Disney Junior UK's #1 Series Jake and the Never Land Pirates Goes Virtual With the Launch of Jake's World

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April 24, 2012
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Disney Junior UK's #1 Series Jake and the Never Land Pirates Goes Virtual With the Launch of Jake's World

LONDON, April 24, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

                    New Website Launches in Advance of Season Two Premiere

    Disney UK announced today the launch of Jake's World,
http://www.disney.co.uk/disney-junior/jake-and-the-never-land-pirates/jakes-world, a
brand new online destination for kids inspired by Disney Junior's #1 rating series, Jake
and the NeverLand Pirates. The most recent addition to Disney's successful raft of digital
environments, which include BAFTA-nominated Club Penguin, and Disney Channel inspired
Superbia, Jake's World will offer kids a fun and immersive experience to complement the
new series, which launched this month on Disney Junior.

    Aimed at 4 to 7 year olds, Jake's World enhances children's enjoyment of Jake and the
Never Land Pirates by inviting them to interact with Jake and discover a whole range of
magical features. Kids are able to create their own avatar and customise an individual
pirate hideout, play games with Jake and his crew, and explore Never Land. As children
play, they earn rewards, which can be used to enhance their own avatar and pirate hideout.

    Upcoming games include Jake's Skate Escape, an obstacle race through three scenes of
different terrain, which requires excellent hand-eye coordination and helps kids improve
their motor skills. Go Bananas pushes children's directional skills and coordination as
they catch bananas before the greedy Hook. All the games are across three levels and are
designed to support early learning skills in a fun and engaging way, as well as stimulate
and challenge young minds on a range of levels.

    Jake's World is designed to help parents and children to have fun and learn together.
Mums and dads will be encouraged to log on to Facebook and tune in to Disney Junior for
various events to unlock bonus content for their kids.

    Jake and the Never Land Pirates was the first animated series created for Disney
Junior and has achieved huge ratings success in the UK and across EMEA, reaching a total
of 4.2 million and 29.5 million[1] individuals respectively in the last quarter alone. The
star-studded second season featuring celebrity guest voice artists Sharon Osbourne and
David Arquette, premieres on 16th April 2012, with a third season green lit for 2013 on
the back of the global success of the series.

    Anna Hill, CMO, The Walt Disney Company UK, comments: "We are thrilled to be able to
offer young fans of Jake and the Never Land Pirates a magical new way to engage with our
number one show. As with all Disney Junior series, its success is built on using great
characters and storytelling to create a real emotional connection with its audience and
Jake's World will expand on these themes. Kids have a natural curiosity and sense of fun,
and the web is a wonderful way to make new discoveries about familiar friends."

    A unique platform for self-expression and personalisation, Jake's World contains a
vast array of engaging content to create a truly unique online experience. As with all
Disney's virtual worlds, Jake's World s a safe online game, giving parents confidence that
their children can enjoy the internet securely.

    Notes to editors:

   
    - The series is reaching more UK viewers at the same point in their
      lifecycles than Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Special Agent OSO, Jungle
      Junction and Art Attack!
    - Jake and the Never Land Pirates ranks as the #2 ratings driver with kids 4-9,
      only behind the much more established Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
    - The series attracted more unique viewers than key competitors such as Dora the
      Explorer, Bob the Builder and Thomas & Friends.

    About Disney Junior:

    The newly branded, learning-focused Disney Junior reflects the emotional connection
generations of consumers have to Disney storytelling and Disney characters, both classic
and contemporary. Disney Junior is now available in 109 countries across EMEA, with 8
visual feeds, in 13 languages, representing a total of 35 million households.

    Disney Junior's programming invites mum and dad to join their child in the Disney
experience of magical, musical and heartfelt stories and characters, while incorporating
specific learning and development themes designed for kids age 2-7. Disney Junior's
animated and live action series blend Disney's unparalleled storytelling and characters
kids love deeply with learning, including early math, language skills, healthy eating and
lifestyles, and social skills. Through its combination of animated and live-action
programming, Disney Junior inspires learning through play, from early maths and language
skills, to healthy lifestyles with an emphasis on social and emotional development. It
celebrates childhood by encouraging children to laugh, sing, dance, and above all - have
fun.

    From the earliest phase of program development, Disney employs education and child
development experts who review every premise and script before the development phase.
Working closely alongside parents, the Disney Junior brand vision was created and ensures
all content is mum-approved.

    About The Walt Disney Company EMEA

    The Walt Disney Company (TWDC), together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a
leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five
business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer
products and interactive media. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of
around $40.9 billion in its last fiscal year (FY11).

    TWDC Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) has operated in the region for more than 70
years and has a presence in over 25 countries and currently employees around 6,600 people.
Disneyland Paris opened in 1992 and is now Europe's #1 tourist destination. TWDC is a
major film distributor with recent successes including "Pirates of the Caribbean: On
Stranger Tides", "Toy Story 3" and "Alice in Wonderland". All three films set records
across the region contributing to a global box office for each film in excess of $1
billion. The company is also a major supplier of TV programming, distributing
Disney-branded and non-branded television shows including the hit series "Desperate
Housewives", which ranks in the top 10 US series on-air in France, Germany, Italy and the
UK. In EMEA, Disney Branded Channels (Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior and Disney
Cinemagic) are available in 118 countries, with 37 visual feeds, in 23 languages. This
represents a total of 59 channels and 92.1 million households. Disney's wide range of
consumer products, including toys, apparel, home décor, foods, books and magazines, are
sold at specialist and mass market retailers and at more than 100 Disney Stores in
Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK, as well as online. A new
concept store design, which offers a groundbreaking and magical retail experience that
families can enjoy together has launched in several markets across Europe.

    1. Across EMEA, Jake and the Never Land Pirates was viewed by a total of 29.5 million
individuals, of which 6.4 million were young kids, across 13 reported markets between
October-December 2011, an impressive 49% increase from the previous quarter. In the UK,
Jake and the Never Land Pirates was viewed by a total of 4.2 million Individuals 4+ (7%),
of which 1.4 million were Kids 4-15 (17%) and 1.2m were Kids 4-9 (27%), on Disney Junior.

Source: Disney UK

For further information, please contact: Charlotte Scott, Disney Channels EMEA, Charlotte.scott@disney.com, +44(0)20-8636-2054

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