Corus Entertainment Acquires Rights to Babar

Posted on November 7, 2001

Corus Entertainment's Nelvana and The Clifford Ross Company announced Nelvana's acquisition of all proprietary rights to Babar, the popular elephant in children's books. The rights were acquired through The Clifford Ross Company from Laurent de Brunhoff, son of Babar creator Jean de Brunhoff, on behalf of the de Brunhoff family.

The Nelvana acquisition includes 100 percent of all trademarks and copyrights to the Babar property, as well as the de Brunhoff family's financial interests in the brand. The de Brunhoff family has reserved certain publishing rights, which will allow Laurent de Brunhoff to continue publishing his own Babar books with Abrams, Hachette, and other publishers. The Clifford Ross Company will continue to act as Mr. de Brunhoff's literary agency.

The Clifford Ross Company will continue its relationship with Nelvana as joint licensor of Babar Merchandising worldwide. At the same time, the companies have entered into a five-year agreement calling for Nelvana to administer the substantial Babar merchandising program on behalf of both companies.

In signing the agreement, Michael Hirsh, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Nelvana, says: ``This brand has enormous potential which can now be fully leveraged by Nelvana and The Clifford Ross Company. In France, Babar is among the top two most-recognized children's brands among youngsters under three. The heritage of the Babar portfolio promises longevity in the market.''

Nelvana, in association with The Clifford Ross Company, has also produced the Babar TV series and feature films with various co-production partners. Nelvana is a Corus Entertainment Company. Corus Entertainment is one of Canada's leading entertainment companies with operations in radio, specialty, pay, conventional and digital television. The Clifford Ross Company was formed in 1985 by New York artist Clifford Ross to enable him to explore entertainment and media projects separate from his own artistic endeavors.