Maple Leafs
10-01-2004, 01:31 PM
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2004/09/30/Arts/opus040930.html
Opus leaps from funny pages to film screens
LOS ANGELES - Opus, the neurotic penguin who first appeared in the Bloom County newspaper strip, is set to become the hero of his own feature film.
The proposed movie is the result of a deal between Miramax and the San Francisco-based animation firm Wild Brain Inc.
The picture will use computer-generated imagery to bring Opus to life.
Known for his strong feelings for his mother, Opus has been the star of three comic strips, beginning with Bloom County, which ran from 1980 to 1989.
Bloom County was followed by the Sunday-only strip Outland, which was retired in 1995. Opus, another Sunday-only offering, launched last year.
All three strips were the work of Berkeley Breathed, who took the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987.
Opus and his sometimes-dead friend, Bill the Cat, appeared in the animated short A Wish for Wings That Work in 1991.
Screenwriter Craig Mazin, who had a hand in the script for Scary Movie 3, will adapt Breathed's character for the silver screen.
Wild Brain's work includes the Disney Channel's Higglytown Heroes, a series for preschoolers, and commercials for clients like Coca-Cola.
The deal is seen by some as an attempt on the part of the Walt Disney Co., Miramax's parent, to bulk up its animated offerings as its distribution deal with Pixar, creator of Finding Nemo and Toy Story, draws to an end next year.
Opus leaps from funny pages to film screens
LOS ANGELES - Opus, the neurotic penguin who first appeared in the Bloom County newspaper strip, is set to become the hero of his own feature film.
The proposed movie is the result of a deal between Miramax and the San Francisco-based animation firm Wild Brain Inc.
The picture will use computer-generated imagery to bring Opus to life.
Known for his strong feelings for his mother, Opus has been the star of three comic strips, beginning with Bloom County, which ran from 1980 to 1989.
Bloom County was followed by the Sunday-only strip Outland, which was retired in 1995. Opus, another Sunday-only offering, launched last year.
All three strips were the work of Berkeley Breathed, who took the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987.
Opus and his sometimes-dead friend, Bill the Cat, appeared in the animated short A Wish for Wings That Work in 1991.
Screenwriter Craig Mazin, who had a hand in the script for Scary Movie 3, will adapt Breathed's character for the silver screen.
Wild Brain's work includes the Disney Channel's Higglytown Heroes, a series for preschoolers, and commercials for clients like Coca-Cola.
The deal is seen by some as an attempt on the part of the Walt Disney Co., Miramax's parent, to bulk up its animated offerings as its distribution deal with Pixar, creator of Finding Nemo and Toy Story, draws to an end next year.