World Box Office

Where animated features continue to prosper.

FOREIGN WEEKEND BOX OFFICE -- (Global Totals)

The Martian -- $58,100,000 -- ($227,710,329)

Hotel Transylvania 2 -- $22,700,000 -- ($207,721,641)

Inside Out -- $21,600,000 -- ($818,763,318)

Minions -- $1,400,000 -- ($1,151,000)

As a most excellent trade journal tells us:

... Hotel Transylvania 2 continues to perform in Latin America and added European markets this frame for an overall haul of $22.7M — up 8% over last week. ...

Inside Out posted $21.6M in international box office in 21 territories this session. The worldwide cume is now $818.76M. ...

Minions maintained the No. 1 spot in Greece for the 3rd weekend in a row with a cume of $1.5M there. The international total is $816.8M and the global haul is now $1.151B. All territories have released. ...

The Illumination Entertainment feature has now completed its triumphal run across the globe. The only question now is whether the other mega-hit Inside Out will close the box office gap.





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Super Heroes of an R-Rated Nature

Comic Book Resources relates:

"Batman: Bad Blood" producer James Tucker revealed the animated adaptation of "The Killing Joke" has the potential to be rated R during a Friday night panel at New York Comic Con. CBR has reached out for comment.

When asked about the shift from adaptations of comics to original features, Tucker said, “At first we were pretty much told that’s what we were going to do." He mentioned that, of the three annual films, one tends to be an adaptation, with the next being “Killing Joke.” "They said we could make it an R" for "Killing Joke," Tucker said, quickly adding, "[I'm] not saying that’s what it will be, but we’ll see.” ...

This is a case of internet fan-boys getting overly excited, because there will almost certainly be no R-rated direct-to-video feature getting released by Warner Bro.s Animation.

R-rated animated features for the home market arent part of any entertainment conglomerate's business model. I can just imagine the reaction of an exec on Warner's main lot: "You're going to release a ... WHAT?!"

Won't be happening.

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Box Office Realities

And how did domestic box office actually stack up? Slightly different.

WEEKEND DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE

1). The Martian (FOX), 3,854 theaters (+23) / $10.8M Fri. (-40%) / 3-day cume: $36.5M (-33%)/ Total cume: $108.2M /Wk 2

2). Hotel Transylvania 2 (SONY), 3,768 theaters (+14) / $5.3M Fri. (-29%)/ 3-day cume: $23M (-31%) / Total cume: $119.5M /Wk 3

3). Pan (WB), 3,515 theaters / $5.1M Fri. / 3-day cume: $17.4M /Wk 1

4). The Intern (WB), 3,224 theaters (-96)/ $2.66M Fri. (-26%) / 3-day cume: $8.8M (-25%)/Total cume: $49.7M/Wk 3

5). Sicario (LGF), 2,620 theaters (0) / $2.26M Fri. (-47%)/3-day cume: $7.5M (-38%) /Total cume: $26.9M /Wk 4

6). Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (FOX), 2,838 theaters (-481)/ $1.475M Fri. (-31%) / 3-day cume: $5.29M (-32%)/ Total cume: $70.67M/Wk 4

7). Black Mass (WB), theaters ()/ $946K Fri. (-48%)/ 3-day cume: $3.11M (-47%)/Total cume: $57.5M /Wk 4

8). The Walk (SONY), 2,509 theaters (+2,061)/ $1.15M Fri. (+835%)/ 3-day cume: $3.7M (+310%)/ Total cume: $6.5M /Wk 2

9). Everest (UNI), 2,120 theaters (-889) / $888K Fri. (-45%) / 3-day cume: $3.08M (-45%) /Total cume: $38.3M/Wk 4

10.) The Visit (UNI) 1,759 theaters (-537)/$734K Fri (-335)/3-day cume: $2.5M (-37%)/Total cume: $61.1M/Wk 5

The Martian and Hotel Transylvania 2 will pass the $100 million mark by Sunday. The Martian will win the weekend with a projected $36.7 million, a thirty-two percent decline. Click here to read entire post

Box Office Predictions

The Mojo works its Ouija board and comes up with this.

... It's looking like a second weekend on top for Ridley Scott's The Martian. Expect a $32.5 million second weekend, equalling a drop of 40%. This would be similar to Interstellar's second weekend, looking as if it too will finish it's domestic run around $190 million.

Second place could be close between Hotel Transylvania 2 and Pan, but the Drac Pack should hold on just fine with a third weekend total around $23.2 million. The animated sequel continues to outperform its predecessor and it seems we're only short while away from a third film being officially announced. ...

HT2 will likely end up one of Sony's biggest animated hits, since it's playing well stateside and should do equally robust business across the oceans.

PROPHETIC BOX OFFIcE

The Martian (3,854 theaters) - $32,585,570
Hotel Transylvania 2 (3,768 theaters) - $23,233,488
Pan (3,515 theaters) - $18,453,750
The Intern (3,224 theaters) - $7,595,744
Sicario (2,620 theaters) - $6,560,480
The Walk (2,509 theaters) - $4,681,794
Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (2,838 theaters) - $4,214,430
Black Mass (2,057 theaters) - $3,215,091
The Visit (1,750 theaters) - $2,303,000
Everest (2,115 theaters) - $1,981,755

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Marvel

The Comic Book giant's cartoon arm moves into newer territory.

... Marvel Animation will release an upcoming full-length animated holiday film that will pit such heroes as Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Captain Marvel and the one and only Santa Claus vs. Loki and Ymir.

He, along with Marvel president of television and publishing Dan Buckley teased some artwork featuring Old Saint Nick in his own superhero costume for the film entitled, Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight! Quesada and Buckley stressed that the film will be a family-friendly adventure about the holidays "told in a Marvel way."

They also dropped some information on upcoming Marvel animated shows that will air on Disney XD in 2016. Among them are Avengers: Ultron Revolution. ...

Marvel Animation in Glendale has got a new series in work that hasn't been announced yet, so mum is the word.

What I can say is the studio chugs steadily along, making its super hero episodes. Still in two locations, one of them being a movie studio that's one hundred years old.

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The Oncoming Deluge

There's going to be a whole lotta animated features in the weeks and months ahead, all of them sliding down various distribution chutes:

CARTOONS!

Peanuts
Fox, Blue Sky
November 6, 2015
(28 days from now)

The Good Dinosaur
Disney, Pixar
November 25, 2015
(47 days from now)

Norm of the North
Lionsgate, Splash
January 15, 2016
(98 days from now)

The Nut Job 2
Open Road, Gulfstream, Red Rover, ToonBox
January 15, 2016
(98 days from now)

Kung Fu Panda 3
Fox, DreamWorks
January 29, 2016
(112 days from now)

Zootopia
Disney
March 4, 2016
(147 days from now)

Ratchet & Clank
Focus, Rainmaker
April 29, 2016
(203 days from now)

Angry Birds
Sony, Columbia
May 20, 2016
(224 days from now)

Finding Dory
Disney, Pixar
June 17, 2016
(252 days from now)

The Secret Life of Pets
Universal, Illumination
July 8, 2016
(273 days from now)

Ice Age: Collision Course
Fox, Blue Sky
July 22, 2016 287
(287 days from now)

Kubo and the Two Strings
Focus, Laika
August 19, 2016
(315 days from now)

The Lego Ninjago Movie
Warner Bros
September 23, 2016
(350 days from now) ...

And there's even MORE further out. ...

One point of interest: I thought that DisneyToon Studios was pretty well kaput (as they say in central Europe). But apparently not:

... Disney has claimed April 12, 2019 for an unnamed DisneyToon Studios film.

DisneyToon is the division of Walt Disney Animation Studios that puts out direct-to-video and theatrical features, typically based on existing properties. Their recent releases include the Cars spinoffs Planes and Planes: Fire and Rescue, also the Tinker Bell adventure The Pirate Fairy. ...

DisneyToon Studios, located in sunny Glendale, had a long and lucrative run creating direct-to-video hand-drawn features, all the way back to the early nineties, and after that direct-to-video CG features.

Sadly, the market for Little Silver Disks has withered away in recent years, and with it profits for DisneyToon Studios. In remedy, the Mouse distributed two later titles, Planes and Planes: Fire and Rescue, to theaters worldwide. The first entry did okay but the second was still-born at the box office, even though it garnered a few okay reviews.

At present, there is not much in the way of DisneyToon staff, since the bulk of DTS employees were laid off months ago. Most of the DisneyToon Studios building, next door to Disney TVA on Sonora Avenue, houses Walt Disney Animation Studios personnel who are displaced from the Riverside Hat Building in Burbank at it undergoes renovation.

But DTS can always hire new artists for the new movie, yes?


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The Ever-Expanding Cartoon Universe

This contribution from a newer Burbank Studio.

... [Stoopid Buddy Stoodios] latest project — the stop-motion superhero sendup “SuperMansion” – debuted Thursday on Crackle. The series, created by Senreich and Zeb Wells, is a departure for Stoopid Buddy because it features recurring characters and an ongoing storyline. The episodes are also 22 minutes long, as opposed to the 11-minute “Robot Chicken” episodes. ...

“We have multiple stages with multiple animators, and at any time we could have multiple episodes shot at the same time,” explains [studio co-founder Eric] Towner. “It makes sense for us to set up and light a location, like the ‘SuperMansion’ kitchen where we have reoccurring scenes throughout the entire series. We just light it and keep it up.” ...

“A lot of different projects are happening right now,” says Towner. “We just did a Web series with Bratz, which was really cool. We’re doing a 2D animated show with WWE’s Camp WWE and that’s a new horizon for us. And then there are a bunch of projects we can’t talk about yet. We’re really lucky.”
...

We're happy SBS is doing well. Next we need to get a contract in place ...

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Disney Reshuffles Its (Movie) Deck

The Mouse rearranges its release schedule.

... Disney is making some moves in its long-term schedule, pushing its Toy Story back a year, and rearranging animation, live action and Marvel schedules along with setting an Ant-Man sequel. The news comes as the filmmaker says it's crossed the $4B mark at the global box office ($1.433B domestic, $2.575B international) for the third straight year. ...

Toy Story 4 will now hit wide release June 15, 2018, a year later from its June 2017 slot -- which now makes room for Cars 3 to come out that month. Incredibles 2 is set for June 21, 2019.

Meanwhile, at Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp has gotten the green light and is headed for release July 6, 2018. The low-expectations original earned $178.5M domestically. That means a move for Black Panther (to Feb. 16, 2018, from original July 2018 date) and Captain Marvel, moving from November 2018 to March 8, 2019. ...

When you're a monster entertainment conglomerate looking to maximize profits, you strive to place your feature product into the best possible release window, the better to get an out-sized profit. The way movie companies roll today, a release date is set, then the movie gets made and completed on or before the date, usually come hell or massive crew overtime.

Obviously once in a while features get shuffled around if there's NO way to get them done (this has happened with a select number of Disney/Pixar features, all the way back to Pinocchio, but generally when movies' day and dates are locked, they are locked

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Mooch

You have to be of a certain age to understand the impact and ubiquity of Kevin Corcoran. In the fifties and early sixties, he was the quintessential Disney kid. The kid brother, the title kid, but always the kid who stole scenes wholesale. And Walter E. Disney used him a lot.

Kevin Corcoran, best known to generations of film fans as the youngest brother in the classic, emotionally devastating Disney kids film Old Yeller, has died at 66, his family confirmed today. ...

By the last half of the sixties, he had pivoted away from acting and moved into production, becoming an assistant director and producer on a plethora of movies and television shows, everything from Pete's Dragon (1977) to Sons of Anarchy (2012).

It was a shock to learn that he's gone.

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Contract Battle

Not ours, but others'.

Members of SAG-AFTRA have voted overwhelmingly to give their leaders the authority to call a strike against the video game industry, which is expected to rake in more than $20 billion this year in the U.S. alone. The strike-authorization vote comes after negotiations for a new contract broke off in June. ...

Comes down to leverage, as it so often does. ...

We've had some rugged negotiations over the years, but the video game - SAG-AFTRA negotiations are on a WHOLE different level. Like for instance this corporate proposal.

Our companies ... are seeking onerous sanctions against agents who refuse to send their clients to certain auditions.

“Our employers propose to fine your agent $50,000-$100,000 if they don’t send you out on certain auditions, like Atmospheric Voices or One Hour-One Voice sessions,” the union told its members. “And if your agent chooses not to submit you for certain auditions, the employers want it put into contract language that SAG-AFTRA will revoke the agent’s union franchise." ...

Wow. Like wow. And then this:

[Companies seek] reductions in fees that would “roll back the gains we’ve made in previous contracts” and $2,500 fines against actors who are not “attentive to the services for which they have been engaged.” The guild told its members that “this means you could be fined for almost anything: checking an incoming text, posting to your Twitter feed, even zoning out for a second.”

Yeah. $2,500 fines for cat-napping at a session seem like a dandy idea. That would probably wipe out any wages that an actor received.

But we know what this is about, don't we? This is about not having a contract anymore.

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Bob's

Another prime-time Fox show gets extended.

Fox is cementing the future of Bob's Burgers.

The network has handed out a two-season renewal, taking the animated comedy from 20th Century Fox Television into its seventh and eighth seasons.

The comedy, created by Loren Bouchard and Bento Box Entertainment has been a reliable performer opening the network's Sundays live-action/animated comedy mix. The renewal means Bob's and The Simpsons will likely be paired for the next two broadcast seasons. ...

Bob's has been a staple at Bento Box since its beginning, housed in the company's Burbank Studio. The staff has had some changes over the years, but many of the directors and board artists have been with the show since its early days.

Staffers have been rolling through a hiatus, but the show getting picked up for two more seasons means that artists will have steady employment the next few years, a good thing in this era of shorter schedules and fewer shows in a season order. Prime time cartoons still need orders of twenty-plus episodes.

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401(k) Improvements

Another TAG blog narow-cast.

The Animation Guild 401(k) Plan has been with Vanguard Mutual Funds for a year and two months, and we're pleased to announce that The Target Date Funds have had their usual level of costs reduced. ...

Instead of the retail fee of 16 or 17 or 18 basis points*, the new tier of charges for Target Date Funds will be dropped to 11 basis points.

* One basis point equals 1/100th of a percent.


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Justice League Confusion

A little while back there was this:

In September, a photo surfaced online indicating that Cartoon Network was gearing up for another animated Justice League series. While Warner Bros. declined to comment to CBR News at the time, the photo showed a wall filled with posters representing the cable network's current slate of programming, with a poster emblazoned with the unmistakable "JLA" logo and silhouettes of over a dozen heroes. ...

And then this.

CARTOON NETWORK CONFIRMS NEW JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED SERIES

Following the discovery of the animated Justice League poster from a month ago, now a new animated Justice League series is confirmed by Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Network Canada responded to a fan question on their Facebook page with (via toonzone.net): "We will be premiering a new Justice League series, but not likely until next Fall."

As noted by a forum poster, the Cartoon Network shows usually air later in Canada than in the U.S., so that would mean the new Justice League animated series - speculated to be titled "Justice League Action" - would debut at least in the Fall of 2016. ...

But then today there was this: ...

What Does 'Cartoon Network Cannot Confirm That a New JUSTICE LEAGUE Series Is In Development' Mean'?

Reports surfaced Tuesday that Cartoon Network Canada had confirmed the development of a new Justice League cartoon scheduled to hit airwaves in late 2016, with World's Finest Online, the site that broke the story, speculating that the title would be "Justice League Action."

However, Polygon was able to contact a representative of Cartoon Network who told them, "We cannot confirm that a new Justice League series is in development," before another Cartoon Network spokesperson added "Cartoon Network U.S. makes those announcements, not Cartoon Network Canada." ...

Pretty breathless, newsworthy stuff. But what's the fuss? On August 31st there was this small pice of info:

Warner Bros. Animation

WWE Meets Jetsons
Be Cool, Scooby Doo
Wabbit – wrapping up ... for now.
Bunnicula – multi episodes
Justice League Action – multi episodes
Mike Tyson Mysteries – multi episodes
Teen Titans Go! – multi episodes

So the information was out there. The citizenry simply needed eyes to see.

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Merger and Acquisition

One of the bigger animation studios on the continent has been subsumed by a European entity:

Italian children’s TV producer and distributor Rainbow has expanded into North America with the acquisition of a Canadian animation studio.

Rainbow, which claims to be the largest animation studio in Europe, has bought Vancouver-based Bardel Entertainment for an undisclosed fee.

Bardel, meanwhile, employs 650 artists across three divisions in Canada who provide animation for the likes of Nickelodeon, DreamWorks and Disney. ...

Bardel has been on a tear as the go-to Canadian shop for many American Cartoon Creators. (Never under-estimate the power of Free Money.)

Bardel currently works on nine different animated projects/series, and staffers at the studios down here in Los Angeles tell me that there has been tugging and pulling between majors over who gets Bardel's "A staff" and who has to live with "B staff.

(Disney, from accounts, does not live with B staff.)

But now it looks like Bardel has been purchased by Rainbow, and so changes might be happening. More co-productions? More original content on behalf of the new owner? Be interesting to watch and see.

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Sequelitis

We try not to break news of sequels or originals here, because over the years studios have reamed us for it. (Okay, they've reamed me. Just last week a Disney staffer e-mailed to say that the studio hadn't announced Wreck-It Ralph 2, and I should take it off the "in development" list.

I replied that I would be happy to, except that John C. Reilly had already made the announcement several months before and so it was kind of silly to do that. ...

And I sent him the link to prove it.

Whoops.

But we get it, studios are touchy about premature publicity, and like to have con-TROL. And we do our best to comply with the "Secret" classification to projects we know are going on. Even so, what's getting developed is an endlessly fascinating topic of discussion, particularly when it comes to sequels.

Den of Geek blatted out its take on what second, third and fourth chapters to various originals are now getting made. There are a hell of a lot of animated features on it, so we thought it would be useful to link to it tonight.

Which we've done. And if there are some sequels that have been missed, feel free to tell us.

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Cloudy, the TV Version

We get press releases.

DHX Media has signed a far-reaching deal with Turner Broadcasting for the new animated television series Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series, based on the Sony Pictures Animation blockbuster film franchise.

The 26 x 22' animated series which DHX Media is producing with Sony Pictures Animation, commissioned by TELETOON in Canada, has been picked up by Turner Broadcasting for its second flagship kids channel, Boomerang across EMEA, APAC, and Latin America.

DHX Media handles global television, licensing and merchandising and non-US home entertainment rights to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series (Sony will distribute home entertainment in the US). The series is being produced at DHX's animation studio in Vancouver, BC. ...

There was a time long ago (eighteen months?) when Boomerang was the TV Land of cartoon cable networks. It showed old Warners, M-G-M and Hanna-Barbera product, and not much else.

But then, it used to be commercial free. And the "Look Ma! No ads!" thingie went bye-bye a while ago.

Boomerang steps deeper into the Big Leagues with the Meatballs acquisition, but it's already showing a newer selection of cartoon series. As of today, the network will debut new episodes from six new series, including Wabbit, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, The Garfield Show, Shaun the Sheep, Sonic Boom, and DreamWorks Dragons.


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The Ever-Crowded Field

One more animated feature:

Jamie Foxx has signed on as the voice of the lead character in Groove Tails, a new CGI animated family movie on which he will also serve as co-producer. The story, set in the world of competitive street dancing competitions, but for mice, follows “Biggz”, a mouse deep in debt to a local club hoping to clean up the streets from a group of menacing alley cats, and get the girl.

An AMBI Group presentation of an AMBI and Imprint Entertainment production, animation and production for Groove Tails is being handled by AMBI’s AIC Studios in Toronto. ...

And what is the AMBI Group? An acronym for its owner/operators Monika Bacardi and Andrea Iervolino, (who's produced over forty flicks). Monika, in her mid-fifties, has a sizable fortune, and Andrea, a twenty-seven-year-old Italian-Canadian, has the movie resume and the background in film producing.

This is the second announced animated feature for AMBI. Be interesting to see how it turns out. Quality storyboard artists with feature experience are stretched then right now, so AMBI/AIC has a robust set of challenges ahead of them, getting their pictures made. But we wish them the best.




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The World's Box Office

There are now three fully animated features earning significant bucks across the globe. Apparently world audiences haven't gotten the memo about too many cartoons crowding the market.

WEEKEND FOREIGN BOX OFFICE -- (WORLD TOTALS)

The Martian -- $45,200,000 -- ($100,200,000

Hotel Transylvania 2 -- $20,400,000 -- ($150,341,765)

Inside Out -- $12,600,000 -- ($792,252,737)

Minions -- $6,000,000 -- ($1,145,310,590)

Pixels -- $1,800,000 -- ($236,315,894)

Jurassic World -- $400,000 -- ($1,664,000) ...

And a fine trade journal tells us:

... HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 continued to bring in audiences with another $20.4M on over 6,300 screens in 50 markets. It has kept very strong holds in its second weekend, dropping only 33% overall. The international cume on this animated family film from Sony rose to $59.8M in only 34% of its international footprint. ...

Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s Minions on Friday weekend passed Iron Man 3’s $806.4M tally to become the 10th highest-grossing film of all time internationally. This comes after last weekend, the animated family film passed Transformers: Dark of the Moon’s worldwide total ($1.124B) to become the 10th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. The weekend haul for Minions this weekend is another $6M in 44 territories for a new international cume of $811.4M.

Inside Out opened to No. 1 and with a whopping $7.1M in Germany this weekend. ... It's also now the highest-grossing Disney Animation or Pixar release of all time in Singapore and Thailand. And to top that off, it is also the highest-grossing Disney release of all time in Israel (animated or live-action). ... Tuesday, the animated film will bow in its final market of China. ...

And the world's thirst for animated features remains unquenched.

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Still More Animation

There can never be too many players, I guess.

Scooter Braun’s SB Projects is jumping into animation with Rock Angels, a new children’s series co-produced with Cyber Group Studios and featuring original music. The announcement was made by SB Projects COO Scott Manson at MIPCOM, the annual global entertainment conference in Cannes, France. ...

The new series represents SB Projects’ continued expansion into film and TV, which includes the successful CBS drama Scorpion, now in its second season, the new MTV series Todrick and the upcoming live action movie Jem and the Holograms (out October 23). ...

SB Projects is headquartered on 8th Avenue in New York City. It's a shame they're going to Paris for their animation expertise instead of Los Angeles, but maybe that will change.

Maybe, after more SB animated projects get produced. They will move the carnival in the other directions.

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Guide To Aging

Matt Groening Productions sent me Grampa Simpson's Guide to Aging, the fifth installment in the "Vault of Simpsonology" series by Mr. Groening (the writers here are Bill Morrison and Karen Bates.) It's an amusing, comic-laden piffle of 64 pages; since I'm now at the stage of life where I'm wading more deeply into Geezerhood, these pointed questions caught my eye. ..

AM I OLD?

1) When riding in the passenger seat of a car, do you constantly grab the armrest and slam your foot against the imaginary brake in your floorboard?

2) Have you ever asked the question, "Have you seen my teeth?" (But not in a bragging way.)

3) Does the skin on your upper arms keep moving several seconds after the rest of you has stopped?

4) When buying new pants, do you measure your waist closer to your sternum than your navel? ...

6) Have you ever thought to yourself: :I need a bigger medicine cabinet?"

7) Does Harrison Ford still look young to you? ...

12) When you meet strangers, do they automatically start talking loudly and slowly? ...

29) Do you have several pairs of reading glasses strategically placed around your house? ...

I found that most of these hit painfully close to home.

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