While the earlier movie Antz was aimed at children above 10 years, The Prince of Egypt will target the entire family. Said Jacinto Fernandes, marketing manager, Paramount Films of India, "animated movies have limited success in the country as adults are not a part of the audience. With The Prince of Egypt, we plan to lure parents, too."

Paramount, which is marketing and distributing the Biblical-based animated movie, will use the television and print campaigns to target the older audience while school promotional activities will be directed at kids above eight years. Teenagers, however, will not be the primary focus, said Fernandes.

Paramount has tied up with Elal Israel Airlines to premier the movie on July 30 in seven centres - Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Pune and Secunderabad. This is the firsttime that an airline is associating with the premier of a movie show. Said Judah Samuel, district manager, Elal Israel Airlines, "we are supporting the movie as it is on Israel and has something to do with the promotion of the Holy Land. It is the most appropriate fit for our brand."

Paramount will have 60 print releases, much higher than Antz's five. "We expect our revenues to be more spread out than in our earlier animation movies. We should do well not only in the metros but also in the A and B class towns," said Fernandes.

Paramount believes that Kerala with its strong Christian population will be a major market. Which is why the movie is dubbed in Malayalam. The movie will also run the English and dubbed Hindi versions. Said Fernandes, "this is the first time that a foreign film is being dubbed in Malayalam. We expect our Malayalam and Hindi versions to contribute substantially to our collections."

Paramount has also tied up with Parle G to promote the movie in 1,000 schools spread over 10cities in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The company's target: 15 lakh students in the cities of Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Madras, Bangalore, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trivandum, Cochin, Ernakulam and Salem.

In Calcutta, Paramount has tied up with Parle G to reach 100 schools. Besides, the two partners are distributing 5 lakh school labels of The Prince of Egypt across the country.

Why has Parle G supported the movie? For the biscuit company, the association with the animated epic movie is perfect: They both share a common target audience. Besides, Parle wants to strengthen its position in the southern region.

According to sources close to the company, Paramount will spend around Rs 80 lakh on television and print commercials. For the animated movie Antz, the company had spent a meagre Rs 12 lakh. Besides, music videos of the movie have been dubbed in Hindi and Malayalam and are already airing on MTV, Music Asia, Asianet and Surya.

The release of The Prince of Egypt wasscheduled for May but was delayed due to the 1999 Cricket World Cup. The company did not want to take the risk of pumping in big money on ad campaigns before such a strong sporting event.