Suburban mom's idea that started in Atlanta sells out to Disney

LONE TREE, Colo. - In the corner suite of a two-story office building in suburbia, the imagination of Baby Einstein founder Julie Aigner-Clark runs wild.<br> <br> <br> She giggles as she winds up toy chicks that hop across a makeshift stage in a warehouse room filled with dolls and puppets.<br> <br> The chicks&#39; jerky movements become a dance to the staccato pace of ``William Tell Overture,&#39;&#39; on a video. In another, Aigner-Clark reads poems that are dubbed over scenes of twirling tops and painting puppets. In a third, characters bob to the chants of the alphabet in several languages.<br> <br> Baby Einstein educational videos are designed to teach infants and young children human expression, including language, art and music, as well as concepts. They&#39;ve caught the attention of the Walt Disney Co., which purchased the homespun business in November for an undisclosed amount.<br> <br> Media analyst David Miller of Sutro & Co. said the two companies complement each other.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s family-oriented, educational, and that really is the Disney brand right there,&#39;&#39; he said.<br> <br> Miller said the purchase is relatively small for Disney, which paid $5.2 billion for Fox Family Worldwide Inc. in October.<br> <br> Aigner-Clark, 35, graduated from Michigan State University with a major in English and moved to New Jersey to teach middle school and high school.<br> <br> When she quit her job as a schoolteacher to be a stay-at-home mom for her first daughter, Aigner-Clark found her hectic life left her little time to herself. She came up with the idea of a video to occupy her infant long enough to get some free time to make a phone call or take a shower.<br> <br> Living in Atlanta in 1997, she cobbled together the first video, ``Baby Einstein,&#39;&#39; in her basement using personal savings and a producer she found in the Yellow Pages.<br> <br> ``It was literally me pushing &#39;play&#39; on the Beta Cam and dragging a cat across a table with fishing line,&#39;&#39; she said.<br> <br> She first pitched ``Baby Einstein&#39;&#39; to CNN. Soon, the basement-produced video was selling in Japan via CNN&#39;s Web site and at The Right Start, a specialty toy store.<br> <br> A year later, customers clamoring for more convinced Aigner-Clark to produce a second video called ``Baby Mozart,&#39;&#39; later adding ``Baby Bach,&#39;&#39; ``Baby Shakespeare&#39;&#39; and ``Baby Van Gogh.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Her husband, Bill Clark, was worked for a Michigan-based company designing curricula for elementary school science before he began helping with the financial aspects of Baby Einstein.<br> <br> Video sales were $100,000 in the first year, and the company grew by more than 4,000 percent in less than three years.<br> <br> Last year, Baby Einstein sales topped $11 million, and projected revenue for 2001 is $17 million.<br> <br> Today, the collection includes seven videos, DVDs, flashcards, toys and board books. To date, more than 3 million items have sold.<br> <br> ``I guess I just hit on an idea that nobody had come up with, or they didn&#39;t know how to do it,&#39;&#39; Aigner-Clark said.<br> <br> ``The idea was just to give kids something nourishing. I want babies to see elephants roll in the water, live in herds and take care of one another.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> ``They&#39;re lovely. They&#39;re gentle. They&#39;re not frenetic,&#39;&#39; said Boulder resident Laurie Cooke, a stay-at-home mom of 1-year-old twins.<br> <br> ``You kind of lose your creativity in trying to teach things to your baby and to have the tapes there and be able point to a cow or banana ... it helps,&#39;&#39; Kelly Mueldener, also of Boulder, said just after purchasing her daughter&#39;s fourth video, ``Baby Van Gogh.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Baby Einstein will remain a brand separate from Disney, said Disney spokesman Russell Hampton, who will become the new manager of Baby Einstein.<br> <br> Disney plans create a Little Einstein series targeting 2- to 5-year-olds as well as a daily TV show and more board books, he said.<br> <br> Disney plans to retain Aigner-Clark and her husband as consultants.<br>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/200723