Supermarket News Coverage

"Turner embarks on Cartoon 'Quest.'" by Carol Angrisani, published in Supermarket News, Vol. 45, Issue 37, p. 62, Sept. 11, 1995.

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NEW YORK -- "Jonny Quest" will be the first title released on the Cartoon Network, a new animated video label that Turner Home Entertainment, Atlanta, plans to launch in the first quarter of 1996.

"We're going to make 1996 the year of Jonny Quest," Stuart Snyder, executive vice president and general manager of domestic home video at Turner Home Entertainment, told SN at a recent press luncheon for a half-year overview of Turner's partnership with New Line Home Video, Los Angeles.

About 15 Cartoon Network videos are expected to be released early next year. The first four of these will be remastered episodes of Hanna-Barbera's "Jonny Quest," a television show that originally aired from 1964 to 1965 and is now in syndication on Turner's Cartoon Network and TBS television channels. In addition to the remastered episodes, new "Jonny Quest" shows are planned to street under the label in the fourth quarter of 1996.

The Cartoon Network video label will contain old and new versions of other popular cartoons, including "The Jetson's" and "Scooby-Doo," which Snyder said will be a major Turner initiative. The label also will be placed on "Space Ghost" video releases. "Space Ghost" is a Turner television cartoon talk show that is said to have wide appeal among adults.

"The Cartoon Network [video label] will be a locomotive for our animated features," Snyder said. "We want to cultivate the next generation of cartoons."

To kick off the new program, Turner is planning a large cross-promotion with a major packaged goods company, which it will name sometime this quarter.

As it prepares for the Cartoon Network start-up, Turner is planning a major promotional campaign of old and new "Jonny Quest" episodes.

The first four classic "Jonny Quest" videos released under the Cartoon Network banner each will contain two episodes that will be pulled from television syndication. Their video release will be followed by an animated "Jonny Quest" theatrical debut.

Additionally, in the fall of 1996, Turner will bring to television "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest," a series of 65 new episodes. About four of these will be released to video about the same time. A live action movie is planned to be released in 1997 or 1998.

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