This was too quirky for me to resist sharing! In celebration of Asterix’s 50th birthday, the French Air Patrol sky acrobatics team jetted off to paint a very special picture in the clouds…

Similarly, Paris has become the center of much celebration for the 50th birthday of one of France’s greatest cultural heroes; a plucky big-nosed Gaul who likes nothing more than bashing a few Romans with his rotund superhuman friend.

But while the masses are clamoring for more Sesame Street, fans of Asterix around the world are generally agreed – enough, sadly, is enough.

While Sesame Street continues to evolve and entertain, Asterix seems to have run out of magic potion, however both brands continue to release new content. The difference lies in the fact that to countless Asterix fans, every new adventure book is a disappointment, gradually chipping away at the value the brand has built over the years.

So when, if ever, is it time to draw the curtains and put a brand to bed?

Some brands are in a constant state of expansion, keeping their core concept, but adapting to the times; Mickey Mouse might be digitally animated, but he’s still the same character. Similarly, Star Wars continues to explore a galaxy far, far away with a constant stream of video games, cartoons, toys and even an upcoming television series. Other properties may drift in and out of public conscience, but there are a rare few that are always at the fore, and seemingly untouchable when it comes to sustained popularity.

Then there’s the most unique of all brands; the one with a defined ending. The kind of book or show that finished with the audience wanting more, instead of eventually jumping the shark. Further products may still be released, but the core remains the same.

J.K. Rowling adamantly proclaims there will never be more Harry Potter books written, or movies made. Many people, myself included may find her integrity in telling a specific story admirable, but I’m left wondering if authors like A.A. Milne or J.M. Barrie thought the same thing about their creations decades ago. Both Peter Pan and now Winnie-the-Pooh have been given the sequel treatment, years after their original creators have passed away. Should their creations be left alone, with or without their estate’s approval?

Nowadays there is another element to consider – the fan created piece. Gone are the days when content was developed purely between dedicated creatives and the studios who funded them. The Web is absolutely heaving with videos and fan fiction, creating a dearth of new content. While it’s almost never recognized as an official component of the brand, the amount of content falling into this category is growing, and some brands even encourage it.

Of course the elephant in the room is the question, where are all the new brands being created? There are only so many re-makes that can be made, surely?

There are still many new ideas being explored, even more so as the technology involved in creating and delivering media continues to develop and become more accessible, however studios will continue taking the safest financial course by investing in a brand that already has a proven track record, be it securing younger new audiences with an already successful format, or luring back older audience with an existing emotional connection to the brand.

At the end of the day, profitability is going to define whether a brand continues to generate new material, but if we continue to creatively pursue new ideas, and tell new stories, it’s okay to accept a time when a character or series has finally ran it’s inevitable course. Or bashed it’s last Roman.

As well as being able to choose books featuring a ton of Disney characters, the subscription based service also gives young readers a bunch of extra bells and whistles to play with. You can store a personal library of favorites, and share them with your friends, using the simple selection of pre-written messages to send along with your suggestion.

What I really like about the website and the reading experience, is that even though the core of the site is built around Flash animation, it really doesn’t go down the road of being overly animated and distracting. It could have been so easy to add countless little instances of characters winking, waving, and generally making a hubbub, but instead the focus is totally on the reading experience. That being said, the page turning animation of the book itself is very clever, and a large dictionary of words can be clicked on and listened to.

Of course we’re talking about books on a computer here. It’s hard to envision reading bedtime stories with it, even with a laptop. I’m sure many parents will be concerned about the physical and emotional experience of reading together with their child, but from a young users perspective, the content medium doesn’t matter.

You can already preview a bunch of books for free on the Disney Digital Books website, so take a look. The service just launched today, but I’m already certain it’s going to be something special.

Young Bond

These James Bond prequels are begging to be shown on the big screen, but writer, Charlie Higson wants to wait until he’s finished the series before thinking about it. Surely putting the written exploits of a film character icon on screen is inevitable, but in the meantime we’ll have to make do with Alex Rider in Storm Chaser.

Anything by Richard Scarry

File this one under nostalgia if you like, but the unique and instantly recognizable style of Richard Scarry’s classic collection of Busytown books would make for some fab animation.

The Adventures of Tintin

Yes, I know the coifred French reporter may have already caught the attention of Msr. Speilberg, who’ll be releasing a 3D rendition of Tintin next year, but I’m impatient. Hey if the on-screen adaptations stays true to the series of books (Ha!) there could be 24 of these films made. Blistering barnacles!

Dragonology

Pirates, Wizards and Vampires have all had their fair share of film and book attention lately, it’s high time dragons were the in-thing. And no, Eragon does not count. Dragons may not have the same depth as Harry Potter, or the coolness of Edward Cullen, but they’ve got lots of scales and can breath fire – see, the script writes itself!

Choose Your Own Adventure

This one takes a little explaining. Years ago I saw a spooky movie in a small theater in Sea World, where the audience had to vote on key points of the story by pressing a button on their seat – I guess the majority vote decided. I’m surprised this didn’t catch on more widely, and I think this style of collaborative storytelling would lend itself ideally to a film version of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure series of books. Who’s with me in trying to create a script with a democratically evolving plot?

Where’s Waldo?

Or “Where’s Wally?” if you grew up in England, like me. I’m typecasting here, but Daniel Radcliffe needs to hold on to those specs for a few more years and play the part of the stripy-togged traveler, Waldo, don’t you think?

Thanks also to Matthew at Nugget Island for finding this list of 10 Kids Movies That Were Better Than the Book. Be sure to take a peek at that too.

This week has started off proving to be quite the book-adaptation-fest.

For starters, there’s been several gorgeously lavish pics released, revealing Tim Burton’s typically bizarre interpretation of Alice in Wonderland, or should I say, “Lewis Carroll’s, Tim Burton’s, Alice in Wonderland”?

And then secondly, it’s been announced that the BBC is making a small-screen version of The Gruffalo, in time for Christmas. Both of the aforementioned productions, coincidentally, feature Helena Bonham Carter.

What children’s books would you like to see translated to film or television? Ohhh I feel my very first list on Imaginary Eric coming on!

I’ve been keeping an eye on press releases from T.A.P creators, Fourth Story Media, and it looks like the first book in the series, and the website are ready to be launched soon.

This is one of those projects that has me, as someone obsessed with story-telling through different mediums, going crazy with anticipation. I’m so excited to see this, and I really hope it’s successful.

Up until this point, books like, The 39 Clues and, Skeleton Creek have touched on mixing traditional books with web content, but nothing has been as ambitious in terms of audience participation, interaction and discussion, as what The Amanda Project aims to do.

Be sure to check out the interactive press release, announcing the partnership of HarperCollins in the U.K. and Fourth Story Media, the slideshow has some intriguing visuals.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven’t already, please meet Dallas Clayton. Dallas is a very interesting fellow who’s work I’ve been following for a month or two, after hearing about how awesome his Awesome Book is.

What I love about discovering little gems like this is the genuine, honest understanding Dallas has of the unbounded imagination of childhood. Yikes, that sounds far too pretentious. What I’m trying to say is, he’s not faking when it comes to thinking like a kid.

There are plenty of writers out there who try to be “down with the kids”, by name-dropping the latest trend, or just being plain random and hoping for the best. It rarely works. Dallas, on the other hand, has hit the nail on the head and in doing so, created something truly special that everyone should take a look at. Please enjoy, and keep on dreaming.

An Awesome Book from dallas clayton on Vimeo.

No that’s not a typo, someone at Wired.com came up with the title before I got around to post this. I happened to notice Google had a beautiful tribute logo this morning, and discovered that today would be the 105th birthday of the great children’s author, Dr. Seuss. You can find out all about him on Wikipedia or the link above, but here I want to share what I think is so special about this incredibly unique wordsmith.

To me, wordplay is one of the most intelligent, yet difficult forms of humor to perfect, and Dr. Suess was not only a master of it, but he was able to share his love of words with the youngest of children in a melange of equal parts charm and absurdity. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can remember reading Dr. Seuss’ books aloud, repeating the outlandish words and letting every rhyme roll off the tongue. As adults, there’s something inspiring about the boldness of his experimentation that anyone working creatively should consider. Just because something doesn’t immediately make sense, that doesn’t mean it won’t work, surely?

As I sit and think, the only comparable author with a gift for moulding language, is Roald Dahl. Hopefully when his birthday comes around in September, I’ll be first with a snappy blog title!