Tom Sito's Month in History

Focused, as always, on cartoons and other types of movies. (Note: A few items below have earlier appeared as single items, for which apologies. )

Oct. 1, 1945 - Looney Tunes director Frank Tashlin leaves the cartoon business to work full time at Paramount doing live action movies. There, he writes for the Marx Brothers and later directs the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis comedies.

Oct. 1, 1992 - Cartoon Network first goes on the air.

Oct. 2, 2004 - Dreamworks film "Sharktale" opens in theaters.

Oct. 2, 1950 - Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” comic strip debuts. Schulz’s strip “Little Folks” was initially rejected by all major comic syndicates. Three months before the strip was accepted, his fiancée breaks off their engagement. He had left his job at the post office and she was convinced he would never amount to anything. Good ol’ Charlie Brown was the name of a fellow post office worker all the guy’s liked to play jokes on. At the time of his death Charles Schulz had mountains on the moon named for his characters, and he was arguably the richest visual artist on earth.

Oct. 2, 1958 - Hanna & Barbera’s "The Huckleberry Hound Show" debuts.

Oct. 3, 1955 - The Mickey Mouse Club TV Show premiers. “Who’s the leader of
the Band that’s made for you and me...?”

Oct. 3, 1957 - Walter Lantz’s "The Woody Woodpecker T.V. Show" debuts.

Oct. 3, 1964 – “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!” Underdog debuts on NBC.

Oct. 5, 1969 - "Monty Python’s Flying Circus" debuts on British television BBC-1.

Oct. 7, 1993 - Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” with CG dinosaurs earned $712 million dollars in North American box office alone. A feat not equaled until "Titanic" five years later.

Oct. 8, 1933 - HOLLYWOOD ACTOR’S FIRST MASS PROTEST- When Franklin Roosevelt created the NRA to fix wages and prices to try and solve the Depression, he even went as far as to try to regulate Motion Picture rates and fees. The catch was the rates were drafted with the advice of friends of the studio heads in Washington. The actors went ballistic when they saw new rules such as a ceiling cap on actors salaries of $100,000 a year (the producers had no such cap), restriction of actors independent agents, and terms of an old salary contract would stay in effect even after the contract expired until it was renegotiated.

This night, at the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Blvd., hundreds of movie stars met to draft a petition calling for rewriting of the codes. The activists included Paul Muni, Frederic March, Jeanette MacDonald, Groucho Marx and Boris Karloff. SAG president Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz) was considered politically too far left to face Roosevelt, so he stepped down in favor of comedian Eddie Cantor, who had helped Vaudeville acts unionize. Cantor went to the president’s retreat at Warm Springs Georgia with the petition and had the hated articles taken out of the code.

Oct 11, 1960 - "The Bugs Bunny Show" premiers on TV. “Overture, hit the lights! This is it, we’ll hit the heights, and oh what heights we’ll hit.....etc..”

Oct. 11, 1967 - The NY Times prints an image of a nude female by Bell Lab artist-in-residence Ken Knowlton. The image was rendered on a computer as a mosaic of thousands of numbers was a breakthrough for CGI.

Oct. 12, 1937 - Under pressure from parent Paramount Studio, Max Fleischer signs the first animation union contract and settles the Cartoonist strike begun May 8th. The following year, Fleischer tries to escape the union by moving his studio to Right-To-Work State Florida. The additional expenses and poor box office ruin his studio.

Oct 12, 1994 - Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg announce the partnership named Dreamworks SKG.

Oct. 13, 1978 - Mickey Mouse gets his star on Hollywood Blvd Walk of Fame.

Oct. 15, 1946 - Walt Disney’s film "Make Mine Music" premieres.

Oct. 16, 1923 - Walt Disney Studios Born. 22-year-old Walt and his older brother Roy sign a deal with M.J.Winkler for six “Alice in Cartoonland” short cartoons. Budget - $1,500 each.

Oct. 17, 1990 - IMDB.com, the Internet Movie Data Base, debuts.

Oct. 18, 1967 - Walt Disney’s last cartoon done under his supervision “The Jungle Book.” premieres. Disney had died the previous December.

Oct. 20, 1955 - J.R.R. Tolkein’s last book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy,
The Return of the King, publishes.

Oct. 22, 1941 - Walt Disney’s "Dumbo" premieres.

Oct. 24, 1947 - Walt Disney testifies to the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) as a friendly witness. He accuses members of the Cartoonists Guild and the League of Women Voters, which he mistakenly calles the “League of Women Shoppers”, as being infiltrated by Communists “Seeking to subvert the Spirit of Mickey Mouse’.

Oct. 24, 1994 - Walt Disney TVA’s "Gargoyles" premieres.

Oct. 27, 1954 - Walt Disney breaks with other Hollywood movie studios, who feel television will cut into feature revenues, and debuted their TV show “Disneyland” today.

Oct. 27, 1966 - Bill Melendez "Peanuts" TV special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” premieres.

Oct. 28, 1726 - Johnathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels” - “To Vex the World rather than divert it.”

Oct. 28, 1892 - Pauvre Pierrot, the first cartoon to be projected in France, premieres.

Oct. 29, 1969- THE BIRTH OF THE INTERNET- In the basement of UCLA’s Boelter Hall, Lick Licklider, Vincent Cerf, Robert Kahn, Lawrence Roberts and Bob Taylor set up the first call to Stanford. “We typed the ‘L’ and we asked on thephone‘Didyouseethe‘L’?’ ‘Yes,weseethe‘L’,wastheresponse.Thenwe typed O and asked ‘Did you see the O?’ ‘Yes, we see the O’, was the response. Then we typed G, and then the system crashed!” They called it ARPANET- Advanced Research Projects Agency-NET, a few years later, it became the Internet.

Oct. 30, 1994 - Nickelodeon premieres "Aaah! Real Monsters!"

Birthdays: Julie Andrews, Zack Galifianakis, Satoshi Kon, Harvey Kurtzman, Bill Keane, Art Babbitt, Guillermo Del Toro, Pete Doctor, Jodie Benson (voice of Ariel - Little Mermaid), Rod Scribner, Mike Judge, Virgil Partch, Jerry Siegel, Auguste Lumiere, Trey Parker, Jerry Ohrbach (voice of Lumiere – "Beauty and the Beast"), Mary Blair, Preston Blair, Bob Kane, Picasso, Bill Tytla, Seth McFarlane, Bernie Wrightson, Ralph Bakshi, Bill Mauldin, Ollie Johnston.

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Two Feature Directors,Two Comic Books

Multi media never goes out of style.

... DWA feature director Dean DeBlois and Dreamworks’ Dragons show writer Richard Hamilton are teaming up with Dark Horse Comics to bring How to Train your Dragon to comics through a series of graphic novels. The first, titled The Serpent’s Heir, will be released in 2016. ...

Lu: So Dean, how does it feel to be accomplishing your dream of publishing a comic?

DeBlois: Feels amazing! A lot of things are becoming kind of full circle for me. I was such a comics fan when I was a kid and it was my escape. I grew up pretty poor and there was a little smoke shop in a strip mall very close to my house. They knew I was a poor kid so they would let me come in on weekends and read everything on the rack for free. Then I’d commit it all to memory and go home and draw. I owe my story-telling sense, my drawing ability and my general sense of imagination to the many comic books that I was a fan of when I was a kid. ...v

And the other comic book project, from Hotel Transylvania helmer Genddy Tartakosky:

Newsarama spoke with Tartakovsky about his Luke Cage comic, as well as the Hotel Transylvania movies

Nrama: I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding your Luke Cage comic book series. Specifically: Have you heard from Marvel, since the announcement you made about the book? Tom Brevoort said on Facebook that you should contact him…

Tartakovsky: Really? I hadn’t heard that. I’ll have to get up with him. My old editor on the Luke Cage series, he’s not even at Marvel any more, he got up with me. But I haven’t had a chance to really look around yet.

Nrama: We had heard from your former editor that Paul Rudish, your frequent collaborator and co-creator of Sym-Bionic Titan, was being talked to about finishing the book off your art.

Tartakovsky: We had been talking to Paul, but that was a while back – and he’s busy these days, doing the Mickey Mouse shorts. I think I would probably be able to finish it on my own.

Nrama: Have you talked to Marvel at all since the Disney acquisition?

Tartakovsky: I haven’t....

Nrama: Do you have any thoughts on it?

Tartakovsky: I think it’s good. As long as Marvel gets to be kind of autonomous, I think things will be fine. ...

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Fighting for a Slice of the Moolah

A fine entertainment journal tells us:

‘Doc McStuffins’ Star Sues Disney Over Merchandise Revenues & Pay Delays

... In a breach of contract complaint filed today in L.A. Superior Court, [voice-over actress] Kiara Muhammed from the Disney Junior show "Doc McStuffins" alleges that despite the widespread use of her voice and likeness from the first two and a half seasons of the animated series “defendants have failed to compensate plaintiff at the rate of two and one-half (2.5%) of net merchandising receipts.” ...

Having also recently shown up on that other big Disney Junior hit Sofia The First, Muhammad not only alleges that she has never been paid the 2.5% of net merch receipts for Doc McStuffins Season 2 and 2.5. but also claims she has not been provided with “an accounting of the merchandise that makes use of Plaintiff’s recorded voice.” ...

All I can say is, I am shocked.

Would Disney do things like this? Only like since forever. (Peggy Lee showed up in court sitting in a wheelchair, but she ultimately prevailed in getting her share of the action for the bajillions that Lady and the Tramp pulled in.)

This will be useful to follow.

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The Empire Leans Forward

Diz Co. makes more revenue streams.

... Disney is launching a UK streaming service that will combine its animated and live action movies, books, television series and music into a single offering. Disneylife, which will be priced at just under $15 a month, will offer Disney Channel episodes as well as content across books, albums and movies, including the complete Pixar catalogue as well as classic Disney titles such as Snow White and Cinderella. ...

Yesterday a stock analyst suggested that Disney should acquire Netflix as its next trophy, but Diz Co. has other ideas. Why buy Netflix when you can create Netflix? One whale of a lot cheaper.

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What Laura Said

TAG's newest executive board member shares thoughts on the biz.

It's on You

After having students reach out to me, talking at colleges, and hearing what my peers have to say, I've really begun noticing a trend in students now. That would be entitlement.

Here is the number one thing every student should know;

You don't deserve anything.

Just because you went to school, or because you are talented, doesn't mean the world will hand you the job you want once you have graduated. I know it may suck to hear it, but this industry is hard work.

Whether you attend CalArts or an Arts Institutes, YOU are responsible for the work you produce the entire time you are in school. A degree doesn't mean much, its what you actually take away from it. You need to be aware of what else is being produced out there and hold your art to your own standards (which may be higher than what your school expects of you). ...

Here's the thing: making it in Cartoonland takes

1) Luck

2) Work and tenacity

3) Skill and talent

4) Education

5) Political chops

6) Luck

In other words the profession is a crap shoot. Also sometimes a sweat shop. Also (on occasion) a creative paradise.

I've had twenty years of newbies coming to my office and asking "How do I get into animation?" I tell all of them the same thing, that there are a bajillion different goat paths to the Promised Land, any fifty of which can lead to the mountaintop of success and moderately okay bucks ... or down to some dark canyon of non-employment and failure. Newbies come in as production assistants, trainees, and low-level administrators. Sometimes the transition from student to industry worker takes two weeks; sometimes a decade.

Added to which, people can go along for thirty years, never out of work, then the industry goes south taking a lot of quality artists with it. Because animation is a roller coaster and the only constant anybody can bank on is that boom times will follow recessions (and vice versa), over and over again.

Also too, when artists, writers and technicians hit the magical age of fifty-six, it's harder to get work because their network of contacts (usually older) have retired and the younger co-workers yukking it up down the hall have their own network, and the old-timers aren't in it.

So all in all, animation can be a frustrating, maddening profession. but when it clicks on all cylinders, it can provide a satisfying career in ways that holding a boom mike or pushing a camera dolly on a live-action set cannot. That's why so many twenty-three-year-olds are beating on the doors trying to get in.

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Parity

WIA strives to level the playing field:

Women in Animation, the organization that supports women in all aspects of the animation industry, is tackling the issue of gender parity with a new initiative called 50-50 by 2025. Most animation students these days are women, but only about 20% of the creative workforce is made up of women. WIA is hoping this new initiative will help to change that.

“What is the disconnect between graduation and employment? How can we stem the attrition of women?” said producer Jinko Gotoh, WIA chairperson and moderator of a panel taking place at the currently ongoing View Conference in Turin, Italy. “We need to take a hard look at the real numbers needed to reach this goal.” ...

The animation industry is marginally better than other parts of the entertainment industry. Marginally.

But old habits are hard to break. For years women were relegated to ink and paint, checking, and other technical jobs, most on the back end of carton production. Today women make up 21% of the creative side of the animation biz. Not particularly great, but (as we said) better than some sectors of the above-the-line guilds.

... In the film sector, women [live-action] writers fell further behind their white male counterparts in 2012, accounting for just 15 percent of sector employment (down from 17 percent in 2009). Women remained underrepresented by a factor of more than 3 to 1 among screenwriters. ...

Hopefully gender trend lines will continue to narrow.

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Building a Performance

... one pixel at a time.

... Producer Neal Moritz and director James Wan wanted “Furious 7” to remain faithful to the film they had started, and to include as much of [the late Paul] Walker as possible in scenes that hadn’t been filmed. Weta ended up doing a whopping 350 shots, most of them involving Walker’s character. ...

The team went through old footage, building a reference library of Walker as Brian O’Conner by using outtakes from “Furious 7” and previous films in the franchise. But those moments had been filmed in one lighting environment and the Weta team “essentially had to relight his performance” digitally for each new scene, said Letteri. ...

[Weta visual effects supervisor Martin] Hill says the first goal was to create a photo-real digital human who can believably move and act onscreen. “That’s a high bar in itself, to create that. Beyond that, this actor was known to millions of fans, and this had to be Paul Walker — more specifically, Walker in character as Brian O’Conner.”

For a scene in Los Angeles, the principal characters all stand in a line, and Walker’s character “is giving meaningful looks to the others and delivering dialog, and he’s full frame. That visual effects work had to be invisible,” says Hill. ...

So the question is, when will live actors be eliminated from movies altogether?

At some point, it's all artists in front of computers. Digital stunt doubles now do high falls. Aliens interact with humans. How long before John Wayne, Cary Grant, and Paul Newman (from the "Butch Cassidy" era) start making new block-buster motion pictures?

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Irresistible

... Force.



And of course, we're not talking about one of the plot strands in The Franchise from Far, Far Away. ...

We're talking about the marketing juggernaut that is Diz Co. Because tickets for #7 are now on sale, and people are going nutso:

... Theater chains began offering advance ticket sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which hits theaters two months from today on December 18. ... Legions of Star Wars fans immediately rushed to online ticket sellers to secure their seats but alas, the force is not strong with them. The sudden rush of demand from Jedi-happy fans has caused loading issues and site outages on purchasing platforms including Fandango, the Alamo Drafthouse, and AMC Theaters.

Which leads to:

While movie ticketing and theater websites are struggling to remain running (if they are at all, and as of now, many are not), some lucky fans have already snagged more than enough tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and are selling their extras on eBay — at prices that would only be reasonable to a mentally insane person. And yet, someone will buy these. Someone will spend over $400 on Star Wars tickets. ...

Come next Spring, when Disney stock has gone up 30% and Robert Iger is being hailed as the gifted visionary who bought LucasFilm for a song and really made something out of it, (and the Disney Board is begging him to please stay on as CEO for an extra ... oh ... twenty-seven years), other moguls will be shaking their heads wondering why they didn't grab Mr. Lucas's assets first.

But remember, only one entertainment conglomerate is the Berkshire Hathaway of entertainment conglomerates, and that's the one that has a rodent in red shorts as its corporate symbol.

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Jungle Book

Not the barbershop quartet.

Walt Disney's last personally-supervised animated feature was released on this date in 1967, ten months after Disney's death from lung cancer in the hospital across the street from his studio. ...

Vance Gerry, one of the story artists on JB, told me more than once that Walt brushed off artists' complaints that the story didn't hold together. Vance related that Walt said not to worry, the episodic plot wasn't going to be a problem.

He turned out to be right.

On the other hand, as President Emeritus Tom Sito points out:

At the end sequence, Mowgli meets four vultures who talk like the Beatles but sing barbershop quartet.

That’s because the characters were supposed to sing a Beatles parody song, but Walt felt the group would soon be forgotten. He didn't want to date the film. ...

Only proving that even movie geniuses are occasionally wrong.


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International Box Office

The usual animation suspects -- Hotel Transylvania 2, Inside Out, Minions -- are still raking in coin.

Weekend Foreign Box Office -- (World Totals)

The Martian -- $37,000,000 -- ($319,195,658)

Ant-Man -- $43,500,000 -- ($454,653,000)

Hotel Transylvanis 2 -- $30,600,000 -- ($267,509,388)

Goosebumps -- $23,500,000 -- ($23,500,000)

Pan -- $14,400,000 -- ($72,838,183)

The Little Prince -- $10,000,000 -- ($38,000,000)

Inside Out -- $6,300,000 -- ($831,645,000)

Minions -- $880,000 -- $1,153,000)

As one of our fine entertainment journals describe this week's global box office:

... [Ant-Man] grew by $43.5M internationally this weekend, bringing the offshore cume to $275.9M and the global total to $454.6M. Of the weekend take, $43.2M was from China in an impressive start there. ...

Hotel Transylvania 2 checked into an additional six markets this weekend grossing $30.6M internationally as it leverages ongoing and upcoming school holidays. ... An additional $6.3M for Inside Out’s 18th offshore frame came from 22 markets. Maintaining No. 1s in Germany and Austria in the charmer’s 3rd week. ...

Universal’s Minions are still frolicking about the globe as they slowly head towards the end of a record-breaking run. With an extra $880K in 40 territories this session, the henchmen have raised the international total to $818.4M. ...

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BOGLEHEAD MONEY ADVICE FROM EXPERTS

Last week, the Mrs. and I attended a series of financial seminars in Philadelphia, at what's come to be known as the "Bogleheads" annual get-together.

Among questions covered: How does a person invest money for retirement? What does a person invest in? What's the American economy going to be doing in the years ahead? Here are some answers given by Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, former Vanguard chief financial officer Gus Sauter, and financial gurus Bill Bernstein and Rick Ferri:

John C. Bogle on asset allocation:

Vanguard's Total Bond Fund is, I think, too heavy on government bonds. When I set it up, bonds were paying over 7% and it seemed fine. Now interest rates are 2%, and I think it's advisable to have more short term and some intermediate term corporates.

Regarding stocks, I don't believe anyone needs to invest in foreign equities. Foreign countries are 50% of large U.S. companies' markets, so if somebody invests in Vanguard's Total Stock Market or the S & P 500, they get exposure to non U.S. markets that way.

People ask if Japanese investors would be advised to invest in their home market the way I suggest Americans do in the United States, but there's a big difference the two countries. The U.S. has an economy that has the most robust entrepreneur ship, the most transparency and strong laws protecting private property. Japan's economy is nothing like the United states'. It's structure, controlled and much more "top down" and command-orented than the U.S. economy is. ...

Gus Sauter on investments and the American economy:

Stock markets don't necessarily increase at the rate of a country's Gross Domestic Product growth. Over the last century, the American economy grew at twice the rate of the United Kingdom's, yet both Britain's and the United States' equity markets returned 10.1%.

A major reason American Gross Domestic Product (GDP) isn't growing fast is demographics. Baby Boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) are leaving the work force; many are past their peak earning years, and since they're a huge segment of the population, it impacts economic growth. Generation X, those born from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s, are now in their highest earning years but the group is not large relative to Baby Boomers. This contributes to the slower growth of the economy.

Generation Y (late 1970s to middle 1990s) is a much larger population segment, larger than the baby boom generation (71 million to 65 million), but the group has not yet reached its peak earning years. When it does, the economy will expand at a faster rate. ...

William J. Bernstein on tilting to Small Cap and Value equities:

In the past, tilting to U.S. Small Cap stocks in your portfolio, and tilting to Value brought investors higher returns over time. Of late, however, investors' money has been pouring into Small Cap and Value and so I don't think these market segments will outperform Large Cap by much in the future, maybe a half or one percent over time, if investors are lucky.

The game is now very small ball.

Going forward, Small Cap and Value premiums will, I think, be found in Emerging Markets. Investors might be looking at a five percent premium there, and perhaps a two to three percent premium in international developed economies. ...

Rick Ferri on saving, asset allocation and investing in foreign markets:

... Let's step back and look at the three legs on a successful index investing stool. They are philosophy, strategy and discipline.

Philosophy is your belief about how to achieve the returns you need to make your life easier. Do you believe you can outperform the markets with market timing or security selection, or do you believe you're better off getting a fair share of market return through a sensible long-term asset allocation and low-cost market matching funds? ...

Strategy is how you implement the philosophy. Here, we are all different. My portfolio is different than your portfolio. The asset allocation and security selection is based on each of our own individual needs and in some cases our desires and beliefs. Jack Bogle would prefer to get his international exposure through US stocks. I prefer to use between 30-40 percent in international unhedged equity. Who is right and who is wrong? Who cares! It doesn't matter much because it's the allocation to stocks and bonds, broad diversification and low fees that matters most. To use foreign or not use foreign isn't the cake, it's the icing on the cake.

... The third leg to all this is Discipline. This is the ability to implement your strategy and maintain though all market conditions. You can do this only when your philosophy is pure. You keep your philosophy pure by continuing education. ...

My take-away from everything I heard is, broad asset allocation is the most important aspect of investing. How much you put into stocks, how much you put into bonds, and how much you save over the course of your career are the most important things.

Everything else -- the tilts, the rebalancing, -- is just icing on your pile of assets.

Here's a write-up from the Bogleheads meeting from a year ago. Not much has changed.

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The REAL Box Office

So the weekend b.o. has some newbies at the top of the list.

U.S. BOX OFFICE

1). Goosebumps (SONY), 3,501 theaters / $7.35M Fri. / 3-day cume: $24.5M /Wk 1

2). The Martian (FOX), 3,701 theaters (-153) / $6.4M Fri. (-40%) / 3-day cume: $22M (-41%)/ Total cume: $144.5M /Wk 3

3). Bridge Of Spies (DIS), 2,811 theaters / $5.35M Fri. / 3-day cume: $15.9M /Wk 1

4). Crimson Peak (UNI), 2,984 theaters / $5.29M Fri. / 3-day cume: $13M /Wk 1

5). Hotel Transylvania 2 (SONY), 3,533 theaters (-235) / $3.35M Fri. (-37%)/ 3-day cume: $12.8M (-37%) / Total cume: $137M /Wk 3

6). Pan (WB), 3,515 theaters (0) / $1.67M Fri. (-68%) / 3-day cume: $6M (-61%) /Total cume: $25.85M /Wk 2

7). The Intern (WB), 2,707 theaters (-517)/ $1.69M Fri. (-36%) / 3-day cume: $5.5M (-37%)/Total cume: $58.8M/Wk 4

8). Woodlawn (PURE), 1,553 theaters / $1.48M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.6M /Wk 1

9). Sicario (LGF), 2,130 theaters (-490) / $1.34M Fri. (-41%)/3-day cume: $4.4M (-42%) /Total cume: $34.6M /Wk 5

10). Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (FOX), 1,976 theaters (-871)/ $791K Fri. (-47%) / 3-day cume: $2.76M (-49%)/ Total cume: $75.4M/Wk 5

Transylvania 2 has a relatively small drop week to week, Number Two is keeping pace with Number One (and even a bit ahead of the original, by our reckoning).

Currently the picture has the kid trade all to itself.


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Box Office Predictions

As foretold by the Mojo.

THE WEEKEND FORECAST

Goosebumps (3,501 theaters) - $31,596,525
The Martian (3,701 theaters) - $24,052,799
Bridge of Spies (2,811 theaters) - $19,677,000
Crimson Peak (2,983 theaters) - $15,213,300
Hotel Transylvania 2 (3,533 theaters) - $12,457,358
Pan (3,515 theaters) - $6,892,915
The Intern (2,707 theaters) - $6,074,508
Woodlawn (1,500 theaters) - $5,250,000
Sicario (2,130 theaters) - $4,775,460
Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (1,967 theaters) - $3,115,728 ...

With another $12.5 million in the moneybag, Hotel Transylvnia 2 will be closing in on a $150 million domestic gross.

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3k

The Animation Guild now has 3,000 members. Officially. ....

This is a new high in unionized animation work.

In the seventies and early eighties, TAG moved through the space-time continuum with 1200 to 1500 card-carrying members. This was in the days when ink-and-paint departments still exited in studios, and lots of television animation was done in-house. Disney took its own sweet, leisurely time turning out a new animated feature every few years.

By the middle eighties the Los Angeles animation biz was sputtering. Ink-and-paint work, with the exception of the Disney feature department, had jetted off to Asia. TV animation was disappearing in the same direction. Digital and traditional cel painting jobs were gone, assistant animation was a thing of the past, small screen production work could be found in Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines. Very little of it was happening in Southern California.

Then in 1989, Filmation closed its doors after a 26-year run, and the only thing left in Los Angeles on the television side was scripts, storyboards, and key design work. Disney was about to release The Little Mermaid, but active membership in the Animation Guild had dropped to 700 people.

And that, ladies and gents, turned out to be the bottom of a deep, dark canyon.

At the end of the year, Disney's feature-length, Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale turned out to be a game changer, and staff at the Mouse House was expanded. Warner Bros. Animation, breathing new life as it developed Tiny Toon Adventures with Spielberg. Lucrative syndication deals was making small-screen cartoon a viable product and various studios upped their output. Disney Television Animation introduced a package of new product with "The Disney Afternoon" and Disney Feature went on a tear: Beauty and the Beast was followed by Aladdin after which came The Lion King, and the money poured in.

Which caused other entertainment conglomerates, anxious to cash in on the cartoon bonanza, to build their own feature studios.

By now it was the mid 1990s. Jeffrey Katzenberg was thrown overboard at Disney and swam off to found DreamWorks (and its feature animation unit) with Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Geffen. Warner fielded its own long-form cartoon division, as did 20th-Century Fox, and the Animation Guild had a record high 2800 members.

That turned out to be the crest of the wave. Hand-drawn animated features began to falter at the box office, and by the end of the decade Disney was laying off hundreds of long-time animation employees. Syndication money dried up, and TV work contracted.

From the turn of the century to the late oughts, animation was again in the doldrums, and the Guild's active membership dropped back to 1500, back where it had been when Hanna-Barbera was churning out animated half-hours with care-free abandon and much of the animation was done in L.A. It's only been in the last three years with new distribution channels (Netflix, Amazon, Disney XD, Cartoon Network) and record-breaking profits for theatrical CG animation that the tide has (again) rolled in, lifting one hell of a lot of boats.

So today we celebrate a new high in membership for the Guild. Animation is always a roller coaster, but currently it rides on high demand and profits ... and the entertainment conglomerates' strong desire to create more profit with ambitious slates of TV and movie theater cartoons.

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Meantime, Down South

Georgia is serious about ramping up its movie and television business.

— Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed believes the new film training program for residents can create more experienced workers for the state's growing television and motion picture industry.

Reed and partners launched the City of Atlanta Entertainment Training Program with the hopes of educating local workers who aspire to be employed in the TV and film industry. The program will focus on aspects of movie making including animation, cinematography, post production, visual effect, editing and makeup.

"Providing a trained below-the-line workforce is critical to the film industry's growth in Atlanta and Georgia," Reed said in a statement. "This program will ensure that our residents and young people have access to a unique opportunity to learn from world-class professionals and acquire vital skills." ...

Georgia hosts live-action TV and feature work in a major way. It has an aggressive program of giving movie-makers free money to come make their product on Georgia's red clay. And unlike California, Georgia's subsidies cover animation. (Which might explain why Cartoon Network, Bento Box and others have animation studios in and around Atlanta.)

What we'd like to see is soe of Atlanta's animation artists get a bit of experience below the Mason-Dixon line, then drive out to L.A. and join us in Los Angeles. Where the wages are higher.

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The Blue Genie On Stage

Disney animated features don't just inspire live-action features. They make Broadway musicals happen.

... The last of Alan Menken’s Disney collaborations with the late Howard Ashman (and with additional work from Tim Rice), the Genie tuner Aladdin has been a sell-out at Mickey’s Broadway showcase, the New Amsterdam Theatre, since previews began in February 2014. As it closes in on 700 performances, the show has rung up $122.4 million in ticket sales and been seen by more than 1.1 million people.

With a Japanese copy already running in Tokyo since May and the European premiere set for December in Hamburg, Disney said today that the musical, staged by Casey Nicholaw, has booked London’s Prince Edward Theatre, where it will begin performances on May 27, 2016. ...

Wouldn't it be nice if some or all of the animation crew that made this money spinner possible got a mention? The board artists? The animators? The designers, writers and directors?

Someone? Anyone? I know I dream.

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Amazon Pilots

We're not talking flyers from the jungles of Brazil, but cartoons.

Amazon has unveiled six new animated pilots for kids, set for debut November 5. They hail from creators including William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg (The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, Scarecrow), Bill Motz and Bob Roth (The Penguins of Madagascar), Mike Owens (Yo Gabba Gabba!), Shadi Petosky (Mad), John Rogers (The Player, The Librarians), Ken Scarborough (Arthur, Doug), and Niki Yang (Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors). ...

“Our new kids pilots will combine rich worlds with unique characters that we hope will appeal to our customers,” said Tara Sorensen, Head of Kids Programming for Amazon Studios. ...

Some of these November launches will likely end up as series.

It appears that Amazon is using the Cartoon Network strategy from the 1990s and beyond: Do a grab bag full of shorts, throw them out to the audience, and see which ones people like. Maybe there will be several.

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Sony On A Mission

The Culver City Studio is preparing a live-action/animated movie.

Hollywood multihyphenate Will Gluck has been brought on board to both pen the script for and produce Sony Pictures Entertainment’s adaptation of PETER RABBIT, based on the classic stories by Beatrix Potter. Gluck will produce through his Olive Bridge Entertainment, while Eric Fineman will oversee for Sony.

A Peter Rabbit feature was first rumored when the project was referenced in emails leaked during the Sony hack, but Gluck’s official involvement has put some spring in the step of this adaptation of the classic children’s storybook. After initially coming on board to produce, we can confirm that Gluck is actively writing the script as well. ...

One thing: Sony is nothing if not aggressive about doing more animation and building more franchises with possible tent poles.

They're more into this animation thingie than they've been for a looong time.

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Hand Drawn

So a higher profile actor joins the cast of a hand drawn feature:

Williams Shatner has been cast in the animated horror feature film Malevolent.

Malevolent follows the story of four siblings who are called upon when their evil, estranged father finds out he is dying. He announces to his children that he plans to set out his will, but the will is a guise to get them together so that he may exact revenge on his offspring. The father's plans go awry when intergalactic gamblers take an interest in the situation, waging bets on the family's in-fighting.

The former Captain Kirk will play the Overseer, the film's narrator. ...

This production is a lower budget feature, so I'm assuming lots of the work will be done offshore. But hey. Hand drawn.

Shatner has done animation voice-over work throughout his career; he voiced one of the characters in DreamWorks Animation's Over the Hedge, a picture that didn't over-perform at the box office (there were no sequels) but is an entertaining and amusing film, nevertheless.

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Writers Cast

A stop motion feature just got itself some writers.

“Robot Chicken” writers Matthew Senreich, Tom Sheppard and Zeb Wells will team up to write the screenplay for the hybrid live-action/stop-motion animated “Rabbids” feature film for Ubisoft Motion Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment. ...

The film is based on the wacky characters from the popular “Rabbids” TV series and Ubisoft video games. Similar to the Minions in the “Despicable Me” franchise, the “raving rabbids” first appeared in the “Rayman” series and became so popular, they were spun off into their own franchise. ...

Stoopid Buddies Stoodios, headquartered in Burbank, is going to be a producing partner with this feature, a stop-motion movie of the kind that LAIKA studios and Tim Burton makes. (Whenever Burton produces an animated feature. For some reason Tim doesn't like to do the sort of hand-drawn film he worked on a life-time ago at Walt Disney Productions.)

There haven't been a lot of wildly successful American stop-motion features. There's the Burton/Selick Nightmare Before Christmas, there's the (somewhat less successful) Selick/LAIKA Coraline, and then ... not very much.

Sony Pictures Animation has had two CGI hits with its Hotel Transylvania franchise; it's clearly looking for another tent pole and willing to take some risks. Maybe Rabbids is the kind of movie it's looking for.

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Python Animation

Monty, that is. Made long ago, but never seen until now:



Interesting to see because an integral part of the Python films.


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The Middle Kingdom

India's animation industry is growing, but India isn't the only large country with a rocketing animation sector.

"Monster Hunt," the highest grossing film of all time in the Chinese box office, is considered a testament to the improving quality of Chinese visual effects. (Photo : Movie Poster)

The disparity in the visual effects quality of Chinese and Hollywood films is decreasing, according to both film industry analysts and Chinese box-office receipts.

In particular, three special-effects films released this year were deemed to be box-office hits, namely, "Monster Hunt," "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" and "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe." All three films have won over the Chinese market, generally outperforming their Hollywood counterparts. ...

China, of course, has more than just a robust domestic movie industry going for it. THe Middle Kingdom has a large and growing consumer market, which Hollywood knows it can't ignore.

And Hollywood isn't. Disney has a presence with film production and amusement parks; DreamWorks Animation has a jointly-owned cartoon studio and other entertainment pieces in place. Kung Fu Panda 3 will be released next year as a domestic Chinese production because of all the Chinese animators and tech directors who worked on it.

Jeffrey Katzenberg ain't stupid.

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The Male/Female Thing

Once again, the man/woman divide in Movieland.

... A few weeks ago at work, I spoke my mind and gave my opinion in a clear and no-bullshit way; no aggression, just blunt. The man I was working with (actually, he was working for me) said, “Whoa! We’re all on the same team here!” As if I was yelling at him. I was so shocked because nothing that I said was personal, offensive, or, to be honest, wrong. All I hear and see all day are men speaking their opinions, and I give mine in the same exact manner, and you would have thought I had said something offensive.

I’m over trying to find the “adorable” way to state my opinion and still be likable! Fuck that. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It’s just heard. ...

This could be various female board artists I know speaking, or designers, or even directors (the few of them that there are.) But in the case above, it's Jennifer Lawrence, rich movie star.

Some men in the business will take one kind of behavior from fellow males, but a different one from women. Happily it's not all men, but enough own a double standard that it sometimes becomes a point of contention.

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Voice Cast

Mr. Anderson reels in the actors performing in his second animated picture.

... It has been announced that Anderson veterans Bob Balaban, Edward Norton and Jeff Goldblum will be lending their voices to [Wes Anderson's new stop-motion feature]. Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston is also said to have joined the cast, marking the actor's first time working with the stylistic director. ...

Mr. Cranston is a first-timer in the Wes universe, but isn't a new-comer to voice acting. He'll be heard in the third installment of the Kung Fu Panda franchise at the start of '16. Click here to read entire post

Meanwhile, On the Sub-Continent

Reuters reports:

... India's animators, long-time partners for the likes of Walt Disney Co, are reaping the rewards of surging demand for visual effects and gaining the confidence to venture out on their own.

India's animation industry generated revenue worth 44.9 billion rupees ($675.7 million) in 2014, a 13 percent increase from the previous year, according to data from a FICCI-KPMG report on India's media and entertainment industry.

The industry is expected to double in size to 95.5 billion rupees within five years, as Hollywood studios tap a large pool of low-cost, English-speaking animators who are familiar with Western culture.

So far, animators based in India have created crowd scenes and props for the Emmy award-winning TV series "Game of Thrones" as well as more prominent visual effects for films including Disney's 2014 Angelina Jolie movie "Maleficent" and Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon", among other Hollywood hits.

"We are one of those best kept secrets. We do all this amazing work and no one knows about it," said Biren Ghose, who runs the Indian subsidiary of U.S. firm Technicolor, which includes the India-based animation units that worked on "Maleficent" ...

I honest to God don't know where Biren Ghose gets off fantasizing that Indian animators are some kind of well hidden secret. Most of the American animation community is well aware that India has a large animation business, and that the business, now valued in the hundreds of millions, has created product that is highly profitable ... and product that isn't.

Indian animators have played supporting roles on hit DreamWorks features and hit live-action features. They have also created animated features that laid eggs at the box office, such as the domestic flop Roadside Romeo and the international non-performer Planes: Fire and Rescue (which despite John Lasseter's involvement, failed to ignite much excitement at the global box office).

India will continue to do live-action visual effects and animated features because they have a robust industry with some talented players, and their price-point is low. But they haven't yet made a breakout, worldwide animated hit, let alone a second one. Until they do, they'll be regarded as suppliers rather than creators of animated features.

I'm not convinced that the structure of their business models for cartoon features will allow that to happen, but I could always be wrong. We'll just need to wait, I guess, and see.

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Regular Show - The Long Version

Tomorrow TRG rolls out its first feature via the Little Silver Disk.



And what is this longer form presentation about? Per Animation Scoop:

... The epic adventure centers around Mordecai and Rigby who, after accidentally creating a Timenado, have to go back in time and battle an evil volleyball coach in order to save the universe…

Regular Show, one of the pillars of Cartoon Network, was renewed for a new season in July. When you rank near the top of the cartoon pack, you get a feature to go with your TV half-hours.

H/t Animation Scoop.

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Cruella

Once more for luck ... and hefty box office moolah.

... Disney is accelerating its prep for Cruella, a live-action version of the 101 Dalmations story with an emphasis on the puppy-hating villain, Cruella de Vil. ...

British screenwriter Kelly Marcel will write the film, scheduled for release some time between 2017 and 2019. (Yesterday, Disney announced its upcoming release schedule, planting several untitled films in that three-year window.)

Marcel’s resume would seem just about perfect for the project: Her first script was for the Walt Disney-flattering Saving Mr. Banks, about the making of Mary Poppins, while she also adapted Fifty Shades of Grey, which was critically reviled but put Marcel in the head of a kinky, sadistic billionaire — qualities that are bound to come into play with Cruella. ...

101 Dalmatians was the animated feature that followed the opulent, expensive Sleeping Beauty that had under-performed at the box office and triggered layoffs and restructuring inside the animation department of Walt Disney Productions.

Storyman Bill Peet adapted the Dodie Smith novel, cutting characters, streamlining plot, but retaining the core of the novel. The picture was the first Disney feature to use the Xerox system transferring animation drawing to acetate sheets, and production moved briskly along.

Two years after the release of Beauty, 101 Dalmations hit the nation's screens. The new picture ended up being a major hit, and the tenth highest grossing film release of the year. To date, after multiple releases, 101 Dalmations has earned north of $215 million (unadjusted for inflation).

Since that first release, there have been animated sequels, live-action sequels, TV series, video games and a plethora of toys. 101 Dalmatians has been a money-spinner for more than five decades, and given the company's recent success with live-action versions of old animated features, it's hardly a surprise that Diz Co. is going to build on (and profit from) that very lucrative franchise of spotted dogs yet again.


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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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Sixty Years Ago This Day

From our intrepid correspondent, President Emeritus Tom Sito:

Oct 3, 1955- The Mickey Mouse Club TV show premiered. “Who’s the leader of the club that’s Made for you and me…?”

The old fellow in the back is Storyboard Artist Roy Williams. Nicknamed the "The Big Mouseketeer", Williams was a lifelong Disney employee and so loyal to " The Boss", that rumor is he is buried in Forest Lawn in his Mickey Mouse Club sweater and ears. ...

A few other factoids:

Roy Williams started at the studio in 1930, and was there pretty much until his death in November 1976 at age 69. In my first month at the studio, there were storyboards brimming with gags he'd drawn for Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo hanging outside my tiny, third-floor office. The man was prolific, right up to the end.

Don Grady (third row, left) went on to a long run on My Three Sons, starring with Fred MacMurray. Tim Considine, immediately behind him, also starred on Sons, but when this shot was taken, was appearing on the Mouse Club serial The Adventures of Spin and Marty.

Tommy Cole (front row, left), has remained continuously in show biz, first as a peformer (into the mid sixties), then as a makeup artist. He is today the Business Agent for the Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild, Local 706 IATSE,located about three blocks from TAG's headquarters.

Jimmie Dodd (to the right of Roy Williams, half in shadow) was the other adult on the show, and the Master of Ceremonies. When I was a tot watching the show, I thought J.D. was maybe 26 years old. I was startled to discover, when my father took me onto the Mouseketeers' set, that the man was a lot older than that. He had wrinkles. Deep wrinkles. Lots of wrinkles. You just didn't see them on your home black-and-white set because he wore makeup and was brightly lit. But after watching hi perform in front of the camera, he came up, shook my hand, asked me how I was. In short, he was warm and gracious, and suddenly the wrinkled didn't bother me anymore.

Jimmie was then 45 years old, and had been an actor in Hollywood for two decades. He passed away nine years later at age 54.

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Your American Box Office

The animated feature drops to #2 as the Space Epic claims the top spot.

Box Office Bonanzas, #1-#10

1). The Martian (FOX), 3,831 theaters / $18.06M Fri.*/ 3-day cume: $55.04M /Wk 1
*includes $2.5M in Thursday previews

2). Hotel Transylvania 2 (SONY), 3,754 theaters (0) / $7.46M Fri. (-44%)/ 3-day cume: $31.7M(-35%) / Total cume: $89.3M /Wk 2

3). Sicario (LGF), 2,620 theaters (+2561) / $4.2M Fri. (+653%)/3-day cume: $11.8M (+594%)/Total cume: $14.8M /Wk 3

4). The Intern (WB), 3,320 theaters (+15)/ $3.56M Fri. (-43%) / 3-day cume: $11.65M (-34%)/Total cume: $36.6M/Wk 1

5). Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (FOX), 3,319 theaters (-473)/ $2.1M Fri. (-49%) / 3-day cume:$7.3M (-49%)/ Total cume: $62.9M/Wk 3

6). Black Mass (WB), 2,768 theaters (-420)/ $1.8M Fri. (-49%)/ 3-day cume: $5.8M(-47%)/Total cume: $52.4M /Wk 3

7). Everest (UNI), 3,009 theaters (+3) / $1.6M Fri. (-60%) / 3-day cume: $5.3M (-60%) /Total cume: $32.9M/Wk 3

8). The Visit (UNI), 2,296 theaters (-671)/ $1.17M Fri. (-42%)/ 3-day cume: $3.88M (-42%) / Total cume: $57.6M / Wk 4

9). War Room (SONY), 1,746 theaters (-174) / $791K Fri. (-38%)/ 3-day cume: $2.6M (-39%)/ Total cume: $60.4M/ Wk 6

10). The Perfect Guy (SONY), 1,364 theaters (-525) / $683K Fri. (-53%)/ 3-day cume: $2.28M(-52%)/ Total cume: $52.5M /Wk 4 ...

Hotel Transylvania 2 continues to track ahead of HT in its second weekend, and will be nudging up against $90 million in grosses by the time Sunday night rollw around.

Add On: HT2 gallops on.

... Per last night’s ticket sales, Hotel Transylvania 2 got a huge boost from matinees, posting a 116% surge over Friday for $16.2M. This is 16% greater than where the industry predicted it was heading, and now HT2‘s second frame is looking like $33M this morning, from Sony’s p.o.v, off just 32% from it first weekend take of $48.5M.

By the end of Sunday, HT2 is looking at $90.5M $92M, 18% ahead of HT1 through 10 days. ...

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"Peanuts"

From President Emeritus Tom Sito:

Oct 2, 1950- Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" comic strip debuts.

Good ol' Charlie Brown was the name of a fellow post office worker all the guy's liked to play jokes on. Schulz's idea 'little folks' was initially rejected by all the major comic syndicates. Three months before the strip was accepted his girlfriend broke off their engagement. He had left his job at the post office and she was convinced he would never amount to anything.

" Charlie Brown must be the one who suffers, because he’s a caricature of the average person. Most of us are much more acquainted with losing than winning. Winning is great, but it isn’t funny."- Charles Schulz

At the time of his death, Charles Schulz was arguably the richest visual artist on earth. About $450 million dollars worth. Pretty good for a guy who started with just a pencil and an idea. ...

Allow me to add that Schulz enabled a lot of animation artists to gain long-term employment because the Bill Melendez Studios was so adept at translating Sparky's comic strip vision into animated cartoons for over forty years.

And, of course, as noted up top, Charles Schulz is STILL providing work to animators.

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The Animated Version

Time to work all the variations of a well-loved franchise.

An animated Ghostbusters feature film is in the works at Sony, according to The Tracking Board.

The animated action-comedy will be produced by Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman and Sony Pictures Animation's Ali Bell and Kristine Belson will also be on hand to oversee it. Reitman, directed and produced the first two live-action films: 1984's Ghostbusters and 1989's Ghostbusters II. He's also serving as a producer on Paul Feig's all-female reboot, too.

Not much is known about the plot of the animated feature or the characters that will be used. Tracking Board and The Wrap both claim that the premise won't deviate from the original Ghostbusters: A group of scientists get together to battle some supernatural entities in New York. ...

Mr. Reitman, of course, was heavily involved with the animated hybrid Space Jam, and his son Jason is in the process of directing and animated feature at DreamWorks Animation.

Now that animation is respectable and, you know, lucrative, there is no shame to being involved in it.

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Newer Animation Titles

Netflix announces some new cartoons:

Netflix has ordered seven new original series for older kids that will be available beginning this December through 2017.

The new series include Lego’s Bionicle and Friends, and DreamWorks Animation’s new original family sitcom Dawn Of The Croods. For tweens and teens ... stop-motion, action comedy Buddy Thunderstruck, and race-obsessed Greasepit; along with anime-inspired Glitter Force. Netflix also is introducing its first original animated series produced in Latin America. Las Leyendas (The Legends) is based on a successful trilogy of children’s films from the Mexican animation studio, Ánima Estudios. ...

Okay, the Croods thing isn't exactly super fresh news, but the larger point is: Netflix is ordering a poop load of various types of animation. Some of it is under Guild contract, and some isn't, but the more animation that gets made, the more artists get employed.

And there is a lot of animation getting made just now ... and into the foreseeable future.

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Musical Chairs

Animation execs are on the move.

Universal Pictures is expanding its content for kids and families and has tapped longtime Nickelodeon executive Teri Weiss as SVP, Head of Kids/Family Development and Production for its newly created Universal Kids Productions group. The unit will mine the studio’s IP portfolio and develop original content for all platforms, both on its own and through partnerships. Weiss will report to Vince Klaseus, President of Universal Brand Development.

Weiss is a 16-year veteran of Nickelodeon, most recently serving as EVP Original Programming for the Preschool Division since 2010. As SVP Production and Development, she launched such young’un Nick Jr. hits as Bubble Guppies, Team Umizoomi and The Fresh Beat Band. ...

Animation execs tend to move from studio to studio (much like artists). I keep seeing the same executives at Disney ... Nick ... Warner Bros. ... Marvel Animation ... etc.

But it's good to see Universal get deeper into the animation game. Twenty-plus years ago they opened a TV animation division and never had a lot of success with it. Most of their television output sputtered and died. (Although UCS had some success. It made a bajillion Land Before Time direct-to-video features over several years, and Curious George was a winner.)

Universal's Cartoon Division looks as if it's going to get busier. Maybe Illumination Entertainment's outsized success with theatrical animated features has gotten the conglomerate interested and excited again.

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Compare and Contrast

The Reporter put out its take on what live-action jobs earn ...

... Studio Tour Guide

Yukking it up with tourists around the lot pays $26 an hour, but only after a training period during which compensation is $20 an hour. ...

Studio Chief

Running a studio pays a base salary of $3 million to $5 million (what Jeff Robinov reportedly got at Warner Bros.), but bonuses can bring the amount to the mid-eight figures. ...

Animation has often been the unloved step-child of the entertainment business, though this has changed in recent years as animation has become a red-hot profit center for our fine, entertainment conglomerates. Even so, weekly salaries and wage minimums for writers, board artists, designers and art directors in Cartoonland many times lag affiliated crafts in live action.

There is, of course, much overlap and many exceptions; one difference is that animation assignments tend to be longer than those on the live-action side. As I explain to members who ask, wage minimums and what work falls under what guild or union was sorted out in the 1930s and 1940s and remains with us today.

IF the Directors Guild had organizes the directors of animated shorts and animated features ...

IF the Writers Guild had gone after animation writers and board artists way back when ...

But the cookie crumbled the way it did, and so here we are. (You will find animation salaries and minimums here.)

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