Batman has his eye on you
Warner Bros., Mattel lift VEIL on new level of interactivity
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Hollywood studios and toymakers seeking the cool new toy hit on something that would make John Ashcroft clap with glee: A Batmobile and mini-superhero activated by invisible data streams embedded in video of "The Batman," an animated series launching this fall on Kids' WB!.
In other words, explains a Mattel rep at Licensing Show in Gotham, the image on your TV screen makes the toys on your living room floor light up and move.
It's the first time toys will use VEIL -- video encoded invisible light -- technology considered a key player in the nascent interactive TV market. Mattel and Warner introduced the line early this year to work with the TV show debut.
While the Batman property is considered a shoo-in toywise, the VEIL version has some experts scratching their heads. It's too complex and (at $50) expensive for the target 3-8 demo the Batman toys target. And do kids want to mess with the car, or watch the show?
"They have the technology, now they have to work on the application," says Jim Silver, co-publisher of Toy Wishes.
(It would be another story if the rays could force action Batman to make coffee.)
The show is a warmup for Warner Bros.' bigscreen feature "Batman Begins," due out in summer 2005. Warner attracted gawkers at the three-day trade show when it presented a new full-sized Batmobile, apparently a co-star in the pre-Robin prequel.
Curtains up, a puff of smoke and the slate-gray spiky car revolved on a round pedestal. Think Detroit auto show on drugs.
The pic uses three Batmobiles costing "many multiples of seven figures" to develop, says producer Chuck Roven, who flew in from London where the pic has been shooting for the past three months.
"There's no front axle. It can turn on a dime," adds an admiring Dan Romanelli, prexy of Warner Bros. Worldwide Consumer Products.
Neither has driven the vehicle, which is slightly wider than legal for public roads.
"I'd love to take it for a spin," says Roven. "Maybe when filming is over."
While we await the Man, Warners will release Halle Berry starrer "Catwoman" in July. Merchandising is slim but upscale as Manhattan department store Henri Bendel rolls out a line of heavy-leather Catwoman apparel.
