ADDICTIVE HEROINES THERE'S ONLY ONE REASON PROJECTS LIKE 'THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE' GET MADE: THE AUDIENCE WANTS THEM.Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer YOU DON'T NEED to see around corners to know ``The Powerpuff Girls Movie,'' which opened Wednesday, will draw herds of pint-size viewers to multiplexes through the holiday weekend no matter what the reviews. Full-length cartoons like ``Powerpuff'' are deemed critic-proof since the target audience only knows what they've heard from playground pals and seen in carefully placed commercials. And observers say it's a genre of light entertainment that'll stick around. Among factors ensuring TV cartoon spinoffs continue to be developed and marketed is the built-in audience for such fare. ``Hey Arnold! The Movie'' and ``The Powerpuff Girls Movie'' are based on popular TV series from Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network For Cartoon Network outside of the United States, see . Cartoon Network is a cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting which primarily shows animated programming. , respectively, while costing about $10 million each (Disney's ``Lilo 1. (operating system) lilo - Linux Loader. 2. lilo - first-in first-out. & Stitch'' and other major animated features can cost upward of more than; above. See also: Upward six times that figure). When you've got a hit in this field, the potential to rake in rake in Verb Informal to acquire (money) in large amounts Verb 1. rake in - earn large sums of money; "Since she accepted the new position, she has been raking it in" shovel in the big bucks is as easy to read as the face on a $100 bill. Analysts predict ``Powerpuff'' will generate $15 million over the five-day July 4 weekend (which began with its July 3 opening), putting the film well on the way to profitability - with video and TV showings just icing on the cake. Who is in charge here? ``The main reason these cartoon features are made is they usually work,'' explains Bob Gustafson, director of the Entertainment Industry Institute at California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , which brings about 180 members of the industry per year to the college to teach and lecture in various departments. ``If they didn't work, nobody would do them,'' he said. ``The audience is the boss. Promotion and publicity may appear to be the engine that gets things going, but the boss is the public. If it doesn't work in the theaters, that's that. We'll be seeing a lot more of them.'' Successful TV cartoon spinoffs include two ``Rugrats'' features, the adult-oriented (but beloved by kids) ``South Park'' film and ``Recess: School's Out.'' The cartoon series A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs created or adapted for television broadcast with a common series title, usually related to one another. ``Scooby-Doo'' was turned into a live-action film that has earned $124 million since it opened. The makers of the Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .-distributed ``Powerpuff Girls Movie'' know the cash potential, but they note the cable series' primary audience of female 'tweens ages 7 to 14 defines the term ``fickle'' for all time. These kids change favorites in music, movies and TV shows faster than their parents can punch the car radio dial when a particularly nasty Eminem song comes on. Brand loyalty is about as relevant to this crowd as epistemology. `Puff' stuff That's where a heavy-duty marketing campaign came in to successfully sell the Powerpuff logo to gals of all ages. A stroll down Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. , for example, reveals folks ranging from 4-year-olds to middle-age divorcees accessorized with the ubiquitous Powerpuff brand. ``The show comes first,'' says ``Powerpuff'' creator and director Craig McCracken  This article relies largely or entirely upon a .Please help [ improve this article] by introducing appropriate of additional sources. . ``Anything that comes after should support the basic concept.'' The ``Powerpuff Girls Movie,'' which reveals the origins of the superpowered crime-fighting sisterhood sisterhood: see monasticism. and offers a highly contemporary subtext sub·text n. 1. The implicit meaning or theme of a literary text. 2. The underlying personality of a dramatic character as implied or indicated by a script or text and interpreted by an actor in performance. of finding love within a fractured family, is Cartoon Network's first foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly" raid encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my full-length movies. If the supertots do well on the big screen, Cartoon Net could develop another hit, such as the Emmy-nominated ``Dexter's Laboratory Dexter's Laboratory (Dexter's Lab for short) is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons for Cartoon Network from 1996 to 1999, and by Cartoon Network Studios from 2001 to 2002. ,'' for movies. Next month, the ``Powerpuff'' team goes into production of the series' fifth season. ``We'll see,'' said Linda Simensky, senior vice president of original animation at Cartoon Network. ``Our interest would be in bringing some of our shows to the next step. When people really like a series, they want a movie. But like all our shows, any feature would be creator-driven. That's how we make sure we're true to the initial idea people responded to on TV in the first place.'' The latest venture to make the transition from cable TV to the nation's multiplexes, the distinctive-looking ``Powerpuff Girls Movie'' will be closely watched by longtime fans to see if creator McCracken's uniquely personal vision was compromised. The feature revolves around the never-before-told story of how the girls came to be Townsville's protectors. ``We could've made the movie completely for die-hard fans and included a lot of inside jokes, but I felt that would alienate the people who've never seen the show,'' McCracken said. ``We wanted to introduce the idea to a new audience, while at the same time meeting the expectations of the fans. So we had to find a story that would work on two levels.'' Toon town backed him up. McCracken was in the middle of finishing a ``Powerpuff'' TV season when the movie deal went down. But Cartoon Network execs waited for the creative team to complete its work before beginning production on the film. ``They could've easily hired another crew and gotten a film out quickly to cash in while the show was hot,'' McCracken said. ``But they would rather make timeless, classic cartoons than something that may work for right now but will be viewed as a piece of junk in two years.'' At a recent kid-packed screening in Century City, the reaction was positive. ``Powerpuff'' actor Tom Kenny, the voice of the narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. and the character of the Mayor of Townsville, was among the crowd viewing the completed project for the first time. ``The heartfelt stuff was sincere, and the scary, intense stuff was allowed to be scary and intense,'' he said. ``The writing was panoramic. It remains true to the things people love about the series. It's an action-filled show that's also sweet.'' That sweetness may be one of the crucial elements that puts ``The Powerpuff Girls Movie'' over the top this weekend. ``It's light entertainment and people love light entertainment,'' CSUN's Gustafson says. ``There are a lot of heavy pictures this summer - 'Minority Report,' 'The Sum of All Fears,' 'The Bourne Bourne, town (1990 pop. 16,064), Barnstable co., SE Mass., crossed by Cape Cod Canal; settled 1627, inc. 1884. Bourne Bridge (1935), across the canal, made the town an entry point to Cape Cod and a resort and commercial center. Identity.' And there are a lot of people who'd rather see 'The Powerpuff Girls.' It's easy and fun, and it's not just for kids.'' The road from cartoon to movies isn't just a one-way street. The reverse can also be true. For example, Nickelodeon did such a relentless in-house promotion campaign last year on the small screen for the animated full-length comedy flick ``Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'' that many critics wrongly claimed the picture was based on a TV series. Yup, you guessed it: The ``Jimmy Neutron'' cartoon series debuts on Nick in September. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) HERE IT COMES Here It Comes is the third EP from Doves. It was the last release on the band's Casino Records label on August 2, 1999 on limited CD and 10" vinyl. Martin Rebelski, the unofficial fourth member of Doves, plays piano on the title track. , JUST IN TIME... `THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE' (2) Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup buttercup or crowfoot, common name for the Ranunculaceae, a family of chiefly annual or perennial herbs of cool regions of the Northern Hemisphere. visit their inventor, Professor Utonium. No need to invent an audience for ``The Powerpuff Girls Movie,'' however. Many predict huge box-office numbers. (3) Craig McCracken creator of the Powerpuff Girls (and Mojo Jojo, losing fight) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion