In today's world of animation features, Snow White and Prince Charming are B-list actors. Cinderella can't land a gig.
And forget about Bambi. He's washed up.
Instead of offering starring roles to these classic icons, animated films are increasingly focusing on characters who don't have to worry about going commercial – because they come from advertisements.
Chef Boyardee, Mr. Clean and Mrs. Butterworth are among the shills now offered leading roles in an upcoming movie where product placement is essential to the plot.
Scheduled for release in Summer 2002, Foodfight!, is set in a supermarket and "is what happens when good food goes bad." Starring a series of branded icons, the film cost $50 million to make and includes thousands of characters and hundreds of different sets.
"The aisles look like city streets. The detergent boxes look like Fifth Avenue in New York City," said Larry Kasanoff, who directed and produced the film. "It's a supermetropolis."
But consumer and children advocates are wary of the new film, citing it as "one big commercial with a couple of scenes in between." Wired News Radio
Listen to the Larry Kasanoff interview for Foodfight!: Stream |Download (1.5 MB)|(8 min.)
This isn't the first time commercial products have been featured in an animated film. Toy Story broke new ground with appearances by Mr. Potato Head and Barbie, although the central characters were not products – until after the movie was made.
"This is the next step in brazenness," said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children and communities from commercialization. "This is part of an ever increasing effort to bombard children with commercial advertising."
Kasanoff claims that, like it or not, commercial society is a fact of life, and that his film is "great fun" and will be enjoyed by all ages.
"It's idiotic to think that branded characters who have been loved all over the film will harm young kids," Kasanoff said. "Besides, you don't walk out of the movie and get a coupon."
This may be true, but skeptics argue that parents are growing increasingly tired of commercialization directed toward their children. Suskin said data suggests parents from all backgrounds and political affiliations feel the same way. And in a 1999 survey conducted by the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut, 59 percent of parents surveyed worried a great deal that advertising and commercials are being targeted at children.
"Parents are working harder and harder these days," Ruskin said. "The last thing they need is a corporation using children as messengers to spread commercialization. I think this kind of a movie is a direct interference with family life." But Kasanoff said there were no licensing fees or product placement deals in putting brand identities in the film, and that the film has a positive message. Furthermore, the producers had complete creative control of the film and were not influenced by the companies whose brands are used in the film, said Hanna Schmieder, director of marketing and public relations for Threshold Entertainment, the company that produced the film. She added that no brands were granted exclusivity for use in the film.
One of the companies, whose Twinkie the Kid icon was used in the film, has so far been pleased with the way its brand has been treated.
"Obviously, there is a concern that they may not use our brand appropriately," said Mike Redd, vice president of cake marketing for Interstate Brands Corporation. "But Threshold presented this in the most honest, forthright manner. So far they've seemed to have lived by this."
But companies whose brands were included in the film aren't necessarily comfortable with the phrase "complete creative control."
"I would be alarmed if an animated Coke bottle was cussing in the film," said Susan McDermott, a spokesperson for the Coca-Cola Company, which will also have its product represented in the film.
Kasanoff said that, along with the branded characters, Threshold Entertainment created original characters to lead the story line. These include Professor Plotnick, Dex Detective and Daredevil Dan.
"In a virtual world, Mr. Clean is a movie star," he said. "So I have to respect him as that. We used the iconic characters for who they are."
Film is not the only artistic medium where commercialization is targeted toward a younger audience. A series of children's books that use brand names have been published. Kellogg's Froot Loops! Counting Fun Book is one such book that caused a controversy, which involved educators and child advocacy groups.
"It is a great way to get the Froot Loops brand equity into a different place, where normally you don't get exposure -– taking it from a cereal aisle and into another area like learning," said Kellogg spokesperson Meghan Parkhurst in a New York Times interview.
The people involved with the film and the children advocates may not agree, but whether children and their parents turn out for the film Foodfight! remains to be seen.
One parent said that because she grew up with these branded icons, she might be interested in seeing Foodfight! But would she let her children see it?
"Oh, definitely not," said Laura Davies, a parent of two boys who lives in Santa Rosa, California. "But I am curious to know what the story line is and if there is any redeeming value in it."
