The deal will ensure that Planet Snoopy and Camp Snoopy-themed children's areas will be able to continue under those brands for the next eight years at the company's 11 amusement parks, including Knott's Berry Farm, Cedar Point, and Kings Island.
Peanuts' relationship with these parks began in 1983, when Camp Snoopy opened at Knott's Berry Farm. When Ohio-based Cedar Fair chain bought Knott's Berry Farm from the Knott family in 1997, Cedar Fair also obtained the Peanuts license, which it eventually extended and expanded at its other parks. Cedar Fair converted several Nickelodeon-themed kids' areas at the former Paramount theme parks to Peanuts branding after obtaining those parks in 2006.
"This agreement extension speaks to the enduring appeal of the Peanuts brand, and as a leader in children's content and brands, we value the opportunity to work with Cedar Fair to reach an all-family audience for Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang," Cedar Far CEO Matt Ouimet said in a statement released by the company. "The renewed relationship between Cedar Fair and Peanuts Worldwide allows both companies to develop and extend their brands, creating a more immersive experience for guests through meet-and-greets, live entertainment, merchandise and themed areas throughout the parks."
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Each year, a Charlie Brown Christmas ranks at the top for ratings among Christmas specials, & the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade showcases the characters yearly.
Plus, the film did do modestly well (considering the property isn't exactly releasing tons of output / merchandise, etc)
Nostalgia has a big part in it, but like many IP's, it's passed on by generation (Flintstones vitamins are still selling!!!!!!!)
I've always thought this would be the perfect IP for Universal Orlando to take on (Universal Japan actually has this IP). Having it would allow IoA to do an inexpensive partial overlay of Toon Lagoon and actually add some recognizable theming and provide for merchandising opportunities in an area of the park that can't be generating much revenue for them. Not to mention Peanuts would be worthy of a good dark ride and/or show. With Peanuts officially off the market, I fear this area will continue to waste space until it needs a complete overhaul.
Disney and Universal market to a world-wide audience, and they're the most popular theme-parks in the USA, attracting people world over. For Cedar Fair to completely ignore the international market would be stupid. I won't address the "lower" hemisphere comment.
My simple point is that these characters are very old, without any huge recent exposure (even less than the muppets AFAIK). In Australia the would have been recognisable in the 80s, but no longer, so is it a wise investment? I think others have addressed this pretty well, in that its a fairly safe investment,
Robert, completely with you on Calvin and Hobbes. Awesome comic.
The Peanuts Movie, released in November 2015, grossed $130 million in the US and another $116 million overseas. Certainly paltry numbers compared to a Pixar or Dreamworks/Illumination release (Sing more than doubled it out of a similar release slot the following year), but it's still a viable IP remaining in the public consciousness.
I was in Hong Kong and McDonald's there had a merchandising promotional tie in with the Peanuts movie where if you bought a combo meal, you could get a Peanut's character shaped small cushion for an additional few US dollars.
Those things went FAST especially Snoopy and Woodstock!
Therefore I agree with Russell Meyer that "it's still a viable IP remaining in the public consciousness." =)
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