Lyrick Studios

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title: "Lyrick Studios" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mattel", "barney-(franchise)", "bob-the-builder", "veggietales", "the-wiggles", "mass-media-companies-established-in-1994", "mass-media-companies-disestablished-in-2001", "1994-establishments-in-texas", "2001-disestablishments-in-texas", "2001-mergers-and-acquisitions", "defunct-companies-based-in-texas", "hit-entertainment"] description: "Defunct American production company" topic_path: "general/mattel" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrick_Studios" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Defunct American production company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Lyrick Studios
logo	Lyrick Studios Logo (3D variant).svg
logo_caption	Final logo, used from 1996 to 2001
logo_size	200px
type	In-name-only unit of Mattel
fate	Acquired and folded into HIT Entertainment
successors	HIT Entertainment
foundation
defunct
products	Children's television shows, home videos, audio products, books, and toys
key_people
owner
location	Allen, Texas
hq_location_country	U.S.
production
num_employees	650 (1997)
divisions
subsid
::

| name = Lyrick Studios | logo = Lyrick Studios Logo (3D variant).svg | logo_caption = Final logo, used from 1996 to 2001 | logo_size = 200px | type = In-name-only unit of Mattel | fate = Acquired and folded into HIT Entertainment | successors = HIT Entertainment | foundation = | defunct = | products = Children's television shows, home videos, audio products, books, and toys | key_people = | owner = | location = Allen, Texas | hq_location_country = U.S. | production = | revenue = | operating_incom = | net_incom = | num_employees = 650 (1997) | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = Lyrick Studios was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas, best known for their flagship property Barney & Friends.

The company was known for producing and distributing television shows, home videos, audio products and children's books and toys. On February 9, 2001, the company was acquired by British entertainment company HIT Entertainment. HIT later folded the studio in June of that year following the completion of the acquisition.

History

1988-1994: Beginnings and formation

The company's origins traces back to when Barney & Friends became a huge success. The show was owned and produced by The Lyons Group, a company that was created by Richard C. Leach, who previously produced its predecessor, Barney & the Backyard Gang. Both series were created by his daughter-in-law, Sheryl Leach. In 1994, Leach had begun production on a new series titled Wishbone, which was produced by Big Feats! Entertainment. Because of the emerging video business, it led to the creation of Lyrick Studios, which was formed under its parent company Lyrick Corporation. Leach's vision for Lyrick Studios was to expand the offerings of quality children's entertainment products. Both The Lyons Group and Big Feats! Entertainment became subsidiaries of the new company.

1995-2000: Acquisitions and expansion

In the late 1990s, Lyrick turned its primary focus on distribution of children's TV shows and films. They acquired the distribution rights for VeggieTales and The Wiggles and also distributed book publishing and video gaming rights for some Humongous Entertainment video game characters like Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, and Pajama Sam.

In 1999, Lyrick planned to expand their existing headquarters to add 400,000 square feet. The first phase of the campus was expected to cost $6 million, which consisted of a two-story 60,000-square-foot building. The goal of the building expansion was to unite the company's operations in one spot.

2001: HIT Entertainment acquisition

Leach, who was now in his seventies, was ready to slow down and wanted to resolve ownership of Lyrick, although none of his children wanted to run the company. In 2001, the company was acquired and folded into HIT Entertainment for $275 million, with eventual Lyrick CEO, Robert Lawes, being the driving force of the acquisition. Leach decided that HIT Entertainment was a good fit for Lyrick as he believed the two companies shared the same values about creating quality programs for the preschool market. The deal included that 'Lyrick Studios' was to be retained as a consumer brand for existing Lyrick properties, however, the Lyrick Studios name disappeared a few months after, as Lyrick merged into HIT Entertainment. Richard C. Leach was to be appointed a non-executive director of HIT on completion. However, he died of a heart attack on May 29, 2001 at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

On June 6, 2001, it was announced that Lyrick and HIT were to operate as one company as reorganization of management occurred. Rob Lawes, who was the newly appointed Chief Executive of Lyrick Corporation and CEO of Lyrick Studios for four months, became chief executive of HIT Entertainment while Steve Ruffini, who was the CFO of Lyrick Studios, became the CFO of HIT. Although the merger was complete, the Lyrick Studios logo wouldn't be phased out until the end of August of that year.

Aftermath

Due to the HIT acquisition of Lyrick and the death of Lyrick founder Richard C. Leach, it made Big Idea, owners of VeggieTales, wary of giving the distribution rights to a company that, as its founder Phil Vischer stated, "was no longer interested in working with properties they didn't own." In December 2001, Big Idea announced that they would be switching their general market distribution to WEA. The following month, Lyrick sued Big Idea for breach of contract and the case went to trial in April 2003. Lyrick argued that their draft agreement with Big Idea was binding, while Big Idea argued that the terms were still under negotiation and they never formally signed a contract. The court agreed with Lyrick, awarding Lyrick Studios $11 million in punitive damages, but the verdict was overturned on appeal two years later, and the Big Idea appeal was affirmed at the Supreme Court when they declined to take the case.

Divisions

Lyrick Publishing

Lyrick Publishing was the publishing arm of Lyrick Studios. They had a publishing division called Big Red Chair. Employing about 80 individuals, the company shut down in 2001 due to the acquisition with HIT Entertainment as the division had been losing money. Books published by the division were transferred to HIT Entertainment and Scholastic, Inc.

Distribution

Programs

::data[format=table]

Name	First release date	Final release date	Notes
Barney & Friends	April 6, 1992	August 28, 2001	Flagship franchise
Wishbone	October 9, 1995	March 13, 1998	Big Feats! Entertainment
Releases from 1995 to 1996 were originally distributed by PolyGram Video.
	1996	title=The faithful revolution : [videorecording] Vatican II - Western University	url=https://ocul-uwo.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=01OCUL_UWO:UWO_DEFAULT&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&tab=Everything&docid=alma991030845489705163
Francesco's Friendly World	1996	February 25, 1998
Joe Scruggs	March 11, 1997
VeggieTales	March 31, 1998	June 6, 2001	Mass-market distribution
Tall Tales & Legends	June 16, 1998	October 10, 1998
Groundling Marsh	June 23, 1998	September 8, 1998
	October 12, 1999 (music)
August 1, 2000 (video)	August 14, 2001	US home video distributions
Bob the Builder	May 22, 2001	August 7, 2001
Kipper	June 5, 2001
::

Movies/TV Films

::data[format=table]

Name	Year	Notes
Kids for Character	1996	Includes scenes from The Puzzle Place, Barney & Friends, The Magic School Bus, Lamb Chop's Play-Along, Gullah Gullah Island, and Babar
Kids for Character: Choices Count	1997	Includes scenes from Bananas in Pyjamas, The Big Comfy Couch, and Wishbone
Wishbone's Dog Days of the West	1998	Big Feats! Entertainment
Barney's Great Adventure	Distributed by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme	Originally released in 1990
::

Unrealized projects

In November 1998, it was announced that BJ of Barney & Friends was going to have his own animated spin-off series titled BJ and the Radical Rumblebutts which would've been produced by Lyrick Studios and Toronto’s Portfolio Films. However, the project never came to fruition.

Notes

References

References

1. "Tim Clott".
2. "LYRICK CORPORATION :: Texas (US)".
3. (September 2025). "Allen".
4. "Steve Ruffni".
5. Tanner, Lisa. (5 September 1999). "Lyrick Studios expanding". [[Dallas Business Journal]].
6. Sherber, Anne. (March 3, 2001). "Harry Potter Is a Star At Int'l Toy Fair".
7. McCormick, Moira. (December 7, 1996). "Barney Comes Home To New Lyrick Studios Label".
8. (2001). "The Guide to United States Popular Culture". Popular Press.
9. Genzlinger, Neil. (7 April 2017). "The Blame for 'Barney'? I'm a Little Guilty".
10. Billings, Claire. (9 February 2001). "HIT acquires US rival Lyrick Studios in $275 million deal".
11. Rozen, Miriam. (August 28, 1997). "Year of the dog".
12. (May 31, 2001). "Richard Leach Obituary (2001) - Chiacgo, IL - Chicago Tribune".
13. (September 2025). "Can Wishbone Sniff Out Barney's Trail?".
14. Milmo, Dan. (February 8, 2001). "Bob buys Barney".
15. Vischer, Phil. (November 15, 2004). "What Happened to Big Idea? (Part 6)".
16. (February 9, 2001). "HIT Entertainment Acquisition".
17. (April 2, 2001). "HIT’s Acquisition of Lyrick Creates A Pre-School Television Powerhouse".
18. (June 1, 2001). "RICHARD C. LEACH, 73".
19. (June 6, 2001). "HIT Entertainment: Board Changes".
20. Vischer, Phil. (January 9, 2007). "Me, Myself and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables". Thomas Nelson.
21. Patrick, Stephanie. (January 21, 2002). "Lawsuit over verbal pact pits Lyrick Studios".
22. "LYRICK STUDIOS INC v. BIG IDEA PRODUCTIONS".
23. DeMott, Rick. (April 4, 2006). "Supreme Court Refuses VeggieTales Case".
24. Raugust, Karen. (February 22, 1999). "Children's Book Characters Star on TV".
25. Ashdown, Simon. (March 1, 2001). "HIT buys U.S. retail entrée with Lyrick pick-up".
26. McCormick, Moira. (June 23, 2001). "'Barney' Title Gets Filmed On Location". Nielsen Business Media, Inc..
27. "The faithful revolution : [videorecording] Vatican II - Western University".
28. "The Faithful revolution : Vatican II {{!}} WorldCat.org".
29. McCormick, Moira. (April 28, 2001). "Lyrick Enters Midline World With Newly Inherited 'Kipper'". Nielsen Business Media, Inc..
30. Robertson, Virginia. (November 1, 1998). "New development mandate at Lyrick".

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