|
|
Back to work they go
FT.com 13/10/2003 By James Curtis
Anyone looking around the children's entertainment market at the moment could be forgiven for thinking they've entered a time warp. A comeback craze is sweeping the industry, with the return of characters whose time youmay have thought was long gone. Basil Brush, The Pink Panther, Thunderbirds, Noddy, Captain Scarlet and even the Magic Roundabout - they're all back.
(...)
Another 1970s children's TV favourite, Thunderbirds, will be releasednext year as a feature film, made by Working Title. Carlton TV's consumer division, which holds the merchandising rights, has already made £125m inworldwide retail sales from Thunderbirds products and stands to generate yet more revenue from the film. The company also has the licensing rights toGerry Anderson's other classic, Captain Scarlet, which is being made into a 26-episode TV series.
Gerry Donohue, managing director of Carlton Consumer Division, says the success of Thunderbirds shows the potential for reinvigorating properties which may have otherwise lain underused. "Thirty years ago there wasn't so much you could do with them, but now they lend themselves perfectly to new markets, such as video games. What's more, the older properties can appeal to a three-dimensional audience, including grandparents, parents and the new generation of kids."
(...)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
|
Locked
