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Films
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| The Prince of Egypt held its ground in the January box office. © DreamWorks LLC. |
AWN Animated Box Office Report
December 25-27: The box office was bustling this Christmas holiday weekend
with DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt and Disney/Pixar's A Bug's
Life holding their own against many new live-action releases including
Patch Adams, The Faculty and Stepmom. Prince of Egypt
dropped two places from second to fourth; however, the film saw a 5% rise
in business grossing $15.3M for a grand total of a little over $40M. A
Bug's Life saw a 1% jump in totals despite being taken off more than 300
screens. The film finished seventh with $10.1M and has now grossed $114.6M
in six weeks. Disney's remake of the RKO ape movie, Mighty Joe Young,
debuted with $10.9M in sixth. The film cost a hefty $70 million-plus and combines
numerous special-effects techniques including animatronics, puppetry and computer
animation to bring Mighty Joe to life. Paramount's The Rugrats Movie
dropped out of the top ten for the first time since its release placing eleventh
for a $2.7M weekend and an $82M total gross. . . . January 1-3: The
top animated film of this week was DreamWorks' Prince of Egypt, holding
steady in fourth place with $11.2M for a 17-day total of $66.4M. Disney/Pixar's
A Bug's Life continued to appeal to families with children on Christmas
vacation climbing up two notches to fifth place for a weekend tally of $8.8M
and a grand total of $136.4M. Disney's special-effects packed remake of the
RKO ape flick, Mighty Joe Young, continued its stay in sixth place
taking in $8.1M for a two week cume of $28.1M. And while Paramount's A
Rugrats Movie is no longer in the top ten, it placed twelfth with a healthy
$2.8M and a total gross of $89.2M after 45 days of release. . . . January
8-10: The post-New Year's box office was quiet as usual with DreamWorks'
The Prince of Egypt on top of the animation heap grossing 6.1M for
fifth place. To date, the high-budgeted religious flic has grossed nearly
$75M domestically and $83.7M internationally. Disney's live-action/CGI Mighty
Joe Young stayed put in sixth place with $5M for a 17-day total of $34.9M.
Disney/Pixar's A Bug's Life fell from fifth to seventh with $4.7M and
a 52-day cume of $143M. It doesn't look like it will surpass the gross of
Pixar's Toy Story, but A Bug's Life will end up being one of
Disney's most successful animated pics and a reaffirmation that Pixar's brand
of filmmaking is here to stay. In other box office news, Paramount's The
Rugrats Movie has now surpassed DreamWorks/PDI's Antz as the most
successful non-Disney animated feature of all-time with a total gross of $91.1M.
. . . January15-18: The four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend
created a healthy box office with DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt continuing
to edge its way towards $100 million. The religious epic, which was banned
this week in Indian Ocean-located The Maldives for its "offensive"
portrayal of Moses, came in eighth with $6.2M after 32 days of release for
a grand total of $82.5M. At its current pace, the film is poised to pass The
Rugrats Movie as the highest gross non-Disney animated feature of all-time.
Due to the U.S. King holiday, final box office results for all films in the
top 25 will not be available until Wednesday.
Kirikou In France. Kirikou et la Sorciere (Kirikou
and the Witch) is a new 70-minute classically animated film by Michel
Ocelot released in France on December 9, 1998. The film is about Kirikou,
a tiny little boy, who's born in a small African village which has been put
under a spell by the flagitious witch, Karaba. Kirikou is determined to set
his languishing village free from the clutches of Karaba. The film features
music composed by famous African singer/composer Youssou N'Dour. Although
Ocelot has been making animated films for twenty years like Cine Si
(1989), and Les Contes de la Nuit (a 12-part series produced in 1992),
Kirikou is his first feature. The film is a co-production between Les
Armateurs, Odec Kid Cartoon, Monipoly, France 3 Cinema, Trans Europe Film,
Studio O, Radio Television Belge and Exposure.
Disney Recalls Sexy Rescuers Cartoon. On Friday, January 8,
the Walt Disney Company recalled 3.4 million copies of The Rescuers
video release due to two objectionable non-consecutive frames in the 110,000-frame
movie. The frames in question feature a photographic image of a naked female
in a background image inserted as a gag by a cameraman when the movie was
originally filmed in the 1970s. The 1992 home video release of the animated
film didn't use the original print and therefore didn't have the objectionable
images. Under ordinary viewing circumstances, the two images cannot be seen
since they advance at the rate of 30 frames per second on video but are clearly
visible when freeze-framed. However, the company has said that it is making
the recall to keep its promise to families that they can trust and rely on
the Disney brand to provide the finest in family entertainment. Customers
who have bought the video since its January 5 release may return the video
for exchange by C.O.D. mail to:
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Dept. 100
1240 E. 230th St.
Carson, CA 90745.
For more information, call 1-800-723-4763 or 1-888-877-2843 (Canadian customers)
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| Doug will be hitting the big screen. © Disney. All rights reserved. |
Doug's 1st Movie Gets Big. Originally intended as a direct-to-video
film, Walt Disney Pictures has announced that Doug's 1st Movie, based
on the ABC series Disney's Doug, will be released to theaters on March
26 in time for the spring break holidays. Both the TV series and film are
produced by New York-based Jumbo Pictures Inc., a subsidiary of Disney acquired
in 1996. Doug's 1st Movie follows the misadventures of 12-year old
Doug Funnie as he finds himself caught between saving the endangered "monster"
of Lucky Duck Lake and his burning desire to take Patti Mayonnaise to the
school dance. The film is produced and exec produced by Jumbo co-founders
Jim Jinkins and David Campbell and directed by Maurice Joyce. Jack Spillum
and Melanie Grisanti also serve as producers. "It has been a real blast
having the time and resources to take Doug and his pals on their most ambitious
adventure yet and it gave us a great opportunity to let our imaginations run
wild," stated Jim Jinkins. Campbell and Jinkins have also executive produced
Disney's 101 Dalmations: The Series and Disney's PB & J Otters
for The Disney Channel through Jumbo Pictures. It is also interesting to note
that of Nickelodeon's three original Nicktoons - The Rugrats, Doug
and The Ren and Stimpy Show - two have now resulted in theatrical features.
Miramax And Hyperion Make A Tiny Animated Pic. Wanting to get a piece
of the lucrative animated feature pie, Miramax Films has announced their acquisition
of worldwide distribution rights to the animated musical fairy tale, The
Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. The film is being produced at
Hyperion Studios, known for other animated works such as Life with Louie,
Bebe's Kids and HBO's Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every
Child. The film features the voices of Elijah Wood as Tom Thumb and Jennifer
Love Hewitt as Thumbelina. The story follows the adventure of these two tiny
people who are separated from their families when their tiny village is ravaged
by a giant. When they find their way home fifteen years later, they discover
that they are actually a prince and princess who were betrothed to each other
in childhood. The original script by Willard Carroll, based on classic characters
created by Hans Christian Anderson, is being directed by Glenn Chaika. Will
Finn, Tony-winning composer of Falsettos, is writing the music for
the film, which is being produced by Tom Wilhite and Hyperion. Other voices
include Alex Boyd, Peter Gallagher, Rachel Griffiths, Robert Guillaume, Jane
Leeves, Esai Morales, Bebe Neuwirth, Emma Samms and Jon Stewart. "Hyperion
has a long history of quality animation and I'm happy that we're teaming up
with them on this extraordinary project," said Miramax Senior Vice President
for Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Jason Blum. No release dates have yet
been announced for the film. Miramax is also working on preparing an English-language
version of Hayao Miyazaki's animated Japanese box office phenom, The Princess
Mononoke.
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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