How About Licking Sid of Ice Age 3 this Summer?

By Voxy News Engine

An eminently lickable banana, chocolate and vanilla ice cream in the shape of Sid, the much-loved sloth from the 20th Century Fox Ice Age movie series is now on sale in ice cream freezers around New Zealand, taking Tip Top back to its Hollywood years.

The ice cream comeback delivers a drum-roll for Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third movie in the Ice Age series, which will screen in cinemas throughout New Zealand from 3rd July.

The R2D2 was New Zealand's biggest ice cream block-buster in 1978, followed by Pink Panther in 1986, and Batman in 1992.

A long-serving Tip Top employee remembers the Caves Dairy in Sumner, Christchurch, selling about a thousand R2D2 ice creams in the first week, and in his experience no other ice cream has come close. In 1978, the R2D2 lemonade shell and jelly tip ice cream melted on Kiwi fingers while the heroic little robot melted hearts on screens around the world.

The Flintstones, Bionic Man, Darth Vader, Garfield and the Incredible Hulk are also among a long line-up of iconic screen characters who caused box office and television mayhem and unprecedented excitement on Tip Top wrappers in the 80s and 90s.

In the same era, Rachel Hunter, Cliff Curtis and Dominic Bowden started out as screen stars in Tip Top television commercials before launching Hollywood careers.

The licensed partnership between 20th Century Fox and Tip Top gives the New Zealand ice cream maker exclusive use of the new movie's name for ice cream products in New Zealand.

In the new movie, Sid gets into trouble when he creates his own make-shift family by hijacking dinosaur eggs. Set to rescue the hapless Sid from Momma Dinosaur, the gang ventures into a mysterious world where they meet a new friend - a one-eyed, dino-hunting weasel called Buck. Source: www.iceage3.co.nz

The director of the movie is Carlos Saldanha and the actor whose voice has endeared children to Sid since he debuted in the first Ice Age movie, is John Leguizamo.

During the company's 14-year absence from licensed partnerships with big movie titles, Tip Top focused on building its own ice cream repertoire.

Goody Goody Gum Drops on a stick is the most recent of the company's world-beating inventions with 1.6 million ice creams, juiced up with almost 10 million gum drops, selling this summer. The story of the romance between 'Goody' and 'Stick' has put the television commercial at 8th spot among New Zealand's favourite ads this summer. (TNS poll of 1000 New Zealanders).

Tip Top Marketing Manager Trish Whitwell says the magic of the characters and stories in movies is never far away from the magic of ice creams. She hopes Sid will be as popular as R2D2, and that the new partnership with 20th Century Fox will mark the dawn of a new ice cream era.

Let's see if our much-loved Sid, the sloth, can rock the Tip Top Ice Cream sales the way he done it with Ice Age movies.  

See the New 3-D Poster of Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Virtual Images Produces 3-D Movie Posters for Fox's Release of 'Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'
 

REDLANDS, Calif., PRNewswire-FirstCall -- With the dawning of 3-D movies and entertainment, studios are looking to promote their pictures in new and exciting ways -- ways that connect with movie goers and expand the 3-D experience beyond the theater.

"Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is the third installment of the "Ice Age" film series and will be released in RealD (digital 3-D) in theaters nationwide. Produced by Virtual Images, the poster-sized displays utilize a unique, high-tech 3-D technology that produces images of remarkable depth and clarity.

"When studios want to make an impact and draw viewers to the theater, our 3-D effects pack a punch and resonate with movie-goers," said Dave Corey, general manager of Virtual Images. "Just as 3-D is the latest revolution in film making, our unique and innovative technologies can be used to tell a 3-D story to consumers outside of the theater."

With more than 15 years experience connecting a brand's message to 3-D, Virtual Images dominates the 3-D and entertainment markets -- helping to promote some of the highest grossing movie titles, such as "Transformers," "Batman," "Star Trek," "Harry Potter" and "Iron Man."

"Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" ultra 3-D movie displays are currently in high-traffic theaters across the United States. The movie opens nationwide July 1st, 2009. For more information on "Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," visit http://www.iceage3.com.

About Virtual Images, Inc

Virtual Images, an IGH Solutions Company, headquartered in Redlands, California, is the leading provider of 3-D marketing products. Their patented software and advanced production equipment ensure the most dynamic 3-D imagery. With expert designers and leading 3-D artists in-house, Virtual Images helps entertainment marketers, publishers and advertising agencies break through the clutter using 3-D technologies to engage consumers. For more information, visit their website at: http://www.ighsolutions.com.

Poster Image: http://www.ereleases.com/pr/2009-VirtualImages.jpg
Animated Poster Image: http://www.ereleases.com/pr/2009-VirtualImages2.gif

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Releases New Clip

As Mother's Day atmosphere is still in the air, and some people even say that it should be celebrated for the whole month of May - Ice Age 3:  Dawn of the Dinosaurs celebrates with us by releasing a new clip where the lovable character, Sid the Sloth, becomes a "mother"!

Let's not argue about Sid's gender here for he's "mothering 3 cuttie baby Tyrannosaurus's (hey, how do you spell that)" this time!

Without further ado, let's watch this new clip - only from the wacky Ice Age 3:  Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - A Must-see on Your Summer Calendar

It's this time of year again when studios release an onslaught of big-budget releases.  I just can't believe that there are so many sequels.  Yet it appears that Hollywood is making sure everyone has something to see this season.

One of the sequels that will surely rock the cinemas is - Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs -- Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo once again put on their goofy voices to play animals who try to keep themselves from getting extinct in another installment of the prehistoric, computer-animated film series.

It's just a matter of time that we will soon find out if this one will outrun the two previous sequels.  but that is just the good thing about it,  since the previous sequels already drew fans - this third will definitely have followers.  but then, they will also need to sustain if not surpass those previous sequels to keep the fire burning.

Along side with X-men, Star Trek, Harry Potter among others...   family entertainment will be lotz of fun!

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Trailer B

Now that summer's fast approaching, here's a sneak peek on one of the hottest 3-D movie this season - Ice Age 3:  Dawn of the Dinosaurs"  Just don't forget that 3-D cardboard glasses for an exciting family entertainment!

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Trailer A

Here's another sneak peek for the summer movie, "Ice Age 3:  Dawn of the Dinosaurs"  that can be simply described in one word - Hilarious!  Join us & watch how Scrat finally meet his match - Scratte...

3-D Glasses for Ice Age 3: Whose Cost Should It Be?

Biz balks at cost of 3-D glasses
Studios unwilling to take on the cost themselves
By DAVID S. COHEN


For a biz so focused on the booming potential of digital 3-D, Hollywood's studios -- and the exhibs -- are looking decidedly myopic.

While pics like "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Monsters vs. Aliens" created a big B.O. splash for the emerging form, behind the scenes, the economics of 3-D eyewear have become something of a free-for-all, with distribs looking to get out of subsidizing the disposable glasses and exhibs unprepared -- and unwilling -- to take on the cost themselves.

Fox, whose first 3-D release, "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," bows in July, is the first distrib to balk at paying for disposable 3-D glasses.

But it isn't alone in wanting to get out of the glasses biz: With 3-D attendance booming and disposable specs costing about 75¢ per pair, distribs and exhibs are haggling over millions of dollars in costs.

"The economics of showing 3-D movies have been largely subsidized by the film distributors for the theaters that use disposable glasses," says John Carey, VP of worldwide sales for Dolby, which offers reusable glasses and so doesn't benefit from the subsidies.

Competitors Real D, which accounts for some 90% of the American market, and Korea-based MasterImage are the ones caught in the middle.

Some in the 3-D biz have long predicted that distribs would stop paying for disposable glasses -- eventually -- but it's clear that most exhibs didn't expect to pay for glasses anytime soon, if ever.

Now, if the pushback from Fox and other studios takes hold, they're looking at having to pay millions upfront for the 3-D specs, to store them and to manage the inventory. And they're not happy about it.

Regal Cinemas responded to Fox's stance by threatening to show "Ice Age 3" only in 2-D unless Fox went back to the old business model. But that's probably little more than a bluff, as Fox holds a trump card: the year's most anticipated 3-D title, James Cameron's "Avatar," slated for December.
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Fox is resisting a business model invented mostly by Disney when 3-D pics were rare and the Mouse wanted to seed the market. Distribs bought the glasses and shipped them to theaters, sparing exhibs almost all inventory and administrative costs. After a pic closed, the exhib and distrib would square up over how many glasses were used and how many were left over.

Now, with 3-D movies coming from all studios about three weeks apart, the accounting is more complicated. Each studio strikes its own deals covering the amount and terms of subsidies on 3-D glasses, all under strict nondisclosure agreements. Even Disney has tweaked the model over time.

One compromise would be for theaters to charge for disposable glasses, then discount tickets for customers who bring in their own.

But that could hurt Real D. Some of the company's royalty deals are based on a cut of the premium on 3-D tickets. In those deals, if the 3-D upcharge shrinks, so does Real D's cut.

Dolby's Carey says he asked distribs to offer the same subsidy on reusable glasses for Dolby-equipped theaters but was told that distribs don't want to enter a new arrangement because they're trying to get out of the one they're already in.