He has created two of the world’s biggest blockbuster children’s series. Now Paw Patrol creator, Keith Chapman has designs on a female cow. And with blockchain guru Martin Aram, the two Monaco residents are launching her NFT career.
In a town that takes an average of two years to close a deal, Monaco residents Keith Chapman and Martin Aram have broken the speed barrier. In less than six months, they went from conceptualizing Moonie Moo, a soon-to-be global superstar cow animation, to launching a limited-edition NFT collection on December 17.
“Over the Grand Prix weekend in May, we spoke about the idea first outside of Slammers and then later watching the race from a friend’s terrace,” explains Aram, founder and CEO of MXT, an innovative blockchain company based in his native Isle of Man.
As Chapman recalls it: “We shook hands and agreed. I went home after the race and created Moonie with my four-year-old’s felt-tip pens and wrote a backstory. I sent it to Martin that night.”
British television writer and producer Chapman is the creative genius behind the blockbusters, Bob the Builder and Paw Patrol. To date, the two children’s animated series have generated combined sales of over $17 billion worldwide, more than Steven Spielberg’s total box office gross revenues.
Chapman, 63, describes the setup for his latest character Moonie Moo as “a normal grass munching cow who is spotted by a talent agent and signed up as a model.” From Mooquey in southwest England and she moves to London and becomes a household name after her ‘Hello Bulls’ underwear ad campaign.
Moonie goes on to write songs and her number one album becomes the biggest selling ever by a cow. “Funny, rich, successful and gorgeous—her best friends are a pop star sheep named Lady Baa Baa and Pigcasso, an artistic pig—Moonie is based in Moonaco where she mingles with humans, runs a fashion label, jewelry line, luxury watch collection and even has her own perfume.” Her cheese brand—Moonie Moo Says Cheese, named after the smile for the camera catchphrase—is a hit, and as an environmentalist she supports various charities, including those linked to the Prince Albert Foundation.
“This idea is all real world and real-world money,” says 38-year-old Aram, who is half Irish, half Armenian. “Moonie will have a song produced and then a video promoting the song where we see her as an animation. We will use that as a step towards creating an animated TV show aimed at an older audience, along the lines of American Dad and Family Guy.”
Once they get the funding. And that is where the sale of 7,777 unique Moonie Moo NFTs comes into the picture. “There are so many projects out there that promise everything,” explains Aram, a former professional athlete in high jump. “Sellers get a bit of money and then you never hear from them again. We want to build a brand. We want Moonie Moo to become a proper superstar. And with the NFT sale, we are giving investors a physical picture which they can hang on their wall that could earn them dividends.
“The owner of that picture also owns the rights to that digital image. And once the NFT is in their wallet, they can do anything they wish—put it on a T-shirt and sell it or put it on a billboard to promote their brand. People have gone on to use NFT images to brand their new businesses, such as the Fast-Food restaurant Bored & Hungry that featured a Bored Ape Yacht Club and three Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT images.”
Chapman adds, “The metaverse may be in its early Wild West days but we are trying to add a property utility that has a track record. Once Moonie Moo is famous, by force of nature the NFT will become worth more if you own one of the original version tokens. You always have your image. That is a transaction.”
And that transaction is part of the Ethereum blockchain as a public record known as minting. According to a 2022 report from the research firm MarketsandMarkets, the current $3 billion valuation of the NFT market will reach $13.6 billion by 2027, based on a 35.0% CAGR. As Maria Brito writes in The Groove, “In a way, anyone can buy or sell anything digital that can be tokenized and stored in a blockchain platform. If you think about this, blockchain technology is opening the floodgates to do so much business and to expand the boundaries of what creativity means, beyond our wildest dreams.”
With Moonie Moo, the possibilities are infinite. “The value of our NFT project is having someone onboard like Keith, who has already built a number of global brands,” says Aram.
The first Moonie Moo NFT will be reserved for Prince Albert, along with a framed print edition. The other NFTs—except for 99 kept aside by the team for future use—will be available to mint/buy from mooniemoo.io. “We have made it very easy to buy the NFTs,” says Aram. “Click. Pay. Mint. Receive. Once profits start to be generated from the Moonie Moo Brand, 15% will be shared with our NFT holders and 5% will go to foundations and charities.”
To celebrate the launch, the pair of entrepreneurs—who on separate occasions each shook hands with Queen Elizabeth—are planning a special draw for 300 of their NFT holders on a yacht in Monaco with a special appearance by Moonie Moo. One of many real-world events they have up their sleeves.
As Shira Ovide cautioned in The New York Times, “The proliferation of NFTs will probably not be the world-changing revolution that its proponents claim. And it’s probably not an entirely absurd bubble, either. As with other emerging technologies, there is a good idea in there somewhere if we slow down and resist the hype.”
Chapman has a credential list of good ideas. He has created a phenomenal portfolio of kids’ intellectual property (IP)—in 2017 Paw Patrol was the number one licensed brand for merchandise in the U.S., ahead of Star Wars, Mickey Mouse and the NFL—and is creator and producer of the upcoming animated film on deforestation, Ozi: Voice of the Forest, with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions and Mike Medavoy as co-producers. His first novel trilogy, Prey Zone (Hot Key Books; published September 2022) “an explosive, action-packed teen thriller to sink your teeth into,” was co-written by Steve Cole, in collaboration with global bestselling author, Wilbur Smith.
“There are no guarantees that Moonie Moo will be a success,” Chapman admits. “We have cool ideas and big ambitions. I have created billion-dollar brands and I would love this to be another, but it will need a lot of hard work and a little magic dust. Anyone buying an NFT is getting a lottery ticket to go on a journey with us to see how far we can go.”