Headquarters Allen, Texas Number of employees 650 (1997) | Founded 1983 | |
Former type Subsidiary of HiT Entertainment Defunct 1992 (as The Lyons Group)
2001 (As Lyrick Studios)
2002 (Distribution name only) Subsidiaries Big Feats Entertainment
Lyons Partnership | ||
Lyrick Studios, was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, a Dallas suburb. The company was best known for its distribution of home videos, audio products, children's books and toys for the children's television series Barney & Friends and Wishbone. This company was also known for its production and distribution of home videos, audio products, children's books, toys, video games, 2D and CGI animation, visual effects, feature-length motion pictures, and television shows.
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History
Established in mid-1988 as The Lyons Group, the company began producing and distributing some direct-to-video episodes of Barney & Friends for the character's creator, Sheryl Leach. The Barney programs began airing on the Public Broadcasting Service on April 6, 1992. The company developed the Wishbone series for PBS in 1995, a show about a talking dog living in the fictional town of Oakdale, Texas. The series was filmed at the studio and on location in Plano.
Lyrick Studios established the Lyrick brand in 1994 and had Richard "Dick" Leach as CEO. Lyrick Studios turned its' primary focus on distribution of children's TV shows and films. In 2000, Lyrick began distributing TV shows owned by HIT Entertainment such as Bob the Builder, and Kipper the Dog. In 2001, it was later announced that HIT was purchasing Lyrick Studios at the end of 2001. By 2002, the Lyrick brand was absorbed by the HIT brand and all Lyrick logos on DVDs and VHS tapes were replaced by HIT logos.
Distribution
Lyrick also developed the distribution rights for The Wiggles and also distributes book publishing and video gaming rights for some Humongous Entertainment video game characters like Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish and Pajama Sam. In 1997, the company had 650 employees and expanded the size of its studio facilities to consolidate its sister companies into a single facility. The company also distributed videos for two Christian animated series VeggieTales and 3-2-1 Penguins!.