Are movies based on toys a good idea? It depends upon who you talk to

In my last posting, I wrote about Mattel’s move into transmedia storytelling through a new line of toys it is developing.  Well, I found out more about it in a New York Magazine article provocatively entitled:  Thanks to a big Mattel Move; Toys and Movies Come One Step Closer to Being the Same Exact Thing. ” 

The first thing I discovered is the premise of the new line.  According to the magazine, it will be about “…an alien civilization that’s been living in the depths of Earth’s oceans."  The article went on to say that the Mattel execs decided that this idea had the most inherent "transmedia" options, which is the current buzzword for the potential to spiral off into every possible product that people will pay to play with, see, hear, or eat.”

I also found out that that not everyone thinks it’s a good idea.  As you can tell from the ambiguous title of the article, the author is a pretty ambivalent. As he puts it: “Critics who have been depressed by such toy-to-screen blockbusters as G.I. Joe and Transformers may see the move to toy-and-screen as the death of cinema, but merchandising experts naturally believe it’s a smart move for Hollywood, and possibly a good creative move, too.”

What interested me most of all was that the article credits Neil Friedman as the father of this idea. Good for you Neil. That is really some forward thinking.  I am not sure if it makes for great cinema but it is certainly good for the toy industry as we move further and quicker into the 21^st century.

Well, one thing is for sure, as one little girl put it; "We’re certainly not in Kansas anymore."