Watch Out for new DVDs

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy stars in "Escape from Dino Island" due in stores on May 4. This latest installment features Wubbzy and his friends on an adventure from Wuzzleburg to the mysterious land of Dino Island, where they discover the Wazumboo Jungle and tame a Doodleberry patch gone wild.

"Mr Bump Presents: Planes, Trains and Dillymobiles!" heads to shelves on May 18. The DVD ($14.94) contains six fun-filled shows, plus catchy songs, and interactive bonus features. including Meet the Character , a montage of character highlights; learn to Draw the Character, a step-by-step look at how to draw the characters; Find the Character, a game to find the character hidden in a picture and Dance Sequence, a montage of musical segments.

Kids can carry their favorite DVDs with them this summer as Barney and Thomas & Friends are featured in the first-ever On-The-Go DVD Packs.
Each portable carrying case (due May 25) features three DVDs with room to hold an additional nine DVDs per pack. Barney On-The-Go Pack DVDs include, "Red, Yellow, Blue," "Barney's Colorful World Live! and "Happy Mad Silly Sad," while the Thomas & Friends On-The-Go Pack DVDs include "Hooray For Thomas," "Trust Thomas," and "Percy & The Dragon."

It's double the fun for fans of Thomas & Friends as a new two-disc special edition DVD set heads to shelves on June 1. "Thomas & Friends: The Greatest Stories" features 20 favorite episodes, including the first ever Thomas & Friends episode. The DVD is full of fun including a Create Your Own Thomas Story DVD-Rom game where children can place themselves right in the Island of Sodor with their name and favorite things as well as five games, a Thomas Trivia Game, four music videos, four sing-alongs, and an enhanced read-along.

JCPenney targets fashionable "actionistas"

There's a supergirl in all of us particularly now that JCPenney will carry an exclusive line of lifestyle apparel for 8- to 12-year-olds inspired by five-time Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin.
Supergirl by Nastia ($20 to $38) heads to stores in July and includes active fleece, dresses and tunics, knit pants, signature Supergirl tees, dancewear, fashion leggings, shrug tops and more.

Unleash Your Inner Viking at Walmart

Walmart has created in-store themed areas for the upcoming movie "How to Train Your Dragon" in more than 2,500 stores.
The areas feature a Viking ship and more than 100 products including foam swords and helmets, apparel, skateboards, hooded towels, sunglasses and snacks. Walmart has also developed a "How to Train Your Dragon" activity book, which will be available in Happy Meals at 1,000 McDonald's location in stores.

New DVDs are springing onto store shelves

Why not spring for some new DVDs that are heading to shelves over the next few months?
• "Bob The Builder: Heavy Duty Diggers" hits stores March 23 and features Bob, Muck, Scoop, Digger, Wendy and Roley in their new location in Harbor Town. Here, Lofty leads the construction of a new ocean pier and transforms an old shack into a surf school. Scratch, the newest addition to the Top Team, is also digging his way into all sorts of adventures with Scoop at the museum; and Scrambler attempts to build a tree house at the school by himself.
• "John Deere Earth Mover Action” rumbles onto DVD on April 13 ($14.95) with a 40-minute tribute to excavators, front-end loaders, graders, scrapers, and backhoes, and includes a fascinating look at John Deere’s newest – the fast, powerful, four-track 764 Dozer.
• Shaun the Sheep is baa-aa-aack on June 1 in new six-episode collection, "Shaun the Sheep: One Giant Leap for Lambkind." The DVD ($14.95) features Shaun and his barnyard buddies Bitzer, Shirley and Timmy, as they encounter more madcap mischief along with those Naughty Pigs next door.
• Toot! Toot! That's the sound of Thomas & Friends heading over to retail shelves on June 1 in "Thomas & Friends: The Greatest Stories." The new two-disc special edition DVD set ($16.98) features 20 favorite episodes, including the first ever Thomas & Friends episode. The DVD also includes a Create Your Own Thomas Story DVD-ROM game, a Thomas Trivia Game, four music videos, four sing-alongs, and an enhanced read-along.

Bakugan battles for fans' attention

There will definitely be some brawling on store shelves this month with the launch of the Bakugan Season 3: Gundalian Invaders toy line.
Young warriors will be able to get their hands on the Bakugan Battle Gear (weapons that magnetically attach to the Bakugan) and new Core Bakugan characters and be able to act out the adventures of Dan, Marucho and Shun, as they attempt to save Earth from the evil Twelve Orders.
The third season also dovetails with the launch of the free Bakugan online game, Bakugan Dimensions.
Each of the products contains a new heat activated online access code that magically appears by rubbing it with your finger. Once the code has been unveiled, players may enter it online at www.bakugan.com where that specific character will appear in Bakugan Dimensions so they can battle online against people from around the world.
Starting April 1st all Season 3: Gundalian Invaders access codes entered online at www.bakugan.com will automatically be entered to win one of four prize packs.

MLB scores with Victoria Secret

Ladies can get up close and personal with their favorite baseball teams now that Victoria Secret is launching a co-branded line of apparel in more than 100 stores and online.
The MLB and Victoria's Secret Pink apparel includes tees, sweats, hoodies, tanks and shorts, will feature names and logos of the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.

Walmart creates "Twilight" shops

Lots of cool Twilight merchandise will scare up interest over at Walmart with themed shops through mid-April.
The Twilight Saga shops will offer a special fan edition two-disc DVD and Blu-ray (after midnight March 20), tees, jewelry, key chains, books, posters, character dolls and the soundtrack.The shops will also host themed giveaways.
A microsite has launched at www.walmart.com/twilight.

Anime faves to air on new website

VIZ Anime (www.VIZAnime.com) is a new web destination that will become a permanent home for some of today's hottest animated series.
The free site kicks off with more than 400 episodes from BLEACH, BUSO RENKIN, DEATH NOTE (complete series), HIKARU NO GO, HONEY & CLOVER, INUYASHA (complete series) and INUYASHA: THE FINAL ACT, NANA, NARUTO (complete series) and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN as well as THE PRINCE OF TENNIS. The site will also be the future web home for many other anime series set to launch later this year.
Some cool features: users can “follow” as many series as they like and choose to be notified each time a new episode is released, as well as keep track of the last episode they’ve watched. Users can comment on individual episodes and also meet and interact with other fans, invite friends to join, ask questions and debate plot twists and characters, voice their opinion on what’s happening in a particular series, and also find out what else is going on across the anime and manga spectrums.

Poptropica heads to retail shelves

Fans of Poptropica (www.poptropica.com) will be able to find toys, apparel and room decor products inspired by the popular kids' website.
At www.poptropica.com kids create an avatar to explore a virtual world that entertains and educates millions of children across the globe by engaging them in narrative quests and online games. Kids can safely communicate and compete in head-to-head competition with other kids, collect objects, read digital books and comics, and more.
Poptropica’s content is developed under the creative direction of Jeff Kinney, author/illustrator of the bestselling, and soon-to-be movie, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.

Cartoon Network is in the "Pink"

Pink Panther & Pals have moved onto the small screen over at Cartoon Network with a new animated series. The series is the first new "Pink Panther" series in 17 years. In his new incarnation, Pink Panther is more teen than grown-up, but he still embodies all the cool, savvy, curiosity and confidence the grown-up Pink Panther was known for. Each show contains two seven minute episodes of a teenage Panther and his buddies, and one short of the classic Ant & the Aardvark characters.

Sesame Street "drives" interest in characters

Kids who love Sesame Street can take their favorite characters anywhere they go with a collection of seven USB drives with a special "wearable" connector strap. The drives feature Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Abby Cadabby, Ernie and the Sesame Street street sign and will be in stores next month. Each drive holds a capacity of 400 photographs, songs and printable content. Each wearable drive comes with a complementary character-specific full-length home video: The Best of Elmo, Abby in Wonderland, Big Bird’s Do the Alphabet, Bert and Ernie’s Word Play, Cookie Monster’s Best Bites, A Celebration of Me: Grover, and Sesame Street’s 25^th Anniversary: A Musical Celebration.

New site is Mighty Fine

Looking for cool licensed tees?
Mighty Fine has made them easy to find with WeLoveFine.com where consumers can order a tee featuring faves like Hello Kitty, Fifi Lapin, Marvel or Peanuts or use the "do it yourself" feature to customize their own.
All shoppers receive 15% off and can create a personal profile for all future orders. With every purchase, customers will also receive a free Mighty Fine tote.

Shaun White to star in skateboarding game

Fans will have to wait until the holidays to get their hands on "Shaun White Skateboarding," the first skateboarding video game in the best-selling Shaun White franchise.
The video game will provide an innovative twist and fresh take on the skateboarding and action-sports genre. White is the first athlete to win both gold medals in skateboarding and snowboarding at the Summer and Winter X Games.
More details about the game are available at www.shaunwhitegame.com.

The Can-Do Crew star in new DVD

Bob the Builder fans will see the can-do crew in an all-new CG animated series, "Bob the Builder: Heavy Duty Diggers" on March 23. Bob and the team are hard at work in their new location in Harbor Town where Lofty leads the construction of a new ocean pier and transforms an old shack into a surf school; Scratch, the newest addition to the team, is digging his way into all sorts of adventures with Scoop at the museum; and Scrambler attempts to build a tree house at the school by himself. The DVD includes five episodes including: "Scratch’s Hidden Treasures," "Scrambler’s Best Idea," "High Tide for Loft," "Scoop the Artist," and "Lofty and the Monster."

Bringing luxury into the home

Consumers will soon be able to bring the luxury of a spa experience to their own home with a new collection of Elizabeth Arden bedding, bath and spa accessories.