According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony BMG Music Ent. is pulling the plug on its Sony Wonder, a home video and audio distributor of children’s entertainment. Founded in the early ’90s, the lable once held a distribution deal with Nickelodeon and recently saw partnerships with Sesame Workshop and Classic Media go to Genius Products. Shout! Factory, another leading provider of animated video content, is reportedly leaving Sony Wonder and setting up a distribution deal with Vivendi Visual Entertainment.
For more than ten years, Sony Wonder distributed Sesame Workshop titles, including episodes of Sesame Street. Through its deal with Classic Media, the label also handled such animated favorites as the Rankin-Bass holiday specials Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, as well as successful CG-animated VeggieTales productions.
Sony Wonder used to release as many as 50 home video titles a year but reportedy hasn’t put anything out since November of 2006, when it shipped A Sesame Street Christmas Carol and the 20th anniversary edition of Transformers: The Movie, among others. Sony hasn’t released a statement regarding the demise of the unit, but did announce the departure of its exec VP and general manager, Jim Wilson.
