Printed from www.digitalmediafx.com
Digital Media FX - The Power of Imagination

Digital Media FX News Archives

Sunday - June 10, 2001
- Swordfish Barely Tops Shrek for #1 Spot
- Newsweek Talks About Shrek and New Animation Oscar
- Radio Disney Allows Shrek Soundtrack Ads
- News Link of the Day - In Defense of Video Games

Swordfish Barely Tops Shrek for #1 Spot
(by digitalmediafx.com) Weekend estimates are in and Swordfish finished in first place with an estimated $18.4 million. Shrek, continuing to play solid, finished with $17.1 million, easily beating Pearl Harbor, which came in third with $14.9 million. Many analysts predicted early in the year that Pearl Harbor would easily be the highest grossing movie of the year. Shrek is now proving itself to be the film to beat this year as it etches close to the $200 million mark, which could be attainable by the end of the next weekend.

Shrek will face its first serious competition next weekend when Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire hits theaters along with Paramount's Tomb Raider.

> Return to the top of page

Newsweek Talks About Shrek and New Animation Oscar
(by digitalmediafx.com) The June 18 issue of Newsweek magazine, in an article titled "The Shrek Effect," talks about animation wars and the new animation Oscar. Here is a synopsis of the story:

"For as long as anyone can remember, the word animation has been synonymous with the name Walt Disney. But thanks to a big green ogre named "Shrek," the landscape has suddenly shifted, with the DreamWorks movie emerging as the summer movie to beat, animated or otherwise. And now, the dueling studios have a new prize to fight over: the Oscar, as 2001 marks the first year the Academy Awards will include a category for Best Animated feature, writes Senior Editor David Ansen."

The article appears on page 50 of the June 18, 2001 edition of Newsweek which has a cover picture of Tiger Woods with the headline "Tiger Rules" (see image).

> Return to the top of page

Radio Disney Allows Shrek Soundtrack Ads
(by digitalmediafx.com) Disney's refusal to allow DreamWorks to place ads for Shrek on Radio Disney garnished a lot of additional publicity for the movie. In a newsletter sent to Radio Disney affiliates in April, it was stated that "'Due to recent initiatives with the Walt Disney Company, we are being asked not to align ourselves promotionally with this new release [Shrek]."

Even though commercials for the movie were banned, Radio Disney is now allowing commercials to air for the Shrek Soundtrack, which also includes a plug for the movie. In the commercial the narrator announces the soundtrack for Shrek, "the hit movie from DreamWorks".

> Return to the top of page

News Link of the Day - In Defense of Video Games

According to The New York Times:

"The roar inside the Los Angeles Convention Center during last month's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) would have made even a gladiator shudder. Trigger-happy commandos. Screeching zombies. Robots with howitzers. Starfighters. Formula One race cars. Sprites, pixies, Spiderman and Mickey Mouse. And overpowering all the rest, on the floor's biggest display, Madden N.F.L., the No. 1 selling title for the new Sony PlayStation 2, with tackles, groans and bodies hitting the turf at volumes loud enough, it seemed, to shake the very concrete of the convention center. I felt like a Lilliputian trapped in the TV section at Crazy Eddie's with every set turned all the way up…"

Click here for the full story. (May Require Free Registration)

> Return to the Top of the Page
> Return to Today's News
> Return to the Digital Media FX Front Page

These news articles and all digitalmediafx.com content are ©copyright 2001 by Joe Tracy and may not be reused for any purpose without expressed written consent of the author and Digital Media FX. All rights reserved.