‘Tis the Season to be… a Monster? TV and feature film spin-offs aren’t new in the world entertainment, extending a proven property’s lifespan can be incredibly financially advantageous. And in this tough economic climate, making money off a proven best-seller is tough to ignore.
We, the writers of Zombies In My Blog, are big fans of animated movies, TV Shows, comics, etc. and have noticed the holiday trend-ification (to coin a new term) of proven properties. While this isn’t a new concept, it’s been taken advantage of lately and seen great success.
Take, for example, the foreign box office, concerning feature films. Overseas, nothing quite sells out theaters as sequels to proven mega-movies. Locally, in the United States, we the film-goers, tire easily of yet another lame attempt to cash in on an original concept; but not overseas. In fact, lately, sequels have done double, triple and even quadruple the earnings as they have in North America, and Hollywood has taken notice. What seems to be a dud, locally, is a sure-fire hit overseas. Example: The Adventures of Tintin, Kung Fu Panda 2, Happy Feet 2, Rango, Rio, etc.
Another step in the trend-ification is for a proven property to change media. Take, for instance, a feature film, like Shrek. After a movie, three sequels and a spin-off movie, lo and behold, Shrek the Halls premiered as a holiday special on TV last year and will soon be repeated every year after year, in hopes of reminding you of some of your favorite characters (and toys, video games, DVDs, etc).
Also, please see Madagascar (two feature films), TV spin-off (Penguins of Madagascar) and Holiday Specials (Merry Madagascar, The Penguins of Madagascar in a Christmas Caper).
This year brings about Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas. And don’t forget previous specials: Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, and to a lesser extent, Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space and The Smurfs (and its three holiday specials: ‘Tis the Season to be Smurfy, The Smurfs Christmas Special and The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol).
All of this leads to one strong argument: Animated Monsters (and other creatures) help sell holiday specials (and extend ancillary product sales).
Zombies In My Blog wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! But beware the Robot Santa, Kwanzaabot and Chanukah Zombie!