Halloween Is Entertainment

        Halloween is a celebration.  The day is one that is filled with fun and festivity.  We've looked at the nuts and bolts of Halloween-- the consumer goods that provide the tools of the tricksters and treat-seekers-- the costumes, candy, and all the fun things that adorn the event.  We've seen how billions of dollars are cycled through the economy in order to supply this special day.  Why?--  Because people like to have a good time. Halloween is entertaining, which directly connects it to one of America's biggest revenue generators: the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY.
        Throughout history humans have set aside special times for celebration.  People today have more expendable time available and some celebrations of old have become grander and more lavish. The Entertainment Industry has recognized this and uses Halloween to its advantage. The build-up to the day is big and Halloween inspired events occur over the two months that precede the big day and promotions for the events sometimes even longer. All segments of the Entertainment Industry are stakeholders in Halloween in one way or another.
          During the month of October there are several thousand haunted attractions that open throughout the United States. These include haunted houses, hayrides, cornmazes, and many other imaginative attractions. Some might be small affairs in someone's backyard, while others may be operated as a fundraiser or part of an organizational function, and still others are highly professional big money operations. Some are open only for a day or two while some stay open throughout the month. All of these have spent money putting together their creations.  And a great many of these hire workers to man the attractions.  As reported by Reuters the Haunted House Association projects that these haunted attractions will generate one billion dollars in revenue and provide tens of thousands of temporary jobs in 2009.  Think about your own community: How many attractions open up each year? Then multiply that by all of the communities in the U.S.  Many of these attractions have been operating for several years.
           Back in 1973 Knott's Berry Farm  (a major theme-park attraction in Buena Park, CA) had a one night Halloween event that became such a hit that it was repeated annually and expanded to last the entire  month or October.  Now the park transforms itself each October into "Knott's Scary Farm", staying open throughout the entire month charging attendees about $40 average admission. The park spends a considerable sum to decorate in the Halloween theme and hires over 1000 seasonal workers to entertain guests.  Knott's was eventually bought by Cedar Fair, the giant amusement conglomeration that owns many parks throughout the United States and Canada.  Now nearly all of the other Cedar Fair attractions are dressed up for Halloween like Knott's with multi-millions of dollars generated during a time of year when park attendance used to tradionally decline.  Now that's taking advantage of the season!
          Not to be outdone, other theme parks have followed suit.  Now it's accepted that theme parks need to dress up for the Halloween season in order to compete and shoot for some big bucks.  In Hollywood, Universal Studios, which has been doing Halloween events for several years, is specifically publicizing that they are going to outdo Knott's and they are going to use all of their movie studio big guns to do it.  But probably no need to worry about the competition because many of the Halloween fans can't get enough and attend more than one venue.  Even Disneyland has been jumping onboard the Halloween haywagon and this year has been airing slick television ads to promote what they are doing.  When Disney's onboard you know there must be a good reason which is all about money.
          The movie industry has long recognized the value of tying in their horror releases to the Halloween season. Each year scary movies are slated for release in October.  This year we are going to see the release of Michael Jackson's "This Is It".  Don't know how scary that is or if the promoters of the movie were thinking about Halloween, but I can guarantee you that The King of Pop will be well represented by the dress-up crowd and it probably won't hurt to be releasing that movie then. The movie industry has some special release seasons that they look forward to:  the summer blockbusters, Christmas holiday season, the end of the year Oscar contenders, and the Halloween season for fright films.
           Another way the film industry capitalizes on Halloween is via product licensing, which also is related to the trade show industry.  In order to present licensing opportunities to potentional licensees, large shows are organized. How big is this?  The Licensing International Expo, which will be held in Las Vegas in 2010, will have 500 exhibitors representing 7,000 products with thousands of attendees from 82 countries expected.  Major studios will be among those with licensing opportunites  to market in order to derive more income from the movies they produce.  Granted, the Halloween market is only one part of this vast licensing industry, but it is an important part.  How many Spidermen and Batmen do you think will be knocking on your door Halloween night?  If they are legal products, the companies that made them had to obtain a license. Costume licensing can go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and the payoff for a hot licensed product can be substantial.  Disney, a major license granter for its many properties, reports that their "Princess" line of products now does  a four billion dollar business at the retail level worldwide.  Movie, television, and comic book characters are all popular Halloween costumes and to be the real thing a license is required.
         Actually, this article could go on and on in regard to Halloween and the Entertainment Industry-- we haven't even looked at bars, parades, parties of all kinds, community and school activities, and the other venues that provide Halloween entertainment.  Also, there are many entertainers who make some decent money attaching themselves to Halloween, for example special Halloween concerts.  As I said once before an entire book could be written on the subject of the huge Halloween Economy and I'm not writing a book.
But just start looking around and thinking about some of this.  Today I stopped in the supermarket and noticed how much they had related to Halloween beyond the candy---like Halloween Captain Crunch. Pumpkins--- the farmers that grow those must be very happy about Halloween. Paper product industry offers much tableware and decoration with Halloween themes.  But I will let it stop here for my part.  Now I'd love to hear what any of the readers have to say.  Have I missed something that you think is important? Do you have a contrary opinion?  Toss it out and let us hear it!

The Mystery of Alley Oop

       Halloween costumes have become rather complex in many cases.  Costume licensing is a huge business and each new movie release requires a new envisioning of a costume that in past times had been pretty traditional.  Adding muscles, newly designed logos, or variations in colors and style design means the old costumes might be considered passe.  When I was a child you could just tie a piece of cloth-- like a towel say--around your neck and with a little imagination and your say so you were Superman.  That day is gone. Now check out costumes on the web or in the store and you will find many styles and quality variants of the Superman garb. You can be the Superman from the comic book, the cartoon, or any number of movies. The towel and the imagination are part of an impoverished past.
      A major turning point came about with the 1989 Batman movie.  The various degrees of costume quality in part heavily directed to the adult costume wearer were a hit with the dress up crowd.  The licensing entities of the motion picture industry quickly caught on and it was no longer business as it had been in the past. The license became bigger than ever and more expensive as well.  But there was and is money to be made.  Now you don't just dress up like Batman, you are Batman --"as seen in the movie!".  It's all become a little too slick and in some ways taken away some of the fun.  It's hard to compete in the local costume contest with your homemade slapped together duds when you're up against a professional outfit rented from the costume shop.
        But thinking about the topic of licensing based on popular movies, it got me to thinking about one of my favorite comic characters of my younger days.  Where the heck is Alley Oop?  Granted a lot of people don't know what you're talking about when you mention Alley Oop.  Basketball fans might say that it is a pass of the ball.  Or it's also the name of a football play. Other people might recall the song from about 40 or 50 years back called "Alley Oop".  But where did the name Alley Oop come from?  Well, he was one of the greatest comic book characters of all time as far as I'm concerned.
         For those unfamiliar with Alley Oop he was a caveman who rode around on a dinosaur named Dinny and had an adorable love interest named Ooola.  He was transported into the future by a couple of eccentric scientists who then proceded to bounce him around through hero.  Alley was a muscle-bound guy who was practically naked most of the time, but he was funny and smart.  Great movie material.  And talk about sequels -- the possibilities are endless. 
          For years the Flintstones have been among the most popular Halloween costumes.  People like cavemen and women.  With today's special effects you can really do the dinosaurs good.  The Alley Oop movie would have everything needed for huge money-making licensing opportunities -- action figures, imprinted items, and Halloween costumes.
       Back at the beginning of August I took a road trip to Houston and on the way back to L.A. stopped at Iraan, Texas-- the "birthplace" of Alley Oop.  There is a park there dedicated to his honor.   I had heard of it many years ago and decided that this time I would make a side trip to visit.  Iraan is in the rugged, arid desolation of West Texas.  The country has a stark beauty that is such a striking part of the American West.
With temperatures in the 100's I was certainly thankful for comfortable cars with good air conditioning.  We arrived in town midday.  It didn't look like the sort of place where one would want to spend much time let alone live in. Then we came to empty parking lot for the empty "Alley Oop Fantasyland" park. I saw a couple of lizard and that was about it. It was Monday, but even on weekends this was probably a pretty non-happening place.  The park was well maintained.  There was a small museum that appeared to deal more with prehistory, indigeonous people, and history than Alley Oop, but the museum was closed.  But I was glad that I was there to pay homage to a sadly neglected American icon.  We took some pictures and moved on--that was as about as much as we could do.  However the sidetrip for the scenery alone was worth the detour off of I-10 and I would highly recommend it if you have the time if ever you are passing that way.
         So in closing I want to put my emphatic vote for a big-budget, full blown special effects laden, decent and respectful big screen feature treatment of Alley Oop.  If done right I think it would be a tremendously entertaining film that would could be a franchise with legs to keep it going for years to come. And the licensing potential could be huge.  Hear that Hollywood!  You could make a lot of money.

  

Here I am at "Alley Oop Fantasyland" park in Iraan, Texas posing with the giant bust of Alley Oop himself and with Dinny the Dinosaur.