Making History
By Cliff Annicelli -- Playthings, 3/1/2006
It's a big month in what plans to be a banner year and a half for 4Kids Entertainment's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT).
On March 25, the 100th episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—one of the major milestones of TV success—will air during the 4Kids TV block on Fox.
In anticipation of the historic episode, 4Kids Entertainment, New York, has rolled out a marketing and promotional campaign through online, broadcast and print media.
Fans of the property can count down to the March 25 broadcast online at a Web site where they can test their knowledge of Turtles trivia, play games and experience other interactive elements.
Promotional support will include a retail tie-in with master toy licensee Playmates Toys, Costa Mesa, Calif., in which approximately 250,000 packages of Paleo Patrol TMNT action figures will feature sticker bursts calling out a sweepstakes.
Later this year, the next version of the TMNT series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—Fast Forward, will premiere. It will send the Turtles 99 years into the future. And in 2007, a CGI-animated feature film detailing the Turtles' beginnings will come to theaters through a distribution deal with The Weinstein Co. and Warner Bros. Playmates has toy rights for both projects.
