Digital
Media FX News Archives
Monday
- July 2, 2001
- Cats & Dogs Opens Wednesday
- Jimmy Neutron
Toy Line Being Created for Movie
- Release Charts: Animated,
Anime, and FX DVDs
- News Link of the Day
- For Eisner, the Business Is Content
Cats
& Dogs Opens Wednesday
(by digitalmediafx.com) Warner Bros. FX-filled Cats &
Dogs movie will open nationwide this Wednesday and is being
accompanied by a multi-million dollar promotional campaign.
In some ways
Warner Bros. is mimicing the strategy of the promotion for PDI/DreamWorks
Shrek by participating in campaigns like newspaper ads
featuring characters from the movie that encourage parents to
have their kids read the newspaper every day.
Warner Bros.
does have a sweepstakes tie-in with PetSmart stores. The more
than 500 PetSmart stores across the country are sponsoring a Cats
& Dogs-themed sweepstakes, with major point-of-sale displays
plus two weekends of Kodak-sponsored photo opportunities. The
campaign involves PetSmart charity Paws for Pets, which raises
funds and awareness for the plight of homeless animals, and to
which Warner Bros. will be making a cash donation.
In a three-week
promotion, Cartoon Network is highlighting the film with an extensive
on-air campaign including sweepstakes spots, trailers, billboards
and customized programming. Their online campaign includes a customized
contest page, a Cats & Dogs poll, and character profiles.
On-air promos will direct viewers to log onto the Cartoon Network
Website for a chance to win a grand prize trip to Los Angeles
or one of 150 additional Cats & Dogs prize packs.
In related
Cats & Dogs news, some cat organization are protesting
that the film portrays the cats in the movie as the villains.
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Jimmy Neutron
Toy Line Being Created for Movie
(by digitalmediafx.com) Flying Colors, a division of Pacific,
Inc., is creating a line of activity toys and stationery products
in time for the theatrical release of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
on December 21, 2001 (this replaces the former November released
date that would have seen the movie competing with Monsters,
Inc. and Harry Potter).
"Jimmy
Neutron" is Nickelodeon's first simultaneous multimedia property,
with a TV series already slated for fall 2002 on the network.
The activity
toy line will aim to replicate the creativity and innovation that
Jimmy uses in his secret laboratory. The products -- including
activity kits, play compounds and back-to-school products -- are
being designed to appeal to kids' desire to experiment and will
include inventive apparatus and materials to enhance the realism
and possibilities of the kits, while staying true to Jimmy Neutron's
"cool style" and genius.
"Jimmy
Neutron is the type of property that inspires inventiveness,"
remarked Michael Bianco, executive vice president, JAKKS Pacific.
"The line we are developing is intended to encourage the
same type of ingenuity that Jimmy Neutron exemplifies. Through
the use of inspired activity sets with unique play materials,
kids will be able to use their imagination and creativity for
fun, back-to-basics toys."
While many
toys will be available in time for the movie, others won't be
available until fall of 2002.
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Release
Charts: Animated, Anime, and FX DVDs
(by digitalmediafx.com) Last week Amazon.com's listing for
the Akira
and Akira:
Limited Special Edition DVDs was changed at the very
last minute from June 26 to July 24, 2001. Here is a list of new
animated, anime, and FX DVDs being released tomorrow:
Alien
Defender Geo Armor - Kishin Corps - 7 episodes (anime)
Cartoon
Crack-Ups (animated)
Toy
Town Story Adventure (animated - no relation to Toy
Story)
T-Rex
- Back to the Cretaceous - IMAX (1998 - FX)
V
- The Original TV Miniseries (1983 - FX)
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News Link
of the Day - For Disney's Eisner, the Business Is Content,
Not Conduits
According
to the New York Times:
"Under
the headquarters roof held up by the Seven Dwarfs, Michael D.
Eisner is nervous.
Mr. Eisner,
chairman of the Walt Disney Company, is nervous not because Pearl
Harbor has fallen short of expectations. He is nervous not
because ABC is still working off its 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'
hangover. He is nervous not because the new Disney's California
Adventure theme park seems half-empty
"
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