Pixar Animation: A restrospective

Oh, I am so excited! Wall-E hits theaters tomorrow. I wish there was some sort of giant hat that looked like the little robot that I could wear when I see the movie; that's how totally stoked I am for this flick. Why? 2 reasons. I like the general premise of the film; a robot all alone on a garbage inhabited Earth; a film with almost no dialogue. It's an odd premise, but it sounds cool. The second reason I'm excited for this movie? It's PIXAR!! Pixar, the company single handedly saving animation from becoming the dreaded scum of cinema; since Toy Story, the only animated film I've seen that can hold a candle to a Pixar movie is Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda.

All of the Pixar movies rock, some of them being among my favorite films of all time. You can rank some of the Pixar movies with the best animated classics from the days of Walt himself; since Toy Story, the only animated film I've seen that can hold a candle to a Pixar movie is the recent Kung Fu Panda. Kids love them, teenagers love them, adults love them, and critics have an unbridled fascination with them.

Today, we're going to take a look at the studio's films, ranking them from best to worst; of course, the worst Pixar movie is still incredible filmmaking. Joining me near the end of this retrospective is guest critic Thomas Lack, with his own choice on how the list would go. So grab your Buzz Lightyear action figure and get ready for a trip down animation-memory lane!

Read More Article....

Pixar's 'Wall-E' robot rolls into first place

Wall-E," the trash collecting robot abandoned by humans, found plenty of company over the weekend.

The animated movie produced by Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar studio was the No. 1 movie with $62.5 million in ticket sales, the third-best opening for a Pixar film and the biggest ever June premiere for a Disney film.

The G-rated movie, which was produced for an estimated $180 million, is the ninth consecutive commercial and critical hit for Pixar Animation Studios, creator of "Cars," the "Toy Story" films and "The Incredibles," the 2004 movie that had the biggest opening of all Pixar entries with $70.5 million.

All nine have bested the competition in their opening weekends.

"Wall-E" and 11 other top-grossing movies brought in $179.2 million in ticket sales over the weekend, up 22% from the same time last year, according to box-office tracker Media by Numbers, underscoring Hollywood's resilience even as the economy sputters and gas prices soar.

Box-office revenue climbed for the fifth consecutive weekend and is up 6% for the summer season compared with last year, said Media by Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian.

"The box office is incredibly robust right now," Dergarabedian said Sunday, noting that sales have surpassed last year's record levels. "Historically, films do well when times are tough, when going to the movies is an inexpensive way to forget about your troubles. This is a perfect example of that."

Read More Article...

Disney's "WALL-E" wows box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Animation giant Pixar scored its ninth consecutive No. 1 on Sunday with its robot love story "WALL-E," while Angelina Jolie achieved a personal best with her violent assassination thriller "Wanted."

"WALL-E," bolstered by near-unanimous critical praise, sold an estimated $62.5 million of tickets in its first three days, said Pixar's Walt Disney Co parent.

It tied with 2001's "Monsters, Inc." to become Pixar's third-best opener. Pixar has gone to No. 1 with all nine of its movies, an unprecedented run that begin in 1995 with "Toy Story."

The company record of $70.5 million was set in 2004 by "The Incredibles." Industry pundits had forecast an opening for "WALL-E" in the $50 million to $60 million range.

"Anything north of 60 (million dollars), we were going to be ecstatic," said Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Group.

Meanwhile Jolie, whose career has been overshadowed in recent years by breathless tabloid coverage of her personal life, kicked off at No. 2 with "Wanted." The Universal Pictures release earned about $51.1 million, easily beating forecasts of an opening in the mid- to high-$30 million range.

Read More Article...

Indian Animators Sketch Roadmap For Success

India’s entertainment industry is in animation mode. Tom and Jerry may continue to be favorites, but Indian children have found a new mascot in the likes of Hanuman, the monkey god, and Bal Ganesha, the elephant god, who have changed the economics of the animation film industry.

It’s boom time for the approx $306 million Indian animation industry. The turning point came perhaps in 2005 with “Hanuman”, about the cherubic monkey god that was made with a budget of a little over $353,000 and grossed more than thrice that at $1.6 million.Percept Picture Company (PPC) followed the success with “Hanuman Returns”, paving the way for other big players to get into animation films too.

Shemaroo Entertainment, which made the successful “Bal Ganesha” about the childhood exploits of the elephant god Ganesha, took it forward with their second animated movie “Ghatothkach - Master of Magic” that was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

“Yes, our film went to Cannes. Last year when we were at Cannes testing waters, we realised that there is a market for Indian content. I am getting a lot of queries for the film that will be released in seven languages. Indian content can be sold in other countries and this film will give a boost to the animation sector,” said Smita Marooh, vice president of Shemaroo.

Read More Article...