FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17th, 2006
SHE-RA: PRINCESS OF POWER
MAKES DVD DEBUT THIS SUMMER
BCI To Release All 93 Episodes of Classic Animated Series
Two Disc, Five-Episode "Best Of" Collector's Edition To Be Based
On Fan Voting; Premieres July 18th at San Diego COMICON
Los Angeles, CA - Following the tremendous success this past year of the DVD distribution of "
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," BCI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, entered into a long-term distribution agreement with Entertainment Rights Plc ("ER") for certain titles within its Filmation portfolio of classic contemporary characters. The first release in this new agreement will be the popular girl brand "
She-Ra: Princess of Power," premiering
July 18th at San Diego COMICON with a two disc "Best Of" collection, featuring the top five titles that will be voted on by fans, as well as the 1985 feature film "
The Secret of the Sword." The agreement will continue over the next 12 months, as BCI releases three additional volumes of the "
She-Ra" series, covering all 93 original episodes. The announcement was made today by Greg Glass, Senior Vice President, BCI.
"The fan reaction to the
He-Man series over the past nine months has been nothing short of extraordinary," said Glass. "They have consistently conveyed two defining messages: ‘your
He-Man releases are top-notch' and ‘when will you be releasing
She-Ra?'"
"
The Best of She-Ra: Princess of Power" will feature the five best episodes of the series, based solely on fans visiting
www.he-man.org, and voting for their favorite episodes. Special features will include a documentary featuring interviews with a variety of talent involved with the original series, including voice-over actors, artists and those working behind the scenes. Additional features will include an art card, character profiles, trivia questions about the series, interactive storyboards and original scripts.
Beginning in the fall, BCI will start releasing the complete, 93 episode series in three separate volumes, each containing a variety of extras.
Working alongside ER, BCI will implement an innovative marketing and promotional campaign throughout 2006, capitalizing on the popularity of the
She-Ra brand. This program follows the successful promotion and marketing of
He-Man, which has been released on DVD as well as Universal Media Disc ("UMD") for Sony "PSP." BCI will be expanding the reach of
She-Ra beyond that of He-Man by tapping into its large female fan base.
BCI has once again retained the services of two prominent consultants, Andy Mangels and Val Staples, who were highly instrumental in the production of the
He-Man DVD, specifically the added collectible features.
"
She-Ra: Princess of Power" first aired on television in 1985, as a female-directed spin-off of the popular "
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," which was into its second season.
About BCI
BCI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is an independent entertainment video and audio supplier. BCI has continually redefined the standards and concepts of this industry, often introducing national success categories through its intuitive mass marketing skills. Its vast collection of titles represents both exclusively licensed titles from around the world, as well as in-house produced CDs and DVDs.
About Entertainment Rights
- Entertainment Rights Plc ("ER") is one of the UK's leading specialist media groups focused on the ownership of high quality children's and family programming, characters and brands
- ER owns or controls the rights to many classic characters including Basil Brush, Postman Pat, Jess the Cat, Little Red Tractor, Rupert Bear, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, She-Ra, Ghostbusters, Fun Song Factory, Boo! and Jim Jam & Sunny
- Since 1999, when ER owned rights to just 50 hours of programming, ER's library has grown to over 2,000 hours of high quality children's and family characters and brands. This includes selected rights to global brands such as Mattel's Barbie, Scholastic's Clifford, Hasbro's Transformers, Harveytoons' Casper the Friendly Ghost and Classic Media's Felix the Cat
- ER's wholly owned subsidiary Tell-Tale Productions, created and produced The Tweenies, one of the UK's most successful pre-school brands
- In October 2005 ER acquired the majority interest in Rupert Bear, one of the most recognizable children's characters in the world, from Express Newspapers. Rupert will appear on Five from Autumn 2006
- Jim Jam & Sunny was commissioned by ITV in December 2005 for ITV1 and their new digital children's channel, CiTV
- ER has grown rapidly. Annual revenues have increased from £1.8m in 1999 to £25.5m in 2004, the last reported financial year
Please Note: The street date in this press release has been changed to July 18, the correct date for the release of the set.
