Berenstain Bears join Nelvana fold

Corus Entertainment-owned toon studio Nelvana has acquired TV and merchandising rights to the Berenstain Bears characters to head up a new PBS kids' block.

The Canadian studio has rights to develop, produce and distribute episodic TV series and one-offs based on the Bears. The production deal with PBS will see the resulting series airing in an hour-long block on the US public network.

The Berenstain Bears (40×15') will lead the block on PBS Kids, stripped through weekdays, alongside new 15-minute episodes of Nelvana's Seven Little Monsters. The slot will also contain half-hour episodes of George Shrinks, for a total of 40 block outings.

Thye deal between Nelvana and Berenstain Enterprises also allows for worldwide distribution rights to the shows, plus rights to produce theatrical features, TVMs and made-for-video shows based on the ursine characters.

Columbia TriStar has already stepped up to distribute The Berenstain Bears videos across the US, with the first release due in 2003.