Slinky to Spring to Action on the Big Screen

Another popular children’s toy is ready for its big screen close-up. Montreal-based Image In Media (a subsidiary of Section Rouge Media) announced today that it will co-produce a feature inspired by H2V’s popular Slinky toys. Pierre Bematchez, president of Image In Media says his company will be looking for partners and seek completion of financing for the feature immediately.

‘We have been negotiating for some time to participate in the development of this classic property,’ says Bernatchez. ‘We believe that the combination of our expertise in financial packaging and distribution combined with the creative expertise of Henrique Vera-Villanueva of H2V Spring will result in a new array of products based on Slinky.’

Bernatchez says his company’s first priority is to develop and finance the movie. ‘We will be meeting with several potential partners starting at the upcoming AFM in Los Angeles at the beginning of November to set the foundations to enhance brand equity,’ he adds.

Slinky was invented in 1943 by Richard James, a naval engineer who was experimenting with tension springs. During the experiment, one of the springs fell to the floor and began to “walk.” James’ wife, Betty, had a vision for a toy based on the spring and searched the dictionary to find a suitable name for it. She came across the word “Slinky,” a Swedish word meaning stealthy, sleek and sinuous.

The Slinky toy debuted at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1945. Although Betty and Richard were initially sceptical about how their toy would sell, they changed their minds when all 400 Slinkys for sale were snapped up in 90 minutes. Since then, over 300 million Slinky toys have been sold worldwide. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp for Slinky celebrating the 100 American icons of the last Century.

Although this is the first time the enterprising spring gets its own movie, Pixar fans may also recall the delightful Slinky Dog character in John Lasseter’s Toy Story movies, voiced by the late Jim Varney.