Billy Ray Cyrus, Chevy Chase, Freddie
Prinze Jr, Morgan Simianer,
Tim Johnson Jr, Michael Rappaport and Reginald VelJohnson
join star-studded cast in first Build-A-Bear animated
Christmas film based on best-selling holiday plush
collection
ST.
LOUIS, Dec. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Build-A-Bear
Entertainment, a subsidiary of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:
BBW), along with Foundation Media Partners, announces that
Billy Ray Cyrus, Chevy Chase, Freddie
Prinze Jr, Michael Rappaport,
Morgan Simianer (star of Netflix's
hit series "Cheer"), Tim Johnson Jr,
and Reginald VelJohnson have been added to the cast of the animated
Christmas feature GLISTEN AND THE MERRY MISSION. The film
stars five-time Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum selling
singer/songwriter Julia Michaels,
six-time Grammy-winning legend Dionne
Warwick and Trinity Jo-Li
Bliss (AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER). This anticipated film is
the first animated Christmas feature for Build-A-Bear based on the
company's multi-year best-selling Holiday plush collection and is a
partnership between Build-A-Bear Entertainment and Foundation Media
Partners, who are co-producing the film.
GLISTEN AND THE MERRY MISSION follows a young
elfling Marzipan (voiced by Bliss) and her mother Cinnameg (voiced
by Michaels) as Marzipan must believe in the magic of the season as
she goes on the adventure of a lifetime to rediscover the enchanted
snow deer named Glisten and save Christmas. Their mission is
aided by a colorful cadre of reindeer and elves, including the wise
Sage Evergreen (voiced by Warwick).
Additional voice roles include Chevy
Chase as Santa, Freddie Prinze
Jr as Crumble Starsnaps, Santa's workshop manager,
Morgan Simianer as Estrellastar the
workshop elf, Tim Johnson Jr. as
Egard the workshop elf, Michael
Rappaport as GRIZZ, the village grizzly bear with a tough
reputation, Billy Ray Cyrus as the
reindeer Donner and Reginald VelJohnson as Snowy Owl.
Build-A-Bear President and Chief Executive Officer Sharon Price John will executive produce the
film based on a story written by Ms. John, and Foundation Media
Chief Executive Officer Patrick
Hughes will produce the film. The screenplay was
written by Temple Mathews ("Mariah's Once Upon a Christmas") and
Ms. John and will be art-directed, designed and animated by
Ontario-based Big Jump
Entertainment with Big Jump's Chief Creative Officer Cory Morrison directing. Michael Mariano (RAISING HOPE, LAST OG) and his
frequent collaborator Traci Burwitz
will voice direct.
Chase is an iconic comedian and actor known for many comedy
roles including CADDYSHACK, FLETCH, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION and
NBC's "Community." He will next be seen in ZOMBIE TOWN.
Freddie Prinze Jr. is best known
for his roles in SHE'S ALL THAT, SCOOBY-DOO, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID
LAST SUMMER. He was most recently seen in CHRISTMAS WITH YOU, which
was released nationally in November.
Morgan Simianer is best known for
her role in the Emmy-Winning Netflix series "Cheer."
Tim Johnson Jr. is best known for
roles in PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING,
FIST FIGHT, and roles on the series "Ballers," "Future Man," "FBI,"
and "Hit the Road." He will next be seen as a series regular on
Disney's "Saturdays."
Michael Rappaport is best known
for iconic roles in TRUE ROMANCE, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING,
LIFE & BETH and ATYPICAL. He's most recently been seen in
CONFLICTED.
Billy Ray Cyrus has achieved
global success as a singer, songwriter, actor, producer and
philanthropist. Cyrus is a multi-GRAMMY® Award, Billboard Music
Award, BET Hip Hop Award, MTV VMA Moonmen, Country Music
Association Award, American Music Award and Canadian Academy of
Recording Arts & Sciences Juno Award-winning entertainer.
Recently, Cyrus release his current single "Time," a duet with
FIREROSE. Cyrus is also a successful actor with credits
including "Doc" and "Still The King," as well as the hit Disney
Channel series "Hannah Montana,"
among many other film and TV roles.
Reginald VelJohnson is best known for roles in DIE HARD, DIE
HARD 2 and the hit series "Family Matters." He has also been
seen in GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS ALWAYS and television series TURNER
& HOOCH.
Chase is repped by APA and Link Entertainment. Prinze Jr.
is repped by Gersh and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Simianer is repped by CAA. Johnson Jr. is repped by MMV and
Foundation Media Partners. Rappaport is repped by A3 Artists
Agency and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Cyrus is repped
by UTA, MicnE Productions and Adkins Entertainment..
VelJohnson is repped by David
Shapira and Associates and The Beddingfield Company.
ABOUT BUILD-A-BEAR ENTERTAINMENT
Build-A-Bear
Entertainment, a division of Build-A-Bear Workshop,
the IP-based company best known for
its memorable and unique
'build-your-own' retail concept, has been actively
creating a variety of content while cultivating the right
relationship for its big screen debut. In addition to the
upcoming project with Hello Sunshine, the company has produced
several feature-length films in conjunction with
Foundation Media Partners, including Honey
Girls, Deliver By
Christmas and Christmas CEO. Separately,
the highly anticipated documentary
from award-winning director Taylor Morden, which chronicles the
compelling journey of Build-A-Bear's rise from a 1997
retail-tainment start-up, to a successful multi-million dollar
public company, to its current evolution and digital transformation
into a
multi-generational, diversified, omni-channel organization that
posted its most profitable year in 2021, is currently in
post-production.
ABOUT BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP, INC. (NYSE:
BBW)
Build-A-Bear is a multi-generational global brand
focused on its mission to "add a little more heart to life"
appealing to a wide array of consumer groups who enjoy the personal
expression in making their own "furry friends" to celebrate and
commemorate life moments. Nearly 500 interactive brick-and-mortar
retail locations operated through a variety of formats provide
guests of all ages a hands-on entertaining experience, which often
fosters a lasting and emotional brand connection. The company also
offers engaging e-commerce/digital purchasing experiences
on https://www.buildabear.com/ including its online
"Bear-Builder", the animated "Bear Builder 3D Workshop" and its
age-gated adult-focused "Bear Cave". In addition, extending its
brand power beyond retail, Build-A-Bear Entertainment, a subsidiary
of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., is dedicated to creating engaging
content for kids and adults that fulfills the company's mission,
while the company also offers products at wholesale and in
non-plush consumer categories via licensing agreements with leading
manufacturers. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW) posted total
revenue of $411.5 million in fiscal
2021. For more information, visit the Investor
Relations section of buildabear.com.
ABOUT FOUNDATION MEDIA
Foundation's clients and
executive team have produced a number of commercially successful
and award-winning films for major studios and independent
financiers. Foundation's slate includes movies from some of the
most prolific filmmakers in the world, cultivating some of today's
most dynamic and cutting edge new voices. Recent titles include THE
BAD GUYS, based on the best-selling book franchise by Aaron Blabey, which was released earlier this
year by Dreamworks Animation and Universal Pictures; THELMA THE
UNICORN, based on another best-selling book franchise by Blabey, is
currently in PRODUCTION with director Jared
Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) for Netflix; DELIVER BY CHRISTMAS,
which was Build-A-Bear Entertainment's first film with Hallmark
released in Fall of 2020; and HONEY GIRLS, the first Build-A-Bear
Entertainment feature film for Sony Pictures Worldwide
Acquisitions, based on Build-A-Bear Workshop's pop music trio and
released in 2021.
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SOURCE Build-A-Bear Workshop