Last October we
reported that SonyWonder's DVD re-release of the animated
Transformers movie contained trailers indicating that the studio would also re-release the "G1" television episodes, and that we could expect them sometime in 2007. Now it looks like it's too late to for SonyWonder to execute those plans. Our good friend Thomas K. Arnold, in a story for The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters that was
carried by Yahoo! News, says that SonyWonder is closing their doors. Here are the appropriate highlights quoted from the story:
Children's audio and video label Sony Wonder...will soon be history. Sources say parent company Sony BMG Music Entertainment is shuttering the label to focus on its core music business.
A company spokesman declined comment, but sources said Jim Wilson, the division's executive vp and general manager, is leaving the company.
...Sesame Workshop left Sony Wonder in February, cutting a long-term deal with Genius Products that gives Genius the North American DVD rights to its 100-plus titles, many of them consisting of "Sesame Street" episodes. Sony Wonder had distributed Sesame Workshop titles for more than a decade.
Classic Media exited the month before...[and] Shout! Factory, another of Sony Wonder's distributed labels, is reportedly moving to Vivendi Visual Entertainment for DVD distribution, bringing with it an assortment of eclectic music and TV product.
Sony Wonder reportedly is in the final stages of winding down its operations...the last slate of DVDs Sony Wonder brought to market shipped in November and included "A Sesame Street Christmas Carol" and a 20th anniversary edition of "Transformers: The Movie."
So where does that leave the other
Transformers DVD re-releases, and other Sunbow properties that SonyWonder's license bought them, like
G.I. Joe, Jem and the Holograms and
InHumanoids? We're not sure, but it certainly sounds like they won't be coming from SonyWonder. But, instead of speculating here on what will happen next, we'll just tell you to...stay tuned!
