Flickr/jeepersmediaFlush with the stunning popularity of the Pokemon GO mobile game, Nintendo aims to make more from marketing popular characters such as Super Mario, taking a leaf from the Walt Disney playbook where Mickey Mouse and friends bring in billions of merchandising dollars each year. But, where Disney's animated characters often earn more than the films they star in, Super Mario, Pokemon and other Nintendo franchises have languished amid the Japanese firm's reluctance to push them beyond its struggling game console platform. The success of Pokemon GO - created by Nintendo, Pokemon Company and Niantic, a Google spinoff - may signal that Nintendo's move to let its characters roam beyond that console universe could help revitalize a company that had grown from a card game maker in nineteenth century Kyoto to the world's top computer game and console maker. "We are now expanding how we leverage Nintendo IP in various ways beyond our traditional use of them predominantly within the dedicated video game platform business," Tatsumi Kimishima, the company's president, wrote in a message to investors. It could be sitting on a goldmine. "We believe the value of Nintendo intellectual property is enormous and will eventually be unlocked over a 3-5 year period," Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a Monday research note. A spokesman for Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy said: "We are seeing a resurgence of interest in Pokemon toys after the launch of Pokemon GO." Nintendo, which on Wednesday partly blamed a strengthening yen for its April-June operating loss, is said to be doing more to expand the reach of its popular franchise characters, which also include The Legend of Zelda. "Nintendo used to have only few people in its licensing business and deal only with a limited number of merchandising companies," said a toy company official, who asked not to be named as he is not authorized to talk to the media.