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.

Try explaining that to the elderly lady standing behind me in the check-out line.

“Someone’s in for a surprise” she commented with a friendly tone. Assuming she thought I was probably buying them for my little nephew, Timmy’s birthday party at Chuck E Cheese’s, I just grinned and said, no, they were for me. “What, you’re going to play with ‘em?” the lady asked, half bemused, half making sure I wasn’t some sarcastic wise-guy. Already feeling this was going to take way too much explaining, I told her I just wanted to have them on display at home. We didn’t say much more, but the elderly lady’s assessment was clear – either I was incredibly tall for a second-grader, or the woman next to me wasn’t my wife, she was my social worker.

Between the big-screen G.I. Joe adaptation being released last Friday, and the annual Joe-Con in Kansas City this weekend, I’m being treated to a rose-tinted renaissance of toy collecting and cartoon watching. Combine this with all the other nostalgic re-visits being lavished on people my age lately – new Transformer and Tron movies, Ninja Turtle anniversary celebrations, and talk of A-Team and He-Man re-makes (no doubt “more dark and edgy”) for instance, and you start to see a trend.

If you like a good conspiracy theory, it’s almost like the entertainment industry is wise to the fact my current demographic is at the peak of it’s money-to-burn ability and wants nothing more than to pay for the luxury of feeling eight-years-old again. I’m being sarcastic, but I do quite seriously believe that a lot of people in their late twenties/early thirties go through something of a post-college crisis.

From personal experience I can share that after several years of senior school, four years of exams, going to college, and then the pressures of getting a foothold in a career, the thought of taking a trip to Toys R Us to buy Nerf blasters, or sitting around in my P.J’s watching Saturday morning cartoons, sounds pretty inviting. Ok, so both of those activities could be classed as audience research in the industry I’m lucky enough to be a part of, but you get my point. Many of us don’t want to grow up.

When did this happen? Is it a good thing? Is it even healthy?

It’s easy to point the finger at rapid increases in consumerism, advertising and media outlets as proponents to this trend, but there’s something deeper. My Grandfather’s generation didn’t grow up with SpongeBob on the television, SpongeBob cereal in the shopping cart and SpongeBob: The Video Game under the Christmas tree, but they did have childhoods and I don’t recall ever hearing of anyone in their 80’s having the urge to build a tree house, shoot tin cans with a slingshot, or some other wholesome activity that doesn’t require activation codes or an extra gig of RAM.

Sure, the desire to look or feel younger is practically part of our genetic makeup; Cleopatra bathed in milk and honey to stay young, and nowadays there are a plethora of age-defying creams, lotions and potions available to turn back the clock. None of them promise to make you feel like you’re back in single digits though. Not yet at least. No, this isn’t necessarily about being in any kind of physical shape, it’s more of an emotional need.

Does this urge to mentally regress into a cozy, sugar-coated shell pose any kind of problem though? It’s difficult to say. Like with any hobby or interest, there’s always going to be people who take it to the extreme. I remember not-watching an episode of Dr. Phil about a woman who’s fiancé had taken over the house with his Star Wars toy collection. True, the guy was absolutely obsessed, but Dr. Phil had the same kind of condescending derision you’d expect a bully to level at a little kid who just peed his pants. He just. Didn’t. Get it.

For now, looking at the situation analytically I can see this kind of self-indulgence as a money-sink and the result of having too much time on one’s hands, but those are only relative. For now it seems the trend is here to stay and I expect twenty years from now re-makes of classics like Hannah Montana and High School Musical will be highly anticipated. Zac Efron will be pushing 41 by then, so he’ll be a shoe-in for a teacher cameo.

And I’ll still be collecting G.I. Joes.

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!

Then I got thinking. Then I got analytical. Then I got realistic. And finally, I got surprised.

Granted, there isn’t much clarification in the study as to how long or how often users watch T.V. on the web, but the survey shows a significant amount of teens across the country were questioned. And no matter how you look at it, online viewing numbers are increasing.

This leaves me considering a different conclusion than the one I had so quickly jumped to at first. Am I so wrapped up in the world of cross-platform content that what I consider to be normal viewing habits aren’t normal at all?

I’ve been involved with countless rounds of user testing and focus groups with online content and television shows, but looking back, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever asked the question, “How much T.V. do you watch online?”

The numbers speak for themselves, no matter how unusual they seem to me, but it’s sobering to compare one content medium over another. I’d love to know if people working in games, publishing, online communities or any other type of media have discovered surprising facts that make them look at their work with a different pair of eyes.

That’s Mr. Burns to you or I.

Words escape me when I think of all the dastardly deeds this man has committed over the years. From trying to block out the sun over Springfield, to kidnapping Tom Jones… er, ok he might be let off the hook for that one, but my point remains, he is a bad, bad old man . He even managed to single-handedly steal a trillion dollar bill from the U.S. government – Chrysler, Ford and GM together haven’t been able to top that one! I digress, but when it comes to being the baddest baddie on the block, Mr. Burns has enough dirty tricks up his sleeve to send your average villain running to the nearest underground lair.

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Cartoon Villain Showdown. There were plenty of surprises, and some of the biggest names dropped out earlier than expected. Eric and I had a lot of fun putting it all together. Stay tuned over the next couple of months, we already have another contest planned.

Of course the final winner is up to you – just leave a comment, or drop Eric and I an email and we’ll work out the final result. This being such an important decision to make, we’re accepting entries for two weeks, until April 20th. Choose carefully, and get voting!

This time, the cartoon villains of the 80’s were both conclusively eliminated, as Wile E. Coyote out-foxed Skeletor, and Mr. Burns beat Megatron. Excellent.

Feather’s McGraw beat Dick Dastardly, proving penguins are even harder to catch than pidgeons, and finally The Brain took one step closer to taking over the world by winning against Bluto.

The final match-up is just around the corner, so get voting for who you want to make it to the last round – winners will be announced on Friday, so hurry!

There’s nothing like an award show to get the blogging fingers twitching, and this Saturday, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be hosting the 2009 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, from UCLA. In keeping with the voting theme Eric and I have had going on the site for a while, I thought I’d share my thoughts about some of this years nominees.

The Good

Two of the yellowest icons in cartoon history go head-to-head this time; SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons. SpongeBob won the Favorite Cartoon award for five years running, before losing out for the first time to Avatar: The Last Airbender last year. We’ll see if the little fella’s got his game back this time around, but don’t count out competition from The Fairly OddParents and Phineas & Ferb.

The live action television nominations the year feature usual suspects, Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody as well as, surprisingly, Zoey 101, which ceased production back in May of last year. I’m hoping iCarly gets the nod. It’s a genuinely funny, and charming show which has more intelligence than other offerings aimed at the same demographic. Of course I’m biased towards anything that involves a cross-platform element, and iCarly achieves this well.

The Bad

“Hey Kids! As responsible adults with an understanding of how media influences your little lives, we all know you’re familiar with the crrrazy antics of Batman and Robin back in the 60’s. This is why we’re sure you can totally identify the difference between that retro rascal, The Joker and his modern interpretation – you know, the little scamp with a penchant for sticking knives in people’s mouths? BAZAM!”

I’m not going to go off on a tangent about what’s suitable for kids to watch or not, but seriously, someone forgot what the first letter of KCA stands for. Just be sure to cover your ears if Christian Bale has to give an acceptance speech. KAPOW!

The Interactive

Kid-voters essentially get two choices this year – plumbers or rockers, because two Mario games are going up against melodic mashers, Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Interestingly, perhaps even expectedly, the Nintendo presence is unmistakable. Two of the games are Wii exclusives, and the other two are both strong sellers on the Nintendo console. I admit, there’s a lot of competition between the pair of music games, but two Mario games as well is a touch too much. Mario Super Sluggers – really? What about Little Big Planet?

This leaves me wondering; why do the KCA’s have no award category for websites or online games? I’m not suggesting the big brands throw their massive sites into the mix, but smaller, quirkier, new innovative websites could create some buzz. In England, BAFTA has had an award category for online/multimedia content since 2002 – I should know, we had their award statues all over the place when I worked at CBBC. The Internet is every bit a part of kid’s lives, if not more so, than television and video games, so it’s a no-brainer to give some recognition to the online medium. Come to think of it, I’d be more than happy to submit some suggestions for next year. Hmmm…

Another week, another batch of animated arch-enemies fall by the wayside. Yes, sixteen bad-guys have been announced in the Cartoon Villain Showdown, but now we’re left with eight final contestants – the very cream of mean.

Skeletor proved too much for little Invader Zim to handle. Megatron showed Cyril Sneer that it takes more than chomping on a cigar all the time to be considered truly naughty. Size, it seems, really does matter when it comes to evil scheming, as Dick Dastardly convincingly beat modern meanie, Plankton. And finally, tricksy schemer, The Brain polished off Gargamel – hats off to Chad for remembering the name of Gargamel’s cat by the way, even Eric couldn’t remember that one!

Things are getting very interesting now we’re down to the second round. Without any time to waste, get voting on your favorite villains. The next group of winners will be announced on Friday.

Strangers have been stopping me in the street lately and asking the same question, time and time again – “Shane, how do you pick which villains will be included in the contest?” Eric and I thought we’d take you behind the scenes for a little preview.

There’s a detailed list of criteria that each underhanded applicant has to meet, for instance, average number of foiled attempts at evilness, ratio of evil laughs to evil deeds etc. These statistics are then tallied up and multiplied by the mean (very mean) average of cronies/lackeys and then… look, it’s a detailed science that only Eric and I have been able to perfect over the years, and even then it’s not exact.

The only true way to find out who’s the baddest is to vote, so without further ado we give you the final batch of baddies in the Cartoon Villain Showdown!