I was over on the Southside of Richmond yestiddy and went to super collossa; Big lots that they have. It was twice the floor space and what that means is CRATES after CRATES after CRATES of four kinds of cereal with "Atlantis- The Animated Movie" promotional tie-ins. I'm wondering if "Atlantis" is the greatest product tie-in disaster of all time? Also there was a surprisingly large amount of Harry Potter stuff- including a cool actual sized broomstick that I woulda got two of if they weren't 19 dollars a piece. I did get two $1.99 "TOY STORY" puzzles for the lil punkins that were highly beloved. In the sleazy Barbie knock-off department, it was disappointing, but it did have the 20 inch giant faux Barbie which I don't even think Barbie has out. And all the Christmas candy was on sale.
To be fair, I bought some Atlantis pudding, and it was pretty good. It was green, but i'd describe the flavour as "Off Vanilla".
The only good things I can ever find at Big Lots are the big boxes of Cocoa Rice Krispie Treats for $1.99. Oh, and I saw a Big Bossman action figure for $2.50. Other than that, my local Big Lots is fairly dissapointing right now.
What's funny is that Atlantis was a bomb at the box office and merchandise-wise (compared to past Disney toon pics), but it wasn't actually that bad. And this is from someone that hates the Mouse with a passion.
But I'm a sucker for steampunk stuff and a lot of the stuff was designed by Mike Mignola (from comics' Hellboy).
All this considered, I think Phantom Menace may have been a bust, regarding merchandise. Everyone and their brother had something related to the movie and a lot of it sat and sat on the shelves.
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family...Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance...Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth...Choose a future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?
I don't recall the exact merchandising of SW1, but I'm sure too much was spent on a certain Mr. Binks.
It certainly didn't help that the movie was crap.
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family...Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance...Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth...Choose a future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?
Oh golly, how could I forget the Phantom Menace paraphenalia deluge at Big Lots. "Atlantis" is definately number 2.
I know I'm kind of getting off topic here, but there are two other films with merchandising tie-ins that bombed harder than the other two you're referencing: Waterworld and Last Action Hero.
I'll leave it at that.
Jason Baldwin Head Writer, 4-Color Review And the guy behind PAPER CUTS! TRUTHFUL comic book commentary Every Thursday, only at 4-Color Review http://4colorreview.com
But neither of two movies had the extreme level of merchandise as did Phantom Menace (or most disney movies).
ON a tangential note, I loved the "Waterworld" video game that was in an episode of the Simpsons. Milhouse puts in like $50 in quarters and then Costner just takes two steps and the game is over.
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family...Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance...Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth...Choose a future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?
But neither of two movies had the extreme level of merchandise as did Phantom Menace (or most disney movies).
Right. Not the LEVEL but LAH and WW merchandise didn't sell at ALL and they had a large amount of crap tied into them.
TPM stuff at least SOLD, if you follow me.
Jason Baldwin Head Writer, 4-Color Review And the guy behind PAPER CUTS! TRUTHFUL comic book commentary Every Thursday, only at 4-Color Review http://4colorreview.com
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