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 -

The United States Post Office has issued a Yellow Submarine stamp with The
Beatles which was illustrated by Robin Shepherd and Caleb Lawrence of
Jacksonville, Florida-based The Robin Shepherd Group. The stamp was
officially dedicated on September 17, 1999 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the
package of fifteen stamps will be available soon at post offices across the
country. The "Celebrate the Century" stamp series features fifteen stamps
for each decade of the twentieth century. The final stamps were determined

Kid Rhino has released WHAT TO DO, BLUE?, an audio tape and booklet set. On the tape, the cast of Nickelodeon's BLUE'S CLUES, Steve, Blue and friends, are joined by BLUE'S CLUES co-creator Angela Santomero who reads, WHAT TO DO, BLUE? In the story Blue searches for something to do, while visiting her friends. The booklet allows listeners to read along with Santomero. WHAT TO DO, BLUE? retails in the US for $7.98. Kid Rhino and Nickelodeon will also release BLUE'S CLUES: GOODNIGHT BLUE on November 2, 1999.

McFarlane Toys is releasing four dual-packed assortments of action figures based on characters in YELLOW SUBMARINE featuring The Beatles, John, Paul, George and Ringo. Each card comes with two figures and accessories. John comes with Jeremy, the Nowhere Man; Paul comes with Glove, one of the Blue Meanies instruments of evil; George comes with the Yellow Submarine; and Ringo comes with a Blue Meanie. The figures will be released in late September or early October, and retail for between US$8 and $11.

Westbury, New York-based American Royal Arts Corp., an animation art
dealer, has been licensed by Apple and Signatures to produce hand painted
limited edition cels and sericels featuring The Beatles from YELLOW
SUBMARINE. The artwork will be signed by some of the same people who were
responsible for making the original film, including the composer, Sir
George Martin, the producer and co-author, Al Brodax, and Erich Segal,
co-author of the original YELLOW SUBMARINE screenplay and Ringo Starr, the

AnotherUniverse.com, a website devoted to
comic books and science fiction, has reported that the widow and daughter
of Jerry Siegel, co-creator with Joe Schuster of Superman, have filed
papers with the U.S. Copyright Office which have the effect of returning
50% of the rights to the character of Superman to them. (Apparently, DC
will retain 50% interest in the rights unless the family of Joe Schuster
files similar papers. Whether the Schuster family, or representative, will

Kid Rhino's BATMAN BEYOND soundtrack on CD and cassette was released on
August 31, 1999 in the US. BATMAN BEYOND is a popular series that is set
fifty years in the future, taking place after Warners' previous Batman
series, THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN. The album includes twenty
tracks. Also, the inlay and CD booklet include comments about the
soundtrack music by Bruce Timm, the series' producer, and artwork from the
series' opening sequence. The CD will retail for US$13.98, and the cassette

On September 14, Kid Rhino will release the soundtrack album for the upcoming feature length Scooby-Doo video, SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE WITCH'S GHOST, which is scheduled for release on October 5. In SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE WITCH'S GHOST, Scooby and Mystery Inc. travel to a small New England town to learn why it's being spooked by witches' ghosts. Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Machine will appear in the flesh at the Rhino Retrofest, August 13 to 15, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, USA. Suggested retail price for the CD is US$13.98 and US$9.98 for the cassette.

Warner Bros. Consumer Products has awarded Trendmasters, Inc., a toy
designer and manufacturer, the master toy license for Cartoon Network's
animated series including THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, DEXTER'S LABORATORY and COW
& CHICKEN. In addition, Trendmasters has also secured the master toy rights
for Cartoon Network's classic characters including Yogi Bear and
Snagglepuss. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Trendmasters,
Inc. has the rights to produce toy related merchandise including toy

The soundtrack for Willis O'Brien's stop-motion masterpiece, KING KONG, is
being released by Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Movie Music. Composed
by Max Steiner, the collection includes music cues from the 1933 RKO film's
most memorable moments, featuring a nearly 25-minute suite consisting of
previously unreleased material. The liner notes includes an introduction by
Danny Elfman (of the band, Oingo Boingo, and composer of many soundtracks,
including EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, BATMAN, and SLEEPY HOLLOW), and notes by

THE IRON GIANT, which opens in the US on August 6, will be accompanied by
the following merchandising. On August 3 Rhino Records will release THE
IRON GIANT soundtrack. In addition to an original score by Michael Kamen
(LETHAL WEAPON, 101 DALMATIONS), this collection includes tracks such as
Eddie Platt's 1958 hit "Cha-Hua-Hua," The Magnificents' "Let's Do The
Cha-Cha," and Jimmie Haskell's "Rockin' In Orbit." Compiled by Rhino's
James Austin, THE IRON GIANT soundtrack will retail for $16.1998/CD,

On July 6 Kid Rhino and Cartoon Network celebrate tunes from some of the
best-loved cartoon TV shows of this century with CARTOON MEDLEY, a
collection of 38 of Cartoon Network's greatest hits. The collection
features themes from JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS, THE FLINTSTONES, SPEED RACER,
THE JETSONS, SPACE GHOST COAST-TO-COAST, SCOOBY-DOO WHERE ARE YOU?,
DEXTER'S LABORATORY, and the current cult favorite THE POWERPUFF GIRLS.
Lyrics are included in the CD booklet. CARTOON MEDLEY will retail for

IN SEARCH OF THE MIGHTY REPTAR, an audio adventure based on THE RUGRATS,
the Nickelodeon TV series, will be released by Nickelodeon and Kid Rhino on
July 20th. The release contains two separate stories, "Reptar On Ice" and
"Journey To The Center Of The Basement." "Reptar On Ice" takes the Rugrats
on a quest to meet Reptar, the giant lizard beloved by Tommy Pickles and
his pals, at the Reptar on Ice Show. "Journey To The Center Of The
Basement" tells how the Rugrats summon up their courage to rescue baby

eToys Inc., an Internet retailer of children's products, reports that Darth
Maul tops their list of most popular action figure characters. Samuel L.
Jackson's Mace Windu, despite limited screen time, is number two. The least
popular action figure characters at eToys are Senator Palpatine and the
Naboo space craft pilot Ric Olie. Hasbro paid $590 million, and gave George
Lucas a 7.4% stake in the company, for the licensing rights to STAR WARS
EPISODES ONE, TWO, and THREE.


Top Ten Action Figure Characters at eToys

Red Storm, which has been broadening the boundaries of computer gaming with
products like Tom Clancy's RAINBOW SIX, has reached an agreement with
Bohbot Kids Network (BKN), a New York-based syndication network
specializing in children's programming, to produce a series of games based
on BKN's series ROSWELL CONSPIRACIES: ALIENS, MYTHS & LEGENDS, a new show
which will begin airing in the spring of 2000 and already has a two-year
air commitment. The show is a creation of Allen Bohbot, Chairman and CEO of

On Monday in the USA, toymaker Hasbro introduced a series of action
figures, play sets, vehicles, and other toys based on STAR WARS: EPISODE I
- THE PHANTOM MENACE, the prequel to the STAR WARS trilogy. Most Toys R Us
stores and some FAO Schwarz and K-B Toys stores opened at 12:01 a.m. on May
3, and within hours their stock was sold out. "It was unbelievable.
Insane," says AWN's Heather Kenyon, who visited four stores in the Los
Angeles area. "People were leaving with shopping carts filled up. It was

ToyBiz announced at ToyFair ‘99 that they have acquired the license to produce toys based on MTV’s CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH.

CINAR Corporation has entered into a new alliance with Viacom Consumer Products, in a move that will broaden the merchandising rights associated with stories and characters created by Richard Scarry. Under the terms of the agreement, CINAR’s role is expanded from producer of the animated series, THE BUSY WORLD OF RICHARD SCARRY, to a licensing and entertainment partner with Viacom Consumer Products and the Estate of Richard Scarry.

McFarlane Toys, SPAWN creator Todd McFarlane’s toy company, has created a set of YELLOW SUBMARINE action figures based on the animated cult classic Beatle’s film. The toys bring back John, Paul, Ringo and George in all their glory along with the Blue Meanie, and will be available later this year when the film is finally re-released.