Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (also known as Cookie Jar Group and originally known as CINAR; renamed as DHX Cookie Jar Inc. from 2012 until 2014, or simply just Cookie Jar) was a Canadian

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

production and distribution company owned by DHX Media. The company was first established in 1976 as CINAR Films Inc., a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

-based studio that was heavily involved in children's entertainment. The company's business model, which included the licensing of its properties into educational markets, had a significant impact on its success; by 1999, CINAR held CDN$1.5 billion of the overall children's television market. In the 2000s, CINAR became the subject of multiple business scandals, including accusations that the company had used offshore accounts to transfer money out of the company, had plagiarized the concept of one of its series, and had obfuscated the involvement of U.S. screenwriters in its productions in order to continue receiving Canadian

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "disc ...

s for domestic productions. Over a decade later, these scandals would result in criminal charges, convictions, and fines for four suspects, which included two executives at the company - co-founder Ronald A. Weinberg and chief financial officer Hasanain Panju. CINAR was sold in 2004 for $190 million to a group led by Michael Hirsh, the founder of

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Found ...

, and changed its name to Cookie Jar Group. In 2008, they agreed to acquire

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...

, expanding its library. On August 20, 2012, DHX Media announced its intent to acquire Cookie Jar, in a deal that would make DHX the largest independent owner of children's television programming, and by December 25, 2014, Cookie Jar was folded into DHX Media.

History

CINAR

After their 1976 meeting in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, Micheline Charest, a native of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and resident of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, and Ronald A. Weinberg, born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, organized an event for a women's film festival, and worked at distributing foreign films to U.S. theatres. The couple moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and formed CINAR, a film and television distribution company. In 1984, CINAR changed their focus from media distribution to production and moved operations to

, where they concentrated on family-oriented television programming, including '' The Little Lulu Show'', '' Animal Crackers'', '' The Secret World of Santa Claus'', ''

Emily of New Moon ''Emily of New Moon'' is the first in a series of novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery about an orphan girl growing up on Prince Edward Island. Montgomery is also the author of '' Anne of Green Gables'' series. It was first published in 1923. Plot s ...

'', ''

Mona the Vampire ''Mona the Vampire'' is an cartoon series, animated children's television series that is based on a children's book of the same name written and illustrated by Sonia Holleyman, as well as a series of novels illustrated by Holleyman and written b ...

'', and ''

The Wombles ''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recyc ...

'', as well as the English and French dubs of the

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series ''

Adventures of the Little Koala ''Adventures of the Little Koala'' (known in Japan as ) is an anime television series produced by Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. It aired originally in Japan on TV Tokyo from October 4, 1984, through March 28, 1985, and then aired in the Unite ...

'', ''

Ronin Warriors ''Ronin Warriors'', known in Japan by its original title , is a Japanese anime series created by Hajime Yatate and animated by Sunrise. The television series, co-produced by Nagoya TV, aired across Japan on the All-Nippon News Network from ...

'', '' The Adventures of Shimajiro'', '' The Adventures of Albert and Sidney'', '' Anpanbread Man'', the

Saban Saban or Šaban may refer to: People * Saban (name), for people with the name * Sabans, a small indigenous ethnic group of Sarawak, Malaysia * Şaban, a Turkish film character Other uses *Saban Capital Group, a private investment firm investing i ...

dub and YTV reruns/airings of '' Maya the Bee'' and ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz aft ...

'', the Spain-originating TV series ''

The World of David the Gnome ''The World of David the Gnome'', originally titled ''David, el Gnomo'' (also known as ''David, the Gnome''), is a Spanish animated television series based on the children's book '' The Secret Book of Gnomes'', by the Dutch author Wil Huygen and ...

'', and the English dub of '' Ultraseven''. As a production company, CINAR was also involved in the work of ''

Are You Afraid of the Dark? ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a horror anthology television series. The original series aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996; the pilot episode aired respectively on YTV and Nickelodeon in 1990 and 1991. It led to two revival series, wi ...

'', '' The Busy World of Richard Scarry'', '' Madeline'' (specials 2–6), '' The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You'', '' The Adventures of Paddington Bear'', '' Space Cases'', '' The Shoe People'', and its most well-known work, ''

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

'', ''

Zoboomafoo ''Zoboomafoo'' is a live-action/animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS from January 25, 1999, to June 7, 2001. It was formerly shown in public television (depending on the area) and was regularly shown on Sprout unt ...

'', and '' Caillou''. The firm became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( l ...

in September 1993. By 1999, CINAR boasted annual revenues of $150 million ( CAD) and owned about $1.5 billion (CAD) of the children's television market. In 1996, CINAR acquired the library of British animation studio

FilmFair FilmFair was a British production company and animation studio that produced children's television series, animated cartoons, educational films, and television advertisements. The company made numerous stop motion films using puppets, clay ...

, and closed it in 1998. In February 1999, CINAR acquired the film library of Leucadia Film Corporation, with the company's acquisition of 55 titles in the

WonderWorks ''WonderWorks'' is an anthology series which ran from 1984 to 1992. Produced by the Public Broadcasting Service, the Walt Disney Company purchased the home video rights to the series in 1987 and was responsible for making the series available t ...

library following at the end of the year. It is unknown if the present-day

WildBrain WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of childr ...

retained CINAR's rights to the Leucadia library, though the company's rights to the WonderWorks specials have since lapsed over to Questar Entertainment sometime in the 2000s. CINAR also owned the Fandango Studios dubbing studio in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

Scandal

The success of Charest, Weinberg, and CINAR ended in March 2000, when an internal audit revealed that about $167 million ( CAD) was invested into Bahamian bank accounts without the board members' approval. CINAR had also paid U.S. screenwriters for work while continuing to accept federal grants and

s for the production of

Canadian content Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...

. The names of Canadian citizens (generally non-writers connected to CINAR, including Charest's sister Helene) were credited for the works. While the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

did not file criminal charges, CINAR denied any wrongdoing, choosing instead to pay a settlement to Canadian and Quebec tax authorities of $17.8 million (CAD) and another $2.6 million (CAD) to Telefilm Canada, a Canadian federal funding agency. The value of CINAR's

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

plummeted, and the company was soon delisted. There was some speculation that Hasanain Panju, CFO was the mastermind behind the investment scheme along with John Xanthoudakis of Norshield Investment Group and Lino Matteo of Mount Real Corporation. It was claimed that Charest and Weinberg (and later Panju) used CINAR as a 'piggy bank' and schemed to transfer funds out from the company through a series of complicated transactions to their own offshore holding companies. In 2001, as part of a settlement agreement with the Commission des Valeurs Mobilières du Québec (Quebec Securities Commission), Charest and Weinberg agreed to pay $1 million each and were banned from serving in the capacity of directors or officers at any publicly traded Canadian company for five years. There was no admission of guilt and none of the allegations has been proven in court. Charest never lived to see a possible outcome, as she died on April 14, 2004. On March 10, 2011, co-founder Ronald A. Weinberg was arrested for

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in lo ...

after a warrant was issued for him to be taken into custody earlier that month. On June 22, 2016, Weinberg was sentenced to 8 years and 11 months in prison, and the other two received sentences of 7 years and 11 months each. On May 3, 2019, he was fully paroled.

As Cookie Jar Group

In March 2004, CINAR was purchased for more than CA$190 million by a group led by

founder Michael Hirsh, and former Nelvana president Toper Taylor. The company was subsequently renamed Cookie Jar. On June 20, 2008, Cookie Jar Group announced a deal to acquire

. On July 23, 2008, the acquisition was completed, and eventually DIC was folded into Cookie Jar's entertainment division. When Cookie Jar acquired DIC Entertainment, Cookie Jar also acquired

Copyright Promotions Licensing Group WildBrain CPLG (formerly Copyright Promotions Licensing Group, also known as CPLG) is a brand licensing agency founded in 1974. Headquartered in London, CPLG also operates offices in Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Munich and has rece ...

and a one-third interest in international children's television channel, KidsCo. Cookie Jar now has more than 6,000 half-hours of programming as well as rights to several children's brands. Also it was announced that Cookie Jar was in negotiation with

American Greetings American Greetings Corporation is a privately owned American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, electroni ...

to buy the Care Bears,

Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry shortcake may refer to: * Strawberry shortcake (dessert), a shortcake served with strawberries * "Strawberry Shortcake, Huckleberry Pie," a song published in 1956; a version by The Brother Sisters was released by Mercury Records in 1960 ...

, and

Sushi Pack ''Sushi Pack'' is an animated action-adventure television series created by Studio Espinosa and developed by Tom Ruegger and Nicholas Hollander. Produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and CloudCo, Inc. that aired for two seasons and 52 epis ...

franchises. The deal was not finalized yet in late 2008 and with the current scenario, the transaction did not progress. On March 30, 2009, Cookie Jar made a $76 million counter bid for Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. Cookie Jar had until April 30, 2009, to complete a deal with

. In May 2009, American Greetings filed a $100 million lawsuit against Cookie Jar and Cookie Jar filed a $25 million lawsuit against American Greetings over the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake deal. In April 2009, the company hired Tom Mazza, formerly of TriStar and

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

, as its executive vice president of worldwide television. Mazza planned to broaden Cookie Jar's slate by pursuing Canadian co-productions intended for global saley. In February 2011, Cookie Jar announced a new imprint known as ''The Jar'', which it intended to use on series targeting U.S. primetime television, as well as a slate including Lori Kirkland Baker's ''All Over You'' for

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

, ''Blah Girls'' for MTV, Andrew Orenstein's ''Lords of the Playground'' for CBS, and Steven E. de Souza's ''Spyburbia'' for

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

and

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

Acquisition by DHX Media

On August 20, 2012, DHX Media announced that they would acquire Cookie Jar Group for $111 million; the purchase made DHX the world's largest independent owner of children's television programming. The acquisition was completed on October 22, 2012. Season 6 of '' Johnny Test'' was produced by Cookie Jar under the auspices of DHX Media after the merger, and the studio officially closed down after said series concluded its run on December 25, 2014.

Television

''Cookie Jar TV''

At the time of Cookie Jar's acquisition of the company, DIC had been programming a weekend morning block for CBS known as ''KEWLopolis''. On February 24, 2009, it was announced that CBS had renewed its contract with Cookie Jar for the block through 2012. For the 2009–10 television season, the block was re-branded as ''Cookie Jar TV''. ''Cookie Jar TV'' was discontinued after the 2012–13 television season; it was succeeded in 2013–14 by

CBS Dream Team CBS Dream Team (suffixed with ...It's Epic! before October 3, 2020) is an American programming block that is programmed by Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Entertainment), and airs weekend mornings on CBS under a time-lease agree ...

, which is programmed by

Litton Entertainment The Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Syndications and Litton Entertainment) is an American media and production company based in New York City, New York as a division of the Hearst Television subsidiary of Hearst Communications, wi ...

Cookie Jar Toons

On November 1, 2008,

This TV This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally f ...

launched airing Cookie Jar's daily children's programming block Cookie Jar Toons which provided

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and E/I-oriented programming.

Cookie Jar Kids Network

Cookie Jar Kids Network (formerly DIC Kids Network) was a children's programming block that aired selected Cookie Jar programs on local

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

, and

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

s to provide them with a source of educational and informational (E/I) programming required by American broadcast standards. Syndicated by

Ascent Media Ascent Capital Group, Inc. is a public holding company whose primary subsidiary is Monitronics. Ascent Media was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Discovery Holding Company (DHC). DHC spun off Ascent Media as an independent, public company on Se ...

, it ceased broadcasting on September 18, 2011.

References

External links

Official website
(archived)
Jaroo Official Streaming Episodes Site

A history of the studio (1998) from the Canadian Encyclopedia

at the

Big Cartoon Database The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated feat ...

{{Authority control Canadian animation studios Mass media companies established in 1976 WildBrain OMERS Television production companies of Canada American animation studios Entertainment companies established in 1976 Companies based in Toronto Scandals in Canada Children's television Privately held companies of Canada 1976 establishments in Quebec 2012 mergers and acquisitions Mass media companies disestablished in 2014 Companies based in Montreal