New Jersey cartoon company opens its first toy store

Posted by Elena del Valle on December 2, 2008

Cutting the ribbon is Keith Killion, deputy mayor, Ridgewood, New Jersey, Laura Wellington, creator, The Wumblers and Doug Seiferling, president, Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce

Photos: Giddy Gander Company

On November 14, The Wumbler Patch, the first Wumblers retail store, opened its doors to the public in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Now fans of the cartoon program for children will be able to shop for the complete line of Wumbler product including plush, games, puzzles, DVDs, CDs, and apparel at the store. The new shop carries merchandise, made in China and the United States, for children three and older priced between $3 and $9.

The new store, designed to resemble a watermelon patch (in the cartoon program baby Wumblers are born from watermelon), marks the beginning of the roll out of Wumbler merchandise within larger retail stores across the country.

“Nothing like this has ever been done before,” said Laura J. Wellington, creator and chief executive officer, The Wumblers children’s brand. “But, now more than ever, we need to teach our children a better way. The Wumbler Patch is a means of doing so. It provides a fun place for children (and parents) to go in which to share an experience that positively impacts their community. This store goes beyond just selling merchandise. The store concept is very innovative and remains consistent with the grassroots emergence and initiative that founded the entire Wumbler brand. Positive change means getting at ‘the roots.’ Those ‘roots’ are our children!”

The Wumbler Patch, a television cartoon series, was developed to help teach children how to make the world a better place to live and grow. The Wumbler Patch store was designed to reinforce this original goal while offering a fun and engaging environment for children and their parents to shop.

The Wumblers is a television cartoon series.The Wumblers, multi-colored, bulbous-shaped characters, are the creation of Wellington, a preschool teacher, who also co-founded the Giddy Gander Company LLC.

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Watch video – Cartoon series designed to promote bilingualism becoming popular

Posted by Elena del Valle on July 30, 2008

Bertrum and Raimundo

Photos, video: Giddy Gander Company

In an effort to support bilingual (Spanish-English) fluency in the United States beginning with children and children’s television, the Giddy Gander Company launched a cartoon series and brand called The Wumblers in early 2007. Success soon followed. So much so that beginning July 2008, the bilingual branded program is airing on Spanish language television. Scroll down to watch a promo video about The Wumblers.

Also, The Wumblers products will be sold at Walmart through a joint promotion, between The Wumblers, the National Watermelon Association, and Walmart. The promotion was due to begin this July in one of the retail merchant’s Texas stores.

The Wumblers main characters are Bertrum, a young Wumbler, and Raimundo, a bilingual Latin American snail, who are best friends. Bertrum was created to reflect the cultural issues of the toddler children who watch the series. Raimundo is Bertrum’s conscience, mentor, and best friend, even if he is a Spanish speaking snail.

Bertrum’s other imaginary friends show up to advise and tempt him at important moments. He has two loving parents, one of which runs an ice cream shop; and an “eccentric aunt” who likes to paint and sing.

A Wumbler is Born

“The idea is to help Spanish speaking children in the United States achieve English fluency in a new and innovative way while remaining consistent with the values that remain key to the strong family ties and cultural origins of this flourishing community that offers so much to our U.S. society,” said Laura J. Wellington, creator of The Wumblers.

I really believe that it’s time for someone to look up and give Hispanic-Latino children the recognition and heroes they deserve within mainstream U.S. television (and subsequent platforms) with a thrust that warrants the continued emergence and positive contributions made by the Hispanic-Latino people to U.S. (and global) society.”

The Wumblers began as a cartoon series on television nine months ago. The success of the concept is reflected in the recent promotion with Walmart and the National Watermelon Association as well as the production of DVDs that became available for retail purchase this month.

The Wumblers, multi-colored, bulbous-shaped characters, are born from watermelons and eat food that falls from the sky. They are the creation of Wellington, a preschool teacher, mother of four, and widow. In 2006, she co-founded the Giddy Gander Company LLC to respond to requests for The Wumblers.