The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) has announced that seventeen films will compete for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar in the 2002 Academy Awards competition. Because of the large number of eligible features, under the rules for the category, a maximum of five films could be nominated.The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted on December 10, 2002 to activate the category for the 75th Academy Award Presentations.

After opening at number one at the box office, STUART LITTLE 2 faded away quickly from theaters, but now has another shot at success with the release of a special edition DVD. Combining live-action and CG animation, and featuring a voice cast including Michael J. Fox, Melanie Griffith and James Woods, STUART LITTLE 2 continues the story of the little mouse who lives with his human parents in New York City.

The Sundance Film Festival, which honors American and international independent film, has announced its 2003 short film line-up. 90 short films were chosen from 3,345 entries. Notable entries include live-action shorts from SHREK helmer Vicky Jenson and Richard Linklater (director of 2001's animated feature WAKING LIFE), as well as Student Academy Award animation honoree THE VELVET TIGRESS, directed by Jen Sachs.

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS' hold on the top spot was again short lived, as the sequel dropped to third and Bond was back on top in this weekend's box office. Despite losing over 50% of its audience since last weekend, DIE ANOTHER DAY, with visual effects by Cinesite, regained its number one place, earning $12.8M for a three week total of $120.2M. In second place was the lackluster comedy ANALYZE THAT, with an $11M debut. Third place honors went to last week's number one film HARRY POTTER, with primary visual effects by ILM, which took in $10M this weekend.

THE SAVE-UMS, DECODE's new preschool series is one of a trio of pick-ups by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for its ABC Kids block. Created by Dan Clark of the Dan Clark Company, THE SAVE-UMS (52 x 11-minutes) lets preschoolers learn the principles of cause and effect and the impact of cooperative play. In addition to THE SAVE-UMS, the broadcaster has acquired the new adventure series KING for 8-12 year-olds and GIRLSTUFF BOYSTUFF, described as an animated FRIENDS for tweens.

The success of SPIDER-MAN, among other blockbuster hits, has propelled Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) to an all-time industry box office record, announced SPE chairman John Calley. With $2.75 billion in worldwide box office receipts for 2002, Sony has surpassed the existing record of $2.68 billion in worldwide ticket sales set by 20th Century Fox in 1998, the year that studio distributed TITANIC internationally. "This is truly a memorable moment in Sony Pictures Entertainment's history," said Calley.

Among the notable animation home video releases for December 3 are Disney's LILO & STITCH and two excellent offerings in the Walt Disney Treasures collection, plus Miyazaki's MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO on DVD.

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend worked some magic for HARRY POTTER, but didn't add up to treasure for Disney's latest animated effort. Debuting on Wednesday, November 27, Disney's animated adventure TREASURE PLANET opened in fourth place with $16.5M, barely edging out the holiday's other animated debut, Adam Sandler's EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS, which earned $15.1M over the four-day weekend for fifth place.

Big Idea Productions has announced it is currently in pre-production on THE BOB AND LARRY MOVIE, slated for release in 2005. Following the success of the VeggieTales debut animated feature film, JONAH - A VEGGIETALES MOVIE, Artisan's FHE Pictures and Big Idea Productions have continued their relationship for this next feature film. As with JONAH, Artisan will retain all North American rights to the film. JONAH - A VEGGIETALES MOVIE has earned a domestic gross to date of over $24 million and the film will be released into the home entertainment market in March 2003.

A CGI/live-action adaptation of GARFIELD is in the works at Fox, with Peter Hewitt (THUNDERPANTS, THE BORROWERS) attached to direct, according to DAILY VARIETY. Contingent on the negotiation of certain rights issues, the production will move forward with TOY STORY writers Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow on board to pen the script. The property is licensed by Paws, Inc., the creative and marketing company founded in 1981 by GARFIELD cartoonist Jim Davis.

Two blockbuster special editions are available on DVD November 26, 2002 and both feature some innovative CG animation.

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS' hold on the number one slot was short lived, as DIE ANOTHER DAY debuted in first place with $47M. The 20th film in the Bond franchise, with visual effects by Cinesite, had the largest opening weekend for any Bond film to date. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, with primary visual effects by ILM, crossed the $100M mark in its second weekend, bringing in $42.3M for a two-week total of $148.5M.

Matt Damon is the voice of Spirit, the defiant wild mustang who must journey across the frontier to save his homeland in DreamWorks' SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON.

Working its magic on the box office this weekend, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS claimed the third highest grossing opening weekend ever, after its predecessor HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE ($90.3M) and this summer's super SPIDER-MAN ($114.8M). Not surprisingly, CHAMBER, with primary visual effects by ILM, was the number one film this weekend, earning $87.6M. The wizards of Hogwart's knocked the rappers of Detroit down to second, as last week's number one film 8 MILE took in $21.7M for a two-week total of $54.4M.

First Universal teamed with Marvel to bring THE HULK to life for moviegoers in summer 2003. Now Marvel Studios has entered into an agreement with Universal Pictures to bring two more super heroes to the big screen: Sub-Mariner and Prime. First up is SUB-MARINER, currently in development. The film will follow the adventures of the troubled Prince Namor, a half-man/half-amphibian creature from Atlantis. David Self, best known for his adaptation of the graphic novel ROAD TO PERDITION for DreamWorks, will write the screenplay.

Now this is what DVD is made for. Special editions of two amazing special effects films are hitting the home video shelves on Tuesday, November 12, 2002, along with the complete first season of SOUTH PARK.

STAR WARS: EPISODE II "ATTACK OF THE CLONES"

The urban drama 8 MILE, starring rap artist Eminem, took in a surprising $54.4M in its debut weekend, bumping last week's number one THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 down a notch. The family-friendly CLAUSE 2, with visual effects by Tippett Studios and GVFX, earned $28.4M for a two-week total of $60.1M. Psychological thriller THE RING, with visual effects by Method Studios, Rhythm & Hues, Asylum and Tippett Studios, moved to third, with $16M for a cume of $86.1M. Action-comedy I SPY, with visual effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks, added another $9M for a two-week take of $24.7M and fourth place.

Framestore CFC will be supervising the visual effects for THUNDERBIRDS, the forthcoming live-action movie based on Gerry Anderson's 1960s puppet-animated TV series. The series has enjoyed a huge resurgence of popularity recently, following its re-screenings on BBC2 in the UK and on TechTV in the U.S. The live-action version of THUNDERBIRDS will feature the Tracy brothers memorable spacecraft as well as Tracy Island, the elaborately mechanized tropical base of the International Rescue team.

Blur Studio has been contracted by Paramount Parks to produce a stereoscopic, computer-animated ride film based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS. The attraction is slated to debut at Paramount’s North American theme parks in the first quarter of 2003. Park patrons will don 3D glasses to experience the film in three dimensions. Blur Studio’s animation team will work directly with Nickelodeon in adapting the SpongeBob characters to the ride format.