We are truly a society where "The king is the child," as epitomized by Burger King’s new BK Crown meal and tagline: "Imagination is King."

The fast food giant’s revamped kids meal is geared to woo the younger set and parents, as it aims to compete with McDonald's recently revamped Happy Meals in the highly competitive kids' quick-serve dining category.

While McDonald's put the emphasis on nutrition, the new BK Crown meals are served in boxes with interactive games and cardboard crowns recalling the chain's namesake, and now largely a ceremonial figurehead BK King, whose last duty appears to have been giving away Xbox Kinect devices when they launched a year ago.Continue reading...

Original episodes of Winx Club are launching on Nickelodeon on November 7th, marking the first major foreign property that the Viacom-owned kids programmer is remaking for the U.S.

It's based on the 2004 Italian animated TV series of the same name, created by Iginio Straffi and produced by Rainbow S.p.A., which follows Bloom and her six magical fairy friends as they journey between mystical Magix and Earth, all in training as modern fairies, witches and supernatural warriors from across the known universe to combat proverbial arch enemies.Continue reading...

Now that Chobani has persuaded American adults to eat their Greek-style yogurt, it's trying to accomplish the same with kids. Chobani introduced its Champions line for children in January and now is hatching its first integrated marketing campaign.

Yogurt is a great playground for kid-directed products, of course, ranging from Yoplait's inspired Go-Gurt in a tube to Dannon's long-awaited recent answer, called Coolision, which starts out as two flavors of yogurt in two tubes. Along the way there also have been lots of sprinkles, too-sweet flavors, even probiotics that have come and gone in the segment.

Chobani is playing things pretty straight with Champions. "At different grassroots events we noticed that kids loved Chobani," Nikki Briggs, the brand's director of communications, told brandchannel. "We felt children deserved their own. So this isn't driven by category insights or margin numbers; we wanted to bring kids the best product possible. We think there's huge potential for it."Continue reading...

Chasing monsters, ghosts and other costumed villains has paid off for the Mystery Inc. gang.

Despite the constant scarfing down of Scooby Snax, burgers, pizza and chicken wings, Scooby Doo has just been named the "healthiest" cartoon character for British children to watch, along with his mystery-solving sidekicks.

The Scooby crew snagged #1 on the UK Department of Health's new ranking for being the most active (and thus the best role models for kids) based on 200 hours of cartoon-watching by the DoH, which separately is partnering with the LazyTown TV (#3 on the new list) to get kids up and moving.

The new ranking of DoH-approved cartoon characters:Continue reading...

Julius the monkey is an unparalleled soccer player, (as seen above) and like others in his league, is now preparing for his Hollywood debut.

Saban Brands, the Haim Saban business that last year bought Julius and his creator, Paul Frank Industries, has begun pre-production on a Christmas television special for 2012, featuring Julius and his buddies. Touted as combining the heart of Modern Family with the spirit of The Simpsons, the holiday special is being produced by Mike Reiss, Emmy-winning producer of The Simpsons.

Since Los Angeles billionaire and entertainment mogul Saban bought Paul Frank Industries last year for $50 million, the quirky, wide-mouthed sock monkey’s star has been steadily rising.Continue reading...

Never heard of Peppa Pig? Well, you haven’t been watching children’s TV lately. It’s a British children’s television show with 180 five-minute episodes that focus on the everyday lives of Peppa Pig, her quirky family and her pals.

It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom in 2004. Peppa Pig toys first hit British shelves in 2005 and, according to the Guardian, made more than £200m last year. There are video games, the series has been translated into languages including Italian, there's even a Peppa Pig outdoor attraction in the UK. That’s some pig!Continue reading...

Remember last summer's denim diapers from Huggies? Continuing the trend of ready-to-wear diapers, Pampers has released a limited summer line of printed diapers (polka dots and flowers for girls, argyle and toy cars for boys) with Rosie Pope, the NYC-based maternity designer who just wrapped up her Pregnant in Heels reality series on Bravo.Continue reading...

Jessica and Marcus need your help to turn off Manny’s Wordsuckeruppernator gadget before it sucks up all the words on earth, as seen in the above video.

In a modern rendering of Tinkerbell’s clap-if-you-believe in fairies, the Electric Company’s math-literacy Prankster Planet just went transmedia, thanks to Atlanta-based Primal Screen, which created a digital animated world based on the Electric Company brand and characters that span online, broadcast and print. 

Each Prankster Planet television segment on PBS Kids signs-off with a call-out for the website where gameification rules with 12 multilevel quests, 60 minigames, an avatar-creator, a magazine and a rewards system to encourage repeat play.Continue reading...