In the wake of the tremendous opening of their latest computer-animated comedy SHREK, DreamWorks has announced on May 31, 2001 their plans for a theatrical sequel. According to DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the writing team behind the first SHREK screenplay, have been set to pen the sequel. The team has also collaborated to write the Oscar-winning animated musical ALADDIN, which became the top-grossing film release of 1992.

On May 8, 2001 Argus International Film Studio signed an agreement with Germany’s MC-One to produce THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING, a 70-minute animated film based on the well-known fairy tale by Hoffmann and ballet by Tchaikovsky. Directed by Tatiana Ilyina, the Russian version of the animated feature will be available at the end of 2002. The 3-minute pilot copy for THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING was awarded the World Gold Medal for best animation at the 1999 New York festivals and was in official selection at Annecy 2000.

Exploding into the top spot at the box office this Memorial Day weekend was Buena Vista’s PEARL HARBOR, which made a triumphant nationwide debut, grossing $75.1 million. The 3-hour, action-packed movie is set during the time of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, where two friends (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) are caught up in the events that draw the United States into World War II. DreamWorks' CG-animated film SHREK more than withstood the heavy bombardment, slipping down one notch from first to second with $54.2 million during its second weekend.

The Walt Disney Company is moving up its large-format release of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST to January 1, 2002, following on the success of last year's January 1 release of FANTASIA/2000: The Imax Experience. Produced by Don Hahn and directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST has been digitally remastered and reformatted specifically for release to 15/70 and 8/70 theaters. The new version includes a never-before-seen musical sequence featuring “Human Again,” a song that had been written and storyboarded for the original release, but never animated.

DreamWorks' new CG-animated film SHREK rocketed to #1 at the box office in its North American debut, taking in $42.1 million. It is the second-biggest opening for an animated film and the biggest-ever for the distributor. Buena Vista's TOY STORY 2, which debuted during the Thanksgiving holiday in 1999, holds the record for animated openings with $57.4 million, while the previous biggest opening for DreamWorks was GLADIATOR with $34.8 million in May 2000. Universal's THE MUMMY RETURNS tallied $20.5 million during its third weekend to hold second place.

DreamWorks Pictures' new CG animated feature "Shrek" will be projected digitally in eleven theatres in the U.S. and Canada. This marks the first time a DreamWorks film will be shown in the digital format. In making the announcement, DreamWorks head of distribution Jim Tharp stated, “SHREK represents the state-of-the-art in computer animation, so it is only fitting that it be the first DreamWorks film to be seen in this state-of-the-art format.

The English-language version of the anime thriller JIN-ROH: THE WOLF BRIGADE will have its theatrical release at New York's Cinema Village on June 22, 2001, at the Varsity Theater in Seattle on June 29, 2001 and nationally throughout the summer. A collaboration between two generations of filmmakers, JIN-ROH marries a hard-hearted script by Momoru Oshii, the internationally acclaimed maker of GHOST IN THE SHELL with the vérité direction of Hiroyuki Okiura, assistant to Oshii on GHOST. JIN-ROH's setting is Tokyo - not the Tokyo of the future, but of an alternate past.

Leslie Carlson’s new short, SHRIMP AND CRAB COCKTAIL, made its debut on Ifilm May 4, 2001. This 2-minute animated short explores the shifting tides of emotion between a shrimp and crab as they flirt in an undersea cocktail lounge, with a dark twist to the old line "there are other fish in the sea." For more information, visit: www.ifilm.com/ifilm/skeletons/film_detail/0,1263,1236475,00.html. WHITE BREAD BLUES, a new animated Web series from the San Francisco office of interactive design and production company Deepend, debuts this week.

TriStar Pictures will release THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN, an animated musical film based on the novel by E.B. White, in Los Angeles, California and New York, New York on Friday, May 11, 2001. Universally hailed as a classic of children's literature, THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN follows the wonderful and witty adventures of Louie, a mute trumpeter swan who takes extraordinary steps to compensate for his lack of voice.

Premiering on the IFILM Network this week is DAMNED, a new film by Alex Crouch. Most consider a game of chess to be a fun, harmless way to pass the time, but nobody said it was fun for the pieces on the board! Witness the horrible fate of one group of chess pieces as they're thrown into the jaws of death. These guys know the true meaning of the word "Damned!" Find this short at: www.ifilm.com/ifilm/skeletons/film_detail/0,1263,1104743,00.html. .