Nickelodeon Licensing Juggernaut Rolls Over Halloween

Having little kids I see quite a bit of Nickelodeon, especially Nick toons, and most especially of all SpongeBob, Fairly Odd Parents, and Jimmy Neutron, which seem to just about equally entertain all of us, ranging in age from 22 months to 47 years. I have recently discussed Nick’s “Let’s Just Play” campaign and their Halloween programming, but it just sunk in to me what a monolithic juggernaut Nickelodeon really is when confronted with some figures:

Nickelodeon, now in its 26th year (I also watched it a lot from the late-’80s into the mid-’90s with my two older kids), is seen in more than 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for nine consecutive years. And Viacom Consumer Products — largely on the strength of Nickelodeon properties like SpongeBob, Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, et al (but also handling Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTVN International, and Spike TV) — manages the third largest licensing business in the world with $4.7 BILLION in retail sales in 2004.

Nick just announced new products for Halloween, including costumes based on two characters from the new Nick Jr. show LazyTown (produced in Iceland!), Sportacus and Stephanie, the acrobatic stars of the show, already one of the top five shows for preschoolers on all of commercial TV.

Costumes

LazyTown Sportacus — Sportacus is a super-fit superhero who always tries to inspire the kids of LazyTown to leave their bad habits behind and embrace a more active, healthy lifestyle. He is an acrobat with an infectious love of play. Like anyone, he is sometimes tempted by unhealthy options, but he always manages to find the strength to resist. Sportacus costume available in Deluxe and Standard and comes complete with vest, hat, goggles and arm bands.

LazyTown Stephanie — Eight-year-old Stephanie is new to LazyTown and the viewer sees the strange new place through her eyes. With her signature pink hair and energy, Stephanie is assertive, strong-willed and sees life as a great adventure. She has an “always a way” attitude and is the drive behind the adventures — the sparkplug that brings change to LazyTown. Stephanie loves moving and music, dancing and doing. There are two versions of the Stephanie costume, Deluxe and Standard. Each costume comes with Stephanie’s signature pink wig and cheerleader dress.

Fiber Optic Star Catching Dora — New Dora costume that features fiber optic lights in her shirt (batteries included). Each costume also includes shorts and a yarn wig so little girls can have their own Dora adventure.

Talking Blue’s Room — Plush costume comes with a talking bracelet that says three phrases… just like Blue.

Toys

SpongeBob SquarePants Frankenstein and Pumpkinhead Beanie Babies — SpongeBob celebrates Halloween with his favorite costumes. This year, he’s dressing as Frankenstein and as a pumpkin.

DVDs

Backyardigans: It’s Great to be a Ghost — Howl with laughter this Halloween with two special Backyardigans episodes that feature spooky ghosts and soccer-loving monsters! In “It’s Great to be a Ghost!” Pablo, Tyrone and Uniqua are ghosts, haunting an old house to the sounds of ’20s-style jazz. When unsuspecting Tasha drops by, they really put their scaring skills to the test. In “Monster Detectives,” sixties-style rock underscores Tyrone’s adventure as a no-nonsense detective helping his client Uniqua retrieve her soccer ball from the castle of the Soccer Monster.

Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Halloween — In “Boo!” it’s Halloween and Dora and Boots are out teach-or-treating when a cute little monster surprises them. Dora and Boots encounter a spooky journey ahead of them as they help Little Monster hurry home before the clock strikes twelve. In “The Missing Piece,” Dora and Boots meet a wizard who is missing his magic wand. In order to help find it, the gang has to ride in a rocket ship all the way to the end of the rainbow. Features two bonus episodes: “To the Monkey Bars” and “The Big Storm.”

Max & Ruby: Max & Ruby’s Halloween — Join Max and Ruby as they dress up for Halloween, collect leaves, read a scary story, go to a fair, skate to Grandma’s house and tell spooky ghost stories.

SpongeBob SquarePants Halloween — SpongeBob and his friends celebrate Halloween, as well as experience other scary days throughout the year. Whether it’s monsters or ghosts or encountering others in costumes, SpongeBob always manages to control his fear and have a good laugh at the end. Features the music video “Scaredy Pants.”