HASBRO TO ACQUIRE RIGHTS TO NELVANA'S MEDABOT
By Adnews Staff
Toronto-based animation company Nelvana has sold the rights to its Medabot robot brand to Hasbro Inc. Financial details have not been disclosed. Hasbro will acquire the worldwide, excluding Italy and Asia, master toy and game rights to Medabot from Nelvana. Medabot is a team of high-tech robot warriors based on characters from Nelvana's new anime series which debuts this fall. The series has been running in Japan for the past three years. Hasbro will have the right to manufacture collectible figures, playsets, board games and electronic games. The toy company also plans to develop "Medawatch", a communication toy that will interact with kids and their "pet" robots. The new television series is aimed at kids six to 12 years of age. The series is set a future where robots rule. In the U.S. it will be seen on Fox Kids. Nelvana will announce its Canadian broadcast partner shortly, according to the company.