FOX Broadcasting Company to Air Popeye in Primetime, Artisan to Release Extended DVD and VHS Versions

Slated for 4th Quarter 2004, New Holiday-Themed Special Animated by Mainframe Entertainment

Production has commenced on a brand-new Popeye 3-D computer-animated TV and home video special, with the first television airing scheduled for prime time during the holiday season on FOX.

"We've assembled a terrific group of partners to produce, broadcast and distribute this special as part of our multifaceted 75th anniversary celebration for Popeye the Sailor Man in 2004. This will further solidify Popeye's worldwide popularity well into the 21st century," T.R. ("Rocky") Shepard III, president of King Features Syndicate, said in making the announcement today. "We are combining cutting-edge animation with a wonderful story featuring the world-famous family of Popeye characters, including Olive Oyl, Bluto and Wimpy, plus many of the colorful characters from Popeye's illustrious history."

The FOX Broadcasting Company has secured the rights to air the new Popeye special during the fourth quarter 2004 holiday period between Nov. 24 and Dec. 21, 2004.

"We're pleased that Popeye will be including FOX in his 75th birthday celebration," said Mike Darnell, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming for FOX Broadcasting. "Having an animated family special featuring one of the world's most recognized cartoon characters on our air during the holiday season will be a treat for FOX's viewers."

"We've hired Mainframe Entertainment, one of the world's leading producers of 3-D computer animation, to give Popeye a whole new dimensional look," said King Features' Shepard. "During the next year, we'll be working with our parent corporation to build support for the Popeye special through our main media outlets, including Hearst magazines and newspapers, and we are continuing to generate a tremendous amount of excitement among our Popeye licensees."

Artisan Home Entertainment, through its Family Home Entertainment label, will be releasing an hour-long version of the Popeye special featuring never-before-seen footage as well as classic material on DVD and VHS during 4th Quarter 2004. FHE represents one of the home entertainment industry's pre-eminent children's and family franchises with a roster that includes some of the most widely-recognized brands in the marketplace, including Barbie, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Care Bears, Rescue Heroes, Hot Wheels and the Veggie Tales movie.

Commented Glenn Ross, President of Artisan's Family Home Entertainment, "Popeye continues to represent one of the most likeable animated characters of all time. The character's popularity, combined with the highly-sophisticated animation that will bring him to life in this all-new program, will help the special have widespread appeal to both classic and new Popeye fans. With this in mind, we see great potential for the program in the home entertainment marketplace and look forward to helping King Features introduce Popeye to a new generation."

Mainframe Entertainment will render Popeye's new universe using state-of-the-art 3-D CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation. Best known as the pioneer of computer animated television series for the groundbreaking "Reboot" and for its award-winning "Barbie as Rapunzel" direct-to-video feature, Mainframe also created the logo, branding and original animation segments for this year's MTV Movie Awards, and is currently producing 13 episodes of "Spider-Man" for Sony Pictures Television. In addition to Mainframe's role as the animation production company on the project, the company has secured distribution rights in a few key international territories, which include television rights in Canada and television and DVD/VHS rights in the United Kingdom and Australia.

"We are thrilled to continue the Mainframe tradition of bringing classic characters like Popeye to life in CGI animation. Being a co-distributor also fits with our goal of controlling distribution rights of the best in branded characters," said Mainframe CEO, Rick Mischel.

Packaged by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the all new Popeye 3-D CGI animated special was co-written by actor/comedian Paul Reiser ("Mad About You") and Jim Hardison. Reiser is a life-long Popeye fan, and along with Rick Karo and Frank Caruso, is serving as one of the executive producers on the project.

As one of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century, Popeye is an entertainment industry unto himself. Represented by King Features Syndicate, Popeye made his first public appearance on January 17, 1929 in Elzie Segar's comic strip, "Thimble Theatre." He jumped to the silver screen in Popeye the Sailor, a 1933 Betty Boop cartoon from the Fleischer Studios. The Sailor Man went onto star in nearly 600 Popeye cartoons, produced through the years by the Fleischer Studios, Famous Studios and Hanna Barbera, among others. In 1980, Popeye returned to the big screen in the live-action Popeye movie starring Robin Williams and Shelly Duvall. In 1993, Ted Turner's Cartoon Network celebrated the 60th anniversary of the muscled mariner's film debut with Popumentary, a series of six prime-time specials. In addition to his enormous breadth of film and TV credits, Popeye was one of the world's first character licensing sensations and today boasts 500 licensees in 50 countries.

The multiple exhibition strategy, with a half-hour version airing in prime time on FOX and an hour version being released by Artisan on DVD/VHS, was structured to give FOX the right to air the special twice during the Holiday 2004 period and five annual options to continue to broadcast the special every holiday season. The team hopes this becomes a perennial and leads to other Popeye productions in the future.

More About:

King Features Syndicate

King Features Syndicate is a member of Hearst Entertainment and Syndication Group, which combines The Hearst Corporation's cable network partnerships, television programming and distribution activities and syndication companies. King Features is the world's premier distributor of comics, columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games, distributing some 150 features to nearly 5,000 newspapers around the globe. It is one of the largest and most experienced organizations in merchandising licensing. Among its most beloved and successful classic characters are "Popeye" and "Betty Boop."

Artisan Entertainment, Inc.

Artisan Entertainment, Inc. is the leading independent producer and distributor of theatrical, television and home entertainment product. The Company coordinates its business activities through two wholly owned operating divisions, Artisan Pictures and Artisan Home Entertainment.

The Artisan Home Entertainment division has an extensive library of more than 7,000 titles, which includes its own properties, as well as a wide spectrum of films from Academy Award-winning classics to blockbusters and cult favorites. Artisan's Family Home Entertainment unit, FHE, distributes video and DVD products for such brands as Mattel's Barbie, Discovery Networks, Hallmark Home Entertainment, The Hallmark Hall of Fame and Scholastic's "Clifford the Big Red Dog."

Mainframe Entertainment, Inc.

Mainframe Entertainment Inc. is one of the world's most prolific producers of computer animation for television and direct-to-videos, and is expanding into long-form CGI for feature films, commercials and interactive entertainment. The company is best known as the pioneer of computer animated television series for the groundbreaking "ReBoot." Mainframe has produced over 240 half hours of computer animation since its inception in 1993. In addition to its production of the award-winning "Barbie as Rapunzel" direct-to-video feature and the new Spider-Man animated series, the company created the animation, logo, and branding for the 2003 MTV Movie Awards. The company employs approximately 150 artists, animators, technicians and production personnel, and has won many prestigious awards of its creative technical innovations, including a Laureate of the 1998 Computerworld Smithsonian Awards.