Variety reported today that Lorne Michael's Broadway Video Entertainment has acquired the US rights to Rex the Runt, the latest animated offering from Aardman, the creators of Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit.  The animation consists of 26 10-minute segments that are being re-cut into 13 half-hours for the US market.  The material is being shopped to cable outlets such as Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, and TNN. 

 

Rex the Runt features a dog and his friends Wendy, Bad Bob, and Vince and their adventures in outer space, in the center of the earth, and inside Vince's brain.  The animation is in the same stop-motion style as Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit.  It has already been sold in ten other markets, with considerable success.  There's even a Rex the Runt restaurant in Tokyo.     

 

The deal also includes US merchandising rights.  Broadway plans to concentrate on the novelty, apparel, and gift categories.  Wallace and Gromit in particular has driven considerable product sales in the US as a cult property that spanned the market from kids to adult aficionados; Rex has similar potential.