Following the success of the season one broadcast, the internationally popular series, The WotWots, from Pukeko Pictures will return to the UK’s Channel 5 Milkshake with season two in 2013 through a deal recently brokered by AG Properties (AGP), the intellectual property and outbound licensing division of American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM), which serves as a global licensing agent for the brand.

Season one of The WotWots has been a solid performer for Milkshake, consistently a high-rated preschool series on the television programming block for children on Channel 5.

“The WotWots has had a strong ratings history on Milkshake with season one and we look forward to seeing the same performance when season two premieres this year.  The UK is an important growth market for the brand with Rainbow Productions scheduled to roll-out live appearances in the near future” said Andrew Smith, Chief Executive, Pukeko Pictures.

The WotWots is an enchanting pre-school series that follows the adventures of two adorable siblings from outer space, SpottyWot and DottyWot.  This delightful pair of enquiring minds have come to Earth to explore and to marvel at the extraordinary diversity of life on the blue planet. The show celebrates this joy of discovery and demonstrates the positive values that are the building blocks of a true and enduring friendship.

Season one sees SpottyWot and DottyWot come to explore planet earth in their steam-powered spaceship and arrive in the middle of a zoo.  In season two, the alien siblings land on a farm and meet strange and friendly farm animals and also travel to the seashore.   Encouraging the love of animals, the season celebrates the joy of discovery and the extraordinary diversity of life on the planet.

Made up of seven episodes, each 11 minutes long, the DVD features the delightful alien duo, SpottyWot and DottyWot, as they nurture and stimulate the joys of learning, participation and discovery through their gentle and fun adventures.

The WotWots from Pukeko Pictures have come from outer space in their steam-powered spaceship to explore and marvel at the extraordinary diverse life on Earth with season one of the television series seeing SpottyWot and DottyWot arrive in the middle of a zoo.

The DVD features the following episodes:

Stripe A Lotty Wotty – The WotWots spot a very stripy animal and head off to investigate. SpottyWot decides he would like stripes as well, and comes up with a clever plan to get them.

Scary Sucky Noise - The WotWots hear a strange trumpeting sound and go to investigate. SpottyWot sees a large elephant trunk and decides it must be a long floppy ear.

Lanky Landing Legs – SpottyWot is fixing the long lanky legs of the spaceship when his sister spots two other long legs through the Sneak-a-peek, two long and very pink lanky legs.

Drowsy DottyWot – It is midday and the zoo animals are snoozing in the warm sunshine, even The WotWots are sleepy. But a new animal adventure soon has them wide awake.

Lumpy Bumpies – SpottyWot is making a crayon rubbing from the lumpy bark of a tree when DottyWot spots something else that’s lumpy and bumpy through the Sneak-a-peek.

Plodda Lotty – SpottyWot is in a mood to zoom and he’s frustrated that his sister is moving too slowly. But he’s very impressed when they spot a creature that does everything slowly.

Fluffy Puffies – DottyWot watches some amazing cloud shapes drifting by. She head out into the zoo with her brother to look for any animals as fluffy and white as the clouds.

The broadcast will go to air in early 2013 and will consist of 78 episodes, 26 of which have been co-produced with Pukeko Pictures’ Chinese partner, Grand Entertainment Ltd (GZ).  Renowned Chinese painter, Mr. Mi Jinming contributed to the specially co-produced episodes by adding classic Chinese Ink Painting elements to give the series a local and cultural touch-point.

Mr Li Chumbo, Deputy Director of the Program Department of CCTV11, and Director/Council Member of the Chinese Dramatist Association and Chinese Calligraphy Association sees the program as a unique cultural and artistic integration of New Zealand state of the art animation and Chinese drama and calligraphy.

“The WotWots was introduced in China on the CCTV broadcast platform in 2011.  Since then, the popularity for DottyWot and SpottyWot has continued to grow and we are thrilled they will now be seen on the very popular Happy Playhouse programming line-up on CCTV 11.  The integration of Mr. Mi Jinming’s Chinese Ink Painting elements will give the series a local relevance while still maintaining its universal themes” said Andrew Smith, Chief Executive, Pukeko Pictures.

The viewing audience of CCTV 11 enjoys close to 1/10th of the population in China and continues to grow significantly since the channel launched 10 years ago.  Happy Playhouse has become a popular programme block for children, drawing in preschool, primary and middle school students as well as their parents nationwide based on its fun and educational focus.

This broadcast deal follows on from the recent partnership between Pukeko Pictures and Grand Entertainment Ltd (GZ) with the Animation School of the Beijing Film Academy to establish the “International Animation Technology Joint Research Centre” to actively promote the development of animated projects and open up the expanding international, Chinese and film and television markets.

Formed to promote film and television cultural exchange between China and New Zealand, and develop animation technology in the synergy of enterprise, academia and institutional research, the deal between the three parties will also provide a platform for collaboration in the film and television fields between Chinese entities and international enterprises.

Santa Monica, CA — January 9, 2013 — Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a leading global diversified entertainment company, and American Greetings Properties (AGP), the intellectual property and outbound licensing division of American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM), today announced a home entertainment distribution agreement for the new CGI Animated TV series “Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot.”  The agreement gives Lionsgate packaged and digital rights in both the U.S. and UK to all 26 episodes of the series, which debuted on The Hub in 2012.   In addition, the two companies are extending their existing contract, with Lionsgate retaining its rights to the two previous Care Bears television series and five Care Bears movies.

Under the new agreement, Lionsgate will also distribute three additional American Greetings properties in the U.S. through packaged and digital media.  The three series—the WETA produced show “The WotWots,” “The Twisted Whiskers Show” and “Maryoku Yummy”.  Finally, Lionsgate will acquire U.S. digital rights to three seasons of the classic Strawberry Shortcake series.

“We have enjoyed tremendous success over the years with the Care Bears franchise and are pleased to extend our relationship with the new ‘Care Bears: Welcome to Care-A-Lot’ series.  We look forward to helping the Brand grow to new heights with the combination of new entertainment content and American Greeting’s new Care Bears toy launch in 2013,” said Michael Rathauser, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Lionsgate. “Furthermore we are excited to have the opportunity to not only expand the Care Bears digital home entertainment footprint, but to also bring some of American Greetings’ other quality children’s entertainment to digital retailers for the first time; creating both new business opportunities and more awareness for these great brands.”

“We are extremely honored to continue our partnership with Lionsgate,” said Gia DeLaney, vice president of program sales for American Greetings Properties. “The Care Bears’ highly-anticipated return to U.S. television in June was a huge success and we are thrilled to continue bringing the series to fans through innovative avenues.”

About Lionsgate

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution and sales.  The Company has built a strong television presence in production of primetime cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 23 shows on 16 networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses, including the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mad Men, the critically acclaimed series Weeds, Nurse Jackie, the comedy Anger Management, which has been picked up for another 90 episodes by FX, the network series Nashville, picked up for a full season of 22 episodes by ABC, the syndication successes Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, its spinoff Meet the Browns, The Wendy Williams Show, Are We There Yet? and the upcoming Orange Is The New Black, an original series for Netflix.

Its feature film business has been fueled by such recent successes as the blockbuster first installment of The Hunger Games franchise, the 13^th highest-grossing domestic box office release of all time, The Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which has grossed more than $800 million at the worldwide box office, Texas Chainsaw 3D, The Possession, Sinister, The Expendables 2, Cabin in the Woods, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection and Arbitrage.  With the January 2012 acquisition of Summit Entertainment, the Company has now added the blockbuster Twilight Saga, which has grossed more than $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office, to its current slate, giving the Company the two premier young adult franchises in the world. Recent Summit hits include Red, Letters to Juliet, Knowing and the Academy Award-winning Best Picture, The Hurt Locker.

Lionsgate’s home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 15,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

About American Greetings Corporation
For more than 100 years, American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) has been a creator and manufacturer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships to create happiness, laughter and love. The Company’s major greeting card lines are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include DesignWare party goods and American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards. American Greetings also has one of the largest collections of electronic greetings on the Web, including cards available at AmericanGreetings.com through AG Interactive, Inc. (the Company’s online division). In addition to its product lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands through the American Greetings Properties group. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $1.7 billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets worldwide. For more information on the Company, visit http://corporate.americangreetings.com.

About American Greetings Properties
American Greetings Properties (AGP) is the intellectual property and outbound licensing division of American Greetings Corporation. Built upon the successful re-launches of Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake licensed products, which have garnered over $5 billion in retail sales worldwide combined since 2002, AGP develops multi-platform campaigns for its properties through digital media, entertainment, marketing and merchandising. In addition to Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake, AGP’s active classic brands include Holly Hobbie and Madballs, as well as new properties Twisted Whiskers, Maryoku Yummy and TinPo.
Children can experience AGP online at www.agkidzone.com. For more information on AGP, visit www.agpbrands.com.

Plush SpottyWot and DottyWot soft toys on sale for $29.90 each for a limited time only, subject to availability.

Bring the kids along to meet the characters and take home colouring sheets and finger puppets.

Don’t forget you can get Super Saver Parking when you spend $20 or more at Sky Tower* entitling you to $5 parking for up to 3 hours and then $1 for each extra hour (or part hour). Simply get your car park ticket validated at the Sky Tower Gift Shop on the day of purchase to get the Super Saving Parking rate.

Standard Sky Tower admission rates apply.

*Excludes purchases from Sky Pix and i-SITE

Check out SpottyWot here and DottyWot here!

Tickle, poke and spin SpottyWot around in his hover chair on our just-released Pocket Spottywot app. It’s also great fun to check out the animals in the Sneek-a-Peek viewfinder. And don’t forget to tickle SpottyWots foot – you’ll love it!

You can now take Spottywot with you on the go for hours of fun. Check it out here!

Chick here to join