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´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide, the commercial arm of the ´óÏó´«Ã½, has today announced Brecrest as the first official licensee for pre-school property, Wibbly Pig. The firm have been signed to produce a range of apparel for the brand – set to develop product for little fans from 0-3 years old.

Adapted from the charming books by Mick Inkpen by Will Brenton – creator and producer of Tweenies – Wibbly Pig uses imagination and adventure to take audiences through familiar routines and rituals such as bedtime, mealtime and childhood games. The Wibbly Pig books have already seen phenomenal success, selling over 1.7 million units within the UK alone and the programme, which currently airs daily on CBeebies, has become a pre-school favourite since its UK debut in September, 2009.

The partnership with Brecrest will see a range of pre-school apparel head to retailers, including daywear, nightwear, bodysuits and accessories. Initially launching through Sainsbury’s TU label for Autumn/Winter 2010, lines will be available to other UK retailers for Spring/Summer, 2011.

Richard Hollis, Head of UK Licensing for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide, said: "This is an exciting opportunity for the brand: Wibbly Pig has established itself as a firm favourite in the pre-school arena and we're confident that this partnership with Brecrest will meet and exceed the high expectations of retailers and consumers alike. The style of the show lends itself wonderfully to licensing, and we’re currently exploring other categories for the brand."

The deal sees a continuation of the partnership between ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide and Brecrest, who also hold a licence to produce children's apparel for In the Night Garden.

NOTES TO EDITORS
About Wish Films
Wish Films was formed in 2006 and is run by Will Brenton and Helen Cadwallader, formerly of Tell-Tale Productions.

Whilst running Tell-Tale they created and produced some of the most popular UK children's television including 'The Tweenies' (´óÏó´«Ã½ - 390 episodes), 'Boo!' (´óÏó´«Ã½- 104 episodes), 'BB3C' (´óÏó´«Ã½ – 13 episodes) and 'The Fun Song Factory' (GMTV/CiTV – 72 episodes).

They enjoyed considerable success with these shows, gaining a BAFTA, an RTS award, along with four other BAFTA nominations and nominations at the British Animation Awards, the Broadcast Awards and winning another 14 awards in total. The Tweenies also enjoyed four top ten singles and five arena tours playing to over 1 million people, all of which were written and produced by Will and Iain Lauchlan.

Wish Films' first commission was the production of 'Jim Jam and Sunny', CiTV's biggest ever commission at 260 x 11 minute live action episodes. Wish Film's most recent production, the animation project "Wibbly Pig" (52 x 10 minutes), had its first transmission on CBeebies in September 2009. Wish Films produces high quality indigenous programming for children in the UK, from pre-school to pre-teen, with a strong universal appeal and the ability to transfer easily to other territories.

Anna Kingsley