Sony-Snoopy$457 million deal: Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) have officially announced their deal with the major stakeholders of the Peanuts franchise. On its way to acquire a 41% stake in the franchise, the deal is much more than just ‘peanuts’. Worth CAN $630 million or nearly $457 million, the Peanuts deal will make Sony the majority stakeholder of the franchise featuring Snoopy.
The beloved white dog with its friendly companions, Charlie Brown and Woodstock, will be officially Sony characters. Owned by Canadian media company WildBrain until now, their deal with Sony is near completion. This would, in turn, lead to the transfer of an effective 80% stake in Peanuts Holdings LLC with SMEJ and Sony Pictures. SMEJ has approximately a 39% stake in the franchise.
What it means for the creator of Peanuts
Created by the legendary Charles M Schulz, his family will own the remaining 20% share. The ownership rights to ‘Peanuts’, however, continue to be handled by Peanuts Worldwide, including the management of its business. Peanuts Worldwide is a wholly owned subsidiary of Peanuts Holdings LLC.
As Sony acquires an 80% stake, Peanuts Holdings LLC (including Peanuts Worldwide) will now become a consolidated subsidiary of the Sony Group. SMEJ will lead the management, in partnership with SPE.
Sony, as per a Bloomberg report, aims to grow the ‘global family IP’ of Peanuts across theatrical films, streaming services, games, and music. Giving it a larger content push, there are likely more animated specials like Holiday movies, developed by Sony Pictures Animation, coming. New partnership deals with streaming services like Apple TV+ are likely to be pushed, with live concerts and specials going through an aggressive shift in brand collaborations.
The legacy of Peanuts
One of the longest-running comic strips, Schulz’s Peanuts appeared in 2600 papers and had over 355 million readers across 75 countries and 21 languages. The pioneer to standardise the four-panel gag format in American newspapers, Peanuts explored several themes through simple art. It very easily shared difficult feelings like anxiety, failure, racism, and even women’s rights.
Peanuts went on to become a TV special like ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’. The creator, Charles M Schulz, wrote over 17000 strips himself. Honoured with the Reuben Award and the Congressional Gold Medal, Peanuts has been a cultural moment for several comic enthusiasts.
