"Rocky & Bullwinkle" were big this year at L!censing. © Universal Pictures.

As much as animation purists hate to admit it, the popularity that the medium is currently experiencing owes a lot to the endless wave of T-shirts, action figures, posters and the like that accompany each new animated series and feature film. Nowhere was this more evident than at L!censing '99 International.

From June 8-10, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, this annual show featured the more than 3,700 properties available for licensing, from the worlds of entertainment, music, sports, fashion, corporate brands, art and non-profit organizations, just to name a few.

More than 15,000 industry representatives were on hand to gage what the future holds for this $132 billion industry. The show essentially serves as a "sneak peak" at what promises to be some of the more popular "properties" (read: TV shows, movies, trends, characters, toys, etc.) in the coming year.

What follows is a look at just some of the hot properties from the world of animation.

Stuart Little. © Sony Pictures.

Movies
A giant, inflatable moose in the Javits Center lobby heralded the biggest 'toon news on the big screen. At Universal's booth, they were beginning their initial push for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, the Roger Rabbit-like live-action/animated blockbuster due in theaters summer 2000. The film stars Jason Alexander as Boris Badenov, Renee Russo as Natasha and Robert DeNiro(!) as Fearless Leader. Also being promoted at Universal was the live-action How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Directed by Ron Howard, the film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss, and subsequently Chuck Jones, classic will star Jim Carrey in the lead. The Grinch hits theaters Thanksgiving 2000.

Sony Pictures was introducing Stuart Little, the live-action film adaptation of the classic children's book, in which a boy is transformed into a mouse. The film, directed by The Lion King's Rob Minkoff, is due out this holiday season, bringing the title character to life through computer graphics.

Weird-Oh's. © 1999 Fox Family Channel. All rights reserved.

Television
At the Fox Family booth (Fox Kids, Saban Animation and the Fox Family Channel) visitors were treated to a preview of some upcoming series. There was NASCAR Superchargers, an animated series based on the fast-paced world of NASCAR racing, plus the fall brings the sci-fi series, Xyber 9: New Dawn, which will combine traditional and computer animation. Coming-of-age is the theme behind Angela Anaconda, a very animated look at adolescence. And Weird-Oh's looks at a world where cars rule and racing is a way of life.