I remember thinking that “Cookie Jar” was a great name for a company dealing in kids’ entertainment. Cute, but not cloying. Evoking pleasant visions of a small treat. Perfect!

And, of course, I encountered them right here at Ty’s Toy Box, because Cookie Jar was becoming a household name on account of a little property know as The Doodlebops. Remember them? (Oh, I’m so funny.) And then, of course, they also own Caillou.

So it’s not that Cookie Jar wasn’t a real player, before now. Merely that they were… smallish. Maybe medium. But that’s all about to change. Not only is Cookie Jar merging with DIC Entertainment, now they’re acquiring some American Greetings properties as well:

[T]he children’s entertainment company will acquire AG’s evergreen properties Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Sushi Pack for $195 million.

As someone close to this decision might say, that’s a berry exciting piece of news.

(Okay, I’ll stop with the Strawberry Shortcake jokes. They’re just so easy!)

The transaction establishes Cookie Jar as one of the world’s largest independent children’s entertainment and education companies with ownership and licensing rights to some of the world’s most recognizable character brands, an animation library totaling nearly 6,000 half-hours of family programming, and strong capabilities in global merchandising and licensing.

Congratulations to Cookie Jar on the merger, the acquisitions, and on generally making expanding and thriving in licensing children’s entertainment properties look good!