Wellington introduces 'Wumblerful' friends
By PATRICIA W. STINSON Of Suburbanite
Northern Valley Suburbanite October 27, 2004

The Wumblers, an animated television show for pre-school age children, plans to debut next summer to a global audience.

Tenafly resident Laura Wellington hopes that the Wumblers will share the kind "Wumblerful" success of "Barney" and the "Teletubbies."

Wellington, 37, created the characters and stories during a hectic three-year period in her life when her husband, Dean, was dying of cancer. She welcomed the distraction of drawing, one of her favorite activities from her childhood.

The Wumblers were kind of talisman for overcoming her grief of losing her husband, and now she and her four children look forward to next phase of their lives - the Wumbler years, of sorts. The Wumbler characters expect to assume a kind of cyber reality through the television series. Then the cuddly Wumbler toy dolls and the other related merchandise will be important players.

Created for an international audience of 2- to 5-year-old children, Wellington wants "The Wumblers" to stress values such as being responsible, sharing and caring for others.

By all indications - the test market, the international sales deals, expert industry guidance, private investors - Wellington's Wumblers will be a worldwide success. Wellington has a joint development agreement with Peak Entertainment in United Kingdom, which is handling animation and series production. Even before U.S. broadcasters begin bidding for broadcast rights, the Wumblers are already sold to TV audiences in the United Kingdom, Asia, Canada and Israel.

Wellington describes one early indicator of the Wumblers potential success.

"When we were at the toy fair, industry executives visiting our exhibit booth tried to walk away with Wumbler dolls," she said. Finally when one doll was missing from the exhibit, Wellington turned the loss into a publicity coup by announcing that "Bertram Wumbler" had been kidnapped.

While some media articles label Wellington as a regular mother of four, parenting is not her career - she is a focused entrepreneur. She was recently named Businesswoman of the Year for the State of New Jersey by the Republican Congressional Committee and is a member of the Business Advisory Board for President Bush. She was also asked to become a board member for an international organization concerned with the child welfare.

Wellington and her late husband established two businesses - Wellington Financial Systems and Wellington Consulting - and she has continued to run those companies. One is an information technology business and other provides financial trading systems.

She then set up the Silly Goose Company to market The Wumblers. Already she has been approached by television personality Ed McMahon about having Silly Goose make his children's television concept into a reality.

Wellington's four children are proud of their mother's creations. "Each of my children has been the impetus for the creation of a Wumbler character," said Wellington. Her children - Isabelle, 5; Emma, 7; Ian, 9; Jacquelyn, 11 - all attend the Maugham Elementary School.

"The other day my son Ian said to me "I want to be just like you," she said. "My children are my strength and purpose. They are all so grounded and amazing."