Entertainment
LITTLEST PET SHOP CELEBRATES THE YEAR OF THE BOBBLE BY ENCOURAGING FANS ACROSS THE GLOBE TO ‘BOBBLE TO THE BEAT’
LITTLEST PET SHOP, Following an Epic NYC Premiere Event, Basic Fun! Invites Fans Around the World to Unleash the Bobble with a Custom Song and Dance Challenge Inspired by the Pets
Last Updated on June 13, 2024 by Daily News Staff
BOCA RATON, Fla. /PRNewswire/ — Today, LITTLEST PET SHOP, one of the most well-known collectible toy brands in history, released a call to action to fans around the world to ‘unleash the bobble’. In celebration of the franchise’s long-anticipated return to retail in January – this is sure to be the “Year of the Bobble”! Debuting last week with a pop-up performance at Toys”R”Us at Macy’s Herald Square, Macy’s flagship location in New York City, the Bobble to the Beat social campaign encourages kids and kidults alike to showcase their dancing skills and bobble along with LITTLEST PET SHOP wherever they are, featuring custom choreography alongside an original LITTLEST PET SHOP brand anthem. 
To kickstart the craze, TikTok creators @Alexdwong, @GiaNina and @MelissaBecraft, along with the iconic @ToysRUs Geoffrey the Giraffe™ led a flash mob performance of 20+ dancers through Macy’s, and are helping LITTLEST PET SHOP rally fans with dance tutorials, already sparking over 3 million views across Instagram and TikTok. Both the brand anthem and dance challenge, choreographed by acclaimed New York City-based professional director, choreographer, content creator, and producer Michael McCrary, are inspired by the beloved bobblin’ motion of LITTLEST PET SHOP pets, which is featured across figures in the latest Generation 7 of the line. Consumers around the world can join in on the LITTLEST PET SHOP relaunch celebration by gathering their own crew to show off their take on the dance on social media using the hashtag #BobbleToTheBeat.
“It’s essential we relaunched LITTLEST PET SHOP with a creative call to action that would introduce this iconic brand to new audiences on the platforms where they are, and also excite our longtime collectors,” said Katy Katz, Head of Digital Marketing & E-Commerce at Basic Fun! “The ‘Bobble to The Beat’ social campaign perfectly captures the essence of the signature quirky, edgy, and undeniably cute pets that have been loved for decades. Ultimately, we hope to inspire kids of all ages to let down their guard and unleash their own ‘bobble’ with us and LITTLEST PET SHOP!”
With over 1 billion pets sold worldwide since the brand’s initial launch by Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) over 30 years ago, LITTLEST PET SHOP was the original pet collectible with more than 3,000 pets to collect, display, and trade. Returning to retail this January, the LITTLEST PET SHOP line will feature over 120 bobblin’ pets by the end of the year, including new pets, packs, and playsets available in more than 20 countries worldwide. The first series in Generation 7 features a wide range of new characters to collect and cherish, available within LITTLEST PET SHOP Pet Surprise Singles, LITTLEST PET SHOP Pet Pairs, and LITTLEST PET SHOP Pet Trios assortments, Play Packs and Playsets. Products are available at mass and specialty retailers worldwide, including Macy’s, Toys”R”Us, Amazon, Target, Walmart, Five Below, GameStop and more in the U.S. Learn more at LittlestPetShop.com.
To further the LITTLEST PET SHOP experience, Roblox players can also bobble with the brand on the global immersive platform, which will debut a custom bobble dance emote available in-game starting today! Following the wildly successful collaboration between LITTLEST PET SHOP Master Toy licensee, Basic Fun!, a leading global marketer of toys and consumer products, Hasbro, Inc., a leading toy and game company, and Suit Up Games, a Roblox development studio specializing in high-engagement branded experiences for young audiences, the LITTLEST PET SHOP pet-simulation gaming experience has surpassed over 3.5 million plays since launching in December 2023.
Ready to unleash the bobble? Follow the official @LITTLESTPETSHOP social channels, including Instagram and TikTok, to join in on the fun using #BobbleToTheBeat. For more information about the LITTLEST PET SHOP brand and product line, visit LittlestPetShop.com.
ABOUT BASIC FUN! INC.
Basic Fun! is a dynamic global marketer of classic and innovative children’s entertainment products for today’s kids. The company plays in many core toy categories including classic heritage toys, novelty collectibles, building toys, youth electronics, plush, vehicles, dolls and activity/discovery. Basic Fun!’s key brands include: LITTLEST PET SHOP, Care Bears, Cutetitos, POUND PUPPIES, TONKA, K’NEX, LITE-BRITE, Mash’ems, Playhut, Arcade Classics and more! For more information, please visit www.BasicFun.com.
ABOUT HASBRO
Hasbro is a leading toy and game company whose mission is to entertain and connect generations of fans through the wonder of storytelling and exhilaration of play. Hasbro delivers engaging brand experiences for global audiences through toys, consumer products, gaming and entertainment, with a portfolio of iconic brands including MAGIC: THE GATHERING, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, Hasbro Gaming, NERF, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH and PEPPA PIG, as well as premier partner brands.
Hasbro is guided by our Purpose to create joy and community for all people around the world, one game, one toy, one story at a time. For more than a decade, Hasbro has been consistently recognized for its corporate citizenship, including being named one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media, one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute and one of the 50 Most Community-Minded Companies in the U.S. by the Civic 50. For more information, visit https://corporate.hasbro.com.
SOURCE Basic Fun!
Forgotten Genius Fridays
Octavia E. Butler: The Black Woman Who Helped Change Science Fiction
Discover how Octavia E. Butler transformed science fiction, explored Black identity, and helped shape Afrofuturism through her groundbreaking novels.
Forgotten Genius Friday | The Knowledge | STM Daily News
Octavia E. Butler: The Woman Who Reimagined the Future
When we think about science fiction, we often picture spaceships, robots, alien civilizations, and futuristic technology. But what happens when science fiction becomes a way to explore racism, inequality, human survival, and the consequences of our choices?
That is exactly what Octavia E. Butler brought to the genre.
Long before Afrofuturism became a widely recognized cultural movement, Butler was creating extraordinary stories that placed Black characters—especially Black women—at the center of imagined futures.
Her work challenged conventional ideas about who could be a hero, whose experiences mattered, and what science fiction could accomplish.
A Young Girl With a Powerful Imagination
Octavia Estelle Butler was born on June 22, 1947, in Pasadena, California.
Raised primarily by her mother and grandmother after her father’s death, Butler grew up shy and found comfort in books and storytelling.
Her mother worked as a domestic employee, and Butler sometimes accompanied her to work. Those experiences exposed her to the racial and economic inequalities that would later influence her fiction.
As a child, Butler loved science fiction, but she noticed something missing: people who looked like her.
Rather than accepting that absence, she began creating stories of her own.
She would eventually become one of the most influential writers in speculative fiction.
Breaking Barriers in Science Fiction
During the 1970s, mainstream American science fiction was largely associated with white male writers and protagonists.
Butler entered that literary world with a different perspective.
Her first published novel, Patternmaster, appeared in 1976. It introduced readers to a world shaped by extraordinary mental abilities, social hierarchies, and struggles for power.
Butler continued developing complex stories that explored humanity’s relationship with authority, identity, biology, and survival.
In 1979, she published one of her best-known novels, Kindred.
The book follows Dana, a Black woman living in 1970s California who is repeatedly transported back to a Maryland plantation before the Civil War.
Through Dana’s experiences, Butler forced readers to confront the brutality of American slavery and its continuing influence on the present.
Rather than treating history as something safely confined to the past, Kindred makes that history immediate and deeply personal.
Imagining the Future—and Warning Us About It
In 1993, Butler published Parable of the Sower, a novel set in a collapsing American society struggling with economic inequality, environmental destruction, violence, and weakened institutions.
Its central character, Lauren Olamina, is a young Black woman who develops a philosophy called Earthseed while searching for a way to survive and build a community.
The novel takes place beginning in 2024, making its imagined future particularly striking to modern readers.
Butler followed it with Parable of the Talents in 1998, continuing her examination of social instability, religious extremism, authoritarianism, and the struggle to create a better future.
Her novels were not literal predictions. They were works of speculative fiction that used recognizable social trends to ask difficult questions about where humanity might be headed.
Octavia Butler and Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism brings together African and African diasporic experiences with science fiction, technology, history, mythology, and imaginative visions of the future.
While artists such as Sun Ra and George Clinton explored cosmic identity through music, performance, and futuristic imagery, Butler used literature to investigate power, history, and humanity’s possible futures.
Her novels frequently placed Black women in situations where they had to navigate extraordinary challenges and reshape the societies around them.
Butler’s work is widely discussed within Afrofuturist scholarship, although her literary contributions also extend beyond any single cultural label.
She demonstrated that Black people did not have to remain secondary characters in someone else’s vision of the future.
They could be the architects of entirely new worlds.
Recognition and a Lasting Legacy
Butler received some of science fiction’s most significant honors, including Hugo and Nebula Awards.
In 1995, she became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, often called a genius grant.
Her work also included the Xenogenesis trilogy, later collected as Lilith’s Brood, which explored humanity’s encounter with an extraterrestrial species and raised questions about consent, adaptation, identity, and survival.
Butler died on February 24, 2006, at age 58.
Yet her influence has continued to grow.
Her novels are studied in classrooms, discussed by scholars, and embraced by new generations of readers and creators interested in science fiction, social justice, and Afrofuturism.
A Genius Who Made Us Think Differently About Tomorrow
Octavia E. Butler was more than a science-fiction author.
She was a visionary storyteller who understood that imagining the future also meant examining the past and questioning the present.
Her stories asked readers to consider how power operates, how communities survive, and how human beings might change.
And perhaps her greatest contribution was demonstrating that the future belongs in the imagination of everyone.
Why Octavia E. Butler Belongs in Forgotten Genius Friday
At STM Daily News, our Forgotten Genius Friday series celebrates extraordinary individuals whose ideas, innovations, and accomplishments helped shape our world, even if their stories aren’t widely known. Octavia E. Butler fits that mission perfectly. Although she received prestigious literary awards and recognition during her lifetime, her influence extends far beyond science fiction. Like the inventors, scientists, and trailblazers we’ve featured in this series, Butler challenged barriers, defied expectations, and opened doors for future generations. Through her imagination, she helped redefine who could tell stories about humanity’s future—and who could be at the center of those stories. Her inclusion in Forgotten Genius Friday reminds us that genius isn’t limited to laboratories and inventions. Sometimes, it begins with a pen, a powerful imagination, and the courage to envision a different world.
Sources and fact-checking
The Huntington Library holds Butler’s literary archive and confirms the chronology of her major novels, awards, and career. The MacArthur Foundation independently documents her 1995 fellowship.
- Official Octavia E. Butler biography
- The Huntington — Octavia E. Butler Papers
- MacArthur Foundation — Octavia Butler
- The Huntington — Telling My Stories exhibition
For more stories about overlooked innovators, writers, scientists, and visionaries who changed our world, explore The Knowledge and Forgotten Genius Friday at STM Daily News.
Entertainment
Lights, Camera, Snackers: How Aspiring Filmmakers Can Enter to Win $25,000
The director’s chair is open and the opportunity to create the next great snack-sized movie could be yours. Aspiring filmmakers and creators have the chance to turn a prewritten script into an original short film for a $25,000 prize.
Lights, Camera, Snackers: How Aspiring Filmmakers Can Enter to Win $25,000
(Feature Impact) The director’s chair is open and the opportunity to create the next great snack-sized movie could be yours.
For the second year, Bumble Bee is bringing back its Tuna “Cans”Film Festival, giving aspiring filmmakers and creators the chance to turn a script written by comedian and actress, Grace Reiter, into an original short film starring its deliciously convenient tuna Snackers.
Watch the video to learn more!
“I love a chance to support those starting out in the film industry – and this time, I’m partnering with Bumble Bee for the Tuna Cans Film Festival to do it,” Reiter said. “Plus, I’m making it easy: I already wrote the script.”
Using Reiter’s scripted lines, creators can make the story entirely their own, bringing their vision to life through original characters, settings, music, editing and creative flair.
The creative brief is simple: The finished film must be 60 seconds or less and Bumble Bee Snackers™ need to get their moment in the spotlight.
Plus, the stakes are bigger than ever: The winning filmmaker will take home a $25,000 grand prize to help make their filmmaking dreams a reality.
Creators can submit their original short film by Oct. 23, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. PT.
The film can be funny, dramatic, unexpected or all three. The lines are already written but the order, arrangement and any additions are open to creative interpretation. Now it’s time to see what you can do with it.
Visit tunacansfilmfest.com, where you can find Reiter’s original script, submission instructions and complete contest details, to get started.
SOURCE:
Bumble Bee
Last Updated on October 9, 2026 by Daily News Staff
From haunted mazes after dark to daytime trick-or-treating with Snoopy, Knott’s offers two ways to celebrate Halloween in 2026.
BUENA PARK, Calif. — Halloween season is underway at Knott’s Berry Farm, where visitors can choose between the nighttime frights of Knott’s Scary Farm and the playful daytime activities of Knott’s Spooky Farm.
For readers planning a Southern California outing this October, the two celebrations offer different ways to get into the Halloween spirit.
Scary Farm brings new nightmares after dark
Knott’s Scary Farm runs on select nights through October 31, 2026, transforming the park with haunted mazes, scare zones, shows, and more than 1,000 creatures, according to Knott’s.
Two new mazes join this year’s lineup. Inked turns a cartoonist’s creations into a nightmare, while Unearthed sends visitors into an excavation where an ancient evil has awakened.
Also new for 2026 is Color Collect, an activity in which guests use an interactive lantern to activate pillars around the park and collect six colors.
Scary Farm requires its own paid event admission. As of October 4, online single-night tickets are advertised from $65, with taxes potentially additional. Knott’s does not recommend the event for children under 13.
Spooky Farm offers daytime Halloween fun
For families seeking a gentler celebration, Knott’s Spooky Farm takes place Thursdays through Sundays, September 24–October 31, plus October 12, according to the park’s events calendar, which lists the additional date as Columbus Day.
Children can trick-or-treat through Ghost Town, enjoy games and spooky stories with Snoopy and the Peanuts characters, and show off their Halloween outfits at Snoopy’s Spooktacular Costume Party.
Other activities include the Creepy Critters of Calico, cookie decorating in the pumpkin patch, and performances by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater. Cookie decorating carries an additional fee.
The daytime celebration gives families a chance to enjoy Halloween decorations, treats, and entertainment together before the nighttime haunt begins.
Planning your visit
Knott’s Berry Farm is located at 8039 Beach Boulevard in Buena Park, California. Before heading out, check the park’s official calendar for your chosen date, operating hours, admission options, and event policies.
Whether your Halloween plans call for a bag of candy or a trip through a haunted maze, Knott’s has a seasonal celebration to match.
Keep the fun going: Visit STM Daily News for more entertainment news, theme park updates, and stories worth sharing.
Official sources
- Knott’s Scary Farm: attractions and tickets
- Knott’s Spooky Farm: activities and entertainment
- Knott’s Berry Farm: seasonal event dates
Information checked October 4, 2026. Event schedules, offerings, and ticket prices may change.
