January 2- 7, 2001 News

USA Today Comments on Shrek
According to USA Today:

"What the heck is a Shrek?

A smelly, green and rather anti-social ogre — and, quite possibly, the next computer-animated superstar when he stomps into movie theaters May 18.

As the voice of Shrek, Mike Myers (of Austin Powers fame) explains: 'He's an ogre who has yet to come to terms with his own ogreness. He's in a little bit of ogre denial.'..."

Click here for the full story.

New Animated DVD Releases
Here is a list of the only animated productions that were released to DVD yesterday:

Mother Goose Treasury - Vol. 1
Mother Goose Treasury - Vol. 2

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Creator of "Schoolhouse Rock" Cartoons Dies
Thomas G. Yohe, the creator of the "Schoolhouse Rock" cartoons has died of cancer at the age of 63. "Schoolhouse Rock" was a series of animated shorts (three minutes in length) that were tagged to Saturday morning cartoon shows in the 70's and 80's.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "Mr. Yohe drew a storyboard featuring a magician and brought it with a demo tape of Dorough's composition to a meeting with Eisner. The ABC executive also invited legendary animator Chuck Jones, who was looking for material for a children's anthology show for ABC. At the end of the presentation, Eisner asked Jones what he thought. Jones' response was emphatic: 'Buy it!'"

Thursday, January 4, 2001

Who's Spying on Aardman?
Aardman Animation is tightening its security even more after a series of incidents where people were found to be spying on the company. According to the London Independant, the spies (trying to pose as Aardman employess in order to gain access to secret company information) are likely from America. Aardman is keeping quite on the details of the spying incidents but does acknowledge that it is working on quite a bit of "secret stuff."

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How Disney Lost Its Animated Groove
Business Week has written an article titled, "How Disney Lost Its Animated Groove" that tackles the stiff competitive filed of animation and changes in Disney animation, including a quest for a PG rating on its upcoming Atlantis movie despite the success of its G rated animated films. The article begins as follows:

"The once-undisputed champ of kiddy flicks now looks more like Goofy than the Lion King as rivals poach its turf. In Walt Disney Co.'s latest animated film, The Emperor's New Groove, the lead character -- an emperor-turned-llama named Kuzco -- recalls the good old days when he ruled the place and could kick anyone he wanted over the palace walls. Which is just about the way Disney itself must be feeling these days. Word from the front lines of the box-office wars is that the Emperor is getting his own you-know-what kicked around.

After 11 days in theaters, the film is suffering a very un-Disneylike spell, with a mere $24.2 million in ticket sales. That puts it well down the list of current releases, and while kiddies at home through New Year's Day will no doubt shove that number skyward, no one at the Mouse House is pretending their latest animated flick will be much of an earner.

It used to be that Disney just about owned the animation business..."

Click here for the full story.

Friday, January 5, 2001

Box Office Results for Animated Films
Here are the Box Office results for animated films last weekend, with each animated film having strong increases from the previous weekend:

The Emperor's New Groove
$11.3 Million ($3,921 per screen average - massive 47% increase)
5th at the Box Office (up from #6 last weekend)
Total to Date: $50.8 Million

Rugrats in Paris
$2.1 Million ($1,248 per screen average - huge 73% increase)
15th at the Box Office (down from #14 last weekend)
Total to Date: $71.2 Million

Fantasia 2000 (back on IMAX screens)
$67,140 ($2,098 per screen average - massive 142% increase)
43rd at the Box Office (also #43 last weekend)
Total to Date (includes widescreen and past IMAX releases): $60.5 Million

Dinosaur
$2,697 ($123 per screen average - big 101% increase)
70th at the Box Office (down from #68 last weekend)
Total to Date: $137.7 Million

Digimon
$2,476 ($225 per screen average - big 130% increase)
71st at the Box Office (also #71 last weekend)
Total to Date: $9.6 Million

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Mickey Drawing Leads Man on Quest
According to the St. Petersburg Times:

"In 1984, Steven Stein was walking by a New York City junk shop when he saw a dusty Mickey Mouse drawing in a broken frame. He thought it looked like something special.

He bought it for $3.

Stein, now a Clearwater area art dealer, hopes to sell it for millions of dollars.

During the past 16 years, Stein has become convinced that he found a lost treasure, one of the earliest drawings of Mickey from the 1920s, possibly from Walt Disney's own hand.

There's just one problem: The chief archivist at Walt Disney Studios, the man entrusted with cataloging and safeguarding Walt's legacy, thinks Stein's drawing is nothing out of the ordinary..."

Click here for the full story.

Saturday, January 6, 2001

More on the Aardman Spying Situation
Animation Artist Magazine was able to locate an online reprint of the London Independent story on spies at Aardman. The article, from the Independent, begins:

"A new and bizarre form of industrial spy has emerged – the animation infiltrator. He must be obsessive, devious and very patient – memorising the most tortuously detailed techniques in the movie business.

The latest victim is the Bristol-based maker of the international hit film Chicken Run.

In a development which could form the plot of a future movie, Hollywood spies are said to have infiltrated the studios of Aardman Animations to find out the secrets of its success..."

Click here for the full story.

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King of the Hill and Futurama Renewed
Fans of "King of the HIll" and "Futurama" will be pleased to learn that Fox has renewed its contract with both shows to make sure they return next season. It will be the sixth season for "King of the Hill" and the fourth season for "Futurama".

Sunday, January 7, 2001

Animated Films Lead Overseas Box Office for Disney
Disney made the most money at the Box Office overseas and its two big power movies were both animated. The first of Disney's two big powerhouse movies overseas in 2000 was Toy Story 2 (which particularly had huge showings in Great Britain, Japan, and France. Dinosaur was the other big one. In worldwide receipts for 2000, Toy Story 2 brought in $210 million while Dinosaur had a $181 million Box Office take.

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