A Quick Study of the Top Ten Domestic Features

Paging through the Hollywood Reporter today, I was amazed by the top movie performers during the first ten months of the year.

Three of the Top Ten films are animated features: Shrek the Third (#2), then Ratatouille (#9). And #10 is either The Simpsons Movie or Happy Feet, depending on whether you have more faith in Box Office Mojo or the Reporter.

But wait, there's more ...

The feature that stands as Numero Uno is Spider Man 3, almost an animated feature unto itself. And right below Shrek rumbles Transformers, which is not only heavy with animation, but derived from an animated series.

Numbers 4-6 -- Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Night at the Museum -- are all pretty much ditto. (Live action bopped up with elaborate CGI squids, dinosaurs and flying wizards.

So. If you squint your eyes, tilt your head and look at the list just right, 50-70% of the whole thing is animated. And whatever else is going on in the business, we do have that encouraging statistic...