By Russ Britt,
MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:18 PM ET
Feb 5, 2007
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Walt Disney Co. said Monday that it plans to create a film unit that specializes in a new animation technology and is teaming with Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis on the project. Disney (DIS : Walt Disney CompanyDIS35.26, +0.08, +0.2% ) wants to create more films using "performance-capture" technology, also used on the 2004 film "The Polar Express," in which Zemeckis teamed with actor Tom Hanks. Produced for an estimated $150 million under Warner Bros., "Polar Express" went on to gross $278 million worldwide. The movie was an adaptation of a best-selling children's book. Performance capture, also known as motion capture, records an actor's movements and facial expressions via a series of sensors attached at various points to the body; the movements are then altered to develop animated characters that can look similar to the actor. The technology is similar to what was used to create Gollum, the semi-animated character in the recent "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Zemeckis won an Oscar for directing "Forrest Gump," which also starred Hanks, and created the "Back to the Future" movies as well as the animation/live-action hybrid, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." Working with him are producing partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey. Disney and the three producers will jointly own the new company, which will be based in northern California. Zemeckis, Rapke and Starkey will produce the films while Disney will distribute and market them. The three producers recently released "Monster House," nominated for an Oscar this year for best animated feature. That film was made for an estimated $75 million, a reasonable sum considering the rising costs of animated features. "Monster House" has made $137 million worldwide. They also are putting out another performance-capture film, "Beowulf," scheduled for release later this year. A similar technology, known as rotoscoping, involves using live-action film and tracing over the characters to animate them. The technology has been used in the recent film "A Scanner Darkly" and a round of Charles Schwab commercials. Disney shares were up 8 cents to $35.26 at the close.
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