Aardman's Angry Kid has been watched by over 1 million people -- an Internet record. © and TM Aardman Animations Ltd. 2000.	Angry Kid. See why he's the daddy now! © and TM Aardman Animations Ltd. 2000.

As we swelter through the dog days of summer, heading for the harvest of new fall toons, we begin to check furtively our Christmas Club status, sift through the loose change in our Xmas fund jars, and prepare thick coatings of Teflon for our overtaxed credit cards in the hope that for once, the charges won't stick this Yuletide. For those of us confronted with kids, kids of kids, or sundry progeny such as nieces and nephews, we know what is coming as surely as Acme rockets find their way to mortified coyotes. Then, of course, there are those of us somewhat further up the developmental scale who love to give -- and get -- animation-related goodies for the holidays. As Fred Flintstone happily sang, "Christmas is my favorite time of year because/Everyone can be a Santa Claus!" Well, guess what, toonheads: Forget the present temperature and barometric readings; your turn is closer than you think.

The Powerpuff Girls. TM & © Cartoon Network. A Time Warner Co. All rights reserved.

Make A Prediction
So, my dear Santa manqué, what will be in the sack come Christmas Eve? While it might prove interesting (if not downright scandalous) to fill the order given by our young do-gooder, it is unlikely that much Web-based product will be found beneath the tree in 2000. To begin with, some of the recent Web toons would melt Frosty the Snowman in his tracks. Some of the new characters most likely to break out into a merchandising campaign have only existed for some three to six episodes at the time of this writing. Even bootleg product won't likely be found by Jesus' next B-day. The days of hastily tacking a Mickey Mouse doll together and shilling it in the local five-and-dime belong to the sepia-toned days of Olde Saint Nicholas. Today, targeted niche marketing strategies and complex licensing agreements guarantee that the elves will be buying annuities before Rudolph and company ever hit the skies.

The products that will result in fistfights at the local Toys R' Us come December are easy to identify, even at this early date: simply draw names out of a hat, use a dart board, or cross the gypsy palm with silver. In other words, take your best guess. "Just a minute!" you might say. "What about the niche selling strategies you just mentioned? And the test marketing?" Quite so. Fact is, none of it may actually work as designed. The marketing strategies and licensing agreements may be solidly in place but the series, like Clerks or Sammy, may die on the holly bush or ivy vine leaving your local specialty shop holding a hefty bag of coal come Christmas. Worse yet, companies may make a major tie-in or investment with one "surefire" series only to find that they have backed the wrong reindeer; what if you sank all of your candy canes into Pepper Ann only to watch The Powerpuff Girls performing a Holiday pageant on the shelves of every Wal-Mart in America? A merry Christmas indeed, Mr. Cratchit! With this in mind, it may still be possible to make some guesses as to what might be under the tree this year.