The Creative Evolution of Intellectual Properties: The Royal Critters/Whale Magic (TM) Project

Hello Creative Entrepreneurs!

The moral of that story is to follow your instincts and intuition and don't let others or society judge or label you.

You see, my child-spirit told me there was a writer in me all along. For all those years I thought I was deficient because I was being JUDGED by society's standards--grammar, sentence structure, etc. and not on CREATIVITY!

Then I got invited to Harvard! I call this "poetic justice!"

So let me tell you another story. One you will like about my royal faux pas to Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1985.

I want to share this funny whale-of-a-tale with you to also illustrate first-hand the CREATIVE EVOLUTION of one of my most exciting INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES: The Royal CrittersTM and Whale MagicTM Project.

It too, started with a mispelled word!

HISTORY & INSPIRATION

THE ROYAL CRITTERS? WERE INSPIRED FROM A MISSPELLED WORD!

When Prince Charles and Princess Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, visited the United States in 1985, I wanted to welcome Their Royal Highnesses to America in a special and personal way by sending gifts for their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. I chose a unique gift for them, one that I thought they would like.

Knowing that the British often use the cliché "ducky", I sent colorful T-shirts, coloring books, balloons and stickers of a cartoon character I created for the California-based earthquake preparedness program I initiated, "Richter Duck's Operation Quake-Quake". I inadvertently addressed the package to: Prince Charles and Princess Diana, The Prince and Princess of Whales and mailed it Express to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. Unaware of the misspelling of their name, I was surprised and delighted to receive a Thank You letter from Buckingham Palace for my gift.

However, when I read the letter, I realized my royal faux pas! As a journalist and writer, I was rather embarrassed however, later I was quite amused by my mistake and thought that the concept of cartoon whales named THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WHALES? would make a wonderful parody for children. The genesis of THE ROYAL CRITTERS? was born that day.

However, I would not start to develop it until 1989. By this time Prince Andrew had married Sarah, Duchess of York and their first child was named Princess Beatrice (Princess Bea). I then added to the cast, creating THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORKIES? (Yorkshire terriers) and a mumble/bumble bee named PRINCESS HONEY BEE?. We have Joan Rivers letter to be the voice of DUCHY, THE DUCHESS OF YORKIES?.

I chose the title THE ROYAL CRITTERS? because whales are the Royalty of the ocean kingdoms. We human beings need to see them in their true light and protect them, and all marine life. As the project developed and my personal understanding of the beauty and value of whales on our planet, I simply wanted to give voice to them through animation.

From there the cast grew to more than twenty characters including the royal pod of five whales that spout their own brands of magic, including email known as Whale Mail. I added animated human characters, including nine-year old NICHOLAS HOLIDAY?, part mortal, part mermen and divined with mystical powers. His marine biologist parents, ROMAN AND HAPPY HOLIDAY?. The villain is JOHNNY NETWORTH and his henchmen, the ANCHOVY BROTHERS?. NETWORTH transmutes from mortal to toxic oil waste and a whale net to perform his Machiavellian deeds.

And so began my quest to learn about whales, dolphins, the oceans, animation, music, film and television production, licensing and every aspect of such a venture. I sought out the crème de la crème in every area of this project, whenever possible; from Royalty to world renowned marine biologists and whale experts, script consultants and a Hollywood animation writer with hundreds of credits to her name to help me develop the animation and publication bible and storyline for the project. I met with celebrities such as Dom De Luise and Tippi Hedren to be voices for the project, along with Joan Rivers and Olivia Newton-John, and others (Celebrity Bios and Letters of Intent or Interest are available upon request).

As whales are known for their sonic "songs", I created fun and whimsical animated whales that sing everything from Hip-Hop to Opera. I found Hip-Hop artists, Jazz aficionados, award-winning singers, songwriters, and a conductor with the London Philharmonic to compose and orchestrate the music!

As animation evolved into what it is today, I sought out the best bids from CGI digital animators, and chose an Atlanta-based studio to bring the characters and movie to life with the latest in technology. I met with producers, distributors and special-effects animators at Disney and went back to school to learn film and television production. I opened my own animation studio in Vancouver, British Columbia to do the first phase of pre-production for the movie.

I have studied trends and successes in the licensing, entertainment and digital technology industries. Even Finding Nemo, the animated box-office blockbuster and Academy Award winner for Best Animation Movie for 2004, has set the charted course for the school of BIG fish?whales?and WHALE MAGIC!

I organized and met with teachers, astronomers, scholars and philosophers to learn about the mysteries of life, which I wove into the creative tapestry of WHALE MAGIC. I followed my muses, and traveled to many places to learn and research aspects of the script, to give it its special magic and realism--from the top of the heavens to the bottom of the sea, quite literally!

I met with the great nephew of Edwin Powell Hubble, creator of the famed Hubble Telescope and the man who changed our view of the Universe, to learn about space, solar and lunar eclipses, the moon and the effects it has on oceanic tides. I went on whale-watching expeditions in California, the Atlantic and Canada. I traveled to the Bermuda Triangle and Bimini, Bahamas to write part of the script; and to explore the ancient roads of Atlantis submerged off the coast of Bimini, a key environment and setting in the movie. And in my "spare time" I raised $1 million for the project! However, that is just a drop in the bucket. The completion budget for the WHALE MAGIC: AN OCEAN OF LOVE animated feature film project is $15 million.

WHALE MAGIC has been my soul's journey! A fascinating and mystical journey filled with rich and wonderful life-experiences. Even the hardships and sacrifices that I endured, personally and professionally, in order to follow my dream and craft a spectacular whale-of-a-project, have proven invaluable and a source of deep inspiration.

I have been honored, enriched and blessed beyond measure by all the incredible and very special people (and whales) I have met along this journey. Many of whom you will meet in this overview; each bringing their own brand of magic and special talents to make WHALE MAGIC the unique treasure it is!

WHALE MAGIC is not just a trilogy of animated movies, or a collection of books and songs and trading cards and toys. Nor is it a television series. WHALE MAGIC is a journey--a beautiful, magical journey of life, lessons, beauty and love!

Rich with fun, memorable and loveable archetypal characters, dramatic storylines, humor, exciting music and awe-inspiring animation and special effects, WHALE MAGIC is a project with universal, multi-cultural appeal that will reach a large spectrum of demographics WHALE MAGIC is a heart story borne out of a labor of love?for many generations to enjoy!

And all of this... because of a misspelled word!

I have rightfully dedicated the project to the loving memory of Princess Diana.

So now you know the SECRET behind my famous quote: "Creativity is coloring outside the lines, and entrepreneurship is living outside the box!" JJK

By John Joseph Kennedy
www.RoyalCritters.com

THE HON. JOHN JOSEPH KENNEDY, President & CEO JJK Enterprises/John Kennedy Enterprises, Inc. Founder, JJK School of Entrepreneurship? (A Business Franchise).

U. S. Presidential Candidate (2004 write-in), Justice of the Peace International, author, international award-winning speaker, marketing guru and entrepreneur extraordinaire, Mr. Kennedy is the author of Creativity & Entrepreneurship© and The 72-Hour Entrepreneur?

As a journalist and writer, JJK has more than 100 news bylines to his credit, and more than 10,000 article have been written about him worldwide. His work and inspiring life-giving messages and speeches have reached television, radio, newspaper and live audiences of more than 100 million people in the United States, Latin America, Canada, Mexico, England, India, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Poland, Africa, and other countries.

JJK's e-mail: JJK@JJKEnterprises.com

Websites: http://www.JJKEnterprises.com

http://www.JohnJosephKennedy.com (Political)