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Seven Wonders: Book 3: The Tomb of Shadows, by Peter Lerangis will appeal to tweens and teens who like lots of action and danger in their stories and who are curious about ancient history.

No new animated films opened last weekend, but there was plenty of animation in the theaters. Here are the estimated earnings of animated films in US theaters:

5th: Planes / $13.1 mil WEEKEND / $45.1 mil TOTAL
9th: Smurfs 2 / $4.6 mil WEEKEND / $57 mil TOTAL
12th: Despicable Me 2 / $3.8 mil WEEKEND / $346 mil TOTAL
16th: Turbo / $1 mil WEEKEND / $77.6 mil TOTAL

Internationally, the box office played out like this:
Smurfs 2 / $20 mil WEEKEND
Despicable Me 2 / $19.5 mil WEEKEND
Planes / $7.3 mil WEEKEND
Monsters University / $6 mil WEEKEND
Turbo / $2.9 mil WEEKEND

And the overall box office totals to date (US plus international):
Despicable Me 2: $781.2 mil
Monsters University: $658.6 mil
Smurfs 2: $207 mil
Turbo: $142 mil
Planes: $52.4 mil

Luke Epplin writes convincingly in The Atlantic about the supremacy of the ‘magic-feather syndrome’ in kids’ animated features, which is the idea stemming from Dumbo that a character can do anything as long as they build up their self-esteem. The concept stretches back further, too. For example, The Little Engine That Could. Recent film like Planes and Turbo are both guilty of this phenomenon, according to Epplin:

Following one’s dreams necessarily entails the pursuit of the extraordinary in these films. The protagonists sneer at the mundane, repetitive work performed by their unimaginative peers. Dusty abhors the smell of fertilizer and whines to his flying coach that he’s “been flying day after day over these same fields for years.” Similarly, Turbo performs his duties in the garden poorly, and his insubordination eventually gets him and Chet fired. Their attitudes are all part of an ethos that privileges self-fulfillment over the communal good.

In addition to disparaging routine labor, these films discount the hard work that enables individuals to reach the top of their professions. Turbo and Dusty don’t need to hone their craft for years in minor-league circuits like their racing peers presumably did. It’s enough for them simply to show up with no experience at the world’s most competitive races, dig deep within themselves, and out-believe their opponents. They are, in many ways, the perfect role models for a generation weaned on instant gratification.

This predictable approach to storytelling is juxtaposed against the infinite riches of Charles Schulz’s comic Peanuts, and more specifically, the animated Peanuts feature A Boy Named Charlie Brown, in which Charlie Brown is denied instant gratification at every turn:

A Boy Named Charlie Brown might come across now as harsh and unforgiving–especially to audiences that aren’t familiar with the comic strip’s cruel undercurrents–but its lessons are more enduring than those from movies where characters fulfill their impossible dreams. Charlie Brown learns through Linus’s tough-love speech that failure, no matter how painful, is not permanent, and that the best means of withstanding it is simply to show up the next day to school with the fortitude to try again. Losing also forces Charlie Brown to come to terms with his own limitations. He can’t rely on a miraculous victory to rescue him from his tormented childhood. He followed his dream, it didn’t pan out, and he ends up more or less where he started, only a little more experienced and presumably with a little more respect from his peers. They may no longer be able to refer to him as “failure-face,” but Lucy still yanks away the football when he becomes too hopeful. It’s incremental, rather than life-altering, progress.

Epplin isn’t naive and knows that today’s market-tested, consumer-friendly animated features won’t take the kind of narrative risks that Schulz did in the 1960s. His suggestions for improvement are, nonetheless, quite sensible: “Contemporary animated films would never emulate the tough life lessons of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, but they’d do well to reintroduce the twin notions of failure and humility.”

The entire article is well worth a read, even if the release date of Dumbo is off by a couple years. And with a CGI Peanuts feature currently in the works, one hopes that the writers of the screenplay will stay true to the spirit of Schulz’s universe instead of following the cheap virtueless storytelling tropes of contemporary animation studio features.

Disney’s Planes opened in the United States in third place with an estimated $22.5 million this weekend. The debut of the DisneyToon Studios film topped the opening weekends of DreamWorks’ Turbo ($21.3 mil) and Sony’s Smurfs 2 ($17.5 mil). Planes cost $50 mil to produce, which is modest compared to the recent DreamWorks and Sony pics which cost $135-145 mil to produce. The film is a sad reminder to other studios: Disney can skimp on production quality and still do better than its competitors because of the strength of its all important Disney brand.

Smurfs 2 dropped 46% in its second outing with an estimated $9.5 mil. The film has grossed a paltry $46.6 mil in America. Despicable Me 2 held steady in its sixth weekend, with a ninth place finish of $5.7 mil and a massive total of $338.3 mil, which makes it the fifth highest-grossing American animated feature of all-time. Turbo crashed out of the top ten, landing in 12th place with $2.3 mil in its fourth weekend. The film suffered a huge 64% week-to-week drop and has made $75 mil to date.

International numbers coming soon…

This weekend is the opening of DisneyToon Studios’ Planes directed by TV animation veteran Klay Hall (King of the Hill, Father of the Pride and the D2V release Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure). The Pixar-inspired film has been poorly received by both critics and audiences; it owns a 25% critics’ grade on Rotten Tomatoes and a 62% audience grade. The film does have an A- CinemaScore grade, but I find CinemaScore’s ratings to be entirely useless since almost every family film that they report grades for has an A of some sort. According to them, audiences gave Smurfs 2 and Planes A- grades, and Turbo, Monsters University, Epic and Despicable Me 2 all received A grades. Were the audiences that CinemaScore polled truly that undiscerning about the quality of this year’s animated films? I find that hard to believe.

Many crtics have complained about the film’s sloppy stereotyping, among its many flaws. Justin Chang writes in Variety that, “Planes is so overrun with broad cultural stereotypes that it should come with free ethnic-sensitivity training for especially impressionable kids.” The other common criticism is that Planes feels tired, and that it’s nothing more than a cashgrab like the toy-driven films of the dreaded 1980s animation world. Neil Genzlinger says in the NY Times

It’s your turn now. After you see Planes, report back here with your thoughts in the comments below. As always, this talkback is reserved for readers who have seen the film and wish to comment on it. Non-reviews will be removed.

(Planes billboard via Daily Billboard)

Disney announced this afternoon that they will release Planes: Fire & Rescue as a 3D theatrical feature on July 18, 2014. The film is a sequel to Planes, itself a spin-off of Pixar’s Cars, that will open in theaters on August 9. Both of the Planes films are produced by Disneytoon, the John Lasseter-run division that handles all the projects that Pixar and Disney Feature won’t touch with a ten-foot-pole. It should also be noted that Planes 2 wasn’t among the 15-feature release slate that Disney announced last month so we can only guess how many more Disneytoon features will flood theaters over the coming years in addition to the Disney and Pixar features.

(via Deadline)

This afternoon, Disney announced release dates for all of its animated features produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar through 2018. The two studios will be responsible for fifteen theatrical releases over the next six years. During the previous six-year period (2007-2012), Disney and Pixar released a total of 12 films.

Here’s what we know so far based on available information:

• Pixar’s Monsters University – June 21, 2013

(via @ERCboxoffice and /Film)

Variety is reporting that bankrupt American animation/visual effects studio Rhythm & Hues has been acquired at auction by Indian company Prana Studios. The Variety article mentions that Prana’s credits include Hoodwinked and Disney’s upcoming Planes.

Prana also created the animation for Koochie Koochie Hota Hai. The film, which its producer has described as a “love story between three dogs,” has been finished for over three years, but it is filled with so much amazing that it cannot be released into theaters without sending audiences into a dangerous state of ecstatic euphoria. In the meantime, Prana should spend some time getting their new Rhythm & Hues subsidiary up to speed on how to create mindbending computer-generated visuals.

The trailer announces “From above the world of Cars…Disney’s Planes.”

Now that Disney owns Pixar, the calculated blending of brand identities has begun. Note, however, that Pixar’s name isn’t mentioned in the trailer—even though Planes is rooted in their style and creative universe. There’s a reason for that: nothing in the Planes trailer suggests the originality or artistry associated with the Pixar brand. To be fair though, quality filmmaking appears to have hardly been the motivation for this licensing and merchandising money grab.

The film, directed by TV vet Klay Hall (King of the Hill, Father of the Pride), will be released theatrically on August 9. Here’s the synopsis:

From high above the world of Cars, flies Planes, Disney’s upcoming animated action-packed comedic adventure starring Dusty (voiced by Dane Cook), a big-hearted, fast-flying crop duster who dreams of competing in the most exhilarating around-the-world air race in history. There’s only a couple of not-so-small problems—Dusty is not exactly built for racing and he also happens to be afraid of heights.

Despite his fear and with encouragement from his mentor, a naval aviator named Skipper, Dusty narrowly qualifies for the big competition. Dusty’s sportsmanship and speed begin to rattle the defending champ of the race circuit, Ripslinger, who will stop at nothing to see Dusty fail. When disaster strikes during the climax of the final race, Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test. With the support of friends old and new, Dusty reaches heights he never dreamed possible and in the process, gives a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.

We don’t usually post trailers twice, but three months ago we posted the trailer for Disney’s “Cars-inspired” direct-to-DVD movie Planes – and after two days and 100 plus comments the studio pulled the video from the internet. They’ve just officially uploaded it to You Tube again today and we thought we’d let you have at it once more (embed below). Above, the first official image of lead character “Dusty” voiced by Jon Cryer. The movie goes on sale Spring 2013.

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: Planes

As reported here back in February, Disney’s spin-off of Pixar’s Cars, an original direct-to-video movie, Planes.

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: Planes