Comedy Central's cartoon series about four snowbound, potty-mouthed third graders (one of whom meets death weekly) and their mentor, an oversexed lunchroom chef who sings an awful lot like Isaac Hayes.
*AIMED AT
Officially, adults—the show is rated for "mature audiences." Naturally, that fact entices young kids even more.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
Dozens of items, including plush dolls and talking products such as mugs that say "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" Crud est item: the $12.99 Mr. Hankey Doll, named for the small, brown, singing and dancing entity that dwells in Kyle's toilet.
*HOW POPULAR
Most toy stores don't carry the products because of Park's MA rating, but even so, sales hit S30 million in the show's first five months.
TITINIC
Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy freezes in the North Atlantic. But his heart will go on with two soundtracks, a video game, pool toys and the J. Peterman catalog.
*AIMED AT
Leonardo DiCaprio fan-club members and nautical history enthusiasts of all ages.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
The list is nearly as long as the movie. Any girl who wishes it were she treading water with Jack may want a replica of Rose's pendant. Serious Titanic buffs will want lumps of coal retrieved from the actual ship or copies of the liner's blueprints, sold by Peterman.
*HOW MUCH
Pendant, $198; coal, $10; inflatable pool toy, $9.99; video game, $37.99; reproduction first-class dining-room table, $3,900.
TELETUBBIES
Tiky Winky, Laa-Laa, Dipsy and Po are cuddly preverbal aliens who play live-action videos on their tummies and mesmerize the pre-preschool crowd.
*AIMED AT
Telebabies as young as 1 year. But teenage club kids love the products' kitsch value, and gay men have made the purse-toting Tinky Winky a camp icon.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
Although Teletubbies appear to wear the same footsie pajamas that nearly every infant already owns, Teletubby costumes were Halloween bestsellers. Backpacks are big with the club set.
*HOW MUCH
$35 for costumes, $29.99 for backpacks, $30 for plush Talking Teletubbies, $4.99 for Beanie Baby-size dolls.
*HOW POPULAR
Retail sales could hit $2 billion within a year, says one industry expert.
SPICE GIRLS
If you need an introduction to these women, well then, may we ask how your nap was, Mr. Van Winkle? In 1998 they downsized to become Britain's other Fab Four (the first being the Teletubbies, of course).
*AIMED AT
Spice-wannabes, age 5 and up.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
Besides their two albums and Spiceworld video, the truly Girl-empowered need the Spiceworld video game, tattoos (removable), stickers (less so), notebooks, pencil cases, all manner of birth day party paraphernalia and—for sustenance—Spice Girl pizza, soda, chips, lollipops and chocolate bars.
*HOW MUCH Dolls cost about $15, additional outfits, based on the Girls' concert gear, $24.99. Many owners of Ginger Spice dolls felt they would skyrocket in value when Geri Halliwell departed the group, but so far there are no plans to discontinue the item.
*HOW POPULAR
Worldwide doll sales are expected to hit $500 million by year's end.
SMALL SOLDIERS
A boys toys—the aggressive Commando Elites (led by the voice of Tommy Lee Jones) and the peace-loving Gorgonites (led by Frank Langella)—stage a real-life war in his house.
*AIMED AT
Oops. A PG-13 rating shot the film over the heads of targeted little boys.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
Some 100 items, including figures from Hasbro, which collaborated on the characters.
*HOW MUCH
Action figures from $7.99 to $25,000 (for limited editions designed by special-effects artists).
*HOW POPULAR
The ratings misfire meant replacing tie-ins in Burger King kids' meals. But though the movie bombed, nearly $30 million worth of soldier stuff was sold.
A BUG'S LIFE (left) & ANTZ
A resourceful worker ant (Dave Foley in A Bug's Life, Woody Allen in Ante) woos a princess (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sharon Stone), triumphs over a bad guy (Kevin Spacey, Gene Hackman) and saves the colony.
*AIMED AT
Kids who loved Toy Story, or die-hard Woody Allen fans. Reality-obsessed tykes will prefer the entomologically correct creatures in Ante(six legs) to those in Bug's (four).
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
The only toys ready when Ante was rushed out in October to beat Bug's were a line of poseable figures. Bug's triumphed at the box office and in toy stores with talking figures, a clock with hero Flik's (Foley's) voice and an ant farm.
*HOW MUCH
Antz and Bug's figures cost about $8 each. Ant farm, $32.99. Ants not included.
MULAN
Disney's 36th animated feature retells the Chinese legend of Fa Mulan, a young woman who goes to war disguised as a man and saves China from invading Huns.
*AIMED AT
Playing up the warrior aspect of the story, marketers went after boys and girls. But this is primarily a "she" thing.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
Hair bows, toothbrushes, Barbie-size Mulans with extensive wardrobes. Plush figures of the principals, including the dragon Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy. During the film's run, McDonald's tied in Happy Meal toys and offered a culturally questionable Szechuan dipping sauce for Chicken McNuggets packed in Chinese takeout containers.
*HOW MUCH
Dolls, from $12. Animation cells, $295.
JEWEL
Earnest, folky 24-year-old singer-songwriter.
*AIMED AT
Earnest, folky adolescent girls.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
A book of semiprecious verse called A Night Without Armor because, she says, "some thoughts need to be sung only against the silence." Sample verse: "I have no Lover/ only my pen and an/ answering machine/ back in the States which/ no one calls./ 1 am told/ 1 am adored by millions/ but no one calls."
*HOW MUCH
$15
*HOW POPULAR
Night was a New York Times bestseller for 11 weeks.
BLUE'S CLUES
A live-action-meets-computer-animation show in which a telegenic babysitter type named Steve Burns solves puzzles with the help of his dog Blue (who leaves paw-print clues) and viewers.
*AIMED AT
Preschoolers and parents who have had their fill of Barney, whom Blue beats in the ratings.
*WHAT'S AVAILABLE
True-blue fans will want a "handy-dandy notebook" like Steve's to track clues while they watch. Videos, CD-ROMs and plush Blue toys that bark along to the show's theme are also hot.
*HOW MUCH
Notebooks, $5.99; videos, $9.95; CD-ROMs, $29.95.
*HOW POPULAR
When the products hit New York City's FAO Schwarz toy store, some 7,000 people—a store record—lined up for Blue booty. Many were teenage girls eager to meet Steve.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
