ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000

Cartoons On The Bay: On The Internet Front
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MTV Animation President Abby Terkuhle (left) and Festival Director Alfio Bastiancich. © AWN.

New Models With New Media
With the linking of television and the Internet, the television industry has entered a new arena. This was the central issue of many discussions at Cartoons on the Bay, as it was the previous week in Cannes at MIP TV. During the "Cartoons and Licensing" conference, the "Pokemon model" was discussed. Pokemon merchandise, like video games and trading cards, were distributed before the movie was ever released, enabling the Pokemon producers to market to its already-fanatical interactive community. For instance, Pokemon has 142 Web sites listed, created on the most part by fans and collectors. Giants like Disney and Warner Bros. are looking into on-line properties (the Bug's Bunny interactive game was the number one selling item in Italy the week before), but for them the big money still comes from the sale of toys and games. As Alberto Crippa of Disney Consumer Products stated in Milan, one can't always follow Pokemon's model. Disney is releasing two new features every year plus two videos. There is always a slate of merchandise being produced for 4 or 5 properties; there isn’t any room for more within the marketing plan. Merchandising is still dependent on the success of the movie. For instance, Toy Story 2 unexpectedly brought in huge amounts of merchandise money, even more than Pokemon. Toy Story was perceived as a technology film, with little merchandising value, but the consumer saw it as a great, classic Disney story.

While its effects may not yet be very palpable in the licensing arena, the Internet is revolutionizing the production world. At the festival conference "Convergence: A Very Animated Web," panelists presented a wide range of concepts, in terms of content, interactivity and business models.

(Left to right) Chloé Sueur and panelists from "Convergence: A Very Animated Web:" Guillaume Joire and Sophie Estival (Bechamel.com), Sebastien Kochman (Banja.com) and Eric Oldrin (Shockwave.com). © AWN.

Broadcaster Cartoon Network, which already has Web sites in the U.S., Latin America, Japan, the UK and the Netherlands, announced the launch of a Web site for Cartoon Network Italy. The company plans 8 fully languaged and localized sites in Europe this year. Each will take elements from the main Cartoon Network site, but will adapt to fit local tastes, needs and demands, just as they do with the TV channels. Cartoon Network uses the Internet to promote its television shows. For instance, they did cross-promotions with the Powerpuff Girls on television, giving the viewer a secret code to get to the next level of a Web game. Many more such offerings are planned, and they are also developing a wide-range of interactive TV and enhanced TV features fed by a digital set-top box. Cartoon Network has also had discussions to feature new episodes of existing TV shows, such as Cow and Chicken, exclusively on the Web. All of these practices are typical of television networks converging on the Web. But Andy Bird, President of Entertainment Networks in Europe, stressed an interesting approach to interactivity: the creation of "Animate Your Mates," a competition in which the top prize was a cartoon made up of the best idea. Cartoon Network asked its viewers to come up with ideas and a drawing for a cartoon. It was swamped with entries from all over the country. Cartoon Network turned the story of a nine-year-old boy into a five-minute cartoon, using Macromedia's Flash.
Watch and see what Courage has gotten himself into now! © Cartoon Network.
Follow Mike, Lu and Og on the adventurous island. © Cartoon Network.
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