July 17-23, 2000 News

Monday, July 17, 2000

New DreamWorks Toon in the Works
Leslie Dixon, who wrote The Thomas Crown Affair, has been hired by DreamWorks to write an animated adventure that has the working title of Chakulan . According to the Daily Variety, Chakulan is "inspired by the fact that male Bengal tigers have a biological animosity toward female tigers and their cubs." DreamWorks is being very secretive about any aspects of the story itself.

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X-Men has Fourth Largest Opening Ever
The special effects filled X-Men movie ran away with the Box Office this weekend, bringing in an estimated $57.5 million. This was well beyond the wildest expectations of FOX, which believed the most it could make would be $35 million. The extraordinary opening is making up for Fox's disastrous Titan A.E. which failed to deliver at the Box Office. Next weekend, Pokemon 2000 opens in theaters and is expected to take much of the family crowd from DreamWorks Chicken Run (at least for a week or two), which is still performing solidly at the Box Office. Last year, Pokemon: The Movie opened huge only to see some of the most drastic drop-offs in Box Office history.

Tuesday, July 18, 2000

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

Chicken Run $7.9 Million ($2,680 per screen average - 20% drop)
6th at the Box Office (down from #5 last weekend)
Total to Date: $77 Million

Dinosaur $462,243 ($657 per screen average - 30% decrease)
15th at the Box Office (down from #13 last weekend)
Total to Date: $132.7 Million

Fantasia 2000 No longer in theaters - limited run has concluded
Total to Date: $58.4 Million

Titan A.E. $173,753 ($455 per screen average - big 54% drop)
26th at the Box Office (down from #17 last weekend)
Total to Date: $21.9 Million

The Tigger Movie $19,890 ($255 per screen average - 30% drop)
67th at the Box Office (down from number #64 last weekend)
Total to Date: $45.5 Million

Toy Story 2 $19,909 ($390 per screen average - 26% decrease)
66th at the Box Office (down from #65 last weekend)
Total to Date: $245.8 Million

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Pokemon Seeks Potter-Like Power
According to the Philadelphia Daily News:

"Parents, get ready for Pokemania II.

When Pokemon the First Movie became a hit in the United States last fall, it was inevitable that a sequel or two would follow. Why, the title alone was a tip-off.

Now, coinciding with a fresh shipment of Pokemon merchandise to the shelves of your nearest toy store, Ash Ketchum, Pikachu and friends are returning to the big screen July 21 for more adventures.

Pokemon the Movie 2000 combines the animated feature, "The Power of One," along with a 22-minute short, Pikachu's Rescue Adventure, which follows the popular yellow pocket monster through a magical underground forest.

The Warner Bros. feature introduces six new Pokemon characters and four new Pokemon trading cards, bringing the total to 161, if you're counting. As with the previous movie, a card will be given out with each admission..."

Click here for the full story

Wednesday, July 19, 2000

Dinosaur Still Bringing in the Bucks
Dinosaur continues to be a huge hit overseas, breaking many overseas animation records. While U.S. Box Office reciepts add up to an impressive $132.8 million, overseas the numbers are still adding up. In Hong Kong, Dinosaur opened to $1.8 million, 15% better than the animation record holder Toy Story 2 there. In fact its the best opening of any Disney film in Hong Kong and the second biggest opening this year in Hong Kong, being beat by Mission Impossible 2. The film also broke animation records in Taiwan and South Korea, where Tarzan had reigned king of the jungle until Dinosaur arrived, performing 50% better in South Korea (bringing in $1 million) and 15% better in Taiwan (bringing in $605,000).

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Mechanic Goes from Zero (Titan A.E.) to Hero (X-Men)
According to the Los Angeles Times:

"It's one of those classic Hollywood ironies: A movie chief gets fired, and, bam, his next release is a smash hit.

Sure, Bill Mechanic had his share of wrong bets during his nearly seven-year tenure as head of 20th Century Fox, including the recent costly animated flop Titan A.E. But, as with other studio honchos who were fired and left lucrative movie franchises in their wake, Fox has Mechanic to thank for its latest: X-Men.

Just three weeks after Fox booted its widely beloved movie chairman and before it has even named a successor, the studio had its second-biggest movie opening in history after last year's Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

'It's a little bittersweet, but that's cool,' said the plain-spoken Mechanic when reached Monday morning at his home office, where he was fielding congratulatory calls on two ringing phones from his Hollywood friends.

Far surpassing all industry expectations, X-Men took in $54.4 million during its debut this past weekend--nearly as much as Star Wars $64.8 million..."

Click here for the full story. (Link Has Expired)

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Newsletter Tonight
A new edition of the Animation Artist Newsletter is being emailed tonight with the latest in animation news. The newsletter is a free service of Animation Artist Magazine, so make sure you're signed up. Click here.

Thursday, July 20, 2000

Kids Give Pokemon Movie Thumbs Up
According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Too bad movie critic Roger Ebert just found himself a permanent TV sidekick. Giovanni Padilla might have filled the role nicely, particularly reviewing kids' movies.

He's a 9-year-old from Daly City who caught Sunday's sneak preview of the new Pokemon flick, the sequel to last winter's smash Japanese animated movie.

Unlike most kids, whose capsule reviews ranged from 'It's fun' to 'I just like it,' Giovanni offered an articulate appraisal of the latest cinematic adventure of the odd little fighting pocket monsters, or Pokemon, and the cartoon kids who train them.

'It was really interesting,' Giovanni said in the lobby of San Francisco's United Artists Galaxy theater. 'I liked all the action and the cool new Pokemon. It had better graphics than the last one, and it was very exciting'..."

Click here for the full story.

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New Final Fantasy Footage
Tomorrow the Final Fantasy Website will unveil new footage from its much anticipated realistic Final Fantasy animated film. The film, being developed by Square Pictures with assistance from The Agency at Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment and distribution by Columbia Pictures. Tomorrow Square is releasing a 50 second peak into the Final Fantasy Movie that is currently scheduled for release on July 20, 2001.

Friday, July 21, 2000

The Grandad Behind the Mouse
According to the Kansas City Star:

"Leslie Iwerks was only a year old in 1971 when her grandfather, Ub Iwerks, died.

'I only have a photo of me sitting on his lap,' Iwerks, 30, said of her grandpa, the pioneering Walt Disney animator. 'I don't really have any personal recollections of him.'

But growing up in Los Angeles, she could hardly avoid hearing the Iwerks legend -- how the Kansas City-born Ub (rhymes with "hub") met a fellow named Disney and went on to design and animate Mickey Mouse. What's more, Ub played a major role in developing Disneyland and won two Academy Awards for technical achievement.

Still, at first it was hard for young Leslie to really appreciate her forebear's accomplishments. As a Disney brat -- her father, Don Iwerks, was then head of Disney's technical engineering department -- she quickly developed the tough-to-impress attitude of a show-biz insider..."

Click here for the full story.

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Animation Artist Magazine to Cover SIGGRAPH
The staff of Animation Artist Magazine will be flying to New Orleans next week to report on SIGGRAPH, the largest annual graphics and animation tradeshow in the U.S.. Among the big events, Square is expected to show more scenes from its upcoming Final Fantasy movie. Click here to go to the Final Fantasy Website where they released 50 seconds of new footage to the Web.

Beginning Tuesday afternoon, Animation Artist Magazine will publish live reports including what's hot at the show (besides the weather). The updates from SIGGRAPH will continue through Thursday. Because of the live updates from the show floor, the schedule for Tuesday through Thursday will be different from the regular news update schedules.

Saturday, July 22, 2000

Former Walt Disney Home Denied Historical Status
According to the LA Times:

"A Los Feliz home once owned by Walt Disney was ruled to have 'no architectural or cultural significance' and was denied a designation as a historic cultural monument by city officials this week..The home fell one vote shy Wednesday of winning the designation as a cultural monument..."

Click here for the full story. (Link Has Expired)

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Pokemon 2000 Opens Huge
Pokemon 2000 had a huge opening on Friday, bringing in $9.64 million, more than the opening day of Toy Story 2 last year (which brought in $9.5 million when it opened on a Wednesday). The $9.64 million is a few hundred thousand dollars short of the opening of Pokemon: The First Movie last year which brought in $10 million. The opening of Pokemon 2000 had a big effect on Chicken Run, which dropped nearly 50% from last Friday (it's biggest drop to date), sending it to ninth place. The success of the Pokemon sequel is good news for Warner Brothers because of a report issued last week of diminishing toy sales and interest in the Pokemon franchise. Pokemon 2000 even opened on nearly 200 fewer screens than the first film and in many cases, smaller theaters (i.e. Santa Barbara's huge Arlington theater showed the first movie there, but bypassed the second one, which is only showing on one screen, in a much small theater, in the entire Santa Barbara county).

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Disney Releases Atlantis Trailer!
Disney has released the first movie trailer for it's summer 2001 animated film, Atlantis: The Lost Empire. View it by clicking here.

Sunday, July 23, 2000

Pokemon Falters After Huge Opening
After opening huge on Friday with $9.6 million, Pokemon 2000 took a drastic drop on Saturday, bringing in only $6.8 million and propelling it to third place at the Box Office under What Lies Beneath and X-Men, which is now in its second week. The news is a stark contrast to the performance of Pokemon: The First Movie last year where it made $9 million on Friday and shot up to over $13 million on Saturday. Warner Brothers anticipated a very strong opening weekend, making sure it had "more than enough" Pokemon cards to be distributed at theaters. It looks like the WB may now be left with thousands of extra cards as Pokemon 2000 is slated to make more than $10 million less than the first film's opening weekend last year.

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Pokemon Toy Craze is Fading
According to Reuters:

Pikachu and his friends may fill some theaters as Pokemon The Movie 2000 opens this weekend, but their ability to attract kids to the nation's toy stores appears to be waning.

After fascinating millions of children and many of their parents for a year or more, the cuddly yellow Pikachu and his Pokemon pals may have lost some of their allure, as retailers report that some of their Pokemon-related merchandise is no longer flying out of their stores.

Last year Pokemon was virtually unchallenged in its position at the top of every child's wish list, and trading cards featuring the colorful cartoon creatures became a near-obsession in playgrounds.

This year the characters -- whose images have appeared on everything from afghans and balloons, to lunch boxes and baseball caps -- have lost momentum and sales in the United States, though they remain hot commodities in other countries..."

Click here for the full story. (Link Has Expired)

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DreamWorks Hires Writer for new Animated Film
DreamWorks has hired writer Ron Bass to pen a new animated screenplay with a working title of The Circus. The story is set in the early 1900s in France. Bass is best known for the Academy Award winning screenplay Rain Man.

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