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 production and distribution company owned by
DHX Media
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 children ...
. The company was first established in 1976 as CINAR Films Inc., a
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
-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 credits 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
Ronald Andrew Weinberg (born 1952) is an American-born Canadian fraudster and former television producer and businessman best known as the co-founder of the CINAR animation studio (later to be known as Cookie Jar Group, now renamed as WildBrain) ...
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. Founded ...
, and changed its name to Cookie Jar Group. In 2008, they agreed to acquire
DIC Entertainment, 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