If you grew up in the 1980s or 1990syou will know exactly what tune to read the next sentence to. “Ch-ch-ch-chia!” Yes, Chia Pet, everyone favorite terrible gag gift it would be grow small plants around an animal to give it fur, was fashionable more than 30 years ago. And now, in 2026, a company called Rakia Media has acquired the media rights to Chia Pet with the aim of making animated films or TV shows about her. For real. It’s not April 1st.
“Chia Pets have been on our shelves since childhood and we’re excited to help grow the brand to new heights,” said writer-producer Adam Jay Epstein, who was among those who acquired the rights. “We can’t wait for audiences to experience Chia’s world in cinemas and screens around the world.”
Epstein, along with producers Ari Daniel Pinchot and Jonathan Rubenstein, secured the Chia Pet rights for Rakia Media and its film and television production banner, Crystal City Entertainment. The rights belong to a company called To the peoplewhich has tons of different consumer brands like Neca, Kidrobot, Party City, and even Graceland.
“For more than 40 years, Chia Pet has remained one of the most recognizable brand icons in pop culture history,” Joel Weinshanker, CEO of Ad Populum, said in a press release. “I’m excited to work with a team that understands both its heritage and its potential for the future. »
This last quote, however, is the missing piece of the puzzle. These producers want to take Chia Pet and make it into a TV show or animated movie. All right. But what will it be? Of course, Chia Pets come in all shapes, sizes and even large quantities. branded licensed characters (such as Wednesday, Shrek, The Simpsons, Scream; it’s true that there are so many it’s crazy, and we can see them all on the official Chia website). But let’s talk to each other as one Ready Player One explosion of brand characters growing green grass? Is there a Chia world? Does anyone who wasn’t alive before 2000 give a damn?
We don’t have answers to any of these questions. And, to be fair, many probably said the same thing when it was announced that Warner Bros. barbie film, and it worked pretty well. Truly, anything is possible. But Hollywood digging so deep into the IP gutter that it removes Chia Pet really feels like a new kind of depression. But hey, prove us wrong, Chia Pet. Grow something awesome.
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