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Consumer Products
An eventful 1996 sparkled with success for Consumer Products, from the new popularity of Winnie the Pooh to 101 Disney Store openings worldwide, and 1997 should be even better. Disney's major summer animated feature, Hercules, is already showing signs of strength among licensees as they prepare action figures, Megara fashion dolls and Grecian-styled apparel. Promotions at retailers will jump-start the campaign. Walt Disney Records will present the Hercules soundtrack by eight-time Academy AwardŽ-winner Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel.
Disney Publishing will create a book and magazine program of herculean proportions with everything from comics, magazine cover stories and coloring books to studies of the film's art and novelizations of the story. Disney Interactive plans several products for home computers based on the movie. The momentum for 101 Dalmatians is expected to continue throughout the year as retailers and consumers enjoy the newfound popularity of this live-action version of the Disney classic. New creative treatments for the lovable pups will appear during the year, including a line of Puppy Love products for Valentine's Day. Winnie the Pooh will promote the Year of Friendship. Its focus, National Friendship Day, will be celebrated with special events at Walt Disney World August 4. A new, adult Pooh brand of merchandise for the mass market also is planned. The fun continues in Tokyo, where "The World of Winnie the Pooh" will open this summer for a month-long retail-entertainment special event. Guests will enjoy an exhibition of E.H. Shepard's original drawings, Pooh-themed games, a video theater and merchandise in special retail corners. In the fall, Disney will introduce an entirely new line of licensed products tied to ABC. The products include items for ABC soaps, ABC sports programming and the ESPN cable network. The fourth annual Children's Summit will be held June 9-12 at Disneyland Paris. Co-sponsored by UNESCO and the Disney Magazine Group in Europe, the summit will bring to the park some 650 youngsters from 40 countries. For four days they will discuss topics related to the theme of "society." Through UNESCO, the children will release their Charter for Society, drafted at the event, to countries around the world. The 1997 "hit list" from Disney's Hyperion Books imprint includes Nickel Dreams, the autobiography of country music star Tanya Tucker. Another sure-fire best-seller: Pouring My Heart Into It, a highly entertaining business book by Howard Schultz, founder and CEO of the Starbucks coffee chain. Discover magazine's eighth annual Discover Awards ceremony will be held at Epcot in June. During the year, Discover will present special issues on "Space" and "Why We Do What We Do (Brains, Genes and Behavior)." Disney Interactive Since its formation in late 1994, Disney Interactive has become a leading
producer of family-oriented interactive entertainment and educational
materials, including CD-ROMs and online products.
In the past two years, Disney Interactive's market share has increased to 15 percent of the education category on the strength of such hit titles as The Lion King Activity Center and the Pocahontas, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and Toy Story Animated StoryBooks. The company has consistently broken sales records since its launch in 1994 and became the number two publisher of children's education software in the first half of 1996. In May, the Toy Story CD-ROM became the first children's title to outsell software in all categories, including Microsoft Windows 95. Disney Online, a new group formed to develop The Walt Disney Company's presence on the Internet, launched two Web sites in 1996. Disney.com, the company's primary marketing and promotional site, is home to more than a dozen different Disney businesses and ranked as the top entertainment site on the Internet. Family.com, Disney's new parenting service on the Web, was launched in late 1996. Disney Interactive continues to expand worldwide. Offices in Europe, Japan and Latin America have been established to develop Disney's software business internationally. To date, fully localized versions of Disney Interactive computer software have been released throughout Europe, in Japan and in Latin America. This year, new Disney Interactive titles include a creativity-enhancing Draw & Paint Studio, an innovative new game inspired by Disney's 101 Dalmatians film and a full slate of releases based on Disney's upcoming animated feature, Hercules. Disney Online is preparing a new children's service scheduled to begin late this year.
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