Atlantyca Puts on Funny Face in Italy

Atlantyca Entertainment has been appointed as the designated licensing and merchandising agent in Italy for Fitz Roy Media's popular Funny Face property.

The agreement grants Atlantyca rights to license Funny Face-branded merchandise across all product categories throughout Italy, including publishing, music, toys and games, food and beverage, promotions, advertising and home video.

"Funny Face is a terrific property that is poised to capture a whole new generation of loyal fans among kids, tweens and teens," says Maria Giovanna Gurrieri, Atlantyca Entertainment's licensing director. "We welcome these delightful characters into our stable of proven concepts for kids and look forward to delivering the Funny Face brand of humor to fans throughout Italy."

The Funny Face characters were originally introduced via packets of a drink mix launched by Pillsbury in 1964 as a challenger to Kool-Aid. Spurred by their appearance in television commercials, the brand and its characters landed onto merchandise, including plastic mugs, backpacks, finger puppets and other products—many of which remain popular collectibles to this day. In 2008, "Funny Face" returned to the small screen in a new series of animated interstitials produced by Renegade Animation/Brady Enterprises and distributed by Fitz Roy Media.