Montreal: Viacom Consumer Products has launched a North American promotion and licensing campaign based on what the company is calling ‘the finest example of a preschool property with legs,’ The Busy World of Richard Scarry, the animated children’s series produced by Montreal’s Cinar Films.

The promotion includes a Happy Meal tie-in with McDonald’s Restaurants, and the introduction of Busy World, a preschool toy line from Tomy Toys and Gund, distributed in Canada through Irwin Toys.

According to Andrea Hein, president of Viacom Consumer Products, the book and tv-based property has unlimited potential.

‘The merchandising program that has been created, and which we are building upon, has only just begun to demonstrate the breadth of this property,’ she says.

McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion was backed by national tv support and includes the in-restaurant distribution of eight million book covers promoting Showtime, the Simon & Schuster Scarry Books series and PolyGram Videos.

Cinar also reports new deals with PolyGram Video and Sony Wonder for the release of two additional Busy World titles in the u.s. and Canada.

The Cinar/PolyGram release is set for Oct. 3, while the Cinar/Sony Wonder Canada release includes a value-added rebate coupon worth up to $85 towards the purchase of selected Irwin toys.

The toy line includes poseable figures and vehicles, a radio-controlled apple cart and a sliding puzzle.

Gund, a manufacturer of plush toys, will follow suit by introducing a Busy World-based line.

Following a production and distribution deal with Paramount, Cinar went into production in 1994 on the initial 13 half-hours of The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Episodes 14 to 52 are being delivered in ’95/96.

Budgeted at $26.4 million, Cinar’s share is $17.5 million. The series is coproduced in association with Paramount, France Animation and Beta Taurus in Germany. Broadcast presales include Family Channel in Canada, Showtime and Nickelodeon in the u.s., bbc in the u.k., and rai in Italy. The series has been sold in over 50 countries.