Nelvana Aligns Sesame Street With Iconic Canadian Brands In Latest Collaborations

NELVANA ALIGNS SESAME STREET WITH ICONIC CANADIAN BRANDS IN LATEST COLLABORATIONS

New Collection From Hudson’s Bay Features Beloved Sesame Street Characters with HBC’s Iconic Stripes In Honour of HBC’s 350^th Anniversary This Year

50-Year Anniversary Celebration of Sesame Street Continues With Additional Products From Canadian Design Houses Smash + Tess And Peace Collective, And New Petwear Line at PetSmart

For additional photography and press kit material visit: https://www.corusent.com

To share this release socially use: https://bit.ly/2RMG2dh

For Immediate Release

TORONTO, September 24, 2020 – This fall, Nelvana Enterprises, the exclusive licensing agent for Sesame Workshop in Canada, announces a new collaboration with Sesame Street and Hudson’s Bay for a limited edition collection of apparel and accessories. Set to launch in September, the collaboration celebrates both brands’ milestone anniversaries.

The first-ever collection featuring beloved Sesame Street characters alongside the classic HBC Stripes design will comprise eight limited edition SKUs including a baby onesie, baby pants, baby booties, sleep masks, and PJ sets for both kids and adults. The collection will be available on thebay.com and at Hudson’s Bay locations across the country for a limited time.

“Sesame Street and Hudson’s Bay are both timeless brands that each have their own long-standing legacy rich in history, making them the perfect pair to commemorate with a dedicated collection,” said Mellany Masterson, Head of Nelvana Enterprises. “The fun and adorable collection featuring some of the most familiar faces in children’s television combined with Hudson’s Bay’s highly-coveted colourful Stripes is perfect for every Canadian Sesame Street fan to wear with pride.”

This marks the third Canadian-exclusive apparel collaboration for Sesame Street in the past year. Last fall, Nelvana launched two successful collaborations with homegrown fashion design houses, Smash + Tess and Peace Collective, to celebrate the iconic brand’s 50^th anniversary. Both Smash + Tess and Peace Collective will continue their programs into 2020. Peace Collective launched their newest collection “PC X Sesame Street 002: Better Together” in August and will launch additional products in time for the holidays. Based on its successful first launch, Smash + Tess is re-releasing their Smash + Tess x Sesame Street collection this Fall. Moreover, Nelvana recently introduced a new Sesame Street petwear line to PetSmart in Canada in September which includes hoodies and toys for cats and dogs.

“We’re pleased to team up with another premium Canadian fashion brand like Hudson’s Bay to create a stylish line of apparel that will resonate with multiple generations of Sesame Street fans,” said Gabriela Arenas, Vice President of Licensing, North America, Sesame Workshop. “Smash + Tess and Peace Collective’s new and exciting products gives our fans the opportunity to express themselves, and with the new line of petwear at PetSmart, now our furry friends can be a part of the fun.”

The Sesame Street and Hudson’s Bay collaboration launches ahead of Sesame Street‘s new season debuting on Treehouse this November and following the premiere of the brand new spin-off series, The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo, airing new episodes every Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on Treehouse. The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo stars Elmo as the host of his own late-night talk show. Its main curricular goals focus on bedtime routines, with each episode helping preschoolers understand a different aspect of getting ready for bed. Celebrity guests include: Jimmy Fallon, Kacey Musgraves, the Jonas Brothers, Lil Nas X, and Blake Lively.

– 30 –

About Nelvana
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 boys action series and ancillary consumer products programs. Nelvana’s content airs on Corus Entertainment’s kids channels in Canada and in over 160 countries around the world. The Nelvana library has well over 4,000 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.

Follow Nelvana Enterprises on Twitter @NelvanaEnt

About Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX: CJR.B) is a leading media and content company that develops and delivers high quality brands and content across platforms for audiences around the world.  Engaging audiences since 1999, the company’s portfolio of multimedia offerings encompass 34 specialty television services, 39 radio stations, 15 conventional television stations, a suite of digital assets, animation software, technology and media services. Corus is an established creator of globally distributed content through Nelvana animation studio, Corus Studios, and children’s book publishing house Kids Can Press. The company also owns innovative full-service social digital agency so.da, and lifestyle entertainment company Kin Canada. Corus’ roster of premium brands includes Global Television, W Network, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, HISTORY®, Showcase, National Geographic, Disney Channel Canada, YTV and Nickelodeon Canada, Global News, Globalnews.ca, Q107, Country 105, and CFOX. Visit Corus at www.corusent.com.

About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. Today, Sesame Workshop is an innovative force for change, with a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. We’re present in more than 150 countries, serving vulnerable children through a wide range of media, formal education, and philanthropically-funded social impact programs, each grounded in rigorous research and tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve. For more information, please visit www.sesameworkshop.org.

About Hudson’s Bay
HBC, incorporated in 1670, is North America’s oldest company. Hudson’s Bay has grown to become Canada’s most prominent department store, today operating 89 full-line locations and thebay.com. Hudson’s Bay has established a reputation for quality, service, and style by offering well-edited assortments of exclusive and popular fashion, beauty, home and accessory designers and brands, as well as exclusive food concepts. It is part of the HBC brand portfolio. The signature stripes are a registered trademark of Hudson’s Bay Company.

About Peace Collective
Peace Collective was born after Founder, Yanal wore his first Toronto vs. Everybody t-shirt to a Raptors game back in 2014. Since then, Peace Collective has become a go-to destination, allowing individuals to celebrate and express their authentic selves. Being proudly Canadian, Peace Collective focuses its efforts on empowering those around them to chase their passion by providing the support and resources necessary to do so. For more information, please visit https://www.peace-collective.com/.

About Smash + Tess
Smash & Tess is Vancouver-designed, North American made, and globally inspired. Smash + Tess believes in slowing down the fashion cycle and making clothing on demand and with a clear purpose – to delight its #smashtessgirls. Its best-selling romper fabric is a sustainable rayon from bamboo and cotton blend, and although it costs more to use it, it’s proven to stand the test of time and retain its shape and softness when treated well. Smash + Tess produces in their own backyard under watchful eyes to ensure that its clothing is made in the very best working conditions by skilled and talented seamsters. For more information, please visit https://smashtess.ca/.

About PetSmart
In Canada, PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they, together, can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates and how we give back to our communities. PetSmart employs approximately 4,800 associates and operates more than 140 pet stores in Canada, as well as eight in-store PetSmart PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. The retailer provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products, as well as services such as dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding at PetSmart Doggie Day Camp™ and pet adoption. PetSmart and PetSmart Charities® of Canada work with more than 200 animal welfare organizations to bring adoptable pets into stores so they have the best chance possible of finding a forever home. Through this in-store adoption program and other signature events, PetSmart has facilitated more than 300,000 adoptions, more than any other brick-and-mortar organization.

For media inquiries, please contact:
April Lim, Publicist, Kids & Nelvana
Corus Entertainment
416.860.4216
april.lim@corusent.com

For licensing opportunities, please contact:
Carly Slack, Director, Marketing, Licensing and Retail
Nelvana
416.479.6922
carly.slack@corusent.com