Japanese Cartoon Dominance

Variety tells us that there are new box office champs in Japan:

"DuelMasters" and "Penguin Problem" (Penguin no mondai), a double bill of toons for kiddies, topped the Japanese box office for the weekend of Sept. 19-20, ending the three-week reign of sci-fi epic "20th Century Boys 3."

I am fully resigned to the fact that animation will always be the ugly, bastard step-child of the movie industry when it comes to awards. Best picture? Yeah, like when pit bulls fly. Best screenplay? It will happen right around the moment the sun implodes and creates a black hole.

Ah, but the marketplace, that's a different deal altogether. Animation has become a major force there, and will probably continue to be one, because audiences keep showing up to watch the movies.

Funny how that works.