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Binney & Smith, the Hallmark Cards unit that makes Crayola, plans its television debut this summer with "Crayola Kids Adventures," a drama series set to air Saturday evenings on the network, a unit of Westinghouse Electric. At a time when U.S. regulators are more concerned than ever ab...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWall Street journal. Europe
Main Author By Kyle Pope and Tara Parker-Pope
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Brussels Dow Jones & Company Inc 12.02.1997
EditionEurope
Subjects
Advertising
Children & youth
Childrens television
Cotton
Prime time
Testing laboratories
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Summary:Binney & Smith, the Hallmark Cards unit that makes Crayola, plans its television debut this summer with "Crayola Kids Adventures," a drama series set to air Saturday evenings on the network, a unit of Westinghouse Electric. At a time when U.S. regulators are more concerned than ever about the quality of children's television, the Crayola show is notable for its elaborate marketing master plan. The producers plan to tie the show to play kits from Crayola, CD-ROM titles from International Business Machines, toys from Gund and related titles from Golden Books. EACH EPISODE of the live-action series will feature children starring in adaptations of children's literary classics, including "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Gulliver's Travels." The shows are unusually expensive, costing an estimated $3 million an episode to produce, vs. about $1 million for most of the rest of prime-time television. In addition, Hallmark has paid about $1 million to a unit of Muppet creator Jim Henson's Jim Henson Productions to build a so-called animatronic lion (combining mechanical parts and human operation), which will be used to introduce each episode.
ISSN:0921-9986