Lyrick Studios

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"Lyrick" redirects here; not to be confused with Lyric.

Lyrick Studios
Company typeIn-name-only unit of Mattel
Founded1994; 32 years ago (1994)[1][2]
DefunctJune 6, 2001; 24 years ago (2001-06-06)[1][3]
FateAcquired and folded into HIT Entertainment
SuccessorsHIT Entertainment
HeadquartersAllen, Texas,
U.S.
Key people
  • Richard C. Leach (Owner)
  • Timothy A. Clott (CEO)[1]
  • Robert Lawes (CEO, 2001)
  • Steve Ruffini (CFO)[4]
  • Joyce D. Slocum (SVP Legal/Business)
  • Debbie Ries (Sales VP)
  • Sloan Coleman (SR VP Live Events)
ProductsChildren's television shows, home videos, audio products, books, and toys
Production output
Owner
Number of employees
650 (1997)[5]
Divisions
  • Lyrick Publishing[6]
  • Lyrick Studios - Music Division[7]
Subsidiaries

Lyrick Studios was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas, best known for their flagship property Barney & Friends.[8][9]

The company was known for producing and distributing television shows, home videos, audio products and children's books and toys. On February 9, 2001, the company was acquired by British entertainment company HIT Entertainment.[10] HIT later folded the studio in June of that year following the completion of the acquisition.

History

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1988-1994: Beginnings and formation

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The company's origins traces back to when Barney & Friends became a huge success. The show was owned and produced by The Lyons Group, a company that was created by Richard C. Leach, who previously produced its predecessor, Barney & the Backyard Gang. Both series were created by his daughter-in-law, Sheryl Leach. In 1994, Leach had begun production on a new series titled Wishbone, which was produced by Big Feats! Entertainment. Because of the emerging video business,[11] it led to the creation of Lyrick Studios, which was formed under its parent company Lyrick Corporation. Leach's vision for Lyrick Studios was to expand the offerings of quality children's entertainment products.[12] Both The Lyons Group and Big Feats! Entertainment became subsidiaries of the new company.[13][14]

1995-2000: Acquisitions and expansion

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In the late 1990s, Lyrick turned its primary focus on distribution of children's TV shows and films. They acquired the distribution rights for VeggieTales and The Wiggles and also distributed book publishing and video gaming rights for some Humongous Entertainment video game characters like Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, and Pajama Sam.

In 1999, Lyrick planned to expand their existing headquarters to add 400,000 square feet. The first phase of the campus was expected to cost $6 million, which consisted of a two-story 60,000-square-foot building. The goal of the building expansion was to unite the company's operations in one spot.[5]

2001: HIT Entertainment acquisition

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Leach, who was now in his seventies, was ready to slow down and wanted to resolve ownership of Lyrick, although none of his children wanted to run the company.[15] In 2001, the company was acquired and folded into HIT Entertainment for $275 million, with eventual Lyrick CEO, Robert Lawes, being the driving force of the acquisition.[16] Leach decided that HIT Entertainment was a good fit for Lyrick as he believed the two companies shared the same values about creating quality programs for the preschool market.[17] The deal included that 'Lyrick Studios' was to be retained as a consumer brand for existing Lyrick properties, however, the Lyrick Studios name disappeared a few months after, as Lyrick merged into HIT Entertainment. Richard C. Leach was to be appointed a non-executive director of HIT on completion. However, he died of a heart attack on May 29, 2001 at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.[18]

On June 6, 2001, it was announced that Lyrick and HIT were to operate as one company as reorganization of management occurred. Rob Lawes, who was the newly appointed Chief Executive of Lyrick Corporation and CEO of Lyrick Studios for four months, became chief executive of HIT Entertainment while Steve Ruffini, who was the CFO of Lyrick Studios, became the CFO of HIT.[19] Although the merger was complete, the Lyrick Studios logo wouldn't be phased out until the end of August of that year.

Aftermath

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Due to the HIT acquisition of Lyrick and the death of Lyrick founder Richard C. Leach, it made Big Idea, owners of VeggieTales, wary of giving the distribution rights to a company that, as its founder Phil Vischer stated, "was no longer interested in working with properties they didn't own."[20] In December 2001, Big Idea announced that they would be switching their general market distribution to WEA. The following month, Lyrick sued Big Idea for breach of contract and the case went to trial in April 2003.[21] Lyrick argued that their draft agreement with Big Idea was binding, while Big Idea argued that the terms were still under negotiation and they never formally signed a contract. The court agreed with Lyrick, awarding Lyrick Studios $11 million in punitive damages, but the verdict was overturned on appeal two years later, and the Big Idea appeal was affirmed at the Supreme Court when they declined to take the case.[22][23]

Divisions

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Lyrick Publishing

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Lyrick Publishing was the publishing arm of Lyrick Studios. They had a publishing division called Big Red Chair.[24] Employing about 80 individuals, the company shut down in 2001 due to the acquisition with HIT Entertainment as the division had been losing money. Books published by the division were transferred to HIT Entertainment and Scholastic, Inc.[25]

Distribution

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Programs

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Name First release date Final release date Notes
Barney & Friends April 6, 1992 August 28, 2001[26][a] Flagship franchise
Wishbone October 9, 1995 March 13, 1998 Big Feats! Entertainment
Releases from 1995 to 1996 were originally distributed by PolyGram Video.
The Faithful Revolution: Vatican II 1996 Sole non-children's video release by Lyrick Studios[27][28]
Francesco's Friendly World 1996 February 25, 1998
Joe Scruggs March 11, 1997
VeggieTales March 31, 1998 June 6, 2001 Mass-market distribution[b]
Tall Tales & Legends June 16, 1998 October 10, 1998
Groundling Marsh June 23, 1998 September 8, 1998
The Wiggles October 12, 1999 (music)
August 1, 2000 (video)[c]		 August 14, 2001 US home video distributions
Bob the Builder May 22, 2001 August 7, 2001
Kipper June 5, 2001[29]

Movies/TV Films

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Name Year Notes
Kids for Character 1996 Includes scenes from The Puzzle Place, Barney & Friends, The Magic School Bus, Lamb Chop's Play-Along, Gullah Gullah Island, and Babar
Kids for Character: Choices Count 1997 Includes scenes from Bananas in Pyjamas, The Big Comfy Couch, and Wishbone
Wishbone's Dog Days of the West 1998 Big Feats! Entertainment
Barney's Great Adventure Distributed by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme Originally released in 1990

Unrealized projects

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In November 1998, it was announced that BJ of Barney & Friends was going to have his own animated spin-off series titled BJ and the Radical Rumblebutts which would've been produced by Lyrick Studios and Toronto’s Portfolio Films.[30] However, the project never came to fruition.

Notes

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  1. ^ The date that the snap clamshell VHS release of Barney: Let's Go to the Zoo was released was dedicated to Lyrick Studios, which folded into HIT Entertainment.
  2. ^ Originally distributed in Christian bookstores.
  3. ^ The #1 preschool band collaborated Barney the purple dinosaur's national stage show tour "Barney's Musical Castle" in America and Canada from Spring 2000 to Spring 2001.

References

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