Evergreen Ben 10 celebrates 5th year of ‘Hero Time’ in Asia Pacific
HONG KONG (9 January, 2012) – Ben 10, voted one of the world’s Top 10 Boys’ Action brands in 2011, this year celebrates five years of going hero in Asia Pacific. In 2012, he looks set to power-up even more with over 300 million products expected to be sold across the region.
At the Hong Kong International Licensing Show today, Dulce Lim-Chen, Vice President of Cartoon Network Enterprises Asia Pacific was joined by Charles M. Riotto, President of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA), and Angela Ho, Senior Service Promotion Manager from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. They congratulated a life-sized Ben Tennyson on his ultimate success and celebrated with a birthday cake resembling the Omnitrix, Ben’s famous alien-morphing device.
Ms. Lim-Chen said, “We’re thrilled to be celebrating this milestone today as the Ben 10 franchise has enjoyed continued success in the Asia-Pacific region over the past five years. In the three animated series so far, Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, we’ve witnessed Ben and his aliens go from onscreen heroes to global, multiplatform icons.
“The popularity of Ben’s three live action and animated movies – in addition to this year’s release of his first CGI movie – Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens – are further examples of Ben’s evergreen appeal,” Ms. Lim-Chen said.
The Ben 10 franchise has experienced half a decade of consecutive growth since bursting onto Cartoon Network screens in early 2008. He continues to be an action hero powerhouse, achieving US$1 billion in toy sales globally since launch with almost five million Ben 10 toys alone sold just in Asia Pacific during 2011.
Last year, fans in Asia also purchased five million publishing titles and 1.5 million DVDs, with 500,000 kids and their parents visiting Ben 10’s live shows which included Ben 10 Live: Power of the Omnitrix, Ben 10 Time Machine, Omnitrix Overload and Vengeance of Vilgax.
In 2012, Ben Tennyson is heading towards his biggest year yet. Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens will air in early 2012 and is set to be the television movie of the year as Ben 10’s legions of fans around the world unite to watch him, cousin Gwen and Grandpa Max save the world from evil with awesome, never-before-seen CGI effects.
[ends]About Cartoon Network Enterprises
Cartoon Network Enterprises, the licensing and merchandising arm of Cartoon Network, works towards driving long-term value for the Network and its properties such as Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Gwen, The Powerpuff Girls, Generator Rex, Toonix, The Amazing World of Gumball, Regular Show and Adventure Time with Finn and Jake. The division is specifically responsible for setting up new businesses leveraging the equity of the characters via consumer products, promotional licensing, home videos, interactive games, publishing, themed entertainment and events. Cartoon Network Enterprises works with a host of partners in the Asia-Pacific region, including Bandai, Mattel, Lego, D3 Publishers and Activision among others.
Cartoon Network is a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc., which is a member of Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc., a Time Warner company, in Asia. Time Warner is a major producer of news and entertainment products around the world and is a leading content provider in the basic cable industry.
CartoonNetworkAsia.com
For media enquiries:
James Moore
Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc.
Tel: (852) 3128 3720
Email: james.moore@turner.com