Riffing off: Disney's fabulous 1967 animated tale.
I know that might sound as if I'm getting a little serious about a half-hour animated tale of exploding bakeries and cardiganed derring-don't.
The latest Pixar animated tale, Cars, is expected to rev up Hollywood's box office revival when it is released on Friday.
This technology has come a long way since Robert Zemeckis was accused of creating dead-eyed children on his 2004 animated tale The Polar Express.
Based on writer and co-director Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel, the Oscar-nominated animated tale follows a young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian revolution.
Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, the black-and-white, stop-motion animated tale of a boy who brings his beloved pet dog back to life with monstrous consequences, is to open this year's London film festival.
Third went to the newly opening comedy remake Yours, Mine & Ours, starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo, with $17m, while the Disney animated tale Chicken Little was fourth with $12m.
Disney's South Pacific animated tale Moana fell short of a Frozen-sized debut but nevertheless dominated the Thanksgiving box office with an estimated $81.1m over the five-day weekend.
(Stephen Holden) 'Disney's Planes' (PG, 1 31) This animated tale about a crop duster that competes in a race against much sleeker, more powerful airplanes is in the "Cars" lineage, but it tries to duplicate the success of those movies through imitation more than innovation.
The same is true in "How to Train Your Dragon," a fairly standard child-friendly animated tale about being yourself, following your dreams and tolerating others that is made transcendent by the vertiginous and exhilarating spectacle of dragons on the wing.
