Cartoon Characters

Watch out, Mickey Mouse. The Muppets may be sneaking up on you. Walt Disney Imagineering this week debuted its latest, cutting-edge creation: free-roaming, interacting audio-animatronic Muppets capable of "seeing" and "talking" to tourists -- and without a human puppeteer in sight.

It was a quarter-century in the making, but then again, nothing is easy for cartoon heroes such as Tintin. Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks, a division of Viacom Inc., has committed to produce at least one movie about the adventures of the intrepid Belgian reporter, said Nick Rodwell, head of Moulinsart NV, Tintin's commercial studio in Brussels. "After 25 years, they finally said, 'OK, let's go,' " Rodwell said Thursday of the protracted talks with Spielberg.

Little P is a red-haired joker with a robot dog and a mind bursting with rebellion. She has a closet filled with tight, midriff-baring clothes. Her biggest worry is getting fat. Meet Bad Girl, a cartoon aimed at a generation of young Chinese raised on a diet of imported video games, Kentucky Fried Chicken and communist rhetoric. When Song Yang published his Bad Girl comic book last year, his friends asked whether the character was him in disguise.

Los Angeles' favorite cat seems to have nine lives. The three-sided "Felix" automobile dealership sign near downtown that has survived earthquakes, fires, riots and recession escaped another close call Thursday as the city's Cultural Heritage Commission voted to declare it a historic-cultural monument.

Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon cable network plans to stop allowing the use of its characters for packaging on junk food to address concerns about children's health. "The use of our licensed characters on food packaging will be limited to products that meet 'better for you' criteria as established by marketing partners in accordance with governmental dietary guidelines," Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami wrote in a letter to Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).

There are two Pierre Dragons. Pierre Dragon, comic book hero, prowls the shadows of Paris leading a police intelligence unit on the trail of terrorists. He sweats through all-night stakeouts. He wolfs meals in greasy kebab joints. He slams a thug through a plate-glass window during a neon-lit barroom brawl. The second Pierre Dragon resembles the illustrated cop. He's also a 41-year-old ex-commando.

Struggling home builder KB Home said Wednesday that it was counting on Mickey Mouse and friends to help boost sales of new homes. The builder, one of several hurt by the housing slump, signed a licensing deal with Walt Disney Co. to offer home design features based on many of the entertainment company's most popular characters. Financial terms of the deal with Disney's consumer products unit were not disclosed. Westwood-based KB Home will begin offering the Disney Home features early next year.

For decades, Disney has fed the princess fantasy -- Cinderella in her fluffy ball skirt and glass slippers, Minnie Mouse in her vampy red polka dots and pumps. But what would they wear today? Vivienne Westwood, Azzedine Alaia and several other European fashion designers were asked to answer that question, creating modern looks for classic characters. Their creations were modeled on the runway at an event this month celebrating the 15th anniversary of Euro Disney outside Paris.

In the first known swap of a primo sportscaster for a geriatric cartoon critter, Walt Disney Co. is trading ABC's Al Michaels to NBC for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald \o7who\f7? It turns out the big-eared bunny was one of Walt Disney's first animated characters, a star in his own right before Mickey Mouse was even a gleam in his creator's eye. But Disney lost the rabbit after he found out that Universal Studios, now part of NBC Universal, owned the rights to develop the character.

The Oracle of Omaha is Tinseltown's newest animated hero. But, at least in Warren E. Buffett's crystal ball, he still has no future here. "I can't afford to go Hollywood," he said. "There's no money in this stuff." If anyone knows the value of a dollar, it's a guy with 40 billion of them. Which is why the world's second-richest individual decided to become a cartoon character to teach children financial responsibility.