S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 6Penguins Beat BondBoy, was I wrong. "Happy Feet" beat "Casino Royale" at the box office,grossing $42 mil to Bond's $40 mil.</p><p> I was convinced the flood ofanimated movies, the competition from two current family films ("TheSanta Clause 3" and "Flushed Away") and the tidal wave of publicityand great reviews for Bond would give "Casino Royale" the edge.</p><p> I waswrong.</p><p> Haughtily wrong.</p><p> If a blog can hang its head in shame, considermine hanged.</p><p> On the other hand, I'm delighted that director GeorgeMiller has scored another triumph.</p><p> He is, to my mind, one of the mostinteresting and distinctive directors working today.</p><p> The Mad Maxmovies, "Lorenzo's Oil," the Babe movies (one of which he shepherdedand one he directed) and now "Happy Feet." And amidst all the talk of"Happy Feet," I keep stumbling over quick little bursts of praise for"Babe: Pig In The City," the much maligned sequel to "Babe" that Iloved.</p><p> This is the first weekend all year that two movies grossed morethan $40 million.</p><p> It's also the third best opening for an animated moviethis year, after the $68 mil for "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and $60 milfor "Cars," which everyone derided as a stumble by Pixar until itcruised along to $457 mil worldwide.</p><p> Here are the 14 animated moviesof the year and their final US grosses.</p><p> I believe we've seen moreanimated movies released in 2006 than in any year in cinematichistory.</p><p> And there's still one more to go: Luc Besson's dreadful looking,dead on arrival "Arthur and the Invisibles," due out Dec 15.1.</p><p> Cars -- $244 million US total box office2.</p><p> Ice Age: The Meltdown -- $195 million3.</p><p> Over The Hedge -- $155 million4.</p><p> Open Season -- $146 million5.</p><p> The Wild -- $137 million6.</p><p> Monster House -- $ 73 million7.</p><p> Barnyard -- $ 72 million8.</p><p> Curious George -- $ 58 million9.</p><p> Flushed Away -- $ 48 million (and counting)10.</p><p> Happy Feet -- $ 42 million (and counting)11.</p><p> The Ant Bully -- $ 28 million12.</p><p> Everyone's Hero -- $ 14 million13.</p><p> A Scanner Darkly -- $ 6 million14.</p><p> Arthur/Invisibles -- TK (due December 15)Next Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Penguins Beat Bondhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/11/penguins-beat-bond.html 1 of 37/28/09 2:16 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronMichael in New YorkBiboy POPSURFING.COM: Penguins Beat Bondhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/11/penguins-beat-bond.html 2 of 37/28/09 2:16 PMPOPSURFING.COM: Penguins Beat Bondhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/11/penguins-beat-bond.html 3 of 37/28/09 2:16 PM
