15,001 ‘Dalmatians’

The “101 Dalmatians” CD-ROM is but one of more than 15,000 spotted items being peddled by Disney’s marketing and merchandising mavens as the film opens.

The dotted doggy blitz encompasses virtually every medium, from online (Disney has an elaborate Web site with puzzles and games as well as a cyber-store) and magazines (a pricey pull-out merchandise catalog) to television (two specials and a float in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade).

For sheer eye-catching dazzle--and in order to publicize the broadest promotional tie-in ever with McDonald’s--a branch of the fast-food restaurant in Glendale has temporarily replaced its golden arches with a white facade speckled with black dots and perched on its roof two 30-foot inflatable Dalmatian puppies. In Beverly Hills, the owners of a Sunset Boulevard mansion have decorated the front lawn with a holiday-themed Dalmatians tableau, with dozens of dogs and a replica of Cruella DeVil’s classic car.

“Disney is the master of the merchandising opportunity and they haven’t missed anything with ‘101 Dalmatians,’ ” said Harold Vogel, an entertainment industry analyst with Cowen and Co. “The merchandising of this one is so sophisticated and the product is so easy to sell that I’m sure it will be a big winner for them. It doesn’t really matter if the movie is good. Three-year-olds and 5-year-olds don’t read reviews. They just like the puppies.”

Disney’s efforts began with the launching of its Web site in August, “101 days” before Wednesday’s movie opening. But things are at a crescendo now.

“For the past week or two we’ve been really focusing our efforts and I think it’s probably reached a peak at this point,” said Winnie Wechsler, senior vice president of Disney Online. Since early November, the Web site has averaged 600,000 to 700,000 hits daily, she added, and is expected to reach about a million hits daily after the movie opens.

The 12-page magazine insert opens with an adorable Dalmatian pup gazing longingly at the reader and goes on to spotlight tins of dog treats, roller skates, trading cards, pens, stationery, lunch boxes, jewelry, clothing, shoes, earmuffs, luggage, rugs, pillows, bedding and, of course, stuffed animals.

The supplement has run in four national magazines--Entertainment Weekly, Good Housekeeping, Family Fun and Marie Claire--and likely has cost more than $1 million, according to industry sources.

“It’s expensive, but it’s certainly worthwhile because it shows how much great merchandise is out there,” said Brett Dicker, senior vice president of promotions for Walt Disney Pictures.

Meanwhile, next Tuesday Disney will release “101 Dalmatians: Pongo and Perdita Sing Along Songs” for home video, priced at $12.99. Disney’s success with the decade-old line is a well-kept secret. Generally tied to new or classic Disney animated films, recent tapes have made as much as $2 million and have become staples both for preschoolers and collectors. But this is the first to be so explicitly tied to and released simultaneously with a new Disney theatrical film. It’s also the first to feature an original, live-action story rather than being built from previously existing animation clips.

Freelance writer Steve Hochman contributed to this story.