Animation World News

Films
(continued from Films page 2)

Now a clear cut worldwide hit, Toy Story 2 has broken box office records in the U.K. and Japan. © Disney/Pixar.

Toy Story 2 Scores Mucho Yen In Japan. Over the weekend beginning Friday, March 10, 2000, Toy Story 2 made history in Japan by grossing US$3.8 million on only 364 screens to become the biggest opening for a U.S. animated film in Japan and finishing #1 at the box office. The Buena Vista International release crushed the old record set by Disney's The Lion King by nearly 80%. Woody and Buzz more than doubled this weekend's debut of the 21^st installment of the Japanese animated feature series, Doraemon. Toy Story 2 was the first film to be exhibited in an all digital format in Japan using Texas Instruments patented DLP Cinema projection system. Playing exclusively at Toho's Nichegeki Plaza cinema, the CGI animated flick has now been exhibited in an all digital format in six theater locations outside of the U.S. including the U.K., France and Belgium. Toy Story 2’s big box office numbers do not end in Japan. The Disney/Pixar film has been the #1 film for five consecutive weekends in the U.K. The cumulative box-office performance in England for the film is $62 million to date. Toy Story 2 has become the fifth most popular film ever released in the territory's history. After more than three months of release Toy Story 2 has now earned $186.5 million in international box-office revenues while globally it has registered almost $430 million in box office thus far, making it the largest Disney/Pixar production release to date. In achieving these results it has now surpassed the global performances of Disney/Pixar's previous two productions, A Bug's Life and the original Toy Story, by almost 20%. Currently, the Toy Story sequel has moved into 17^th place in U.S. box office history recently surpassing the tornado-filled action flick Twister.

India Reincarnates Dead Stars. In Chennai, India, Penta Media, 3D Max Media and Hewlett Packard have announced plans to produce a film, Starway, which will star two deceased Indian actors, brought back to life through CGI. The Times Of India reported that no decision has been made on which stars would be reincarnated as themselves. In regards to ethical concerns, the newspaper published a comment from S. Rangarajan, director of special effects at Media Dreams: "This mixing of the real and unreal has a dangerous dimension. In a country like India and even in other parts of the world where people may be credulous, what is projected on the screen can be taken as real." This wouldn’t be the first time dead stars have been brought back to life. Humphrey Bogart starred in an episode of Tales From The Crypt; Fred Astair recently danced with a vacuum cleaner in controversial Hoover ads; and John Wayne has spent a good deal of his after-life as a beer spokesman.

Read more about who should hold the rights to a human being’s digital data in Gregory Peter Panos’ Animation World Magazine article "Who’s Data is that Anyway?"

Klasky Csupo & Nick Knot Film Ties. Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Movies have tied the knot on an exclusive multi-year deal to develop and produce animated feature films. The new partnership comes from the pair’s successful production of The Rugrats Movie and the forthcoming Rugrats In Paris. The first two projects from the new agreement slated to hit the drawing boards are Politeness Man and Cookie Company. The Austin Powers-like Politeness Man is based off of Ron Barrett’s classic National Lampoon comic strip. The story will follow the exploits of a secret agent, whom excels in the fields of manners, hygiene and etiquette. The scribes attached to the project are David Silverman and Stephen Sustarsic of Nick/Klasky’s The Wild Thornberrys TV series. Based on Ross Venokur’s children books, Cookie Company weaves the strange story of a Chinese food delivery man who randomly distributes mystical fortune cookies. Venokur is set to adapt a script from his work. Currently, Nick and Klasky Csupo are in pre-production on The Wild Thornberrys’ feature.