TURNER INTERACTIVE RELEASES NEW MULTIMEDIA GAME BASED ON $35 MILLION ANIMATED/LIVE-ACTION FANTASY FILM, "THE PAGEMASTER" STARRING MACAULAY CULKIN, CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
Literature comes to life in Turner Interactive's new CD ROM animated adventure game based on the much anticipated movie, "The Pagemaster", it was announced today by Philip Kent, president of Turner Home Entertainment (T.H.E.). Turner Interactive, a multimedia development group under the T.H.E. umbrella, is responsible for creating products for the burgeoning interactive market.
"As a combination live action/animated movie, "The Pagemaster" offers a treasure vault of material that inspired Turner Interactive to develop one of the most imaginative and sensory-stimulating games to be released in the multimedia arena," says Kent.
"The Pagemaster" CD ROM game is based on the $35 million animated and live-action release of the same title. Slated for a November 1994 release from Twentieth Century Fox, the motion picture stars Macauly Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Ed Begley, Jr. and Mel Harris, and features the voice talents of Whoppi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart and Leonard Nimoy. "The Pagemaster" is being produced by Turner Pictures, co-financed by Turner Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, and will be distributed internationally and domestically by the respective companies.
The screenplay revolves around young Richard Tyler (Culkin), "the world's safest kid," a walking encyclopedia on household accidents statistics who fears virtually everything. While running an errand for his parents (Begley, Harris), Richard's greatest fears become reality when a freak storm leaves him scrambling for cover at the public library. Wanting only to find a way home, he wanders amidst the maze-like bookcases in search of a phone and comes upon a magnificent rotunda where strange and mystical things are indeed happening. As Richard eyes an incredible mural of characters from classic literature looming high overhead, paint starts dripping from the mural and creeping down the walls, turning Richard into an illustration and the library into a Technicolor world of fantasy.
Awaiting him is the Pagemaster, resplendent in his noble cloak of living pages, ready to send him through lands he's never dreamed of in search for "home." Befriended by a trio of lively , if rather off-beat books that come to life, Richard embarks on a quest of adventure, horror and fantasy through worlds of buried treasure, terrible monsters and flying carpets. It's a trip that teaches Richard that life is for living, despite the dangers, and magic appears if you let it - a journey that allows him to cherish the wonder of the written word...and along the way develop a confidence in himself and the world around him.
As in the motion picture that inspired it, "The Pagemaster" leads the computer player on a challenging adventure. Like Richard, the player may choose from chapters full of adventure, horror, monsters, mythology, buried treasure and fantasy. In keeping with the imaginative animated sequences seen in the film, the multimedia version displays wondrous 3D animation in an innovative combination of storytelling and game play.
To create "The Pagemaster's" engaging player interface, Turner Interactive collaborated closely with the film's executive producer, David Kirschner (An American Tail, Hocus Pocus); director of animation, former Disney veteran Maurice Hunt; and live-action director, Joe Johnston (Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer). Turner Interactive also added new graphics throughout the interactive game and supervised the selection and preparation of all motion picture elements. Turner Interactive enlisted the services of Mammoth Micro Productions, a unit of The Washington Post Company, to develop "The Pagemaster."
The CD ROM "The Pagemaster" will be available November 1994 and is being released in conjunction with the Christmas movie. The hardware requirements for running "The Pagemaster" are: an IBM-Compatible 386 SX or higher equipped with Microsoft Windows 3.1, an MPC-standard CD ROM drive, 2 MB of RAM, and a VGA or SVGA monitor. An audio expansion card is also recommended. The Macintosh version will be available after the PC release.
Turner Interactive is the interactive multimedia development group of Turner Publishing, Inc., a division of Turner Home Entertainment (T.H.E.). T.H.E. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., which is based in Atlanta, GA. T.H.E. is responsible for worldwide home video and non-theatrical distribution; international theatrical distribution; book publishing; interactive media development an distribution; educational services; and licensing and merchandising of TBS-owned properties.
