Fantasia/2000's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.	Chicken Run's coopful of characters. © DreamWorks Pictures.

No Slam Dunks
Sadly, this may be one of the bleaker Holiday seasons in the history of animation marketing for the simple reason that few big hits materialized either on the small or big screens. If we examine the past year in review we find that animation-based products may have more in common with the Sahara Desert than the North Pole. Disney's Dinosaur cleaned up at the box office but the early summer release date means that the shelf life of the products is likely spent by now. Also, the main characters were dinosaurs, and the toy market is already inundated with scores of saurians virtually indistinguishable from Aladar and company. Disney also released Fantasia/2000, which had no strong central character to market. No one has been lining up for vernal sprites or sinister jack-in-the boxes, and it's difficult to believe that Santa will be dropping many pink flamingoes down our chimneys come Yuletide.

The Road to El Dorado and Titan A.E. produced little merchandising of note, although the latter film did come out with the obligatory action figures. Look for them at your local discount store or rummage sale early this fall. Hamilton Toys LLC had some success with a line of plush Rocky and Bullwinkle toys, as did Playmates with a coopful of characters from Chicken Run. However, the Holiday prognosis for these products appears to be Ho-Ho-Hum. The winner among movie-related merchandise this Xmas will ride the tide of two successful films and a pre-existing marketing empire. This year Santa's elves will again be bright yellow and carry electric stingers in their baggy little pants. The reindeer, I hear, have evolved into a higher form and now wield ocular laser beams. I would come right out and say the "P" word but the entire scene is depressingly familiar by now. Besides, I tire of importing the "é" from my character map.

Even more depressing are licensing opportunities lost from the past year of TV animation. The Primetime Slaughter of 2000 left few animated series standing; often, death came within a few episodes and there was never a chance to exploit any of the new primetime shows in the retail marketplace. The most appropriate merchandising items this holiday season would be dreary sepulchers engraved with Home Movies, Family Guy, Sammy, God, the Devil, and Bob, Dilbert, Downtown, Clerks, Mission Hill and "This Space Reserved For Baby Blues" (sort of gives the phrase "under the Christmas tree" a macabre new meaning, eh, Mr. Grinch?).

Non-adult animation managed a few toy train wrecks as well; Hardee's Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot toys hinted at the promise these characters might have had, but by the time they were nestled in burger bags most kids couldn't identify them as the show was inexplicably canceled after a couple of episodes. O, what Kris Kringle could still do with Batman Beyond if only Warners could make up its mind! Instead, the show's successful product line may get a stake of holly through its heart for Christmas.