WIMBLEDON, LONDON — Wombles Operations Ltd has appointed The Blair Partnership as its exclusive global representative for worldwide rights and commercial strategy. The agreement covers development across television, film, audio, publishing, theatre, live events, digital media, gaming, and consumer products for The Wombles franchise.

This appointment follows the consolidation of The Wombles' intellectual property rights into a single ownership structure. An official Wombles YouTube channel is scheduled to launch this summer, featuring original episodes alongside new live-action programming. This new programming will include young hosts and influencers covering arts, cooking, and gardening. Additionally, a digital interactive game, audio productions with celebrity casts, and new storybooks are currently in development.

The Wombles Community Charity organizes litter-picking, recycling, and educational projects throughout the U.K. The charity operates through more than 250 community groups and has 50,000 registered volunteers. The charity's 2026 campaign "Be More Womble" aims to encourage community participation. The charity also partners with NHS hospitals in Sussex to convert non-infectious clinical waste into medical training equipment, a program scheduled for expansion to additional hospitals.

Author Elisabeth Beresford created The Wombles characters in the late 1960s. The characters are associated with the motto "Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish" and are depicted as living in burrows where they collect and recycle discarded materials. The concept originated when Beresford's daughter mispronounced Wimbledon Common as "Wombledon Common" during a walk. Beresford based character designs on family members, including Great Uncle Bulgaria on her father-in-law and Tobermory on her brother. Her initial book described the creatures as resembling teddy bears with real claws. The Wombles book series has been translated into more than 40 languages, and Beresford also wrote a stage adaptation performed in London's West End.

The BBC adapted Beresford's books into a stop-motion television production that aired from 1973 to 1975. Puppeteer Ivor Wood created the characters for this television adaptation, and actor Bernard Cribbins provided character voices. Mike Batt composed music for the 1970s series, which included a theme song with the lyrics "Underground overground, Wombling free." ITV broadcast a revival of the franchise in the 1990s, which included three additional animated seasons and three one-off specials. The franchise had not seen consolidated development since 1999.

Neil Blair, founding partner at The Blair Partnership, said: "The Wombles is an iconic British brand with strong cultural appeal, distinctive characters with core values that translate and resonate globally. It is a rich content opportunity, and with rights now aligned plus a clear development pipeline in place, the property is ideally positioned for expansion across multiple platforms and categories. We see [...] potential to build The Wombles into a multi-platform international franchise for a new generation of audiences."

No independent assessment of The Wombles’s claims was available.