Dudley plans merchandising blitz

The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon is a popular show with parents, it hits all the buzzwords (like ecology) without being preachy or too sweet; and for that reason, there are great expectations for the merchandise soon to hit the shelves. At the high end, sales are projected at $140 million in Canada and us$1.2 billion in the u.s. for the rest of this year and next.

The launch of Dudley the Dragon paraphernalia was held off until this summer in the hopes of creating an evergreen product, since by June 30, Breakthrough Films’ Dudley The Dragon will be seen on approximately 244 of the 310 affiliate stations in the u.s. educational tv market; 27 are stripping the show now, and come summer, the stations running Dudley daily through the week will be up to 87.

With ratings consistent with Sesame Street and Barney and Friends, u.s. licensing agent Robert Stone of Meridian Direct believes it will prove strong enough to stay on as a fall strip. Stone feels Dudley has the evergreen potential of Sesame Street, and likens Dud to Big Bird. Dudley is positioned as taking over where Barney leaves off, targeting three- to eight-year-olds.

With ytv launching Dudley this fall, and 35 border stations broadcasting north, in addition to eight educasters airing the show in Canada, kids can probably get three hits a day of Dudley come fall.

Canada Games

There are over 70 licensees in the program. Happiness Direct is the lead u.s. licensee; in Canada it’s Canada Games.

At Dudley’s recent merchandise preview, Michael Albert, Canada Games vp sales and marketing, called the investment the most significant commitment to a product that the company had ever made, adding, ‘at Canada Games we’ve got a saying, `The green guy rules.’ ‘ Canada Games is spending $550,000 on advertising, and projecting sales in excess of $6 million by the end of ’96.

Castle Licensing, the Canadian agent, has signed 20 licensees in Canada, with deals pending to bring the total to 35 licensees over the summer. Currently Castle is in negotiations for cd-rom and music products. Malofilm is on board with Dudley the video.

Castle’s director of licensing Nancy Gifford has commitments from K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Sears, Zellers, Toys R Us, The Bay and Consumers Distributing, with other major retailers pending. Dudley gear begins to trickle onto the shelves in June but the majority is slated to hit for back-to-school.

In Canada, expected fourth-quarter sales are in the $25 million to $40 million range, and for 1996, Castle’s president, Art Kraus, expects between $60 million and $100 million at retail.

Big numbers for U.S.

The u.s. projections are us$100 million to us$200 million at retail for 1995, and us$500 million to us$1 billion next year. Cross-promotion plans (with entities such as fast-food chains) are in the works.

The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon executive producers/ cocreators Peter Williamson and Ira Levy are going into production on another 13 episodes this month, with another 13 headed for the camera this fall, aiming for 51 episodes in total by Christmas.

Telefilm Canada, as an investor (a financier in the first two seasons), stands to make money from this as well, in the form of profit participation.

The producers are contributing a portion of merchandising profits to educational programming in North America. In Canada, tvontario will receive money from the producers’ proceeds, and in the u.s. a fund has been established through wedu, Tampa, to fund responsible kids’ programming. If the Dudley duds and other dragon-emblazoned items sell according to plan, the fund is estimated to hit half a million by the end of ’96.