TV AND MOVIE TY-INS

In 2004 Ty Inc. went to the movies. The Garfield themed Beanies, released to coincide with the cinema release of the Garfield Movie were to be the first of many Movie and TV themed Beanies.

Garfield

The release of the Garfield: The Movie in the US was accompanied by the release of the Garfield Beanies. The initial release in May 2004 consisted of six characters from the movie. The first six released were Garfield himself, Odie and Luca the dogs, Nermal and Arlene the cats and Louis the mouse.

In August 2004 these five were joined by Pooky the bear. These all had a copy of the movie poster on the left inside face of their hang tag.

The Garfield set were complemented by the later releases of Cool Cat, Goodnight Garfield, Happy Holidays and Happy Valentine's Day. These were all Garfield in various themed costumes.

The 2006 movie "A Tail of Two Kitties" (aka "The Prince and the Pawper") was celebrated with the release of "His Majesty" - Garfield dressed as a king! A whole new direction in Beanies is Garfield Stuck on You - who has suckers on his paws, and can be fixed to a window! The latest additions to the collection are a Garfield Key-clip and Garfield I Don't Do Perky.

SpongeBob SquarePants

In October 2004 another set of movie Beanies were announced. These were to accompany the SpongeBob SquarePants movie. Undoubtedly these were of  more limited appeal than the Garfield Beanies - being aimed at a totally different market. This also saw the start of Ty's association with children's TV channel Nickelodeon who own the TV Series SpongeBob Squarepants.

The initial release of SpongeBob characters was limited to three - SpongeBob himself and two other characters Squidward Tentacles and Patrick Star. These were joined later on by further variations of SpongeBob (SpongeBob ThumbsUp and SpongeBob TuxedoPants) as well as holiday themed offerings (SpongeBob Frankenstein and SpongeBob PumpkinMask for Halloween and SpongeBob JollyElf, SpongeBob SleighRide and Patrick Claus for Christmas).

Summer 2006 saw further additions of Muscleman Star and MuscleBob BuffPants! Also - to add to the growing Ty collection there were Patrick Star and SpongeBob key-clips. In August 2006 Patrick Barnacleboy and SpongeBob MermaidMan joined the growing family... and in addition a special charity version to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness - SpongeBob PinkPants!!! October/November 2006 brought three more additions to the growing SpongeBob series; first of all Mr Krabs (part of a promotion from the store Best Buy to be joined by SpongeBob, Gary and Patrick) and then in the November releases, SpongeBob QB and Football Star. The Best Buy Exclusives were sold during October/November, but not officially released on the Ty site until 30th November with the December releases.

Backyardigans

In November 2005 another TV trio appear on the Beanie scene - the Backyardigans Beanies Pablo the penguin, Tyrone the moose and Uniqua the uniqua. These have small statements instead of poems inside - and a space for a child to write their name. To read more about the Backyardigans you can visit Nick Jr's own site. Nearly a year later in August 2006 two more Backyardigans Austin the kangaroo and Tasha the hippo were introduced.

Blue's Clues

In January 2006 another TV Trio was added to the Beanie world. The Blues Clues Beanies. These are Blue, Magenta and Periwinkle. Slightly confusing to collectors as there are already bears named Blue and Periwinkle! Inside their tags all the Beanies give them name and ask "What's yours?" with a space for a child to write their name. There could yet be more in this series - as the Blues Clues trio have a lot of friends! To read more about the Blues Clues you can visit Nick Jr's own site.

Dora the Explorer

Another TV offering is Dora the Explorer, whose poem is half in English and half in Spanish! Dora arrived on the Beanie scene alone, but has since been joined by Dora Del Tenis (Dora in a Tennis outfit, also available as a USTA Exclusvie). November 2006 saw four new versions of Dora, each themed to a country; France, Russia, China and Tanzania.

Added in 2007 were several more versions of Dora in different costumes; ice-skating, cat costume, back to school and mermaid - and also Dora's friend Booties and Booties - ice skating. The most recent version released in 2008 was Dora Fairytale.

To read more about the Dora and her friends you can visit Nick Jr's own site.

Mighty Truck of Stuff

Packer is a UK based 'TV Beanie' - John the Phoenix shares the tale: "there is a children's TV show on CBBC on Saturday mornings called "Mighty Truck of Stuff", which involves filling a truck with goodies and them giving them away each week...well, something like that anyway! Packer's uniform has the same colours as the truck!  It's been suggested that this beanie was designed by a child...there was a competition for children to design a Ty beanie at Harrods last year a couple of weeks before the release of the Shooting Star beanies in November. A few people have said that Packer was the winning entry, but I can't confirm that!".

You can visit the Mighty Truck of Stuff's own site.

Diego

Another Nik Jr. TV show to get Beanies is "Go Diego Go!" there are only two Beanies in this set, Diego himself and his friend Baby Jaguar.

To read more about the Diego and his friends you can visit Nick Jr's own site.

Charlotte's Web

The Charlotte's Web collection were another set of movie Beanies. Released in 2006 to coincide with the movie of the same name they are Gussy the Goose and Wilbur the Pig.

OTHERS

There are lots more TV shows that have made the transition to the world of Beanies; these include: Max and Ruby, The Boblins , Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! , Wonder Pets and Peppa Pig.