Foodfight Breaks Out

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgThreshold Digital Research Labs has announced the commencement of production on their first digitally animated feature film, FOODFIGHT! The branch of Threshold Entertainment received a large portion of the funding for the US$50 million picture from Korean company Natural Image. As part of the promotion for the film, Threshold’s Web entertainment site TheThreshold.com will produce a 3D animated prequel series entitled FOODFIGHT!: THE ADVENTURES OF DEX DETECTIVE. The film chronicles the secret lives of product icons once the lights are turned off at the grocery store. The product spokes-toons like to dance and have fun at their club, the Copbanana, until Brand X moves into the aisle next door. The product rights secured by Threshold include Proctor & Gamble (Mr. Clean, Mr. Pringle), Interstate Foods (Twinkie the Kid), International Foods (Chef Boyardee), Chiquita, Aurora Foods (Mrs. Butterworth), Kal Kan (Whiskas), M&M Mars and Uncle Ben’s. IBM’s Intellistation division will supply Z Pro workstations for the production. The film will be executive produced by Joshua Wexler and George Hohnsen, co-executive produced by Daniel Suh and Gregory Cascante, produced by Larry Kasanoff and Alison Savitch and written by Brent V. Friedman and Rebecca Swanson. Whether or not, this film could air on television is questionable. In 1969, the Federal Trade Commission barred LINUS, THE LION-HEARTED from airing stating that characters in a TV commercial could not appear in their own series. The commission felt kids wouldn’t be able to distinguish the advertisements from the show. Linus was originally a General Foods cereal symbol. However, in 1981 the FTC decided not to clamp down on STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE IN THE BIG APPLE CITY, which was virtually a half-hour advertisement for the toy line. Today’s climate toward selling to children has weakened with almost every animated character becoming a toy and visa versa. It is yet to be seen what will happen and one can only hope that those courageous corporate product-cover crusaders will triumph over those villainous lower-price generic Brand Xers! God bless capitalism!