Asian culture charms U.S. with popular cartoon series - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

DSN Retailing Today, August 20, 2001 by Molly Prior

On Saturday mornings, a gang of neighborhood children ranging in age from 6 to 12 years old, gather at Selina Yoon's house to watch cartoons with her two children. The anime-style cartoon "Jackie Chan Adventures" has won over these youngsters since its launch on Kids'WB! last fall. And from the looks of things, Jackie Chan has also found a sizeable fan base outside Yoon's living room.

The show has consistently held the top position since debuting in its Saturday morning time slot for boys ages 6 to 11. Yoon, entertainment licensing consultant and founder of Asia for Kids, attentively studies the reactions of her makeshift focus group. Yoon said the children enjoy Jackie Chan's good vs. evil story lines and relate to his sidekick and niece, 11-year-old Jade.

"What separates Jackie Chan is the interesting balance between action and humor," said Al Ovadia, executive vp for Sony Pictures Consumer Products. "It's fun to watch and it's driven by a personality kids identify with and like."

Jackie Chan has joined a host of other Asian-inspired Saturday morning and weekday cartoons, such as Pokemon, Powerpuff Girls, Cardcaptors, Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. The networks may seem saturated with these anime-style cartoons, but the industry insiders say there's room for more.

"Anything that comes oft as fresh will spawn look-alikes. And imitation saturates the market," said Justin Sevakis, manager of fan relations for the first annual Big Apple Anime Festival. Sevakis added Pokemon has lead to mainstream acceptance of the anime-style. "Five or six years ago, almost nobody had heard of anime," said Dennis Lee, product manager for video game publisher Konami. Today's younger viewers embrace Asian culture and do not bother to make a distinction between Japanese-anime and American cartoons.

The Pokemon craze, which ignited February 1996 with the series' launch, ushered in the Japanese-anime trend. Children responded by influencing- either by begging or shelling out their hard-earned allowance-parents to spend more than $15 billion at retail on Pokemon product.

With over 800 licensees, the 4Kids Entertainment property holds the distinction of being the No. 1 kids property worldwide. Pokemon may have gotten the trend off and running, but other anime-style properties such as American-created Powerpuft Girls have fueled it. While these properties continue to have much success, licensees and retailers are still anxiously awaiting the next Pokemon. Given its success, the licensing industry now uses Japan as a barometer of success for new properties.

4Kids Entertainment, in partnership with Konami, touts its new boys property Yu-Gi-Oh! as the next big tbing. "Yu-Gi-Oh!" has aired for fives years on TV Tokyo in Japan and generated staggering numbers, said Carlin West of 4Kids Entertainment. This Japanese-anime-style cartoon has sold 23 million comic books, seven million video games and 3.5 billion trading cards. "It's just been a frenzy over in Japan," said Lee. "We see a lot of similairities with Yu-Gi-Oh! and the way Pokemon was launched."

"The difference is with YuGi-Oh! there's a lot more awareness among the licensing world. Everyone is looking to get in early," he added crediting this excitement to 4Kids Entertainment's reputation of smartly managing Japanese properties outside of Asia.

Yu-Gi-Oh!, the Japanese phrase for "king of games," targets boys just starting to grow tired of Pokemon. Its themes, often a bit edgier and darker than Pokemon's, center around overcoming odds by believing in one's self. "Yu-Gi-Oh! is not completely a 'me too' Pokemon property," said Lee. Following its September premiere on Kids'WB!, Konami will roll out the Yu-Gi-Oh! Game Boy Color game packaged with three rare, collectible cards this November.

Another new Japanese property to grace the small screen this fall is Nelvana's "Metabot: The Ultimate Robattle." Like its contemporaries, Metabot launched in Japan three years ago. Metabot will air on Fox Kids in this fall, followed by a toy rollout in January Master toy licensee Hasbro will create toys based on the Metabot team of high-tech robot warriors.

With many Asian-inspired cartoons targeting boys, a need for solid young girls' property has also emerged. Girl-directed "Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat," produced by CineGroup in association with Sesame Workshop, will debut next month on PBS Kids. Sagwa's adventures mirror the typical experiences of the 5- to 8-year-old group. "It is a sweet property as opposed to the edgier girls' properties out there," said Ann Kearns, VP of licensing of North America for Sesame Workshop.

Sagwa, based on a children's book by Amy Tan, author of "The Joy Luck Club," tries to capture the custom and tradition of Imperial China. Kearns said the property lends itself to unique licensing opportunities like calligraphy and pen & ink sets. The licensing program will launch in 2002 focusing on apparel, sleepwear and shoes. Kearns said popularity of Asian culture is larger than Pokemon, but she added, "The timing bodes well for us, we're in the right place at the right time."