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Walt Disney Studios Home
Entertainment today released a pair
of Academy Award-nominated, south-of-the-border animated
movies on DVD for the first time.
The Classic Caballeros Collection: Saludos Amigos/Three Caballeros
arrives just in time for fans to
celebrate Cinco de Mayo with
Donald, Goofy and Walt Disney
himself.Disney |
travels with some of his most famous animated characters to South America and
Mexico to experience the music, beauty and excitement of
Latin America.
In Saludos Amigos, Walt and his team of artists, musicians,
writers and animators present four whimsical animated
escapades as they travel to fun and exciting places spanning the
Bolivian Andes to the Argentine pampas. The film earned three
Academy Award nominations in 1943, including Best Musical
Score, Best Sound and Best Original Song.
Donald takes a fantastic journey through colorful lands with
his friends Joe Carioca and Panchito in The Three Caballeros.
Featuring lighthearted dance sequences and lively music, this
blend of live action and classic Disney animation received two
Academy Award nominations for Best Musical Score and Best
Sound Recording.
Bonus features on the DVD include the featurette South of the
Border with Disney, which invites viewers to tag along with
Walt and friends on a tour of Latin America. Fans also get an
interview with Walt Disney and the Donald Duck cartoon shorts
Don Donald (1937) and Contrary Condor (1944). The release
carries a suggested retail price of $19.99.
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Author/illustrator Todd Parr,
creator of Mike Young Prods.’
Emmy-nominated children’s
animated series ToddWorld,
has teamed with The Hilton
Family of Hotels and publisher
SupperTime Ent. to release a
new children’s book that
revolves around the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing.
Hilton locations around the
country will host a month-long program in which U.S. Olympic |
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and Parlympic hopefuls will lead book readings
for local kids.
Approved by the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Hilton
Family’s be hospitable: A World United Edition features
messages of teamwork, graciousness and multiculturalism,
and teaches kids to accept the differences of others.
A portion of the book's proceeds benefit the U.S.
Paralympic Team.
“I am proud to partner with the Hilton Family on this
unique book that presents positive messages of respect,
kindness and diversity to kids through simple and familiar
examples——the way young minds process concepts
best," says Parr. “be hospitable: A World United Edition is a
creative tool parents and teachers can use to talk with kids
about creating communities where everyone is valued.”
U.S. gymnast Morgan Hamm joined Parr in presenting the
first reading today during an event at the Hilton New York
in New York City. Students from Richard Rodgers School
of Arts and Technology participated in this first stop in an
eight-city tour featuring U.S. athletes aiming to compete in
Beijing. Each child received a free copies of the book and
was asked to make “good luck” cards that will be
presented to U.S. Olympians and Paralympians upon their
departure for Beijing.
The second children’s book inspired by Hilton founder
Conrad Hilton’s philosophy, be hospitable: A World United
Edition can be purchased online through the Hilton Family
U.S. Olympic Team shopping portal at www.hiltonfamily.
com/usolympic, and through USOC retail channels. Copies
of the book will also be available for purchase at the USA
House in Beijing during the Olympic and Paralympic
Games
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After hearing about Exodus Film
Group’s upcoming CG-animated
feature film Igor for years, a trailer
has finally surfaced. The Weinstein
Co. is handling worldwide
distribution for the film, which is
set for a wide theatrical release on
Sept. 19, 2008. Watch the trailer
now at http://movies.yahoo.com/
premieres/7714044/standardformat. |
nimation veteran Tony Leondis (The Prince of Egypt, Lilo &
Stitch 2) is directing Igor from a screenplay by Chris McKenna
(American Dad). The movie tells the story of an evil scientist's
hunchbacked lab assistant with big dreams of becoming a
brilliant scientist in his own right and winning the annual Evil
Science Fair. Exodus has assembled an all-star voice cast that
includes Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jennifer Coolidge, John
Cusack, Arsenio Hall, Sean Hayes, Jay Leno, Molly Shannon,
Christian Slater and Eddie Izzard.
Serial comic books based on Igor will be published by IDW,
which has made comics from such features and TV shows as
Monster House, Beowulf, Transformers, 24 and CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation. In addition, Corgi International has
acquired the master toy license for Igor, and a major publishing
deal was signed with Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Division.
The Weinstein Co. is offering animation fans a chance to have
their voices featured in Igor. Launching next week, the
BeAnIgor contest invites people to submit their best Igor voice.
We’ll have more information on the competition soon
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Tatsuo Yoshida’s classic
manga and anime series
finally makes its way to the
big screen today as Warner
Bros. Pictures' and Village
Roadshow Pictures' Speed
Racer drifts into theaters.
Featuring a mix of live-action
and CG effects animation,
the pic could defeat Paramount’s Iron Man to
take the box-office checkered flag, or it could blow a tire
this weekend. Critical response hasn’t been too kind and
the film hasn’t |
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been tracking particularly well.
Speed Racer follows the adventures of young racecar
driver Speed (Emile Hirsch) as he strives to drive his
famous Mach 5 to victory while tangling with his
mysterious arch-rival, Racer X (Matthew Fox). The cast
also includes Christina Ricci as Speed’s Girlfriend, Trixie,
and John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as Speed's
devoted parents. The extensive visual effects work was
completed by ILM, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Digital
Domain, CIS Hollywood, Rising Sun Pictures, Evil Eye
Pictures, BUF, CafeFX, Pacific Title and Lola Visual
Effects.
The flick marks a return to the director’s chair for Larry
and Andy Wachowski, who have been focused on
producing since finishing out their Matrix trilogy. Their
latest effort offers a lot of fast-paced action and digital eye
candy for family audiences, and should attract curious
fans of the 1960s cartoon series. Receipts could also
reflect a new fanbase being grown by the
recently-launched Nicktoons animated series Speed Racer:
The Next Generation.
The only other film opening in wide release this weekend
is 20th Century Fox’s What Happens in Vegas, a screwball
comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. Iron
Man still has the highest theater count with $4,111 venues
running prints. Word-of-mouth and return visits could keep
the superhero flick on top for a second weekend after
opening to $200 million worldwide last week.
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Sony Pictures Television is
developing a slate of new mobile
and PSP games based on the
studio’s TV shows and films,
including the upcoming Will Smith
superhero movie Hancock and the
animated multi-platform series
Afterworld. Announced at the
CTIA convention in Las Vegas,
the initiative will see six titles
released from June through
. November of this year. Others may also join the lineup
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further
down the road.
Hancock: The Mobile Game is a “one button” game designed
for a broad casual audience. As Hancock, players will soar
through Los Angeles thwarting criminals and saving people in
danger while trying to keep damage to a minimum. Co-starring
Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron, the film hits theaters on
July 2.
Based on a popular CG web/mobile series from Electric Farm
Ent., Afterworld Global Contact is an adventure game where
players travel the world in search of their families, confront
challenges and try to reestablish global communications. The
title includes an online component that rewards players with
exclusive web content. Sony and Electric Farm have sunk a
reported $3 million into Afterworld, a major part of Sony
Pictures Television International’s new media initiative.
Sony will also release a game based on the upcoming James
Bond flick Quantum of Solace, as well as a cell phone version
of the hit PSP game LocoRoco from Sony Computer
Entertainment. Other titles will include Rock & Roll Jeopardy!,
Wheel of Fortune Road Trip, which are sequels to existing
games.
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This year’s Academy Award
and BAFTA winner for Best
Visual Effects is packaged
for home viewing as New
Line Cinema today releases the
CG-laden fantasy flick The
Golden Compass on DVD
and Blu-ray Disc. Sales
should be brisk for this first
movie based on Philip
Pullman’s His Dark Materials
series of books. The film got off to a fairly slow start in
the U.S. but turned out to be a big international box
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success.
Directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Antz), The Golden
Compass revolves around a young girl who travels to the
far north to save her best friend and encounters
shape-shifting creatures, witches and other strange and
enchanting characters. Led by newcomer Dakota Blue
Richards, the cast includes Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman,
Eva Green, Christopher Lee, Sir Ian McKellen and Kathy
Bates. Visual effects for the film were overseen by vfx
supervisor Mike Fink (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Road to
Perdition), with Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain,
Framestore CFC, Hatch, Cinesite, Rainmaker, Tippett
Studio, Peerless Camera Company, RodeoFX Digital
Backlot and Matte World Digital all contributing to the
show.
The two-disc DVD and Blu-ray editions offer
feature-length audio commentary by the director,
11 making-of featurettes including behind-the-scenes
looks at the CG-animated armored bears, the production
design and the process of adapting the novel. There are
also theatrical and teaser trailers, as well as still photo
galleries.
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The summer blockbuster season
got off to a phenomenal start as
moviegoers flocked to Marvel
Studios’ Iron Man. Released by
Paramount Pictures, the
comic-book adaptation raked in an
estimated $100.7 million over the
weekend, scoring the second
biggest non-sequel debut in history.
The first weekend of May has
historically been good to superhero
movies. Sony’s Spider-Man busted box office records when |
it
debuted on May 3, 2003, only to be bested by Spider-Man 3’s
$151 million opening on May 4 of last year.
Counting Thursday night screenings, Iron Man has banked
about $104 million domestically and more than $96 million
overseas for a grand total in the ballpark of $201 million. The
$140 million spectacle featuring visual effects by ILM and other
top shops is quickly earning its money back and then some as
a host of other big summer releases nip at its jet-powered heels.
This weekend the film goes up against Speed Racer as Warner
Bros.’ big-screen treatment of the classic anime series makes a
bid for the box office cup.
While most studios opted to steer clear of Iron Man, Sony
opened the romantic comedy Made of Honor hoping to attract
an entirely different audience. The Patrick Dempsey vehicle
earned approximately $15.5 million to debut in a distant second
place. Last week’s top earner, Universal’s Baby Mama, dropped
to third place with about $10.3 million, while the studio’s
comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall held tight at No. 4 with an
estimated $6.1 million. New Line’s sequel Harold and Kumar:
Escape From Guantanamo Bay rounds out the weekend’s top
five with about $6 million.
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The animated comedy Bee
Movie was the biggest
revenue generator for Dream
Works Animation SKG
during the first quarter of
fiscal 2008. The studio has
reported total revenue of
$156.6 million and net
income of $26.1 million,
compared to revenue of
$93.7 million and net income of $15.4 million for the same period in 2007.
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fter a solid quarter for many DreamWorks Animation
titles, we are now looking forward to our next theatrical
release, Kung Fu Panda, which opens domestically on
June 6th," says DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey
Katzenberg. "This marks the start of an important
12-month period for the company, in which we will
release three feature films, including our first in 3-D, and
launch our first live entertainment show, Shrek the
Musical, on Broadway this December."
Home video sales additional international box office
receipts for Bee Movie contributed $48.9 million of
revenue through the quarter. Having earned approximately
$287 million at the worldwide box office, the title sold an
estimated 4.8 million units on home video, net of actual
returns and estimated future returns. The 2007
blockbuster Shrek the Third generated almost as much
income, bringing in $48.3 million primarily from the
international home entertainment market. Through the end
of the first quarter, the title had reached an estimated
19.8 million units shipped worldwide.
The company's 2005 and 2006 releases, Madagascar and
Flushed Away, contributed a combined $28.5 million
mostly from international television sales and catalogue
home video performance. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse
of the Were-Rabbit kicked in an additional $8.1 million
from domestic network television, and Over the Hedge
earned around $4.1 million primarily from home video.
Kung Fu Panda isn’t expected to start driving profits
until the second half of the year. The Company's fall
release, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, is scheduled to
open domestically on November 7, and should begin
generating significant revenue during the first quarter of
2009. DreamWorks announced its Q1 financial results
during a conference call that can be accessed at
http://www.dreamworksanimation.com.
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