Thomas Schumacher
President, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Walt Disney Television Animation and Buena Vista Theatrical Group
Walt Disney Television Animation
Walt Disney Television Animation produces animated programming for Disney cable and broadcast outlets around the world, including Disney Channel, Toon Disney and ABC.
Disney's One Saturday Morning, a block of programming now in
its fourth season on ABC, continues to draw praise from critics and fans alike. New for the One Saturday Morning lineup is Disney's Teacher's Pet, which debuted in September to critical acclaim. Created by artist and illustrator Gary Baseman and written by Emmy Award-winners Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, the series follows the adventures of a knowledge-hungry canine (Nathan Lane), who disguises himself as a boy in order to go to school.
Disney/Pixar's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins also debuted in 2000, first as an animated feature-length video in August, just two months prior to the launch of the daily television series for ABC and Buena Vista Television's Disney's One Too lineup on UPN. As the title indicates, the series follows the adventures of Toy Story star Buzz Lightyear "to infinity and beyond."
In early 2001, Mickey Mouse and pals will entertain all of the Disney characters (and viewers too) at Disney's House of Mouse, an animated variety show featuring music, comedy and cartoon shorts.
Premiering this fall is Disney's Lloyd in Space, an animated teen comedy from Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, the creators of Disney's Recess, which follows the humorous day-to-day dilemmas of Lloyd, an alien teenager who must endure the often confusing transition toward adulthood.
Movietoons & Video Premieres
Walt Disney Television Animation's Movietoons continued to bring popular Disney characters to the big screen. The Tigger Movie was the first original, full-length animated feature to star Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood characters.
Some of the most famous Disney characters also starred in their own direct-to-video movies in 2000, including the November 1999 release of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas; An Extremely Goofy Movie, which premiered in February 2000; and the September debut of Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, the much-anticipated sequel to the 1989 animated classic.
Buena Vista Theatrical Group
In keeping with the goal of producing outstanding entertainment for the whole family, Buena Vista Theatrical Group enjoyed a banner year in 2000, with more shows in production than ever before.
The Broadway premiere of Elton John and Tim Rice's AIDA garnered international attention and acclaim. This modern telling of the famous love story won four Tony Awards, including Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Heather Headley and Best Original Score for Rice and John. AIDA continues to play to sold-out audiences at the Palace Theatre.
The Lion King, which garnered six Tony Awards when it opened in 1997, enjoyed yet another year of sold-out performances at the historic New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway, and opened a much- anticipated run in Los Angeles in October at the newly renovated Pantages Theatre. Productions of The Lion King also continue to run in Osaka, Tokyo, London and Toronto.
A Disney favorite, Beauty and the Beast also has proven to be a perennial winner with Broadway audiences, enjoying its seventh year on Broadway as well as continuing for a fourth year touring the U.S.
Miramax
Miramax Films maintained its position as the world's leading independent film company and enjoyed another year of box office success in 2000. Miramax continued its winning ways at the Oscars, receiving 14 Academy Award nominations, with The Cider House Rules winning awards for Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine) and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published (John Irving).
Dimension's Scary Movie became Miramax's highest-grossing film ever, bringing in more than $156 million at the domestic box office. Dimension's Scream 3 garnered $90 million at the U.S. box office, pushing the Scream trilogy domestic box office total to more than $290 million.
Among Miramax's releases in late 2000: Chocolat, starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche and Judi Dench, directed by Academy Award-nominee Lasse Hallström; All the Pretty Horses, adapted from the best-selling novel by Cormac McCarthy, starring Academy Award-winner Matt Damon and directed by Academy Award-winner Billy Bob Thornton; and Giuseppe Tornatore's (director of Academy Award-winning Cinema Paradiso) Malena.
In 2001, Miramax will offer Gangs of New York, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Liam Neeson, directed by Martin Scorsese; Bridget Jones's Diary, starring Renee Zellweger; and Serendipity, starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.
In addition, Miramax produced the successful Broadway revival of The Real Thing, which won three Tony Awards, and celebrated the first full year of Talk magazine, which reached a circulation of 600,000.
A full cast of Disney characters will provide entertainment on the animated variety show, Disney's House of Mouse, a new addition to the children's programming lineup.
Disney's Recess, an animated show about six friends who band together against the perils of the playground, is featured in Disney's One Saturday Morning programming.
Chocolat, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, was released in late 2000 by Miramax.
Bridget Jones's Diary, based on the popular novel, will star Renee Zellweger and be released in spring 2001.
Academy Award-winner Billy Bob Thornton directs All the Pretty Horses, starring Academy Award-winner Matt Damon.
Talk Magazine, which is published by Miramax, celebrated its first full year in 2000, reaching a circulation of 600,000.
