The Jordan Freeman Group and educational games firm Wanderful Interactive Storybooks announced the acquisition of Wanderful Inc. and a partnership with ‘Arthur’ cartoon character creator Marc Brown.
The Jordan Freeman Group is a holding company for the Zoom Platform storefront for classic computer games, while Wanderful Interactive Storybooks is the maker of mobile and computer games for kids.
Wanderful Inc. will remain a separate company. However, it will be merged into the Jordan Freeman
Group operationally. This acquisition enables Wanderful’s products to gain access to Zoom
Platform’s technology and marketing.
In addition to it’s own website (ZOOM-Platform.com), and the pre-existing Android and iOS releases, the new partnership is already preparing Steam editions and was recently approved by Nintendo to produce Switch versions.
JFG will gain access to additional licenses and games that are a part of Wanderful’s assets. Namely, the
Brøderbund developed Living Books animated adventure games, featuring: Marc Brown’s Arthur, the works of Dr. Seuss, The Berenstain Bears, Jack Prelutsky’s The New Kid on the Block, Janell Cannon’s Stellaluna, Mark Schlichting’s Harry D. Rabbit, Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter and Little Monster, Eli Noyes’ Ruff the Dog, Kevin Henkes’ Sheila Rae and even classic Aesop’s Fables such as The Tortoise and the Hare.
Mickey W. Mantle, founder of Wanderful, said in a statement, “We are excited to find a group that has the same passion for classic software applications and games; they are publishers of hundreds of officially licensed titles and have unique technology that will help expand the portfolio of, and platforms
for, Wanderful’s brand.”
As one of the new partnership’s first initiatives, Freeman recruited author, Marc Brown, creator of Arthur, to secure the rights to two additional Arthur releases: Arthur’s Computer Adventure and Arthur’s Reading Race. The two games had been tied up due to licensing issues, which have now been resolved. They are now available along with Arthur’s Birthday and Arthur’s Teacher Trouble.
Brown, founder of Marc Brown Studios, said in a statement, “When Living Books approached me about bringing the Arthur books to life I did not own a computer. So, they gifted me one. Then, they flew from California to Boston to show me what they had done and it was terrific. I think what I liked most about this format was the way it gave the reader control of experiencing a book. We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with the Jordan Freeman Group to re-release these Arthur titles for new kids to read and enjoy.”
And Jordan Freeman, CEO of Jordan Freeman Group and Zoom Platform, and now president of Wanderful
Interactive Storybooks, said in a statement, “This is almost too much to handle. Both Arthur and Living Books were a tremendous part of my own childhood, the team and I are honored beyond words to be entrusted with these terrific titles based on such legendary characters. We look forward to what the future holds and would like to thank Marc and Tolon Brown as well as Mickey W. Mantle for all their support and creative guidance.”