A 66-minute animated feature launching the new Speed Racer: The Next Generation animated series will be available on DVD on May 6th, just four days after it airs on the Nickelodeon network and three days before the debut of Wachowski brothers' new Speed Racer live action movie.   Lionsgate obviously picked the early release date for the animated Speed Racer: The Next Generation -- The Beginning DVD (MSRP $19.99) in order to cash in on the hype surrounding the release of Warner Bros.' live action Speed Racer.

Although no one is sure that either the live action movie or the new animated series will be a hit, toy companies are betting that Speed Racer will follow the trail blazed by Transformers, another vintage cartoon series, and are producing more tie-in toys for Speed Racer than for any other 2008 movie property including Batman, Indiana Jones, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Hulk, or Iron Man.  No fewer than three publishers are planning Speed Racer comics (see 'Speed Racer Times Three'), and there will lots of Speed Racer apparel and accessories available as well.

With a major promotional campaign on tap for the Speed Racer movie (see '$80 Million in Promo Support for Speed Racer') plus ads for all the Speed Racer toys, and the much heralded debut of the new Speed Racer: The Next Generation cartoons on the popular Nickelodeon cable network, it is hard to see how it won't be one of the most visible and successful properties of the spring and summer.