Disney signs Elvis Presley deal

LOS ANGELES (BBC) - Record executives are hoping to interest a young audience in Elvis Presley after signing a deal with Disney for a film soundtrack, say reports.
The King's music will be included on the forthcoming animated movie Lilo and Stich - and a greatest hits album is also expected, according to the New York Post.
RCA Records hope to introduce Presley to those who were not alive when he was at the height of his career, and echo the success of the Beatles' album 1, which has sold eight million copies.

RCA owns the rights to the Presley back catalogue and has signed a deal with Disney to have his songs featured on the soundtrack. The movie is due for release in the US in the summer and tells the story of a young Hawaiian girl who idolises the King's music.

Clothing range

The deal is also expected to include a tie-in with McDonald's and a video game, to promote the late star among 15 to 24-year-olds.

A range of Presley merchandise is also set to be produced including 1950s-style clothing from the Lansky Brothers, who created the singer's own outfits when he first hit the bigtime. An album of his top 50 songs was released in the UK in 2000, selling well thanks to a massive publicity campaign.
But Presley's star has apparently begun to fade in the US with a 15% slump in tourists visiting his Graceland home in 2001, forcing staff redundancies.

Just 1.4m of his records were sold there last year: Marketing experts are split as to whether a comeback could be successful 25 years after he died at his home in Memphis, Tennessee.

Kitsch

Richard Leonard, vice-president of youth marketing firm Zandl, does not believe it will work. "Very few young people are interested in performers from the past," he said. "And very, very few appreciate the kitsch or camp factor. I see no potential for Elvis for Generation Y."
But Donnie Deutsch, head of advertising agency Deutsch Incorporated, said: "People are looking back to simpler times. He's a poster boy for all that.

"Elvis is one of the pop culture figures of the 20th Century."