Movie News & Gossip

- MADISON, Miss. — Elizabeth Dampier doesn't get the royal treatment at home, even though the 5th grader plays a princess-to-be on the big screen.

The 10-year-old Mississippi girl is the voice of young Tiana, the female title character in the new Disney animated movie, "The Princess and the Frog," opening nationwide this weekend.

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood picked the right decade to go over the rainbow.

In an era that brought harsh reality home with the war on terror and an economy gone bust, Hollywood became more of a dream factory than ever, embracing fantastic escapism at a time when audiences needed it most.

FOT, Hungary - Ken Follett made his name writing spy thrillers like "Eye of the Needle." But the book that has won him the most critical, and eventually popular, acclaim is a nearly 1,000-page novel about the construction of an English cathedral in the 12th century.

Now, "The Pillars of the Earth" is being turned into a Ridley Scott-produced miniseries starring Donald Sutherland, Ian McShane and Rufus Sewell; shot in Hungary and Austria, it is to air by June 2010.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Amy Pascal, co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Disney's Anne Sweeney both were named the most powerful women in entertainment on Friday, heading the Hollywood Reporter's annual "Power 100" list.

Chat show host Oprah Winfrey, who came first a year ago, dropped to the No. 2 spot, while CBS TV entertainment president Nancy Tellem came in third.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The narrative behind "The Princess and the Frog" is that Walt Disney Animation has rediscovered its traditional hand-drawn animation, which has been supplanted by computer-generated cartoons. But this misses the point about what allowed Pixar -- which Disney now owns -- DreamWorks and other CG-animation companies to upstage the one-time king of the animation world. It's a thing called story.

So "Princess and the Frog" really marks Disney's rediscovery of a strong narrative loaded with vibrant characters and mind-bending, hilarious situations. Under the direction of veterans Ron Clements and John Musker (the team behind "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin") and the watchful eye of Pixar guru John Lasseter, now chief creative officer of Disney Animation, "Princess and the Frog" celebrates old and new: It's a musical fairy tale that dates back to the days when Walt Disney was a person, not a brand. Yet it deftly mingles with the new sensibilities in animation where fairy tales must get fractured, settings must be fresh and humor must be pitched to many age levels.

- The last time we heard from the hand-drawn animators at Disney, they offered up the barnyard tale "Home on the Range." The 2004 'toon was so forgettable it seemed as though it really might be the last time we ever heard from the hand-drawn animators at the studio where the art form was pioneered.

Thankfully, the spirit of animation maestro Walt Disney lives on. The studio has gone back to its roots with a fresh, funny retelling of a classic fairy tale in "The Princess and the Frog," Disney's return to hand-drawn animation after a five-year hiatus.

Oscar hopeful "Precious: Based On The Novel 'Push' By Sapphire" was a hit with audiences this weekend.

The gritty inner-city drama, executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, made $1.8 million at 18 theaters in its first weekend of limited release, according to Variety.