Toon2Tango Takes Global Licensing Reins for Mediawan Kids & Family

Mediawan Kids & Family has handed its worldwide licensing and merchandising business to Toon2Tango, in an exclusive deal that puts the German company behind consumer products for titles including Method Animation's upcoming "Astro Boy" reboot.

Toon2Tango, a Leonine Studios company that already sits inside the Mediawan Group, will identify, negotiate and manage licensing partnerships for Mediawan Kids & Family's full children's and family portfolio. It will also fold in its own productions and selected IP from Leonine Studios to build a combined offering for licensees worldwide.

The agreement, announced exclusively to Variety, covers every major product category: toys and games, apparel, home and living, publishing, digital games and promotional activities.

Which titles are in the combined portfolio?

The slate mixes established IP with projects still in development:

• "Astro Boy" reboot (Method Animation)
• "Wadoo" (digital-first series)
• "Maddie + Triggs" (hit preschool series from Mediawan Kids & Family Distribution)
• "Paluten Freedom" (animated feature based on the popular YouTube series "Niko")
• "Agent 203" (animated series and feature film based on the international family franchise)
• "Showtime" (newest Toon2Tango production, commissioned by German children's channel KiKA)
• "Eldrador" (action-adventure series in development with German toy company Schleich)

What does this change for the group's strategy?

Julien Borde, president of Mediawan Kids & Family, framed the deal as internal housekeeping rather than a new external partnership. "This agreement is a natural extension of the way we work as a group. It allows us to develop a cohesive licensing strategy with a partner that already knows our properties and shares our creative culture," Borde said.

He pointed to Toon2Tango's track record as the operational asset. "Toon2Tango's 25 years of experience and expertise gives our labels across France, Italy, the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium a dedicated, agile partner to build lasting brand value for our audiences, our partners and our licensees worldwide."

Mediawan Kids & Family runs a pan-European production network with labels in those six countries. The deal extends the group's stated strategy of extracting synergies across its labels — pushing the value of its IP beyond the screen and into retail.

A B2C turn for licensing

Hans Ulrich Stoef, CEO of Toon2Tango, signaled a shift in how the business model works. "We want to build the market with a new approach via licensing partnerships and also a clear B2C focus with own fan merchandise platforms. Further steps are underway and we aim to create a profitable business for us and all our partners," Stoef said.

That B2C focus (selling merchandise directly to fans rather than only through licensed intermediaries) marks a departure from the traditional licensing-only playbook, and Stoef said more moves are coming.

The licensing agreement builds on momentum between the two companies. In March 2025 they signed a distribution deal under which Mediawan Kids & Family integrated Toon2Tango's content portfolio into its catalog. The new arrangement completes the loop: distribution first, consumer products second — all within the same group structure.

For European kids' IP holders, the deal signals where the market is heading. As streaming commissions tighten, groups like Mediawan are leaning harder on merchandising and direct-to-fan retail to monetize animation IP between and beyond broadcast windows.