Now with Deadly Add On!
Sitting in hotels and airports on a travel day -- what fun. Therefore, a few links for a Monday.
Director/animator Will Finn provides kudos to the little-seen but well-regarded A Town Called Panic.
Without a doubt, one of the most original films I have ever seen, animated or otherwise. Recklessly and relentlessly funny and oddly touching at the same time; it's a triumph of pure and simple film technique and outrageous narrative originality ...
Floyd Norman remembers Ward Kimball's space unit at Walt Disney Productions:
... The entire second floor space of D-wing was occupied by Ward Kimball's unit, and they seemed to exist in a world all their own. I do not exaggerate when I say they were probably Disney's most creative and innovative animation department. They did things other animation units would never dare, and they got away with most of it even though their boss, Walt Disney was known to be a micro manager. How did this happen, you might wonder? There were two things, really. Disney knew his Directing animator, now turned producer could deliver the goods. Second, the Old Maestro was preoccupied with his theme park and other matters that left him distracted. This meant Ward Kimball could run things his way because a lot of it was being done "under the radar." ...
The Wall Street Journal thinks Disney's movie division will be fueling corporate earnings.
... When Walt Disney Co. reports quarterly financial results on Tuesday, all eyes will be on its movie studio.
The April to June period included a sizable chunk of monster box-office take for "Alice in Wonderland" and, thanks to an early home-video release, the first month of DVD and Blu-ray sales. On top of that, "Toy Story 3" took in $258 million domestically in June and went on to become the Pixar unit's second biggest-grossing title ever, behind "Finding Nemo." ...
Discovery/Hasbro's Hub is, per the L.A. Times, close to its start date.
The Hub, a new kids' cable channel being launched by Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc., will spend roughly $20 million to hype its Oct. 10 launch and is setting its sights on younger viewers as other kids' channels aim for teens.
Although the Hub, which will launch in about 60 million homes, is still keeping its schedule close to its vest, the network's Chief Executive Margaret Loesch, a veteran kids' television programmer, thinks there is an opening for the channel to woo kids and the advertisers trying to reach them.
"Our competition is starting to age up," Loesch said at the Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour in Los Angeles. The Hub will focus primarily on viewers in the 6-to-12 age range ...
According to this article, Tarzan could be getting a 3D facelift.
Germany's Constantin Film is swinging into "Tarzan," launching development of a 3D animated feature.
The English-language pic will be produced inhouse by Robert Kulzer and Reinhard Klooss. Constantin acquired animation rights to the "Tarzan" novels from the estate of author Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Add On: During flight yesterday, the Nikkster published this:
... Yikes, another crazy busy day. Bkft with Cyma Zarghami (pres of Nick) to discuss out series. Penguins continues to be very strong (3rd highest rated show 2-11yr). We have already been given a second season pickup for KFP series and it won't even go on the air until fall 2011 after our feature film has been released. Big promotional/advt pushes lined up for our launch of Megamind and KFP2. Back at studio I spent 2 hrs with Croods and saw fantastic and very imaginative presentations of characters, creatures, and world. REALLY exciting and unique. ...
Lastly: Forbes, always quick on the uptake, points out that animated features rule the summertime box office.
Toy Story 3 ... is the summer's top earner at the box office, taking in $895 million worldwide as of Monday. Sure, it's in 3-D, which often means as much as $5 more per ticket. But the movie also got rave reviews... It has now earned more than the first two movies in the series combined. ...
In second place is Shrek Forever After from DreamWorks Animation ( DWA - news - people ). With $663 million in earnings globally, the final Shrek film is $232 million behind Toy Story 3. It's the worst performing of the four Shrek films in the U.S., but it gets a boost from the overseas box office, which represents 64% of the film's earnings.
Have a glorious Wednesday.
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6 comments:
re: Tarzan...
Why does someone have to get "rights" to a public domain novel written in 1912?
Isn't that a bit like buying the Brooklyn Bridge?
A Town Called Panic is currently available to play instantly on Netflix streaming.
It's a must see.
Tarzan is still controlled by the family. The characters are trademarked, and as long as the family continues to promote their ownership, they control it. They own John Carter of Mars, too. Burroughs was an extremely finicky businessman--more interested in licensing than writing, which is how he made his fortune. He wasn't a particularly good writer, anyway.
^Kinda like J.K. Rowling.
Seriously. I've tried to re-read some of the Harry Potter books, and they're all...crap, with the possible exception of the Prisoner of Azkaban, which does have a spark of fun and humor in it. But god, the others are such a long dull badly-written slog. Once you know what happens, there's nothing in the prose that rewards a second perusal. And that hack is a billionaire...
"Toy Story 3" took in $258 million domestically in June and went on to become the Pixar unit's second biggest-grossing title ever, behind "Finding Nemo."
The article that provided this information must either be dated or misinformed because according to Box Office Mojo "Toy Story 3" is Pixar's highest grossing film ever, both in the domestic and the worldwide box office. In the domestic, "Toy Story 3" is no. 11 while "Finding Nemo" is no. 18. In the worldwide, "Toy Story 3" is no. 16 while "Finding Nemo" is no. 21.
Burroughs was an extremely finicky businessman--more interested in licensing than writing, which is how he made his fortune. He wasn't a particularly good writer, anyway.
I haven't read Burroughs, but Gore Vidal -- an author I have read -- reviewed Burroughs work and said the man did one thing most writers can't do, and did it well -- write action.
Vidal also opined that Burroughs's dialogue was ... uh ... tinny.
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