Billboard Articles

"Billboard" is an American music publication most well known for publishing music charts ranking the most popular songs and albums in the United States. In addition to tabulating hit songs, they also write articles for marketers and merchants advising them on industry trends and what to buy. From 1999 to 2002, the American music publication "Billboard" wrote several articles on Pokemon. These reflect Pokemon at the very height of its popularity and its decline. I haven't seen anyone else reference these or transcribe them, so I've collected them here for easy reading by chronological order. The articles mostly cover the tie-in soundtracks and the movies.

August 14, 1999 - Koch Planning ‘2.B.A. Master’ In Kid Via Pokemon

Original. This article details the successful launch of the 2.B.A. Master album and its rise to the top of the charts - the Kid Audio chart, of course. This article introduces the adult audience to Pokemon as a franchise. The author, Moira McCormick appears to have been on the Pokemon beat as several of her columns cover Pokemon.

Some interesting business details are discussed here. Koch Records had previous experience in multimedia branding with the World Wrestling Federation. They specifically mention that kids' music is "dominated by Disney and hard to get into," which puts the success of the Pokemon soundtrack in context!

Koch Planning ‘2.B.A. Master’ In Kid Via Pokemon

Child’s Play

by Moira McCormick

GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL: Koch Records has a bona fide with its first children's audio release, "Pokémon— 2.B.A. Master." It debuted July 17 on Billboard's Top Kid Audio chart at No. 3 and promptly hopped to No. 1, unseating Disney's "Tarzan Read-Along:"

The album is also the first audio product of the popular "Pokémon" phenomenon, which encompasses an animated TV series, videos (on the Pioneer label), Nintendo Game Boy games, collectible playing cards, and an ever-growing complement of licensed merchandise. "Pokémon—2.B.A. Master" contains "Pokémon Theme," the show's opening credits; "The Time Has Come," aired in the episode "Pikachu's Goodbye"; and a number of pop/R&B tunes inspired by the show's characters (including a highly amusing track performed by the inept bad-guy threesome Team Rocket).

The biggest draw, though, is the entire "PokéRAP," complete with printed lyrics. The five-part "PokéRAP" closes every weekday TV show, each day naming 30 or so species of Pokémon. ("Pokémon" is short for "pocket monsters," and there are more than 150 of them. The program revolves around three kids who've set out to catch and train as many of the wildly varied, fascinating creatures as they can.) Here, all five days' worth of the "PokéRAP" are put together in one song. The enhanced CD also contains a video version of the full "PokéRAP."

Beginning in August, says Koch's senior VP of sales Michael Rosen-berg, video versions of the album's new songs will run in place of the "PokéRAP," prior to the new season's kickoff on the Kids' WB! Network. The video segment will be called "Pikachu's Jukebox" after the series' most popular Pokémon character, the adorable yellow Pikachu.

Rosenberg, who notes that a follow-up "Pokémon" audio aimed at the preschool set featuring a sing-along cassette and coloring book is due soon, says Koch obtained the "Pokémon" audio license after being made aware of its availability by Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co. (Cherry Lane is listed along with Koch, Nintendo of America, and 4Kids Entertainment Inc. as presenters of "Pokémon- 2.B.A. Master:")

Rosenberg describes "Pokémon" as "a brand" and says, "Our first experience with a multimedia brand was the World Wrestling Federation [WWF] album 'WWF The Music: Vol. III,' which we released in January and which went platinum. We felt that 'Pokémon' looked like a brand that was taking off, and we were eager to get involved with it. Plus, we saw this as a way to make inroads in the kids' market, which is dominated by Disney and hard to get into.

Since Koch's distribution arm, Koch International, sells directly to retail chains like Toys 'R' Us, Kay Bee Toys, and Zany Brainy-"and we're about to start with FAO Schwarz" -Rosenberg says the label is now in position "to pursue other kids' properties, video included."

Marketing "Pokémon—2.B.A. Master" has included co-promotions with other "Pokémon" licensees, foremost among them a limited-time $15 factory rebate coupon, redeemable with select Game Boy Pocket and "Pokémon" Red or Blue games, in-packed in each CD.

"We're setting up back-to-school promotions with key accounts and advertising in Disney Adventures and Nintendo Power magazine," says Rosenberg. "Radiowise, we've been doing album and tchotchkes giveaways on morning shows of commercial rock radio stations. What's also helped sales is a 12-unit counter bin we made. Our accounts say it really sparks sales. The property is so huge, all you have to do is let kids know the album's there, and they'll buy it." A second volume of "Pokémon" music is due in spring 2000, he adds.

November 20, 1999 - HOT 100 SPOTLIGHT

Original. This short article focuses on the success of the lead single "Don't Say You Love Me," which cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at #72. This means that it was popular enough to make a dent among the most popular songs of America. #72 isn't an especially popular song, though - usually you have to rank within the top 40 (and especially the top 10) to be considered a hit. Mostly it's noteworthy that the song broke through on the sheer strength of the Pokemon brand.

HOT 100 SPOTLIGHT

by Silvio Pietroluongo

DO YOU PIKACHU? Anyone not surrounded by children might find this question confusing. Those of you with access to kids within the 5-to 12-year-old age group most likely find the mention of this yellow pocket monster annoying. Whatever your situation is, there will be no escaping everything Pokémon this holiday season. Even The Billboard Hot 100 is affected, as the leadoff track from the soundtrack to the Warner Bros. picture "Pokémon: The First Movie," "Don't Say You Love Me" by M2M (Atlantic), debuts at No. 72. M2M is 16-year-old guitarist Marit E. Larsen and 15-year-old keyboardist Marion E. Rayn from Lørenskog, Norway. The harmonious duo has performed together for more than nine years, forming a band in 1990 called Hubba-bubba, appearing in musicals, and recording a Norwegian language children's album. The "Pokémon" soundtrack, which hit retail on Nov. 9, is loaded with tracks from top teen stars including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, 'N Sync, and 98°.

December 11, 1999 - Columbia TriStar's Got 'Elmo'; Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry Go DVD

Original. This short passage in an otherwise unrelated article shows people wanting to get in on the Pokemon craze. Brentwood Home Video produced this video on how to play the trading card game, apparently aimed at parents. You can actually watch the first tape of 'Becoming a Master' online.

Columbia TriStar's Got 'Elmo'; Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry Go DVD

Child’s Play

by Moira McCormick

KIDBITS: Brentwood Home Video of Westlake Village, Calif., has jumped on the Pokémon band- wagon with a new video aimed at teaching parents about the phenomenon.

The two-tape set, "Becoming A Master: The Ultimate Pokémon Experience," covers the evolution of Pokémon, with one tape devoted entirely to the omnipresent trading-card game. The first tape explains what the little critters are and what techniques their trainers use to capture and then compete with them. Actor Ernie Hudson appears in the program, offering his testimonial that the tapes provided "a way for [my son] and I to connect."

"Becoming A Master" is not officially authorized or endorsed by Nintendo of America Inc. (the copyright owners of Pokémon) or Wizards of the Coast Inc. (the Nintendo licensees for the Pokémon trading cards), according to Brentwood. But the company says that Nintendo and Wizards of the Coast acted as consultants to the project.

December 18, 1999 - Loeffler Catches Hits with Pokemon Albums

Original. This article is gold for understanding the context of the Pokemon albums. The Pokemon soundtrack apparently spent 20 weeks (and counting) at the top of the children's audio charts - impressive for a realm dominated by Disney! There's also a peek into the marketing logic behind the music: apparently Norman Grossfeld of 4Kids wanted Loeffler to "westernize" the score for the first Pokemon movie. Loeffler also explains the decision to go with contemporary pop music for the 2.B.A. Master soundtrack - he thinks kids are more likely to listen to pop music than traditional children's music. I think this also reveals why the accompanying soundtrack for the first movie is full of big name artists with few references to Pokemon - he is trying to put together music he thinks kids would listen to independent of whether it's attached to Pokemon.

Loeffler Catches Hits with Pokemon Albums

Child’s Play

by Moira McCormick

POKÉMUSIC MAN: Billboard's Top Kid Audio chart has been ruled for the past 20 weeks (and counting, at press time) by "Pokémon—2.B.A. Master" on independent Koch Records-the longest run at No. 1 for any children's audio title since the chart began on Sept. 9, 1995.

Consisting of music from and inspired by the stratospherically popular animated TV series, the album was composed by John Loeffler, president of New York-based production house Rave Music. Loeffler also scored the blockbuster "Pokémon: The First Movie," and its Atlantic Records soundtrack debuted at No. 8 on The Billboard 200 in the Nov. 27 issue.

Two of Loeffler's cuts (“Pokémon Theme" by Billy Crawford and "Brother My Brother" by Blessid Union Of Souls) appear on that album, which also features songs from Christina Aguilera, 'N Syne, 98°, M2M, and other current pop luminaries.

If you think that's it for Pokémon audio, you've got another thing coming. The next Koch release begins production in January, as does season three of the TV series (which will spawn an audio title) and the next Pokémon movie (ditto). Plus, Loeffler is in final negotiations to release an album of his orchestra underscore for "Pokémon: The First Movie."

"As a composer, to work on an animated film-which means writing some 80 minutes of music, as opposed to the 20 or so minutes' worth of score in a typical live-action feature-is great," he says. "With an animated movie, just about every frame needs music, or the overall effect is flat." "Pokémon: The First Movie" is the first film score for Rave Music, the music composition division of New York-headquartered Paradise Music and Entertainment, a publicly traded company founded by Loeffler. He served as CEO from 1996 to 1998 and retains the title of chairman emeritus.

Rave Music produces four to five commercial soundtracks per week for TV shows and advertising clients. Loeffler co-wrote the "Pokémon" movie score with Ralph Schuckett, and he co-composed music for the preceding Pokémon short film "Pikachu's Vacation" with John Lissauer and Manny Corallo.

Loeffler says he got the "Pokémon" gig through Norman Grossfeld of the TV show's production company, 4Kids Entertainment. Rave Music "scored four or five television shows for 4Kids, and he likes my songwriting," says Loeffler.

Grossfeld asked him to retool the music that was already attached to the original Japanese version of "Pokémon," to "Westernize" it and otherwise make it palatable for U.S. kids. "The original music didn't have a point of view," says Loeffler: "Some of it was based on the Nintendo Game Boy game that the program spun off of."

For "Pokémon—2.B.A. Master;" Loeffler went for a pop/R&B/dance feel that mirrors current top 40 fare. "Kids are listening to hip, sophisticated music now," he says. "There's no way the 'Pokémon' album could be less than that... I wrote a number of songs from the point of view of the characters."

For the movie score, Loeffler "wanted to do a 'Batman'-like thing, because when I first saw the film, it struck me as darker and moodier [than the TV show]. I wrote it as a motion picture score, rather than strictly a kids'-type score."

December 25, 1999 - 'Simba's Pride,' Buena Vista Rule Kid Vid Chart For '99

Original. This snippet has some info on the relative popularity of the Pokemon home video titles. They note Pokemon isn't dominating here like it is in the audio division.

'Simba's Pride,' Buena Vista Rule Kid Vid Chart For '99

Child’s Play

by Moira McCormick

VIDDY THIS: Pokémon ruled kids' audio in 1999, yet Pikachu and company were obliged to share the crown when it came to children's video. True, three Pokémon titles on Viz Video/Pioneer Entertainment made the year-end top 25, including "I Choose You, Pikachu" (No. 5), "Pokey Friends" (No. 14), and "The Mystery Of Mount Moon" (No. 24). But Viz/Pioneer, which ranked as the No. 4 kid vid label of the year, had plenty of company.

January 22, 2000 - Warner Unleashes Massive Campaign for ‘Pokemon’ release

Original. This is an incredible source showing the amount of effort put into making the first Pokemon movie an event. Seriously, look at all these cross-brand promotions. I'm especially intrigued by this cross-promotion with AOL "Be the Pokémon Webmaster" where the winner will meet with a web designer to design a Pokemon website? Unfortunately I can't find any further information on this, so it's not clear if they went through with this plan.

Warner Unleashes Massive Campaign for ‘Pokemon’ release

Child’s Play

by Moira McCormick

POKÉMOVIE MANIA: Unless you're recently arrived from the Klaatu Nebula, you are aware that the Pokémon phenomenon is the biggest grade-school kid craze in recent memory-at present, it's said to be a $6 billion worldwide franchise. As such, it's a cinch that the home video release of "Pokémon: The First Movie," which arrives in stores March 21, will be one of the top-selling videos of the year.

Still, Warner Bros. Home Video is launching what the company describes as its largest marketing, advertising, and promotional campaign ever to support the release. Both video and DVD will carry a $26.98 suggested retail price tag.

"We're putting a lot of marketing might behind this campaign," says Warner Home Video manager Danielle Giovanelli. "It's the biggest of its kind in the history of Warner Home Video and will generate over 9 billion consumer impressions. We're really trying to make the video release of 'Pokémon: The First Movie' a major event."

The campaign involves the customary raft of ads, encompassing TV, print, in-school, in-store, and Internet advertising, in conjunction with promotional partners Kraft, Clorox, Zenith, Wizards of the Coast, Atlantic Records, the Kids' WB! television network, and a major fast food chain to be announced soon. A "golden ticket" program will award five winners a "Pokémon: The First Movie" prize package, including a trip to Japan.

The video/DVD itself will come with value-added items, such as an exclusive Wizards of the Coast official Pokémon game card, featuring movie character Mewtwo, and two pieces of never-before-seen footage. "One of them is a preview for 'Pokémon: The Second Movie,' which comes out this summer," says Giovanelli, "and the other shows the story of Mewtwo's origin. Each runs about two minutes. These value-added features really speak to the franchise-they make the video a collectible in itself."

The contest involves five golden tickets inserted into five randomly selected "Pokémon: The First Movie" VHS packages (à la Roald Dahl's "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory"). The recipients will win a prize package including a first-edition starter set of game cards featuring Team Rocket (the hilarious Pokémon villains); a trip for two (child plus parent or guardian) to Japan, where they'll meet with the Pokémon card game creator Mr. Ishihara; and a $1,000 shopping spree at retail store the Pokémon Center.

Nintendo, whose Game Boy game launched the Pokémon craze, will include an offer for a free "Poké-mon Players Stadium Guide" inside each video and will distribute a $3 rebate for the video in 1 million Pokémon Stadium games, which will be available in March. Zenith will offer a $30 rebate on its portable gaming television with each video or DVD purchase, supporting the promotion with a national print ad campaign.

Heinz will run a $5 video rebate in a national free-standing insert, as well as on 5 million packages of its ketchup. Kraft will offer a $3 video rebate on 4 million packages of Kraft Singles cheese, supporting the promotion with $2 million in television and point-of-sale advertising. Clorox will run print advertising featuring a free Pokémon poster offer with purchase of VHS or DVD and/or two Clorox products.

Each copy of "Pokémon: The First Movie" will come with a consumer booklet featuring a further $5 rebate coupon good for purchase of the video plus one Heinz Ketchup and any Ore-Ida Fried Potatoes product; an offer for a free "Poké-mon Players Stadium Guide" with a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine; and the $30 Zenith portable gaming TV rebate.

Special features for DVD players include a commentary with movie director Michael Haigney and producer Norman Grossfeld, the "Pokémon: The Second Movie" pre-view, the theatrical trailer, a music video by M2M called "Don't Say You Love Me," and an instructional feature, "How To Play Nintendo's Stadium Game."

Special features for DVD-ROM PCs include the Pokémon Web site archived on disc; a retrospective of anime and video games; text-only guides to Nintendo games; links to the Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Online, and Warner Bros. Studios Stores Web sites; DVD sampler trailers; and a "special Web events page" (a live screening with chat event).

Giovanelli adds that Warner Home Video is launching a promotion with America Online called Be the Pokémon Webmaster. "Winning kids get to fly to Los Angeles and meet with a top Web designer and help design a Pokémon Web site on AOL with the designer," she says. "Details of further online promotions are still being worked out."

Retailers can call a toll-free Warner Home Video number to secure a point-of-purchase kit that in-eludes 10 buttons, as well as one window cling, one counter card, one poster, and one mini-character dan-gler: Warner is holding a retail display contest, with prizes to include Zenith multimedia TVs and DVD players. –

June 24, 2000

Original. The first reference to the Pokemon fever breaking, but still going strong. Pokemon video apparently had 17.9% share of children's sales, which is impressive for a Japanese product that came out of nowhere.

By Moira McCormick

GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL: Although the Pokémon fever has inevitably cooled a bit, Pioneer Entertainment has a few tricks left up its sleeve to push a few more new releases from the franchise.

Pioneer has been riding the Pokémon success wave with a reported 17.9% share of the sales from children's nontheatrical video product in 1999. The series has shipped more than 20 million units, according to the company.

Waiting in the wings are volumes 19 and 20, "Our Hero Meowth" and "The Final Badge," which will be released July 18 on video and DVD. The VHS is priced at $14.98, and the DVD is priced at $24.98.

Pioneer Entertainment is packing a limited-edition lenticular card inside each video. The new titles are jointly released by Pioneer and Viz Communications, the U.S. publishers of Japanese anime and comics. Pioneer also has video rights to other popular anime properties, including "Sailor Moon" and "Dragon Ball Z."

August 19, 2000

Original. Not much of interest here, just noting the continued dominance of Pokemon in direct-to-video.

By Moira McCormick

"We've been a bit of an anomaly in the marketplace," Lee says. "We went direct-to-video without starting on TV or on film." Now, he and VideoSean says, the series [Veggie Tales] is the fourth- best-selling children's direct-to-video line, behind Pokémon, Blue's Clues, and Scooby-Doo.

September 30, 2000

Original. Sales figures for the second Pokemon movies and references to tie-in gimmicks. Apparently if you bought "Hey You Pikachu," you could also get a rebate on the second Pokemon movie.

By Moira McCormick

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

"Pokémon: The Movie, Pokémon 2000, The Power Of One" and "Thomas And The Magic Railroad," two summer films for the family, come to home video and DVD this fall.

"Thomas And The Magic Railroad" chugs into stores Oct. 31 from Columbia TriStar Home Video. The tape is priced at $22.96 for clamshell or slip-sleeve, and the DVD is priced at $24.95. The title will be supported by tie-ins with Amtrak, Basic Fun Toys, and Random House Books.

"Thomas," the first full-length feature film starring popular preschool character Thomas the Tank Engine, stars Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, and Mara Wilson. The DVD version includes deleted scenes and theatrical trailers and will be presented in Dolby Digital Surround Sound. A Spanish-dubbed and -packaged version is also available.

The Amtrak promotion includes a coupon for a special Amtrak kids' fare placed in all "Thomas" packages. Random House Books will be co-promoting the video and DVD release through advertisements in 450,000 "Thomas" books and through a full page ad in the November issue of Parents maga-zine, as well as through links from the Random House Web site to the "Thomas" site. As for the Basic Fun toy giveaway, details are still being worked out.

"Pokémon: The Movie, Pokémon 2000, The Power Of One," which racked up $44 million at the box of-fice, arrives Nov. 14 via Warner Home Video, priced at $22.96 for the VHS and $24.98 for the DVD. Warner is offering a quartet of $3 rebates as well as free on-pack collectibles.

Each video comes packaged with a free, exclusive game card from Wizards of the Coast, featuring (who else?) the most popular Pokémon character, Pikachu. Specially marked videocassettes and DVDs will also come packaged with an exclusive Pokémon coin featuring the character Lugia. Plus, both VHS and DVD will give a sneak preview of the next theatrical film for the franchise, "Pokémon 3."

Extra features on the DVD include musical performances from the movie along with behind-the-scenes footage and the "Pokémon: The Movie, Pokémon 2000, The Power Of One" theatrical trailer. DVD-ROM users can sample Nintendo game guides, Web events, and Web site links.

Several major promotional partners round out the Pokémon marketing plan. More than 5 million Cracker Jack boxes will offer a $3 rebate and a special Pokémon surprise with purchase of the video. Banquet Chicken will kick in a $3 rebate, which will be advertised on more than 6 million of the company's product boxes. More than 1 million boxes of Nintendo's "Hey You Pikachu" videogames will advertise a $3 rebate, as will select Rexall Vitamins.

The movie will also be included in Warner Bros. Family Entertainment's fourth-quarter promo-tion, which offers a $5 escalating consumer rebate and a $2 instant coupon and print campaign. The two titles join the other big family movie of the summer, "Chicken Run," which scampers in Nov. 21 (Billboard, Sept. 23).

February 17, 2001 - Kids' Product Continues Pushing Home-Video Sales While DVD Is On The Rise

Original. Pokemon is barely mentioned here but I thought it was worth including anyway as an example of how the industry was reckoning with VHS vs DVD. Pokemon is considered as an example of how a TV show can make the jump to the big screen due to the power of branding.

Kids' Product Continues Pushing Home-Video Sales While DVD Is On The Rise

BY DEBBIE GALANTE BLOCK

Children's entertainment continues to be the bread and butter for many home-video companies. That is undisputed for VHS, and, although this market has been a slower mover in terms of DVD, the format gained momentum in 2000 and is not expected to let up in 2001, since even more day-and-date titles are being delivered.

Direct-to-video programming continues to gain momentum as well, and some say consumers will soon become familiar with the term "direct-to-DVD." Building up franchises to encourage viewer loyalty is also key here. For example, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are burning their trail with titles such as "Our Lips Are Sealed" (already on VHS, but debuting on DVD this spring from Warner Bros.) and "Winning London," debuting in March.

One trend that will continue for children's programming in 2001 will be the leap of characters from TV to feature films, and ultimately to video. The Rugrats from the series of the same name are a good example.

"Branding is extremely important in children's programming," says Martin Blythe, Paramount Home Video VP of publicity. "Paramount is fortunate to be distributing the Nickelodeon brand. These titles, although they can pull in the entire family, are focused on the kids and fun, not necessarily educational, concepts."

The "Pokémon" movies on Warner Home Video and "The Powerpuff Girls" film in theaters (Warner Bros.) are other examples of TV programming being picked up for feature films. Video programming from popular TV shows such as "Barney" and "Teletubbies" will often be original material rather than just releases of previously viewed shows. While that trend began at least five years ago, it becomes more evident each year.

With greater DVD-player penetration resulting from Christmas 2000 and the release of Sony's PlayStation2—which also plays DVDs-the format's future is promising, but most home-video entertainment companies say not to expect anything overnight.

“I expect the family genre will be the last market to go DVD. It's price-sensitive. If you're buying a feature, you're likely to look for a product that offers the greatest longevity. But, in terms of children's programming, price is likely to drive the purchase instead," says Chad Kime, marketing manager of Pioneer Entertainment.

That said, titles such as Columbia TriStar's "Stuart Little" as well as Disney's "Toy Story 2" and "Tarzan" made the top 10 sell-through-DVD list last year. In 2001, "Rugrats In Paris: The Movie" (Paramount) and "Dinosaur" (Disney) are likely to set the DVD charts ablaze.

Several sources do emphasize that children's DVD is still in its infancy, and 2001 is likely to be an educational year for parents.

"Consumers understand the concept of added-value programming for adults. They are not quite as sure of family product yet," says Kelly Soot-er of DreamWorks Home Entertain-ment. "Families are so conditioned to look for the movie only [that] when queried about children's titles, parents and caregivers told us they didn't even realize there were other activities in addition to the movie on the disc. As a result, we are putting a large sticker on the front of the pack-age, which lists the movie, games, and activities included as a way to get parents into the mind-set that DVD is an all-in-one entertainment product."

How many extra features are really necessary on preschool product? That is up for debate. Many sources feel the under-5 set is more interested in watching the movie over and over and doesn't want to see extra features anyway.

”We are trying to deliver at least one hour's worth of content on a DVD," says Alexander Drosin, executive VP/GM, Golden Books Family Entertainment. "We have to be careful about the balance and what is delivered on the DVD. How much more money should you spend putting on another game, when all the child really wants is to watch the movie?"

Others disagree. "On most of our classics releases, we put out a standard version and a deluxe collector's version. This allows us to customize the added-value bonus materials for each market. The collector's version usually has things like added commentary and behind-the-scenes footage. On family titles, we usually eater more to things of interest for general audiences," says Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

""Stuart Little' was so jampacked with extras that we couldn't release wide-screen and full-screen on the same disc. We released two SKUs instead of compromising any of the value," says Suzanne White, VP of marketing at Columbia TriStar Home Video.

Not surprisingly, Chapek is very enthusiastic about DVD. "The family titles are doing extraordinarily well on this new format," he says. "We believe the marketplace has now moved past the early adopter phase to the growth phase. And, as a result, we have seen a lot more families taking advantage of the technology."

All individuals who were interviewed by Billboard say that although VHS is not "sexy" to talk about, it pays the bills. Sooter thinks that although everyone is jumping on the DVD train, it's important not to neglect VHS, which is still driving 80% to 90% of the market.

"We have to be careful not to accelerate VHS business decline. We need to follow the music industry, which has had the cassette and CD business co-existing for several years," she says. DreamWorks had recent VHS/DVD successes with "Chicken Run," "Joseph: King Of Dreams," and "The Road To El Dorado."

Chapek says he expects "the VHS market to be flat to slightly down year to year. You'll see that the DVD market will more than make up for any potential erosion in VHS. It's exploding. All of our research suggests that the people buying DVDs are doing so with an incredible appetite."

Popcorn nights in front of the TV with the whole family may be plentiful in 2001 with hot movie titles both theatrical and original- expected. Disney will offer up "Dinosaur" as well as "Lady And The Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure" on VHS and DVD. Two "Pokémon" and two "Sailor Moon" titles will come from Pioneer on VHS and DVD, while "Speed Racer" will make its DVD debut.

What about preschool product on DVD? Disney has been conservative up until now, although Chapek says a title like "The Tigger Movie" was a natural for DVD and has sold extremely well. However, Lyrick Studios has been very aggressive here. By the end of 2001, the company will have six "Barney" videos on DVD. "Bar-ney—Let's Go To The Zoo" will debut this fall on VHS and DVD. Other titles from Lyrick will be VHS-only, including "Happy Valentine's Day, Love Bar-ney" and "Barney's Musical Castle." Lyrick was among the first in the market with children's DVDs, and group VP of marketing Sue Beddingfield says, "We're really to the point [where] we need to let the market catch up with the product we have."

Columbia TriStar debuted "Dragon Tales" in August 2000 with three titles on VHS and one on DVD. Three titles from "Bear In The Big Blue House" are also available on DVD. But new "Bear," "Dragon Tales," and "Beren-stein Bears" volumes coming in the first half of this year will be on VHS only. "Buddy" and "The Second Jun-glebook: Mowgli & Baloo" will arrive from Columbia on DVD, however: From Warner Home Video this March will come a direct-to-video title called "Go! Exercise With The Teletubbies" and “programming from “Zoomafoo.”

April 21, 2001 - Pokémon Enjoys Lavish Campaign From Koch Kids

Original. Some info on the final Pokemon movie to have a major theatrical release in the US. The fourth and fifth Pokemon movies would only see limited releases in select theaters. Pokemania is coming down, but there's still money to be made.

Pokémon Enjoys Lavish Campaign From Koch Kids

Child’s Play

by Moira McCormick

CATCH 'EM ALL: Koch Kids has gone all out marketing its latest Pokémon release. Pokémon 3: The Ultimate Soundtrack, spun off the recently premiered movie Pokémon 3, features a track by RCA girl band Innosense.

The enhanced CD includes movie music, as well as music from the TV show Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, along with three sing-along karaoke tracks and a pair of musie videos. There's a CD packaging extra, too: a foldout poster containing all 251 Pokémon characters. (Note: The first Pokémon movie soundtrack sold 1.3 million cop-ies, according to SoundScan, while its follow-up, Pokémon 2000, moved 150,000.)

According to Gail Tilden, VP of brand management at Nintendo of America-owner of the Pokémon trademark (Nintendo works hand in hand with 4Kids Entertainment in producing the TV series and films; Koch is a Nintendo licensee)—"We really integrated the album launch with that of the movie. We've incorporated music wherever possible in the marketing of the movie: It's on the one-sheet, for instance. On the Web site Pokémon.com, there's a feature about the album, including a making-of on the Innosense song "To Know the Unknown.'"

Earlier this month, Nintendo ran a weeklong promotion with Target involving the making-of video featurette. Purchasers of any Pokémon video game received the video free. America Online has also been involved in "two major promotions," Tilden says. The soundtrack album was featured as part of a gift basket given to 25 second-prize winners. (First prize, in case you're wondering, was a trip to Japan and a yellow Volkswagen Beetle-the real car, not a model-painted to look like beloved Pokémon character Pikachu.)

Cartoon Network also got in the act, giving away another Pikachu car and Japan trip, as well as 500 copies of Pokémon 3: The Ultimate Soundtrack. "It got plenty of on-air and online promotion," Tilden says.

The soundtrack album also figured in the Hollywood-style premiere of Pokémon 3, which was held at Lampson Elementary School in Garden Grove, Calif. Lampson was one of 65,000 elementary schools that received a Pokémon 3 reading program, and it won a competition for the chance to hold the premiere. "Innosense was flown out to perform there," Tilden says, "and the kids danced to songs from the soundtrack." She notes that the Pokémon Web site, which she says gets 1.5 million unique visitors a month, is making song lyrics available.

Also just launched is a promotion with Pop-Tarts. Purchasers of the dependably popular breakfast item can receive a four-song soundtrack sampler by sending in two Pop-Tarts box tops and $2.99.

January 19, 2002

Original. A short paragraph mentioning that the third Pokemon movie was doing well on the video charts.

Children’s Video Sales Exceptionally Strong in 2001

Moira McCormick

She adds that the 2001 theatrical release Cats and Dogs remains in the top 10 for most of the company's retail accounts since its Oct. 16 release. Another theatrical title, Pokémon 3: The Movie, "was a big surprise."(It was No. 14 on the year-end chart.)

October 26, 2002 - 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Series Sees Its First Spinoff

Original. Move over, Pokemon, there's a new kid in town - Yu-Gi-Oh! Yes, Pokemon was beginning to be seen as yesterday's news. But 4Kids hasn't lost faith in the Pokemon brands. The massive fad may have peaked, as is inevitable, but Kahn wisely notes that "another Pokémon is out, and there will be another soundtrack album." This marks the final Billboard article from the early 2000s I could find discussing the Pokemon series.

'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Series Sees Its First Spinoff

By Moira McCormick

Red-hot children's franchise Yu-Gi-Oh!, which has inherited the crown from Pokémon as the top-rated animated TV series/videogame/trading-card game of the moment, will see its first spinoff release later this month on DreamWorks Records. Yu-Gi-Oh! Music to Duel By streets Oct. 29, bringing DreamWorks into toy, comic book, and card stores, as well as traditional record retail and mass merchants.

A music-rights and -administration agreement has been signed between New York-based 4Kids Entertainment Music and Cherry Lane Music Publishing, covering music releases spun off from Yu-Gi-Oh! and other 4Kids Entertainment (parent company of 4Kids Entertainment Music) animated TV programs that constitute Fox Kids' Saturday-morning programming block, Fox Box. They include Cubix, Tama & Friends, Ultraman Tiga, Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Lega-cy, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Fighting Foodons, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Cherry Lane Music Publishing also has exclusive rights to administer related compositions and masters.

4Kids Entertainment chairman Al Kahn says Cherry Lane Music Publishing has been working with 4Kids Entertainment since the first Pokémon albums were released several years ago. He recalls, "We didn't have much music content prior to working with them."

Kahn, who says that two Pokémon albums went platinum (both were released on Koch Records imprint Koch Kids), notes that while the property's immense popularity has waned, it is still viable. He says, "Another Pokémon is out, and there will be another soundtrack album."

Each of the new Fox shows will see audio spinoffs, Kahn says, "and there will be a Fox Box compilation album as well. Strategies for each property are devised and predicated on TV rat-ings, toy sales, etc. We'll let them seed in and make a determination on how best to exploit them."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Music to Duel By will include the show's theme songs, orchestral passages, other songs from the series, and music from future episodes. Kahn observes, "Music becomes an inherent part of what makes things enjoyable with Yu-Gi-Oh! and the other properties."

DreamWorks marketing executive Steve Rosenblatt emphasizes that the Yu-Gi-Oh! album stays true to the show's musical content. "We're not using the album as an opportunity to break some of our new artists," he says, referring to an oft-employed soundtrack strategy that labels use.

But DreamWorks is employing a time-tested marketing strategy aimed at kids-the label is including six free stickers in each audio package. A star burst on the front of each piece of product announces, "Includes free sticker sheet." Rosenblatt says, "Knowing how collectible Yu-Gi-Oh! is, the stickers were a natural.

"We don't normally place our music in Toys "R" Us or Zany Brainy or comic book and card stores," he notes." We will place it in traditional outlets as well, like Musicland and Best Buy. We're also being positioned with other Yu-Gi-Oh! products, including Mattel action figures, Sony Games, DVD and VHS product. Smart retailers see an opportunity to create [multi-product] Yu-Gi-Oh! endcaps, and we'll be part of these sections."