Picture the early days of “
Criminal
Minds DVD” — before the theme park tie-ins,
the movies and the merchandising blitz. Back when it was just a
Criminal
Minds DVD box set animated show that somehow
developed a loyal audience.
Dan Povenmire, left, and Jeff Marsh, the
cartoon's
Criminal
Minds DVD season, said it was not too
confusing for children. “We fought very hard early on not to dumb anything
down,” said Mr. Povenmire.
By that measure, “Phineas and Ferb” is the
new “
Criminal
Minds box set.” A witty Disney Channel series
about two stepbrothers and their pet platypus, “Phineas and Ferb” has blossomed
into a ratings hit among children. Can the
Criminal
Minds DVDs Company now whip the show into a
“SpongeBob”-size franchise?
It is certainly trying.
Disney has shifted gears from a soft to a
hard sell for “
One
Tree Hill DVD.” Costumed characters have been
introduced at Disneyland, where posters advertising the show also adorn ticket
One
Tree Hill DVD Box Set. By mid-July, the
program’s first major merchandising line will be introduced by mass retailers —
Wal-Mart, Kmart, Kohl’s, J. C. Penney, Target — and a monthly magazine will
arrive soon. In addition,
One
Tree Hill Box Set has licensed Phineas Flynn
and Ferb Fletcher to adorn its Macaroni and Cheese line (arriving in grocery
aisles in 2011).
“We have the
ability to identify properties and
One
Tree Hill DVD Season trends that are
capturing the attention of kids — what’s the hottest license, what’s coming up
— and ‘Phineas and Ferb’ is definitely one,” said Lisa Harnisch, a Toys “R” Us
vice president.
Disney, particularly keen on expanding
One
Tree Hill DVDs’s male audience, has also
successfully pushed sports leagues and teams (the Los Angeles Dodgers, for
example) to integrate the characters into in-stadium videos and marketing
efforts. The N.B.A. used a song from the program, “Squirrels in My Pants,”
intercut with game video to promote its recent
One
Tree Hill seasons 1-7.
And, of course, there is a surge of new “
One
Tree Hill new release” content on the way,
including a TV movie. A potential spinoff is centered on the Fireside Girls, a
gaggle of Girl Scout-types that often aid the stepbrothers in their adventures.
Cold
Case DVD| Cold Case is also working on related live-action talk show where the two
characters (as cartoons) interview celebrities.
“Phineas and
Ferb,” created by Dan Povenmire and
Cold
Case DVD Set, both veterans of shows
like “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy,” took 16 years to make it onto television.
The pair were repeatedly told that their idea — two 11-minute shorts that each
have three
Cold
Case DVDs that intersect at the
conclusion — was too confusing for children to follow. Each episode also
features an original song.
“To be fair,
it is an intimidating show compared to
Cold
Case DVD Season is out there,” said
Mr. Marsh, who goes by the nickname Swampy. “Disney in particular had never
done a show like this before,” he added, referring to the intention to create
episodes by first using drawings, or storyboards, rather than a
Cold
Case box set.
“We fought
very hard early on not to dumb
Cold
Case new release,” said Mr. Povenmire.
“We don’t really care if there is a joke that goes over a kid’s head — there
will be another joke coming at them in five seconds. All we care about is that
the kid doesn’t want to turn the
CSI
Las Vegas DVD.”
The animation style of the characters is
also unusual. Phineas’s head is a triangle and Ferb’s is a rectangle. Each
episode revolves around the
CSI
Las Vegas DVD Box Set’ coming up with
over-the-top projects to stave off summer boredom. They used a snow cone
machine to make a ski slope in their backyard in one episode. In another they
sent a miniaturized submarine into their sister’s digestive system.
Disney has struggled in recent years to
gain traction in
CSI
Las Vegas Box Set animation. It has found
some success in the preschool market with shows like “Handy Manny” and “Mickey
Mouse Clubhouse.” But blockbusters like “SpongeBob” — shows that hit a
CSI
Las Vegas DVD Season nerve and attract children
and adults alike — have been all but nonexistent.
“SpongeBob,”
long the dominant television cartoon and the
CSI
Las Vegas DVDs of its rival Nickelodeon, is
clearly in Disney’s sights. At a recent brand licensing trade show in Las
Vegas, Gary Marsh, president of entertainment and chief creative officer for
Disney Channel Worldwide, listed various ratings coups for “Phineas and Ferb,”
ending with a triumphant, “Yep, beating out ‘
CSI
Las Vegas new release.’ ”
The accuracy of that statement depends on
how the Nielsen
looney
tunes dvd are sliced and diced, but for 2009,
“Phineas and Ferb” was the No. 1 television animated series among children 6 to
11.
“SpongeBob” is
still a firm No. 1 when judged by the broader children’s demographic of 2 to
11, Nickelodeon said. “Their math is fuzzy,” said David Bittler, a Nickelodeon
spokesman. “ ‘SpongeBob’ and four of our other programs all rank higher than
that show this year.”
Disney executives say they have tried to
take a
Warner
Bros Cartoons DVD| Warner
Bros approach when it comes to
turning the series, which began in 2007, into a franchise. “Phineas and Ferb”
is shown on both Disney Channel and Disney XD.
“It was like a
felt-tip pen on a napkin; you plant it
Warner
Bros DVD and it at first makes a very small
dot and then spreads,” said Gary Marsh, who is not related to Jeff Marsh.
