How do you get the kids interested in science. Well, the same way Australia gets people interested in their country. By attaching themselves to a popular movie. NASA today announced it made a deal with Disney to use ‘Wall-e’ for educational and public outreach activities.

And although Pixar movies sometimes look shallow from the outside, the people at the animation studio go through a lot before a movie reaches the theater. Some movies are based on years of research and ideas. And it’s no surprise the (probably somewhat geeky in a positive way) people wanted to help out NASA with their new robot creation. “All of us at Disney are delighted to be working with NASA in their educational and public outreach efforts to teach schoolchildren about space exploration, robot technology, and the universe they live in,” Disney’s Motion Pictures Group president Mark Zoradi said.

It also shows how their new animated buddy will be used for much more than just a movie. “WALL-E is one of the most lovable and entertaining characters that Pixar ever has created, and he is the perfect spokes-robot for this program,” Zoradi added.

And all NASA wants is to get our children to please, please, PLEASE show some kind of interest in science. If they’ll have to use one of the most influential mediums keeping the kids from doing science to promote science, so be it. “Great ideas for future exploration of the universe start with the imagination,” NASA explained.

One Tourism Australia official described it as “basically a two and a half hour ad” for Australia. I am of course talking about the new $120 million movie called ‘Australia,’ with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

Because not only Europe is feeling the effect of the cheap dollar. Tourism Down Under didn’t grow since the 2000 Sydney Olympics and is down overall this year. But the island is about to get some attention. “This movie will potentially be seen by tens of millions of people and it will bring to life little-known aspects of Australia’s extraordinary natural environment, history, and indigenous culture,” Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said.

Expecting some beautiful cinematography, there couldn’t be a better medium to promote a country. And that’s why Tourism Australia will release an international marketing campaign together with the new movie, promoting it as a “mature, inviting country.”

I just checked, but Australia didn’t went as far as financing the whole movie. Which I reckon would easily push it into the flop corner. But this seems like a smart move. Hop on the hype train of an expensive movie. And I’m sure the filmmakers won’t mind the extra promotion for their movie either. Win-win.

This story reminded me of the unpleasant ‘Clockwork Orange’ scene, where the guy has to watch the movie screen. At home, when the ads come up, I just walk away or do something else. But the cinema ads are surprisingly effective. If you watch enough movies, you probably know some of the regular ads by heart now. I know I do. And advertisers are finally taking notice.

Theater advertising saw a 18.5% gain in revenue in 2007. The big screen commercials brought in $540 million, up from $456 million in 2006. “More advertisers are using cinema more frequently, committing ad dollars ‘upfront’ for multiple flights as cinema has proven its value and efficiency as a sustaining medium,” Cinema Advertising Council head Stu Ballatt said. “Onscreen advertising combined with off-screen marketing in the theater can, literally, double or triple the impact a brand can make on the moviegoer.“

The figures also showed most viewers didn’t mind the ads before the movie. And I agree. It wouldn’t be the first time those ads saved me from missing the first ten minutes of the movie when I was late.