DreamWorks Animation is reportedly in talks to buy out Classic Media, the company that owns the rights to classic cartoon entities such as Casper, Where’s Waldo?, He-Man, Voltron, Archie, and Veggie Tales.
At first glance, it seems like DreamWorks plans make buckets of cash by capitalizing on in-house animated movies about these characters. But unfortunately, Classic Media doesn’t own the TV or film rights to all of the characters—it just owns the rights to the characters themselves. Boo. Either way, Cinema Blend reports that “even if DreamWorks never makes a movie from the Classic Media properties, buying the company for roundabouts $150 million could easily prove profitable as Classic Media made $376 million last year through licensing alone.”
Want to know exactly which characters DreamWorks is acquiring through this deal? Seeking Alpha complied a list:
Archie, Baby Huey, Basil Brush, Boris & Natasha, Bravestarr, Casper the Friendly Ghost, D*** Tracy, Doctor Solar Man of the Atom, Dudley Do-Right, Ethelbert the Tiger, Fabulous Funnies, Fat Albert, Felix the Cat, Finley the Fire Engine, Fractured Fairy Tales, Frosty the Snowman, George of the Jungle, Gerald McBoing Boing, Godzilla, Groovie Gollies, Guess with Jess, Gumby, He-Man, Hot Stuff, Lamb Chop, Lassie, The Little Drummer Boy, Little Golden Books, Little Lulu, The Lone Ranger, Magnus Robot Fighter, Mr. Magoo, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Pat the Bunny, Peter Cottontail, Postman Pat, Richie Rich, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Roger Ramjet, The Roy Rogers Show, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Rupert Bear, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, The Secrets of Isis, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Shazam!, She-Ra, Tinga Tinga Tales, Transformers: Animated, Turok, Underdog, Voltron, Wendy the Good Little Witch, Where’s Waldo?
Mama mia! That’s a lot of chracters! DreamWorks recently announced the development of a DreamWorks’ themed amusement park, so perhaps the company might be able to put the newly acquired characters to work there. It can only be assumed that down the line, DreamWorks will want to obtain the film rights to these characters as well: easy money, right?
If DreamWorks did many an animated film based on Classic Media’s characters, which would you want to see on the big screen first?
[UPDATE] DreamWorks has officially acquired Classic Media for $155 million. Read the update here!