Montreal: Cinar Films and New York-based toy manufacturer and distributor Eden llc have concluded an agreement to produce a line of plush toys for the preschool series Wimzie’s House.

The deal with Eden, combined with Wimzie’s ranking as the third most-watched preschool series on pbs (following Arthur and Barney and Friends) effectively creates a u.s. licensing ‘launching pad’ for upcoming negotiations on a book publishing deal, additional toy lines and an apparel line, says Dan Tierney, Cinar’s director of business affairs.

According to Tierney, Eden has an enviable track record of ‘picking winners, particularly within the pbs system.’

The product rollout will be North American in scope and Eden is expected to commit its full production and marketing resources to the launch.

‘Wimzie’s House is the only new property we have acquired for 1999,’ says Richard J. Miller, president and ceo of Eden. Miller says the series was selected for its ‘unique daycare setting and its commitment to the emotional intelligence of children.’

Eden will have the new Wimzie doll line ready for trade buyers at the New York International Toy Fair in February 1999, with product expected on store shelves by next summer.

The initial plush items will be character dolls, including Wimzie and her four-year-old buddy Horace, represented in both the traditional Eden plush doll format as well a ‘Wimzie activity (singing or talking) type doll,’ says Tierney. Doll sizes range from six inches up to life-size.

Eden product includes merchandise from Cinar-produced tv shows Paddington Bear, Madeline and Arthur, although Wimzie is the New York-based company’s first direct licensing arrangement with Cinar.

‘So that means that Dick Miller and [Cinar president] Ron Weinberg have had a relationship for a number of years through their association with these properties and have been looking for an opportunity to work together in a more direct way,’ says Tierney.

The show is set in a daycare with the teaching focus on emotional learning skills and social behavior.

Rambunctious, fuchsia-haired Wimzie and her preschool cast of puppet-monster pals start their second season on pbs Sept. 28.

As pbs’ number-three rated preschool children’s show, this season the series’ delivery has been upgraded from a floating, syndication-style arrangement to a slot in the daily Ready to Learn children’s block, delivered as a pbs network feed.

‘It makes for more daily broadcasts which we didn’t have previously,’ says Tierney.

Sixty-five episodes have been produced to date, including 25 new episodes.

The preschool series is broadcast in Canada on cbc, Radio-Canada and Tele-Quebec, and on pbs in the u.s. in association with Maryland Public Television and the American Dairy Association.

Eden is a privately owned, New York-based international creator and distributor of young children’s products marketed under the Eden and Kids Gifts brands.

Eden’s book-based characters include Beatrix Potter, Corduroy, Franklin, Goodnight Moon, Max & Ruby, Pamela, Pat the Bunny, The Snowman and Spot, Arthur, Madeline and Paddington Bear.

Eden’s media-based properties include Blue’s Clues and Teletubbies. The company celebrates its 60th anniversary in 1999.

In related ancillary developments, Sony Wonder will release its first Wimzie’s House home videos in September 1999, and Carson-Dellosa, a u.s. educational publisher owned by Cinar, has introduced a line of instructional products for distribution in schools.

In one of the really tight Gemini races this year, Wimzie and four other series are nominated for best preschool program or series, with Wimzie up against Franklin (Nelvana), Guess What? (cbc), Once Upon a Hamster (Hammytime/ytv) and Theodore Tugboat (Cochran Entertainment).