We're still coming to you from the Africa Hot city of Las Vegas, Nevada where the temps are so high that everything in the Liberace Museum melted and sequin-studded lava is now oozing onto The Strip. As I mentioned, I'm here at the Licensing International Expo, which is where folks come if they (a) have a character or property to promote or (b) might be able to make some money from the exploitation of others' characters or properties. It's the kind of place where you often hear the word "monetize" used, as in: "I have these characters who are kinda like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer only they're mosquitoes and we're trying to monetize them."
Many of the characters being touted as The Hottest Property Out There are unknown to me…and since I'm somewhat involved in this world professionally, you can imagine how unknown they are at the moment to the average person. But in this kind of exploitation, the appearance of popularity is often self-correcting. There are booths pushing new cartoon characters, brand names, celebrities…everything. Some of the celebs are deceased, some are here. I saw Tony Curtis and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, for instance…and Buzz Aldrin, who was on my flight to Vegas, has a booth in connection with some promotion called "Buzz Aldrin, Rocket Hero" that makes him look less like The Second Man on the Moon than the senior citizen version of Buck Rogers.
Of course, there are tons of characters you have heard of. Time-Warner is pushing the heck out of Yogi Bear, Scooby Doo, Green Lantern and all the others…and they must have a movie or something in the works of Top Cat because they have a Top Cat banner that probably cost about half the budget of the original series. And you have your Disney and your Dreamworks and your Sony and your Smurfs and I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of this great walkaround costume they had of the cartoon version of Mr. Bean. You'll have to settle for Miffy above.
I'll tell you more when I don't have to go pack for the flight home…including a report on Zumanity, the "sensual side of Cirque du Soleil," where the acrobats do much less spectacular feats but without nets or shirts. I also have to steel my courage to make the daring three-yard dash from the air-conditioned hotel to the air-conditioned taxi. That'll be more impressive than anything they tried last night at Zumanity even if I won't work topless.