ADV Films brings more anime to VCRs and DVD players with the adult drama

SAKURA DIARIES VOLUME 1 on March 15, 2000. The story follows the main hero

Touma's mishaps in trying to court Meiko, who only dates college boys. The

flick is from famed manga creator Ujin. The suggested retail price for the

DVD is US$24.98 and for the VHS $19.98. The DVD features English, Japanese,

and Japanese with English subtitled versions.

On March 21, 2000, POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE will hit stores across the U.S.

Every DVD and video will feature a sneak preview of this summer's new

theatrical film POKEMON THE MOVIE 2000 plus THE STORY OF MEWTWO'S ORIGIN.

To promote the video release, five special "Golden Tickets" will be

included in random VHS packages. The five lucky recipients will win a

first-edition starter set of Team Rocket game cards, a trip for two to

Japan, a meeting with Mr. Ishihara, creator of the POKEMON card game and a

On February 29, 2000, Disney will debut its new direct-to-video feature

entitled AN EXTREMELY GOOFY MOVIE. The new Goofy flick follows Goofy and

his son Max as they both go off to college. Goofy brings some old-fashioned

ideas along that embarrass young Max. But all bets are off as both father

and son compete in the "College X Games," an extreme sports competition.

The VHS tape will be priced at US$24.99 and the DVD will be $29.99. An

added bonus is the short entitled KIDS' GOOFIEST JOKES, a collection of

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced the

simultaneous worldwide VHS release of George Lucas' STAR WARS: EPISODE I

THE PHANTOM MENACE. Young Jedi wanna-bes around the globe will snag their

copy the week of April 3 - 8, 2000. The biggest box office hit of 1999 and

second highest-grossing motion picture of all time worldwide, will official

go on sale in North America on Tuesday, April 4, 2000. The US$922 million

As of December 21, 1999, both young and old fans of the lovable elephant

Babar can take home his new direct-to-video feature BABAR: KING OF THE

ELEPHANTS. The new film follows the adventures of Babar's life from birth

to his kingship. The video was co-produced by Nelvana Limited and HBO Home

Video and features computer replications of original Babar illustrations.

BABAR: KING OF THE ELEPHANTS bounces into stores at a suggested retail

price of US$19.96.

The Dark Knight descends into video stores December 21, 1999 with three new

BATMAN BEYOND videos and two new DVDs -- BATMAN BEYOND: THE MOVIE and

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. Each of the three BATMAN BEYOND VHS tapes

(DISAPPEARING INQUE, SCHOOL DAYZ, TECH WARS) all feature three episodes of

the Warner Bros. cartoon series. The BATMAN BEYOND DVD features the movie

and four bonus episodes of the series. BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM is the

first feature animated movie and has sold millions of copies on VHS

Urban Vision will soon re-release Vampire Hunter D and Wicked City. The

classic horror anime D will hit streets January 18, 2000 and Yoshiaki

Kawajiri's hit Wicked City debuted December 7, 1999. Both flicks will be

available in an English Dubbed version for US$19.95 and a Japanese with

English subtitles version for $29.95. Other anime titles coming soon to DVD

are Slayers: The Motion Picture, street date February 8, 2000 for $29.98

and Legend Of Crystania: The Motion Picture, street date February 8, 2000

Six films from Czech puppet master, Jiri Trnka, will be available on a new
compilation DVD available February 29, 2000. Included on the release will
be the feature-length classic THE EMPEROR'S NIGHTINGALE based on the Hans
Christian Anderson fairy tale and narrated by legendary-Hollywood actor
Boris Karloff. The five featured shorts will include Trnka's world famous
THE HAND, along with STORY OF THE BASS CELLO, A MERRY CIRCUS, A DROP TOO
MUCH, and THE SONG OF THE PRAIRIE. Not to sound too much like a late-night

Sony Wonder and Golden Books Family Entertainment Home Video will bring the
beloved children's holiday film, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, to DVD for
the first time. The adventures of the shunned reindeer will be available for
US$19.98. For the holidays, Sony Wonder will also re-release ELMO SAVES
CHRISTMAS on DVD and more favorite Sesame Street titles for $19.98.

In a far distant future, a
would-be master race seeks to dominate the galaxy. Against these merciless
Afressians, mankind has just one hope: the mysterious female warrior known
as Emeraldas. This is the story behind the Houston, Texas-based ADV Films
November 23, 1999 release of QUEEN EMERALDAS on DVD. The US$29.98 QUEEN
EMERALDAS DVD will be in English and Japanese with English subtitles. Also
from ADV the following VHS tapes will all be released on January 25, 2000:
The war against Genom escalates as the Knight Sabers find themselves forced