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Lights...action...

By Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 7/3/2002 12:00:00 AM

Sesame Workshop exec Liz Kalodner will take to the small screen next month when QVC hosts a special Sesame Workshop hour. Kalodner, senior vice president global consumer products, will be the Workshop's spokesperson during the telecast, which will feature Dragon Tales, Sagwa and Sesame Street products. During the recent Licensing Show, Kalodner 'confessed' to Playthings Extra that she was a little nervous over the prospect. "What if nobody calls in?" she quipped. Not to worry! With so many avid Mom fans nationwide, it's all but guaranteed the phones will be ringing off the hook. Count among those fans, a generation of Moms who themselves grew up with Sesame Street.

Talk about fans...Alec Baldwin has a few too; many of whom he shares with Thomas the Tank Engine. Back for a repeat performance, Baldwin is on board as the storyteller for 26 new episodes of Thomas and Friends. The actor narrated the series in 1999 and also starred as the 'voice' of the conductor in Thomas the Tank Engine's first feature film, Thomas and the Magic Railroad. In the United States, these episodes will be released direct-to-vdeo by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The first release, Salty's Secret, will be appearing on the small screens nationwide in September, available Sept. 24 on both video and DVD.

Baldwin isn't the only star of the silver screen to meander into the toy world. Nicolas Cage recently popped into a press conference during which Dragon unveiled its Windtalkers 12-inch action figures. John Woo, director of the multi-million-dollar box office hit, Windtalkers, was also on hand for the event.

On the small screen, Sagwa has been paying off well too — in multi-thousands — in more ways than one. Not only has it become a top-rated children's TV show, the fictitious cat was also good for $2,000 to a recent Jeopardy contestant. The answer on this popular TV show as read by the 'erudite' Alex Trebek was: "Sagwa, a PBS animated series about a Chinese Siamese cat, is based on one of her children's books." The answer: "Who is Amy Tan?"

Meanwhile, cellular phones have given an entirely new meaning to the term, 'small screen'...and Big Bird and Elmo are coming to that screen, first in Japan. Sesame Workshop has developed Sesame Street content for mobile telephones in Japan. In a three-year license with Television Tokyo Broadband Entertainment, Sesame Street content can now be delivered over wireless data networks from a dedicated Web site to subscribers of the service. The licensed wireless mobile site features: ring tones of popular Sesame Street songs and character voices; downloadable screensavers (Elmo pictured here); games and other interactive activities; and video clips to be introduced later this summer. Sesame Workshop told Playthings Extra it is aggressively seeking partners to license content in this new platform worldwide.

Indeed, there is no business like show business!

Even FAO is getting into the 'act.,' adding truth to the adage, 'the whole world's a stage' — in this case, FAO stores. Part of the new hiring protocol at FAO is an 'audition.' In addition to the usual resume screening and discussion and interview, prospective sales associates are asked to show how they would 'sell' a product. Enthusiasm counts!

The folks at Pamela Drake are finding it difficult to contain their enthusiasm after the company's Woodkins Design Studio was awarded a Silver Honor Award by Parents' Choice. The product, an expansion of the original Woodkins that includes fabrics, patterns, accessories and other tools for the aspiring fashion designer, was featured in Playthings magazine earlier this year prior to its introduction to the market.

This week's minutiae: To date, fans have purchased more than 25 million Thomas & Friends videos with the last 10 video releases making the top 10 on the children's U.S. video scan chart.

— Maria Weiskott

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