December 25 - 31, 2000 News

Monday, December 25, 2000

Highest Grossing Animated Film of the Year 2000 is...
There were two animated blockbuster movies this year with one from Disney and the other from rival DreamWorks. In the end, Disney's Dinosaur won the year in Box Office receipts while also being one of the most expensive animated movies ever created. In 2000, Dinosaur brought in $137.7 million, leaving it well behind the top 10 grossing animated films of all time (which includes past Disney movies like Pocahontas). Coming in second for the year, with a total U.S. Box Office take of $106.7 million was the clay animation Chicken Run movie, which was recently nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Even though both Dinosaur and Chicken Run were by far the two most successful animated movies of the year, both were snubbed at the recent Annie Awards.

Chicken Run was created by Aardman Studios and distributed by DreamWorks.

New Animated/Anime Titles Coming to DVD Tomorrow
Like last week, there are only two animated/anime DVDs being released tomorrow. Both are anime titles:

Black Heaven - Legend of Space Trucking
The Tenchi Universe Collection Space 1 (V.5)

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Holiday Weekend Estimates for The Emperor's New Groove
Box Office estimates are in for the four-day holiday weekend with The Emperor's New Groove estimated to place sixth with a $10.2 million take. In comparison, last year's Tarzan took in $24 million in its second weekend, which was a regular three day weekend.

Wednesday, December 27, 2000

Toy Story 2 Becomes #1 Movie in the UK for the Year 2000
According to BBC News:

"Toy Story 2 is the biggest box office smash of the year in the UK and has helped take cinema attendance in the country to its highest for more than 25 years. The Walt Disney sequel to 1995's Toy Story earned a hefty £43.5m in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in 2000, according to Screen International. Historical epic

Gladiator finished second, attracting sales of £31m. Another animated favourite, Chicken Run, took third place on the top-earners list, grossing £29m in ticket sale..."

Click here for the full story.

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UPN Gets Deathmatch
UPN has struck a deal with MTV to air select episodes of "Celebrity Deathmatch" Friday nights at 8:30PM after its new clay animation "Gary & Mike" series. According to Daily Variety, "Under the initial deal, UPN has retained rights to seven episodes of 'Deathmatch,' with an option for 13 more. New wraparounds will be produced especially for the UPN telecasts, but it's unclear whether those will be clay-based or live-action."

Dinosuar Continues Big Gains Overseas
Disney's Dinosaur is continuing to rack in huge profits overseas. Last weekend, Dinosaur brought in $7.3 million overseas to bring its worldwide total to over $300 million. The highest grossing territory over the past two weekends has been Japan. Last weekend, Dinosaur brought in $3.3 million in Japan.

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Chicken Run Wins "Best Family Film" Award
The Las Vegas Film Critics Society has named Chicken Run the "Best Family Film" for the year 2000 in its Fourth Annual Sierra Awards presentation. The society is made up of seven Las Vegas movie critics who also sponsored this years Las Vegas Film Festival. According to the Nevalda Film Office, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, "is a non-profit, progressive organization dedicated to the advancement and preservation of film in general. The LVFCS was founded by film critic Jeffrey K. Howard and is composed of selected Las Vegas print and television film critics. Mr. Howard serves as current President of the society and each year presents its 'Sierra' Awards for the best in film, including The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award, (which is named for the brilliant Academy Award-winning actor).

Box Office Results for Animated Films
Here are the Box Office results for last weekend's animated films:

The Emperor's New Groove
$7.7 Million ($2,667 per screen average - 22% decrease)
6th at the Box Office (down from #4 last weekend)
Total to Date: $24.2 Million

Rugrats in Paris
$1.26 Million ($669 per screen average - 31% decrease)
14th at the Box Office (down from #10 last weekend)
Total to Date: $65.5 Million

Fantasia 2000 (back on IMAX screens)
$27,749 ($925 per screen average - 16% decrease from last weekend)
43rd at the Box Office (also #43 last weekend)
Total to Date (includes widescreen and past IMAX releases): $60.3 Million

Results not immediately available for CyberWorld 3D, Digimon, Dinosaur, and Nightmare Before Christmas.

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Animation in Epic Proportions
According to The Hindu:

"After all those Western 3D animation flicks, we have come down to Indian myths. We have run the riot from Pocahontas and the Prince of Egypt to Toy Story and the latest Chicken Run. So, with our famed load of software professionals, if the West is there already, can India be far behind?

So we have, the Pandavas- The Five Warriors. Pentamedia's latest offering to the movie watching public across the world. That is their second experiment in the area of 3D animation, out now hot from the lab. A bold offering, directly taking on the Hollywood animation machines.

Well, so how is the response going to be to the novel fare? Will the celluloid version of the Amar Chitra Katha click?..."

Click here for the full story.

Emperor's New Groove Sees Huge Increases at Box Office
When The Emperor's New Groove opened two weekends ago it had very disappointing results. But Disney kept saying it would pick up due to strong word of mouth and the continued holidays. Disney was right.

Over the past week, during the weekdays, The Emperor's New Groove consistently showed solid performances above $3 million each day. On Friday, it had its best day yet, with $4.5 million. In addition, The Emperor's New Groove has surpassed The Grinch in daily rankings. With Friday's results, The Emperor's New Groove has made over $40 million and shows no signs of slowing.

Sunday, December 31, 2000

Chicken Run Makes Top 10 Lists
From the Washington Post to the Silicon Valley, dozens of newspapers across the nation have consistently placed Chicken Run in their Top 10 Movies of 2000 lists or honorable mention lists.

The Silicon Valley Metro newspaper claimed that Chicken Run was the best movie of the year 2000, stating that it was "the one movie of 2000 you could recommend to anyone from kid to codger."

According to the Washington Post, which named Chicken Run the ninth best movie of the year, "There are few things funnier than plump, claymated chickens with northern English accents expressing existential panic."

One of the few well-known critics who didn't give Chicken Run any credit (not even an honorable mention) as a top movie of 2000 was Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times who stated his preferences for the less successful Titan A.E. and its "spellbinding cat-and-mouse chase through intergalactic ice rings."

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