Penguin buys ‘The Snowman’

By John Freeman on December 12, 2012

Book publisher Penguin has announced the purchase of Snowman Enterprises Limited, giving the company full control of key publishing, feature film, TV, digital and merchandise rights to Raymond Briggs’ classic kid’s character and brand, The Snowman.

First published in 1978, The Snowman has gone on to sell 8.5 million copies of the book in 15 languages globally, with 3+ million of those in Puffin editions in the UK. An animated version of the book was produced in 1982 by producer John Coates and has aired annually on Channel 4 since.

As we reported yesterday The Snowman and The Snowdog, a sequel, will premiere along with a making of documentary on Channel 4 this Christmas.

Puffin will be releasing of an audio eBook of The Snowman and The Snowdog read by Sherlock Holmes star actor Benedict Cumberbatch, followed by new publishing in print and digital formats from 2013.

• Official The Snowman web site: www.thesnowman.co.uk

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.