After 22 years of retirement, Ray Harryhausen has teamed with Los Angeles-based stop-motion studio Screen Novelties, Intl. to complete a new short film entitled THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE. Originally begun in 1952 as part of his MOTHER GOOSE series, the project was shelved when Ray's career began to take off. He had always intended to finish the film and now, fifty years later, Harryhausen, along with Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh of Screen Novelties, Intl., have completed the project.

The big-budget special effects films have officially been taken over by low budget indies at the box office. With no new release blockbusters in sight, the well-reviewed comedy BARBERSHOP took the number one spot with $20.6M. In second for the second weekend in a row was MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, adding $10.7M and crossing the $100M mark. In third was another indie, ONE HOUR PHOTO, which earned $8.6M after expanding into wide release. The thriller, which stars Robin Williams, has earned $14.5M to date. Last week's number one SWIMFAN, sank to fourth place, with $6M and a cume of $19.6M.

How will Jar Jar look when he is 8 stories tall? This question will be answered on November 1, 2002, when a large-format version of STAR WARS: EPISODE II "ATTACK OF THE CLONES" debuts in IMAX theatres in the United States and Canada. The film will be digitally re-mastered using the proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology, which allows live-action motion pictures to be inexpensively converted into the 15/70 format for presentation on the giant IMAX screen, while maintaining and even enhancing the conventional image resolution.

In a lackluster box office weekend, teen thriller SWIMFAN took the top spot with a mere $11.3M, while last week's number one, SIGNS, fell to fourth. Overall, the top 12 films grossed $59.1 million, making it the worst weekend take of the year, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. In second was indie sensation MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, with $10.4M and $95.8M total, and in third was the crime drama CITY BY THE SEA, debuting with $8.9M. SIGNS, with visual effects by ILM, grossed just $7.9M this weekend but that was enough to help M.

SHREK producer John Williams and his company Vanguard Films have partnered with Walt Disney in a deal to provide multiple CG animated projects for the studio. Vanguard will fill the void left by Pixar Animation, which has made no plans to renew its agreement with Disney once the existing production deal is fulfilled with the delivery of Pixar's next three films -- summer 2003's FINDING NEMO, holiday 2004's THE INCREDIBLES and 2005's CARS.

This winning animated musical, with songs by recent Oscar-winner Randy Newman, features the trials and tribulations of Danny the cat when he goes to Hollywood to become a big star. Not a lot of extras on the DVD, but it is presented in widescreen anamorphic format and includes the "Hooray for Hollywood!" interactive adventure and the "Cat Concerto" cartoon. Suggested retail price: $19.99 (DVD).

Mark Segall reviews CATS DON'T DANCE and finds it a classy and charming animated musical.

With only one new release this weekend, SIGNS, with visual effects by ILM, was able to maintain its hold on the number one spot. The film regained the top spot last week after spending two weeks in second place, and with $16.5M for the U.S. Labor Day weekend and $195M gross to date, the crop circle caper is on its way to the $200M mark. Extreme sports flick XXX, with visual effects by Digital Domain, dropped a spot to third but is still performing well, with $13.1M for a total of $123.9M.

Hollywood-based producer and distributor C Cubed Entertainment has acquired distribution rights for ADVENTURES IN ODYSSEY, an animated series from Christian radio ministry Focus on the Family. C Cubed will distribute the made-for-video series, based on the radio program of the same name, to all non-religious television and home entertainment entities worldwide. Although this distribution agreement marks Focus' first entry into the mainstream entertainment arena, ADVENTURES IN ODYSSEY is one of the Christian broadcaster's most successful franchises.

MONSTERS, INC. makes its home entertainment debut on VHS and a 2-disc Special Edition DVD on September 17, 2002. For those of you that can't wait, a sneak peek at "Mike's New Car," the new animated short film created exclusively for the DVD and video release can now be seen on the Internet at www.monstersinc.com and www.apple.com/trailers. The VHS and the 2-disc DVD also includes the Academy Award-winning Pixar short film "For the Birds," MONSTERS, INC. "outtakes," an exclusive look at the upcoming feature film FINDING NEMO, and more.

Animation production company Cornerstone Animation Inc. has acquired the rights to the comic book series MERIDIAN, and has begun developing an animated feature film based on the property. The agreement includes motion picture, television and ancillary rights to the adventure tale from CrossGen Comics. MERIDIAN tells the story of Sephie, the 16-year-old minister of the floating city of Meridian. Sephie struggles against her uncle Ilahn, the evil minister of Cacador, who tries to use her powers towards his own nefarious ends.

SecondSun Entertainment plans to add new dimensions to Heathcliff the cat, when they re-launch the feline in 3D on two direct-to-video releases. Together with Los Angeles partners Pterodactyl/Kew Productions (P/K), SecondSun plans to begin production on the feature length videos later in 2002. P/K writer/producers Barney Cohen and Kathryn Wallack (SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH) will be responsible for updating Heathcliff's style, while Aaron L. Gilbert, will executive produce and spearhead the initial licensing and re-branding the HEATHCLIFF franchise.

While sim-actress comedy SIMONE barely made a blip in the weekend box office, M. Night Shyamalan's thriller SIGNS, with visual effects by ILM, rebounded to number one. After debuting in the top spot then spending two weeks in second place, SIGNS has rebounded to number one, adding $14.3M for a cume of $173.2M. SIGNS ousted two-time number one actioner XXX, with visual effects by Digital Domain, which dropped to second with $13.7M for a total of $106.2M. SPY KIDS 2 maintained its hold on third place for the third week in a row.

SimEx Digital Studios has recently completed a specialty venue project for LEGOland, an all-CG animated short based on the newly released LEGO Racers toy line. LEGO RACERS 4D is a high-definition 3D stereoscopic 13-minute short with in-theater special effects featuring Max, a driver for Team Nitro, and Max's nemesis Sever, driver for the Exo-Force Team. Together with six other drivers, Max and Sever bang fenders within a 20 mile-diameter racing stadium called The Drome, which provides Max and the other racers with an endless array of obstacles and landscapes.

Thanks to visual effects house ComputerCafe, a miniature zoo and menacing mutant animals are among the new adventures awaiting siblings Carmen and Juni Cortez, who are back in action in SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS. In SPY KIDS 2, a new mission takes Carmen and Juni to a mysterious island where they meet Professor Romero, a genetic scientist who has created the ultimate children's toy, a tabletop zoo featuring miniature penguins, a kangaroo, a lion and an elephant.

A team of digital matte artists, computer animators and visual effects specialists from R!OT helped to build the first city on the moon for Warner Bros.' latest comedy THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH. The R!OT team prepared a series of digital cityscapes of the lunar metropolis, complete with trains, buses, holographic signage, office towers and a multitude of lunar residents on scooters. The digital shots, including several fly-overs revealing large expanses of the city, appear throughout the film. "It is a city encased in glass," said R!OT lead matte painter Rocco Gioffre.

The top two movies held their places from last weekend, with extreme-sports actioner XXX, with visual effects by Digital Domain, coming in at number one with $23M, for a gross to date of $84.9M. Alien thriller SIGNS, with visual effects by ILM, was in second place, with $19.5M for a cume of $150.7M. The surfer girls of BLUE CRUSH had a third place debut with $15.2M and kids' action pic SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS, with visual effects by ComputerCafe, added another $11.6M to its total for a ten day cume of $45.7M and fourth place.

SecondSun Entertainment has teamed with Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures to screen its new animated short cartoon, SOMETHING FISHY, together with the film THE MASTER OF DISGUISE, starring Dana Carvey, now in theaters. The 3-minute short, about a little shrimp and his position in the food chain, was produced by SecondSun Entertainment's 3D-animation division, Brainchild Studios, and was directed by Ed Konyha. The film was chosen by Revolution Studios from over 300 short cartoons that were submitted.

Controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (ROGER AND ME, BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE) is getting animated. VARIETY reports that Moore's next project will be an animated feature, co-written with cartoonists/animators Tom Tomorrow (Dan Perkins) and Harold Moss. Tomorrow is well known for his comic strip "This Modern World," which appears regularly in approximately 150 papers across the country, and Moss is the founder and creative director of FlickerLab in New York.

Don Hertzfeldt's Bitter Films has released their Academy Award nominated short film REJECTED as a special limited edition DVD "single" for fans and friends of the film. Extras include deleted scenes, commentary, animated menus, hidden surprises and more. Bitter Films plans to release a compilation of all Hertzfeldt's films plus unseen footage on DVD sometime in the next year or two, after his next film is completed. The REJECTED DVD is currently available exclusively at Don Hertzfeldt's Website.

Extreme-sports actioner XXX, with visual effects by Digital Domain, was the number one film this weekend, earning $44.5M. The signs were still good for M. Night Shyamalan's crop-circle caper, which has already crossed the $100M mark after ten days in theaters. SIGNS, with visual effects by ILM, dropped 51% from last weekend but still brought in $29.4M for a total of $117.9M and second place. Family friendly sequel SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS, with visual effects by ComputerCafe, debuted in third with $16.7M for the weekend and a total of $25M since its Wednesday debut. Yeah baby!