Cookie Jar Entertainment Logo History

Thanks to Noah Lemoine for requesting Cookie Jar. Cookie Jar Entertainment is a kids company which is also known as Cinar. Founded in 1976, Cinar (pronounced "seh-NAR") was originally a film distribution company which distributed international/foreign films from the 1970s to the early 1980s from offices in New York City. The company was owned by the married couple Ronald Weinberg and Micheline Charest. In 1984, things were changing for Cinar as the couple moved the company to Montreal, Quebec and began to focus on children's TV programming. Between 1985 and 2004, Cinar produced a number of successful shows such as Arthur, Caillou, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The Adventures of David the Gnome, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, and Zoboomafoo, among others. However, in 2000, the founders of Cinar invested over $100,000,000 into Bahamian banks without any approval from the board, causing heavy chaos, including a major drop in its stock value and costly lawsuits. When this scandal was happening, Weinburg and Charest's popularity dropped heavily, and as a result, the founders decided to resign. In March 2004, the company was bought out by Michael Hirsh and the company was renamed and rebranded as "Cookie Jar Entertainment" (now an in-name-only unit of "DHX Media"). On April 14, 2004, Charest died after complications from plastic surgery. Cookie Jar Entertainment was the last name of the former production company originally known as "Cinar" established in March 15, 2004 by Michael Hirsh as a subsidiary of the Cookie Jar Group after he left Nelvana Limited. On August 20, 2012, DHX Media announced that it would acquire Cookie Jar for $111 million, and it was completed on October 22 of the same year. Today, Cookie Jar still survives as an in-name-only unit of DHX Media known as "DHX Cookie Jar Inc."