Wal-Mart partners on Christmas DVD
UPDATE: Stop-motion series launches in November
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 8/7/2006
AUG. 7 | Wal-Mart has inked an exclusive distribution deal for five holiday-themed direct-to-DVD movies beginning this fall.
TV producer Madison Road Entertainment (Treasure Hunters) is producing the films. The first, Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn’t Happen, will debut in November.
Madison also plans to sell downloads of the movie through its Web site, and the DVD also will be sold through Utah bookstore Deseret Books as part of the deal.
Wal-Mart didn’t return a call for comment on the deal.
The stop-motion animated films will feature characters connected to major holidays, including Rusty the Reindeer (voiced by Fred Savage), Cupid (Paul Rodriguez) and the Easter Bunny (Gladys Knight). In the first film, Rusty runs away from his North Pole home and struggles to find the meaning of Christmas in the big city.
Madison began developing the series after seeing the success of classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on CBS last year.
“We did research and decided there was room for another perennial title that could carry a classic feel to it but was spoken in a voice more the way kids and adults talk in their interactions today,” Madison CEO Jak Severson said.
The first movie, a multi-million-dollar production, is being written by the writers of Disney’s High School Musical and features a cast that includes the stars of popular Disney tween show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Madison is hoping to also release a CD soundtrack tied to the movie.
The second film is planned for Thanksgiving 2007 and centers on Albert the Turkey, who becomes a candidate for a presidential pardon, only to realize that if he isn’t the one pardoned, he’ll be served for dinner.
Other films will be geared to Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween.
For the first movie, Madison plans a TV airing to promote the DVD release.
Last year, Wal-Mart inked a similar exclusive with Disney that made it the sole holiday retailer of Disney’s animated The 3 Wise Men.
The Wise Men movie had a theatrical release in Spain in 2003 before its release on video in Wal-Mart in the U.S. Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez voiced characters for the English edition.
