In a surprising development that few in or out of Hollywood were expecting, Disney’s 3-D guinea-pig-secret-agent film G-Force topped Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince AND a brand new romantic comedy (The Ugly Truth) for the top spot at the U.S. box office this past weekend, earning more than $32 million according to studio estimates. This is from The Los Angeles Times: “”We knew we had a really good-playing family movie, but when you’re competing against a film like Harry Potter, you can never presume anything,” said Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Group. Although critics had few nice words for G-Force, audiences were pleased, giving the movie an average grade of B-plus, according to market research firm CinemaScore. That presages a healthy box-office run that could see it ultimately earning more than $100 million.” The film was directed by Hoyt Yeatman and produced by Mr. Action Movie himself, Jerry Bruckheimer.
Disney
Very Short Notice!
We just received word about a special event for animation fans taking place next week:
“Walt Stanchfield’s Drawn to Life
20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes
Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium
Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, CA
Join Don Hahn [producer of The Lion King and many other animated films — ye ed-otter] and a panel of distinguished guests for a discussion of Walt Stanchfield’s Drawn to Life series.
Drawn to Life is a two volume collection of the legendary lectures from long-time Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. Edited by Don Hahn, all of Walt Stanchfield’s handout notes and lectures have been assembled into a two volume collection titled Drawn to Life – 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes. Walt was an animator, trainer, mentor and coach for decades at Disney and helped breathe life into the new golden age of animation with his teachings. He influenced such talented artists as Tim Burton, Brad Bird, John Musker, Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, and John Lasseter.
Following the panel discussion, Don Hahn will sign copies of Drawn to Life. A limited number of copies of this two volume collection will be available for purchase at the event.
Reservations are not required for this program. Admission is free. Parking is free and available on the Woodbury University campus.”
Meanwhile the books, Drawn to Live Volumes 1 and 2, are available in trade paperback from Focal Press.
Ursa Major Awards for 2008 Announced!
[From www.ursamajorawards.org:]
The winners of the eighth annual Ursa Major Awards (formally the Annual Anthropomorphic Literature & Arts Awards), for the Best in anthropomorphic/”funny animal” literature and art first published during the calendar year 2008, were announced at a presentation ceremony on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at All Fur Fun in Spokane, Washington.
The Ursa Major Awards are Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s equivalents of s-f fandom’s Hugo Awards, mystery fandom’s Anthony Awards, horror fandom’s Bram Stoker Awards, and so forth. The Ursa Majors are administered and presented by the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association (ALAA), an organization dedicated to promoting anthropomorphic literature and arts both within and outside of the fandom. Nominations and voting for the awards are open to the public. The physical award consists of an illustrated trophy certificate or plaque, designed by the artist Heather Bruton.
Eligibility in ten categories is for works featuring intelligent &/or talking animals first published during the calendar year 2008. This can include new compilations of older works, such as a new collection of previously-published separate works. The winners are chosen by popular vote among those participating in Anthropomorphic Fandom who, first, submitted their nominations for the winners, and then voted upon a final ballot consisting of the five finalists (those receiving the most nominations) in each category. The voting for the awards was open to all furry fandom via the Internet; and took place between March 14th and April 19th; and received votes from countries as diverse as Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Laos, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the USA.
The Winners in each category:
Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture: Bolt, from Walt Disney Pictures
Best Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work or Series: There She Is, from SamBakZa
Best Anthropomorphic Novel: Waterways, by Kyell Gold
Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction: In Between, by Kyell Gold (from Out of Position)
Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work: Dog’s Days of Summer, by Blotch
Best Anthropomorphic Graphic Story: Heathen City, by Alex Vance and others
Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip: Fur-Piled, by Leo Magna and A. Husky
Best Anthropomorphic Magazine: Heat
Best Anthropomorphic Published Illustration: Suhl, by Blotch (Cover of the Eurofurence 14 souvenir book)
Best Anthropomorphic Game: Spore, by Maxis and Electronic Arts
[For a complete list of winners and nominees, as well as how you can nominate and vote for your favorite furry stuff for 2009, visit www.ursamajorawards.org]
New from Boom!
Boom! Studios has quite a roster of full-color comic book mini-series coming along that should be of interest to furry fans of many stripes. Disney/Pixar’s Cars (by Alan J. Porter and Albert Carreres) takes us back to the origins of superstar (supercar?) Lightning McQueen. The Muppet Show (by Roger Langridge) takes us behind the scenes as Fozzie, Ms. Piggy, Gonzo, and the rest try to lift Kermit the Frog out of a deep blue funk — in the most surreal ways imaginable. And Farscape: Strange Detractors (by series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon, with Keith DeCandido and Will Sliney) brings us new adventures (and new dangers) for the crew of the living ship known and Moya. While you’re at it, look for the Farscape Volume 1 hardcover collection, which brings together the first four issues of the Farscape comic by O’Bannon, DeCandido, and Tommy Patterson. All of them should be on the shelves now.
R.I.P., Dom DeLuise
Dominick “Dom” DeLuise, a plus-sized and well-known comic actor, passed away at the age of 75 on Monday, May 4th. In addition to his many roles in comedy films — most famously associated with Mel Brooks and/or Burt Reynolds — he was also well known as a voice-actor in animated films. Among his classic characters were Jeremy the Crow from Secret of NIMH, Tiger the Cat from An American Tail, Itchy from All Dogs Go To Heaven, and Fagin from Disney’s Oliver and Company, as well as various voices from the TV series that were spun off from those features and others. Dom DeLuise: 1933 – 2009.
Award Season Recap
Awards season came barreling in again — with a few unexpected results. As largely expected, Disney-Pixar’s robot tale known as Wall-E won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature. Then along came the Annie Awards, presented by the International Animated Film Society… and Wall-E was shut out, taking home nothing that night. The big winner? Kung Fu Panda! Not only did it win Best Animated Feature, but between the feature film and the Secrets of the Furious Five DVD short, Dreamworks took home 15 of the 17 awards that the Panda franchise was nominated for. Among them were multiple awards for Directing, Writing, Best Character Animation, Best Character Design, Best Production Design, Best Music, Best Voice Acting (Dustin Hoffman as Shifu), and Best Video Game. The big winners for the night in the TV animation categories were Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, and Avatar, The Last Air Bender. Wallance and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death won for Best Animated Short Subject.
… and then along came the Oscars, and once again, Wall-E took home the statue for Best Animated Feature.
[And don’t forget — now it’s Furry Fandom’s turn to vote for the Ursa Major Awards! Visit www.ursamajorawards.org to find out more — Rod O’Riley, ye ed-otter]
New Disney 3D — from 2D!
Word has come down the pipe that Disney/Pixar will be revisiting some old favorite animated movies and re-releasing them in the new (and very popular) True 3D format. First up is a double-feature of Toy Story and Toy Story 2, coming this October. That’s to be followed by a special True 3D version of the 2D classic Beauty and the Beast, to be released in February of 2010.
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
News from The Hollywood Reporter: “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be setting sail from a new port. The third installment of Walden’s Chronicles of Narnia franchise, which was let go by Disney last month, is landing at Fox 2000, which will develop it with an eye to release the movie in the holiday season of 2010. Many of the key players are expected to stay with the project, including director Michael Apted and actor Ben Barnes, though a new writer might come aboard. Elizabeth Gabler will oversee for the studio. Because of the epic scope — and accompanying production costs — of the books, Walden partnered with Disney to produce and co-finance the adaptations. Disney backed out of Dawn Treader after failing to come to an agreement with Walden over budgets and release-date issues. Although the first installment, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, was an unabashed hit, the second, Prince Caspian, ran over budget and performed below the studio’s expectations. Despite a couple of suitors, including Columbia, Walden only had eyes for Fox, with whom it partnered to market and distribute its fare under the Fox Walden banner after the first Narnia film. The third film faces creative as well as budgetary challenges. Although the C.S. Lewis book has quests, dragons and sea monsters galore, the story also has been criticized for lacking a clear antagonist.”
