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Digital
Media FX News Archives
Saturday
- September 1, 2001
- Special on Walt Disney Coming
September 16
- Friday Box Office
Report
- Animation Dominates Top Five
Video Sales
- News Link of the Day
- Religion and Simpsons Fine Pair
 Special
on Walt Disney Coming September 16
(by digitalmediafx.com) On September 16, ABC will air a special
on Walt Disney, the man, titled "Walt: The Man Behind the
Myth." The new two hour documentary/film is based on all-new
interviews with friends, family and collaborators and featuring
excerpts from Walt's never-before-seen home movies. It will air
on Sunday, September 16 (7:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PST), as part "Wonderful
World of Disney" on ABC. The film was initiated by Diane
Disney Miller, daughter of Walt Disney, to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of Walt Disney's birth in 2001.
The two-hour
film relates the story of many Disney innovations, including the
first Disney cartoon with sound ("Steamboat Willie"),
the first cartoon in color ("Flowers and Trees") and,
most importantly, the story behind 'Disney's Folly,' the mammoth
project to produce the first feature-length animated cartoon,
"Snow White."
The film also
reveals the lesser-known saga of how the studio faced near-bankruptcy
in the wake of a strike and World War II; how Walt skimped and
saved, and even cashed in his family's life insurance, in order
to finance the early development of Disneyland; how the Disney
Studio broke the Hollywood taboo of early television, and how,
in his final days, Walt was fully devoted to building a city of
the future near what is today Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The film is
produced by Pantheon Productions in Los Angeles. Walt's grandson,
Walter Elias Disney Miller, is executive producer of the film.
The film is written by two nationally known journalists -- Katherine
and Richard Greene -- and award-winning writer/filmmaker Jean-Pierre
Isbouts. Katherine and Richard Greene are authors of numerous
articles and books, including "Walt Disney: The Man Behind
the Magic" and the upcoming book "Inside the Dream."
Isbouts, the writer/producer of "Oracles of the Future,"
"Terror on the Titanic," "The Women of Manet"
and "David Frost's Inside the Cold War," also directed
the film.
To present
Walt's life and legacy as accurately as possible, the producers
shot more than 70 new interviews with colleagues, friends and
family of Walt Disney, including animation legends Joe Grant,
Ward Kimball, John Hench, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Marc
Davis (who died 6 weeks after his interview). Diane Disney Miller
and Roy E. Disney, vice-chairman of Walt Disney Studios, are also
featured.
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Friday
Box Office Report
(by digitalmediafx.com) There were no animated or visual effects
movies in the top 10 for Friday's box office. As it is a holiday
weekend, many studios have increased the number of theaters playing
older movies like Pearl Harbor and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Here are Friday's
top five movies:
1. Jeepers
Creepers - $4.3 Million
2. Rush Hour 2 - $2.5 Million
3. American Pie 2 - $2.4 Million
4. The Others - $2.3 Million
5. Rat Race - $1.9 Million
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Animation
Dominates Top 5 Video Sales
(by digitalmediafx.com) Last week's top video sales were dominated
by movies that were fully animated or contained some animation.
Here's the top five video sales list, in order:
1. Recess:
School's Out (animated)
2. The
Book Of Pooh: Stories From The Heart (live action /
puppets / animation)
3. Rugrats:
All Growed Up (animated)
4. The
Little Bear Movie (animated)
5. The
Emperor's New Groove (animated)
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News Link
of the Day - Religion and Simpsons Fine Pair
According to CNN:
"...For
12 seasons and counting, the animated series [The Simpsons] has
mined religious subjects for laughs like no other show on television.
The staple
of the Fox network has sometimes been called sacrilegious -- rather
than satirical -- for its jabs at clergy and the faithful alike.
But religious commentators, especially this year, have looked
at the animated series and found plenty to like..."
Click
here for the full story.
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