In continued coverage of the war to empty the pockets of the POKEMON
people, Bandai America Incorporated, the company responsible for the Power
Rangers and Tamogotchi virtual pets, unveiled a new line of toys based on
the POKEMON-like DIGIMON: DIGITAL MONSTERS, at an event held at FAO Schwarz
in New York. Since the debut of the TV series in August on Fox Kids,
DIGIMON has become the #1 ranked show in its time period among all
competition with Boys 6-11. Kids can also visit the DIGIMON Web site which

The war between TOY STORY and POKEMON over kids' piggy bank change has
moved to a new battle field -- the local burger joint! McDonald's Corp.,
the U.S.-based, world-wide burger chain, has released TOY STORY 2 toys in
connection with the recently released film. The McDonald's promotion,
featuring a collection of 20 different characters from the TOY STORY 2
movie, will be distributed with each Happy Meal purchase. The chain will
also offer six TOY STORY 2-themed candy dispensers for $1.99 each with the

Playmates Toys has acquired the license
to create action figures based on the animated series THE SIMPSONS. There
will be eight initial figures, including Homer, Bart, Lisa, Grandpa,
Krusty, Mr. Burns, Moe, and Barney, which will all be part of the World Of
Springfield Intelli-Tronic line. Each figure will feature the voice of the
cast member who plays the character on the show. There are also plans for
three dioramas, including The Simpsons' living room, Homer's work station

On November 19, Tim Burton's first film since MARS ATTACKS!, SLEEPY HOLLOW, which features a CGI Headless Horseman created by Industrial Light & Magic, will be released. McFarlane Toys, the company responsible for the excellently crafted SPAWN action figures, is releasing several SLEEPY HOLLOW figures. The figures began appearing in retail stores the first week of November, including Toys 'R Us, KB Toys, comic book shops, Spencers, Musicland/Sam Goody, Electronics Boutiques, Babbages, and others.

Walt Disney Records' DISNEY SWINGING CHRISTMAS is a collection of
holiday favorites performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It includes "The
Twelve Days of Christmas," "Jingle Bells," "Nutcracker Medley" and "The
Christmas Song," among others. The compact disc is available now exclusively at The Disney Store and Disney Theme Parks for US$8.99. . . The TOY STORY 2
soundtrack features songs and score by Randy Newman (TOY STORY, A BUG'S
LIFE), and performances by Grammy Award-winning Sarah McLachlan,

Burger King, the US-headquartered fast
food chain, began offering Pokemon toys on November 8, 1999. The eight-week
promotion includes 57 different toys in 56 days -- one with each kid's
meal. The toys, each of which are packed in a Poke Ball and include one of
151 trading cards, is said to be the largest licensing effort ever for
Burger King. The toys are part of the licensing for the feature film
POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE which opens November 10, 1999. Consumers can also
purchase one of six 23K gold plated trading cards for $1.99 with the

The fourth stamp in the Looney Tunes series, which will be released
sometime next year by the US Postal Service, will feature two characters
created by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros., Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.
The Bugs Bunny stamp began the series in 1997, followed by the Sylvester
and Tweety stamp in 1998 and the Daffy Duck stamp in 1999. The luckless
genius inventor, Wile E. Coyote, and his speedy nemesis, the Road Runner,
have appeared together in more than forty cartoons since their debut film,
FAST AND FURRY-OUS, was released in 1949.

On November 2, 1999 Rhino Records will release GO SIMPSONIC WITH THE
SIMPSONS, musical selections from the often very musical THE SIMPSONS.
Consisting of more than 50 tracks of songs, themes, and underscore music,
GO SIMPSONIC not only picks up where its predecessor, SONGS IN THE KEY OF
SPRINGFIELD, left off, but also digs deep into the first nine seasons,
capturing selections that didn't make it onto the first collection. GO
SIMPSONIC also makes available for the first time four never-before-heard

Los Angeles-based Rhino Records has released TIP OF THE FREBERG, a four CD
box set that also includes a video and a booklet. Stan Freberg is probably
best known to animation fans as the voice of Junyer Bear, Bertie the mouse,
and Pete Puma in various Warner Bros. shorts, as well as the beaver in LADY
AND THE TRAMP, but Freberg, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
has also won many awards for his comedy records and commercials. This great
collection spans Freberg's entire career, 1950 to 1998, and includes many

Every fan who dreamed of building a car like Speed Racer's Mach 5 will be
interested to know that Speed's ultra-cool car is finally being built by
Long Beach, California-based Focus on Cars, an automotive fabrication
company that caters to the entertainment and advertising industry. The car
will be used to promote a nation-wide safety tour conducted by The Child
Safety Network (CSN) called CHILD SAFETY DAY AT THE RACES. The Mach 5 will
privately debut at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show -