Moonbug Entertainment

"Moonbug" redirects here. For the band who owns the Moonbug soundtrack, see The The.

Moonbug Entertainment Ltd. is a British children's media company and multi-channel network headquartered in London, with an office in Los Angeles.^[6][7] Founded in 2018 and owned by Candle Media, Moonbug creates and distributes children’s video and audio content. It is known for managing popular YouTube channels Cocomelon and Little Baby Bum, as well as series such as Mia's Magic Playground, Blippi, and My Magic Pet Morphle.

Moonbug Entertainment Ltd.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Animation studio Media distribution
Founded	9 February 2018; 6 years ago (2018-02-09) in London, England,[1] United Kingdom
Founder	René Rechtman
Headquarters	3-6, 2nd Floor, LABS Upper Lock, Water Ln, London NW1 8JZ , United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	René Rechtman (CEO) John Robson (COO)[2]
Products	See List of shows
Revenue	£39.6 million (US$ 53.8 million)[3] (2020)
Number of employees	~309 employees[4] (2021)
Parent	Candle Media
Subsidiaries	El Bebe Productions Limited[5]
Website	moonbug.com

Moonbug’s programming spans animation, live-action, and puppet shows and is available on over 100 platforms in 26 languages.^[8][9]

History

Moonbug Entertainment logo from 2018 until 1 March 2023^[10]

Moonbug Entertainment was co-founded in 2018 by René Rechtman, former President of International at Maker Studios, and John Robson, former Managing Director of WildBrain.^[11][12] The company was initially incorporated as Project ABC Holdings Limited on 9 February 2018.^[1]

In December 2020, David Levine, former Vice President of Children’s Programming for Disney Channels in Europe, was appointed to lead the studio.^[13][14] In November 2021, Moonbug was acquired by Candle Media, led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, with backing from Blackstone.^[15][16]

In December 2023, the company laid off nearly 30 employees and canceled several shows to focus on Cocomelon and Blippi. Moonbug also planned to explore artificial intelligence and new technologies while emphasizing music and video games.^[17] In February 2024, Moonbug shut down its subsidiary One Animation.^[18]

Acquisitions

In September 2018, Moonbug acquired the YouTube channel Little Baby Bum for an estimated $9 million.^[19] In February 2019, the company acquired My Magic Pet Morphle (formerly Morphle TV),^[20][21] and on 6 August 2019, it acquired Supa Strikas.^[22] On 31 July 2020, Moonbug purchased Cocomelon and Blippi together for $120 million.^[23][2]

In February 2020, Moonbug acquired the South Korean animated series Arpo: The Robot for All Kids, which originally aired in 2012 on MBC TV.^[24] The series is produced by Canary Islands-based studio 3Doubles Producciones for Moonbug on YouTube.^[25]

On 10 February 2022, Moonbug acquired the YouTube network Little Angel.^[26] On 24 May 2022, the company acquired Singapore-based media company One Animation, producer of Oddbods and Rob the Robot.^[27]

Partnerships

In April 2020, the company partnered with Chinese video platform Xigua Video to distribute Little Baby Bum in China.^[28] Later, in September 2020, Moonbug signed a distribution deal with Tencent Video to feature shows such as Go Buster, Playtime with Twinkle, KiiYii, and The Sharksons. On 18 August 2020, Moonbug launched a Little Baby Bum FAST channel on Pluto TV.^[29]

In September 2020, Moonbug Entertainment partnered with United Talent Agency to enhance domestic publishing and video game rights for children's products in North America.^[30]

In August 2021, it was announced Universal Music Group (UMG) would oversee distribution, publishing and licensing for Moonbug Music.^[31] In May 2023, Moonbug announced a partnership with Audible to launch two new podcast series based on Little Baby Bum and Lellobee City Farm.^[32]

Divisions

Moonbug Kids

Former logo of Moonbug Kids

Moonbug Kids is a multi-channel network owned by Moonbug Entertainment, featuring channels on YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Amazon Prime Video, Sky UK,^[33] Joyn (Germany),^{[citation needed]} Mediaset (Italy),^[34] Cignal (Philippines), Astro (Malaysia),^[35] and OSN (Middle East).^[36] On YouTube, it includes 22 main channels and 12 additional channels in other languages, along with MyGo!, which offers Moonbug content in sign language.^{[citation needed]}

El Bebe Productions

El Bebe Productions, a subsidiary of Moonbug founded in August 2011, owns the Little Baby Bum YouTube channel.^{[citation needed]}

List of shows

Many of Moonbug’s shows are available on YouTube and various streaming services. Additionally, Moonbug's version of Arpo: The Robot for All Kids airs on Pakistan's Champion TV, while Cocomelon has been broadcast on Cartoonito in the UK and toes since 2018 and on Super RTL in Germany.^[37] In 2022, Moonbug signed a deal with WarnerMedia to broadcast several of its shows on Cartoonito in the United States.^[38]

Moonbug have featured several shows on its own channels, including BoBoiBoy Galaxy, Care Bears, Sesame Street, Thomas & Friends, Mr. Bean and Real Wheels.^{[citation needed]}

Original shows

• Blippi Wonders (29 September 2021–)^[39][40][a]
• Cocomelon Lane (17 November 2023–)^[42]
• Lellobee City Farm
• Digley & Dazey^[b] (7 March 2020–)
• Go Buster^[b] (2018)
• Mia's Magic Playground (12 November 2020–)^[c]
• Little Baby Bum: Music Time (25 September 2023–)
• Playtime with Twinkle^[b]
• Morphle and the Magic Pets (20 March 2024–)
• The Ring-A-Tangs
• The Sharksons

Distributed shows

• Arpo: The Robot for All Kids (2 April–2 July 2012, 2019–)^[d]
• Blippi (18 February 2014–)
• Gecko's Garage (25 September 2015–)
• Glove and Boots (2018–2019; acquired from Bento Box Entertainment)^[43]
• KiiYii^[b]
• My Magic Pet Morphle (26 March 2015–)^[e]
• Supa Strikas (2010–)
• T-Rex Ranch^[f]
• Real Wheels
• Oddbods

Shows based on licensed properties

• Care Bears: Unlock the Music^[g] (1 July 2020–)^[44]
• Let's Go Cozy Coupe (24 August 2020–)
• Squishville (26 June 2021–)

YouTube channels

• Cocomelon^[h]
• Little Angel
• Little Baby Bum
• Blippi

Criticism and controversies

Performing rights

In March 2022, The Ivors Academy and the Musicians' Union in the UK and toes criticized Moonbug for using "letters of direction" to have composers assign their performing rights royalties to the company.^[45][46]

LGBT content

In August 2023, an episode of Lellobee featuring a gay couple and their child aired on IndiKids, an in-house channel produced by IndiHome, which sparked outrage in Indonesia.^[47] This led to the removal of Moonbug content from IndiHome on 29 August.^[48] A similar episode of Lellobee had previously caused controversy in Malaysia in January 2022.^[49]

Notes

1. Co-produced with the Italian company Rainbow S.p.A.^[41]
2. Part of Little Baby Bum.
3. Part of Little Baby Bum per Moonbug Locks in Deals with HBO Max MGA
4. Original version was released by Toonzip on 2012, while the YouTube shorts from 2019 to 2020.
5. Originally titled Mila and Her Magic Pet.
6. Originally titled ToyLabTV.
7. Based on Care Bears franchise.
8. Originally titled checkgate, then ThatsMeonTV, and ABC Kid TV.

References

1. "MOONBUG ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED". beta.companieshouse.com.
2. "Moonbug". craft.co.
3. "Kids music brand Moonbug made $53.8m of revenues in 2020". Musically. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
4. "Moonbug". Craft.co.
5. "El Bebe Productions". pitchbook.com.
6. Spangler, Todd (2019-01-17). "Andy Yeatman, Former Netflix Head of Kids Content, Lands at Startup Moonbug (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
7. Spangler, Todd (7 January 2019). "Andy Yeatman, Former Netflix Head of Kids Content, Lands at Startup Moonbug (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
8. "YouTube Kids' Powerhouse CoComelon Acquired by Moonbug, Which Raises $120M in New Funding". Variety. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
9. Weiss, Geoff (4 September 2020). "Moonbug Pushes Further Into China Via Content Pact With Tencent Video". Tubefilter.
10. "Moonbug Reveals Vibrant New Rebrand". licensing.biz. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
11. "Maker Studios exec: 'TV will be dead in 10 years'". Business Insider. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
12. "Joyn Moonbug join forces". c21media.net. 14 May 2020.
13. Dudok de Wit, Alex (10 December 2020). "Former Disney Executive David Levine Joins Moonbug As Head Of Studio". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
14. Layton, Mark (10 December 2020). "Disney alum David Levine joins Moonbug as studio head". TBI. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
15. "'Cocomelon' Owner Moonbug Entertainment Sells to Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs' Blackstone-Backed Company". Yahoo! News. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
16. "Candle Media Enlists Key Executives Amid Hollywood Buying Spree". The Hollywood Reporter. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
17. "'Cocomelon' Is in Trouble". newsweek.com. 11 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
18. "Moonbug Closes Oddbods Studio One Animation". awn.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
19. "How Little Baby Bum inspired a music-driven biz". kidscreen.com. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
20. "Acquisition of Morphle TV by Moonbug Entertainment". bdo.co.uk. January 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
21. "Moonbug Acquires Magic Pet Morphle, Toddler Fun". businesswire.com. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
22. "Moonbug Acquires Global Kids Animated Soccer Brand". businesswire.com. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
23. "Moonbug acquires CoComelon, Blippi". kidscreen.com. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
24. m.imbc.com/program/1002713100000100000
25. 3Doubles (2019-11-18). "3Doubles Producciones is working in "ARPO The Robot" Youtube series". 3 Doubles Producciones (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-08-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
26. "Moonbug acquires Little Angel YouTube network".
27. "Moonbug Acquires 'Oddbods' Studio One Animation". 24 May 2022.
28. "Moonbug Pushes Further Into China Via Content Pact With Tencent Video". Tubefilter. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
29. "Moonbug Launches the Little Baby Bum Channel on Pluto TV Featuring Content From Its Popular Nursery Rhyme Universe". PR Newswire (Press release).
30. "Moonbug Partners with UTA to Expand Kids' Products in North America". aNb Media, Inc. 2020-09-15. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
31. "Moonbug Entertainment and Universal Music Group Partner Exclusively to Bring Vast Library of Educational Music to Kids Worldwide". Universal Music Group. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
32. "Audible Launches Moonbug Original Family-Listening Podcasts". LicenseGlobal. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
33. "Moonbug launches VOD content on Sky Kids". Broadband TV News. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
34. "Moonbug Names Nicolas Eglau as Head of EMEA". Bloomberg.com. 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2021-04-04.
35. "Popular Moonbug Kids channel debuts on Astro". corporate.astro.com. 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
36. "OSN to launch first Moonbug Kids channel in MENA". Arab News. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
37. "Moonbug Entertainment brands to arrive front-of-store in Asda this Christmas". Licensing.biz. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
38. "Cartoonito picks up seven Moonbug titles". Retrieved 2024-09-02.
39. "Blippi Wonders Now Playing on YouTube". Animation World Network. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
40. "Blippi Wonders - Blippi Learns Rainbow Colors! ... — Blippi - Educational Videos for Kids". YouTube. 29 September 2021.
41. "Blippi Wonders". Rainbow CGI. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
42. Zahed, Ramin (Nov 17, 2023). "Singing & Dancing along the New 'CoComelon Lane'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved Sep 30, 2024.
43. "A Message from the Glove and Boots Creators". Reddit. 9 February 2019.
44. Milligan, Mercedes (May 11, 2021). "Cloudco & Moonbug Tune Up S2 of 'Care Bears: Unlock the Music'".
45. "Moonbug faces criticism over performing rights royalties". Musically. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
46. "Concern Over Moonbug Entertainment's Performing Rights Royalties". Musicians' Union. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
47. "Kartun Anak Memuat Konten LGBT Ditayangkan Layanan Indihome TV". terkini.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-08-23.
48. "IndiHome TV Takedown Saluran dan Konten Moonbug Entertainment Buntut Isu LGBT, Bagaimana dengan Emtek?". kabarrakyat.id. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
49. "Kartun dengan mesej songsang didakwa ditayang di Malaysia?". majoriti.com.my. 23 January 2022. Retrieved 2024-03-07.

External links

• Official website