'Richie Rich's Christmas Wish,' All-New Holiday Adventure From Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, Premieres On Video Nov. 3

Business Wire, Sept 24, 1998

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 24, 1998--

Free Richie Rich Money Clip With Valuable Discovery Zone

Coupons Packed On Every Video

Richie Rich -- the golden-haired kid billionaire, a favorite of American youngsters for nearly a half-century -- returns this holiday season in an all-new family adventure, "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish," premiering on video Nov. 3.

Saban Entertainment, in association with The Harvey Entertainment Co., presents the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment release distributed by Warner Home Video.

David Gallagher, the popular young star of the WB Network's hit television series "7th Heaven" who also appeared with John Travolta in the movie "Phenomenon," takes the title role in this kid-friendly twist of "It's a Wonderful Life."

The top-notch cast stars Martin Mull ("Jingle All the Way," "Mrs. Doubtfire") as Richie's father; Keene Curtis (TV's "Cheers") as Cadbury, Richie's valet; Lesley Ann Warren ("Victor/Victoria," "Clue") as Richie's mother and Eugene Levy ("Splash," "Almost Heroes" and SCTV) as Professor Keenbean. Marla Maples, Michelle Trachtenberg (Harriet from "Harriet the Spy"), Jake Richardson and Richard Fancy round out the cast. Mike Elliott produced and John Murlowski directed.

The Story

America's richest kid is back with more fantastic toys and incredible adventures. When Richie Rich's nasty cousin Reggie Van Dough causes Richie's sleigh full of orphans' Christmas gifts to run down pedestrians, attack neighborhood homes and fly past the orphanage, Richie wishes he was never born. But he gets more than he bargained for!

Professor Keenbean invents a wishing machine that magically transports Richie to an alternate universe where Reggie rules with an iron fist, Richie's personal valet Cadbury is a heavy-metal roadie, his robot-servant Irona is a fire-breathing cyborg and Richie's loveable dog Dollar is forlorn.

Through an action-packed chase and museum heist, Richie and his friends race against time to outwit Reggie and find the wishing machine so Richie can return to reality and save Christmas.

Holiday Bonuses for the Entire Family on Each Video

Every "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish" video will come packed with one free Richie Rich gold-tone money clip with Richie Rich play money, valuable coupons off admissions at Discovery Zone's family FunCenters and a $5.00 mail-in rebate with the purchase of any three of the following Warner Bros. Family Entertainment titles -- "Quest for Camelot," "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island," "Addams Family Reunion," "Billboard Dad" and "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish."

In addition, two Richie Rich animated videos -- "Priceless Toys" and "A Boy's Best Friend!" -- will be reissued for the holidays at a special price of $9.95 SRP.

There will also be a broad array of Harvey Entertainment Co.'s best-selling Richie Rich products available at video retail outlets. Among the items are Richie Rich boxer shorts, pajamas, T-shirts, one-time-use cameras, business-card holders and Zillionaire$ chocolate bars.

More About Richie Rich

Richie Rich made his first Harvey Comics appearance in 1953 and went on to become the No. 1 best-selling comic book of the 1960s. By the '70s, there were 34 different regular "Richie Rich" titles, making him the single most-popular comic book character of that time. The first movie, "Richie Rich," starring Macaulay Culkin, was released in 1994 and generated $38 million at the domestic box office, in addition to selling millions of videos.

Richie is also a highly popular animated character. This fall, The Cartoon Network will re-run 32 half-hour episodes from Hanna-Barbera's 1980 "The Richie Rich Show"; and, as part of their "Harvey Toons" special programming, The Fox Family Channel will air 13 episodes from the 1996 hit animated Richie series.

The New Richie

Gallagher's other film appearance was in "Look Who's Talking Now." He also was seen in the television movies "Summer of Fear" and "It Was Him or Us," as well as in the successful video release "Angels in the Endzone."

This season, in addition to appearing on "7th Heaven," network television's fastest-growing returning series, Gallagher will be seen in "The New Adventures of Spin & Marty: Suspect Behavior," which will air as a two-hour movie on ABC's "Wonderful World of Disney."

The Credits

Saban Entertainment presents in association with The Harvey Entertainment Co., "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish" starring David Gallagher, Martin Mull and Keene Curtis with Lesley Ann Warren and Eugene Levy as Professor Keenbean. Casting is by Julie Ashton-Barson. Music is composed by Deddy Tzur with Ron Kenan and David Ari Leon serving as music supervisors. Production designer was Nava and editor is John Gilbert.

Director of photography was Christian Sebaldt. Co-producers are Rob Kerchner and Amy Goldberg; executive producers, Haim Saban, Lance H. Robbins and Jeffrey A. Montgomery. "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish" was produced by Mike Elliott. Screenplay is by Mark Furey from a story by Rob Kerchner & Jason Feffer. John Murlowski directed.