NELVANA AND TOIKIDO TO DEVELOP NEW ANIMATED SERIES BASED ON ANTICIPATED GAMING FRANCHISE PIÑATA SMASHLINGS™

Animated Kids Series to be Based on New Gaming Property Piñata Smashlings™ 

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For Immediate Release

TORONTO, April 5, 2023 – Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, a world-leading international producer, distributor, and licensor of children’s animated and live action content, has teamed up with Toikido, a London based entertainment company at the cutting edge of digital design and toys, to develop a new animated kids series based on gaming IP, Piñata Smashlings™.

“Toikido is an innovative new company that has quickly achieved success turning popular gaming properties into toys and apparel for a global audience,” said Pam Westman, President of Nelvana. “Their first in-house IP, Piñata Smashlings™, has already garnered massive hype ahead of its launch this summer and we can’t wait for fans of the brand to see the new character-driven series that will expand the amusing Piñataverse world and showcase its characters like they’ve never seen them before.”

Launching in 2023, Piñata Smashlings™ is home to hundreds of playful characters called, “Smashlings” – cheeky little creatures and playful Piñatas – who love to have fun and are always on the lookout for the Rainbow Whale who drops new Rainbow pods. Piñata Smashlings™ will debut on Roblox this June, and plans are underway to launch ancillary productions such as toys, plush, apparel, homewares, publishing, magazines and animation.

“Building on the momentum of our achievements bringing successful gaming properties into toys and apparel, we developed Piñata Smashlings™ in-house as a truly immersive IP, and are pleased to add an animated series to our plans,” said Darran Garnham, Founder & CEO of Toikido. “Nelvana is known for its top quality development, production and distribution of premium kids’ content, and we couldn’t be more pleased to partner with them on the development of a playful new series that will further engage fans as they experience the ever-growing Piñataverse.”

Piñata Smashlings™ is a trademark of Toikido Ltd.

For broadcast opportunities, email Nelvana.Distribution@corusent.com.

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About Nelvana
Entertaining kids for over 50 years, Nelvana is a world-leading international producer and distributor of children’s animated and live-action content. Nelvana produces a stable of award-winning and globally renowned brands that focus on comedies, preschool and action series, and ancillary consumer products programs. Nelvana’s content airs on Corus Entertainment’s kids channels in Canada and in over 180 countries around the world. The Nelvana library has well over 4,800 episodes of programming and has received over 70 major international program awards including Emmys® and Canadian Screen Awards. Visit the Nelvana website at nelvana.com.

About Toikido
Toikido Ltd is a new KIND of entertainment company that sets itself apart. An innovative, fun and fast paced studio which has become renowned for growing global audiences through the creation of captivating toys for emerging digital brands.

With a global reach Toikido offers an ecosystem across, licensing, gaming, music, marketing and entertainment and is dedicated to developing its own exceptional intellectual properties (IP) across all entertainment genres. Piñata Smashlings™ is Toikido’s first internally developed IP and set to become one of the most exciting children’s brands, with the launch of a Roblox game, a range of toys, including collectables, action figures, plush and playsets, an official collectors guide and magazine and an animated series to bring the Pinataverse to life. 

Toikido was founded by serial entrepreneur Darran Garnham in 2020.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Brittany Bell
Corus Entertainment
416.479.3384
brittany.bell@corusent.com

Vanessa Obeng
Corus Entertainment
(416) 479-6082
vanessa.obeng@corusent.com