Thunderbird Distribution sends Canadian preschool series Mittens & Pants to the U.S. with NBCU’s Peacock on board

Dedicated children’s free ad-supported video services HappyKids, Kidoodle.TV and Sensical are also bringing the new series to their U.S. viewers Mittens & Pants will launch on HappyKids and Kidoodle.TV this month

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thunderbird Distribution, a division of Thunderbird Entertainment Group (TSXV:TBRD) (OTCQX:THBRF) (“Thunderbird” or the “Company”), is delighted to announce that adorable animal-centric preschool series Mittens & Pants has been adopted by several U.S. streaming platforms.

NBCU streamer Peacock is taking Season 1 (39 x 7 minutes) of Mittens & Pants for the U.S. market and plans to launch the series in calendar Q1, 2024.

Additionally, dedicated children’s free ad-supported video services HappyKids (Future Today), Kidoodle.TV, the global home of Safe Streaming™, and Common Sense Media-owned Sensical are bringing the series’ first season to their U.S. viewers over the coming months. HappyKids is set to launch Mittens & Pants on its U.S. service on Friday, November 17, while Kidoodle.TV is launching the series on both its AVOD and FAST services in the States on Thursday, November 30.

Mittens the kitten and Pants the puppy are best friends that live in the all-animal town of Kibble Corners — each day is a new adventure for these unlikely best friends. The series debuted in February 2023 on commissioning broadcasters CBC Kids (Canada) and Sky Kids (UK), and the first season has since been picked up by France TV, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Cartoonito and Boomerang channels (Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan), Hop! Channel (Israel) and DR Denmark. A second season was quickly greenlit and debuted on CBC Kids and streamer CBC Gem in July.

“Launching into the U.S. market is an amazing next step for this live-action series that features real animals,” said Richard Goldsmith, Thunderbird President of Global Distribution & Consumer Products. “We are delighted that preschoolers and their families all over the U.S. will soon be able to watch the funny and inspiring stories of Mittens and Pants, and their friends, on these great family-friendly platforms.”

“Our aim at Kidoodle.TV is to bring the best-in-class content available to our audience and Mittens & Pants is a great reflection of that promise. Additionally, with the great alignment of our relationship with Thunderbird, we are looking forward to seeing this brand’s growth,” commented Brenda Bisner, CCO at A Parent Media Co. Inc. (owner of Kidoodle.TV).

“We are excited to be bringing this entertaining show to our HappyKids audience,” said David Di Lorenzo, SVP of Kids & Family, Future Today. “The uniqueness of the live-action animal characters Mittens and Pants are sure to be a hit with kids and their families.”

“We are thrilled and humbled that Mittens & Pants is being so well-received around the world,” said series creator and CEO of Windy Isle Entertainment, Phil McCordic. “We are overjoyed to be working with such amazing partners and can’t wait to launch in the U.S. market.”

The series is produced by Toronto-based Windy Isle Entertainment, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and the assistance of Ontario Creates and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund.

See more Mittens & Pants on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook via @mittensandpantstv and at @mittensandpantsofficial on YouTube. Watch the trailer NOW.

ABOUT THUNDERBIRD ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

Thunderbird Entertainment Group is a global award-winning, full-service multiplatform production, distribution and rights management company, headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Los Angeles and Ottawa. Thunderbird creates award-winning scripted, unscripted, and animated programming for the world’s leading digital platforms, as well as Canadian and international broadcasters. The Company develops, produces, and distributes animated, factual, and scripted content through its various content arms, including Thunderbird Kids and Family (Atomic Cartoons), Thunderbird Unscripted (Great Pacific Media) and Thunderbird Scripted. Productions under the Thunderbird umbrella include The Last Kids on Earth, Molly of Denali, Highway Thru Hell, Kim’s Convenience, Reginald the Vampire and Boot Camp. Thunderbird Distribution and Thunderbird Brands manage global media and consumer products rights, respectively, for the Company and select third parties. Thunderbird is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @tbirdent. For more information, visit: www.thunderbird.tv.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Thunderbird’s public communications may include written or oral “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” as defined under applicable Canadian securities legislation. All such statements may not be based on historical facts that relate to the Company’s current expectations and views of future events and are made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of applicable securities laws.

Forward-looking statements or information may be identified by words such as “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “forecast”, “may”, “will”, “plan”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “intend”, or similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the series launching on platforms this month, Peacock planning to launch the series in Calendar Q1, 2024, preschoolers and caregivers all over the U.S. soon being able to watch the series on family-friendly platforms, the growth of the Mittens & Pants brand, the characters Mittens and Pants being a hit with kids and families. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; product capability and acceptance; international risk and currency exchange rates; and technology changes. An assessment of these risks that could cause actual results to materially differ from current expectations is contained in the “Risks and Uncertainty” section of June 30, 2023 MD&A. The foregoing is not an exhaustive list. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to Thunderbird or that management believes to be less significant may also adversely affect the Company.

The forward-looking statements or information contained in this document represent our views as of the date hereof and as such information should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this document. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.