
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, an
action-adventure comedy series, is one of the last creations from
the genius mind of the late Stan Lee. The school day at
Superhero Kindergarten is a lot like that at any other
kindergarten…except these six extraordinary students have a secret…
They are superheroes! Rather than powers derived from a radioactive
spider bite or gamma rays, these special kids’ powers come from
common kindergarten items like white glue, putty, building blocks
and yes, even farts (yuck!). And thankfully, they have Arnold
Armstrong (AKA Captain Fantastic, the greatest superhero to ever
live!) as their teacher (voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger).
Sponsored by toy company Laser
Pegs, the sneak peek weekend event will be preceded by an
introduction from Schwarzenegger himself, and will air beginning
Friday, January 29th at 12:00pm EST through Sunday, January 31st at
11:59pm PST, exclusively on Kartoon Channel! (to download the app,
please visit https://linktr.ee/kartoonchannel). In
addition to content “Brought to you by Laser Pegs,” the toy company
will provide prize packs of their unique STEM construction toys for
social media promotions across Kartoon Channel! platforms.
Schwarzenegger stated: “I am
excited to work with Genius Brands to share a first look at Stan
Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, my first ever animated children’s
series coming this spring to the Kartoon Channel! I am
especially proud and honored to bring Stan Lee’s vision and one of
his last creations to life in this masterful production, sharing
positive nuggets of value such as health and fitness tips,
inclusivity, diversity, anti-bullying and more.”
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten is voice
directed by John Landis, one of the most
successful movie directors of all time, with Steven
Banks, former head writer for SpongeBob SquarePants,
serving as head writer for the series. Produced by Genius
Brands and Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment in association with
Schwarzenegger’s Oak Productions, the series features 26 half-hours
for global distribution with Genius Brands concurrently launching a
comprehensive retail program. Gill Champion, CEO
of Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment; Andy
Heyward, Chairman & CEO of Genius Brands;
Schwarzenegger; and Paul Wachter of Main Street
Advisors serve as executive producers.
“This unveiling is a special event for Genius
Brands, as it represents the culmination of countless of hours of
hard work by some of the most proven hit makers in the
entertainment industry. Stan Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger and John
Landis, together, have been responsible for billions of dollars of
box office revenue from hit movies, series and consumer products,
and we have no doubt that more magic will be made with Stan Lee’s
Superhero Kindergarten,” commented Andy Heyward, Chairman
& CEO of Genius Brands. “We are especially excited to
help realize this vision of Stan Lee and look forward to bringing a
broad array of truly unique consumer products to retail.”
About Kartoon Channel! + Kartoon
Classroom!Kartoon Channel! and Kartoon Classroom! are
available in over 100 million U.S. television households and over
300 million devices via a broad range of distribution platforms,
including Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling TV, Amazon
Prime, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Apple iOS, Android TV,
Android Mobile, Google Play, Xumo, Roku, Tubi,
and streaming via KartoonChannel.com, as well as accessible via
Samsung Smart TVs, and LGTVs.
The channel offers access to a wide variety
of Genius Brands original and acquired family-friendly content,
with more added daily, including Babar, Angry Birds, Stan
Lee’s Mighty7, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, Baby Einstein, Baby
Genius, Llama Llama shorts, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires
Club, and more. Additionally, Genius
Brands has added more family-friendly gaming
content, including Minecraft’s Journey to the
End and Fairy Horse Quest, and Big B Roblox
Challenge from Tankee. Genius Brands will premiere
on Kartoon Channel! the upcoming comedy-adventure
series, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, currently in
production and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Q2 2021.
Kartoon Channel! content has been curated
through a content code developed in consultation with Stanford
University Professor Emeritus Don Roberts, one of the world’s
leading researchers of children’s media, to ensure the delivery of
positive and purposeful content that is safe for children. The
Kartoon Channel! Content Code, under the leadership of Professor
Roberts, ensures among other things, there will be no violence, no
negative stereotypes, no inappropriate language, no degradation of
the environment, and no excess commercialization.
Kartoon Classroom! is an innovative extension of
Kartoon Channel! that features relevant and impactful STEAM-based
content (science, technology, engineering arts and math), including
programming from Genius Brands’ ‘content with a purpose’ library
such as Baby Genius (Early Development), Thomas Edison’s
Secret Lab (STEM), and Warren Buffett’s Secret
Millionaires Club (Financial Literacy). Additionally, Kartoon
Classroom! will showcase content from third party creators
worldwide, such as Baby Einstein (Early Development),
Little Smart Planet (Early Learning), I’m A
Dinosaur (Paleontology), Super Geek Heroes (Early
Learning), Counting with
Earl (Math), Giligilis (Musical Learning),
and Out of this Word (English Language). Genius
Brands will also develop new original content for the platform.
To stream Kartoon Channel! and Kartoon
Classroom! for free, download our app or visit:
www.kartoonchannel.com
About Genius Brands
InternationalGenius Brands International, Inc. (Nasdaq:
GNUS) is a leading global kids media company developing, producing,
marketing and licensing branded children’s entertainment properties
and consumer products for media and retail distribution. The
Company’s award-winning ‘content with a purpose’ portfolio includes
the upcoming Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger and in partnership with Alibaba; Rainbow Rangers for
Nick Jr.; Llama Llama, starring Jennifer Garner, for Netflix;
award-winning toddler brand Baby Genius; adventure comedy STEM
series Thomas Edison's Secret Lab; and entrepreneurship series
Warren Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club. Through licensing
agreements with leading partners, characters from Genius Brands’ IP
also appear on a wide range of consumer products for the worldwide
retail marketplace. The Company’s new Kartoon Channel! and Kartoon
Classroom! are available in over 100 million U.S. television
households via a broad range of distribution platforms, including
Comcast, Cox, DISH, Sling TV, Amazon Prime, Amazon
Fire, Apple TV, Apple iOS, Android TV, Android
Mobil, Google Play, Xumo, Roku, Tubi,
KartoonChannel.com, Samsung Smart TVs and LG TVs. For additional
information, please visit www.gnusbrands.com.
About Laser PegsLaser Pegs
offer children and “young” adults a fun alternative to the
traditional construction toy by illuminating their surroundings
with our patented light bricks and vibrant color combinations.
Laser Pegs are unique STEM toys that enhance learning of spatial
relations, creative abstract thinking, problem solving and math
skills by grouping, and improving hand/eye coordination. Our goal
is to encourage innovation, creativity, and excitement while
building one set or an entire world of Laser Pegs.
Laser Pegs is based in Sarasota, Florida since
the company’s inception in 2009. Our dedicated team of dreamers,
designers, builders, and innovators work hard every day to ensure
that our customers and their families have only the best
experiences with their Laser Pegs.
Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements
in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as
"may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect,"
"anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast,"
"project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements
regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are
forward-looking statements. While the Company believes these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should
not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are
based on information available to us on the date of this release.
These forward looking statements are based upon current estimates
and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties,
including without limitation, our ability to generate revenue or
achieve profitability; our ability to obtain additional financing
on acceptable terms, if at all; our ability to repay our
outstanding debt; the potential issuance of a significant number of
shares to our convertible note holders which will dilute our equity
holders; fluctuations in the results of our operations from period
to period; general economic and financial conditions; our ability
to anticipate changes in popular culture, media and movies, fashion
and technology; competitive pressure from other distributors of
content and within the retail market; our reliance on and
relationships with third-party production and animation studios;
our ability to market and advertise our products; our reliance on
third-parties to promote our products; our ability to keep pace
with technological advances; our ability to protect our
intellectual property and those other risk factors set forth in the
“Risk Factors” section of the Company’s most recent Annual Report
on Form 10-K and in the Company's subsequent filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Thus, actual
results could be materially different. The Company expressly
disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
MEDIA
CONTACT:pr@gnusbrands.com
INVESTOR RELATIONS
CONTACT:
ir@gnusbrands.com
A video accompanying this announcement is available
at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9b1b5aa3-814f-44bd-9f92-c9c3c2e0bb37
A photo accompanying this announcement is available
at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0d24359d-d4d2-4922-8d16-27ff9a4f1fb0
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