Deal With Cell Phone Giant Lets Japanese Dial Up Disney.

Equally obsessed with all things high-tech and pop-culture cute, young Japanese consumers might soon find themselves in heaven -- or at least in the Magic Kingdom.

Walt Disney Internet Group is teaming up with Japan's NTT DoCoMo to provide content to the cell phone giant's "i-mode" service -- the fastest-growing Internet provider anywhere.

In so doing, Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. is aggressively pursuing a new and burgeoning market for what may already be the world's most recognizable brand.

Under the deal, terms of which weren't disclosed, i-mode subscribers will be able to access Disney screen savers, songs, news and games over their portable phones, which double as a wireless platform.

The i-mode service has been very successful. Since starting in February 1999, more than 10 million subscribers have signed up, with an estimated 50,000 new users joining every day.

I-mode phones can send and receive e-mail and display Web sites that have been modified to fit onto the tiny screens. Using a thumb-controlled joystick, subscribers can read news, find a good restaurant, make plane reservations and even trade stocks. Among the favorite uses for Japanese teenagers (virtually all of whom own cellular phones) are sending each other messages, pictures and song snippets.

"I-mode has been phenomenally successful and NTT DoCoMo has become one of the key ways Japanese consumers gain access to Internet service," said Joe Laszlo, a senior analyst at Internet research firm Jupiter Communications. "If there is one place where Disney can tap into the mobile communications market, it's Japan."

Disney, of course, enjoys tremendously high recognition value there already, but it is hardly seen as cutting edge. Putting the brand in the forefront of the Japan' s online world expands the company' s almost ubiquitous presence even further.

"This is an important business opportunity for Disney, particularly when you consider that the Japanese public has a strong association with Disney characters and with Tokyo Disneyland," said Michael Johnson, president of Walt Disney International.

Moreover, Disney's experience with i-mode will serve it well, as similar technology makes its way to the United States. So far, Internet phone service in the U.S. is far behind that of Japan or even Europe. And bandwidth remains a problem worldwide, since it takes much longer to send messages or download a Web site over an mode phone than through a PC.

But several telecom providers are working on next-generation technology to provide Internet access over a cellular phone here.

"The fact that Disney is getting its feet in the water now, means that two years down the line as similar Internet content comes here, they'll have an edge," Laszlo said. "In the U.S., a lot of the wireless data providers offer bland and utilitarian services. If Disney makes it more appealing to a broader demographic, that will be one of the lessons that will translate well from Japan."