When Disney announced Brittany Murphy would be the voice of Tinkerbell in an upcoming animated feature, it didn’t do so at Comic-Con, ShoWest, or any other trade show known to movie fans. It picked one of moviedom’s most quietly consequential events: this week’s Licensing International show, where Hollywood makes a goodly chunk of its money. Retail sales from entertainment-related products topped $47 billion in 2005, according to the Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association, more than four times what’s taken in yearly at the box office.
The show, held at New York’s massive Javits Center, resembles pit row at the Daytona 500, with screaming movie, TV, and videogame logos vying for attention. Deals are forged for tie-in toys, clothes, bags of prewashed spinach leaves — any kind of "merch" to which a brand can be affixed. And many of the brands are high-stakes movie franchises: This year’s roster includes James Bond, Superman, and Indiana Jones. Here are five of the craziest products:
1. Snakes on a Plane jewelry In the latest high-low deal for the Sam Jacks-ploitation flick, New Line said boutiques and top-end department stores would start stocking pendants — both diamond-encrusted and not — molded into the film’s double-helix logo. Jackson wore a prototype to the MTV Movie Awards. I think I heard bloggers typing before I finished this paragraph.
2. Simpsons GPS Twentieth Century Fox, gearing up for a synergistic blitz surrounding the July 2007 movie release, announced it has a software package that will allow drivers of certain late-model cars to get computer-generated directions in the voice of Homer. Sounds pretty sweet, but something intrigued us more: Fox used live primates to promote an upcoming animated movie called Space Chimps. We’re not kidding.
3. Dirty Dancing bath and beauty products Nobody puts Baby in a corner, unless she’s forgotten to exfoliate. Look your best in order to feel a little less ancient when the movie marks its 20th anniversary next year.
4. Superman Returns Inflato-suit (pictured) Don’t yet have superhero pecs, Junior? No problem. Just slip on Mattel’s toy suit, press a button and whoosh! You’re pumped up like the Man of Steel — or Barry Bonds. Bonus: No backne.
5. Baywatch gear Regrettably, Der Hasselhoff couldn’t make the show. But the branded beach stuff is already here, ahead of DreamWorks’ 2007 release. Bathing suits, towels, umbrellas — did somebody say yard sale?
Comments (1-4) of 4 Add your comment
Simpsons GPS? Just awful. Did anyone else feel burned by the “talking” Simpsons action figures that didn’t talk, the “plastic clamshell only” dvd of season 6, the “may give birth defects” Simpsons home pregnancy test, the crappy video games, undersized and non functional inflatable Krusty punching bag (it punches back! Not!), the easily broken bottle opener or any of the other awful and useless garbage that has been hawked over the last 20 years with the Simpsons name? STOP THE INSANITY!
Shouldn’t the makers of SpongeBob SquarePants get a piece of the money from those inflatable Superman muscle suits? Ol’ Bob bought inflatable muscle covered arms many seasons ago!
Beer Bottle Opener
But having bottles around means having to open them with a bottle but no opener And finally,
eiqmrbnpo yqhtcfxmb hrugfpm dgnikwzlt eaim yrtfqlkg fvzhglt