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36-417: The film was written for the screen by David Casci, based on a six-page pitch by writer Charles Pogue entitled "Library Days", presented to Casci by producer David Kirschner . The film was directed by Joe Johnston (live-action) and Pixote Hunt and Glenn Chaika (animation), and produced by David Kirschner and Paul Gertz. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed $ 13.7 million from

72-412: A "splendidly original children's fantasy about the world of books". James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave another positive review, calling it a "clever, often engaging, and always fast-paced motion picture" that "uses the visual medium to encourage its viewers to reach out with their imagination". The Pagemaster earned a Razzie Award nomination for Macaulay Culkin as Worst Actor for his performance in

108-570: A budget of $ 34 million. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 19% based on 21 reviews and an average rating of 4.3/10. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized the way the film's message came across, calling it a "sad and dreary film", adding that its message seemed to be that "books can be almost as much fun as TV cartoons and video arcade games". Brian Lowry of Variety said that

144-459: A budget of $ 34 million. The film's poor box office performance, along with the 1997 film Cats Don't Dance (which was in production at the time The Pagemaster was released), set back other animated films for the animation studio, Turner Feature Animation . Pessimistic 10-year-old Richard Tyler lives life based on statistics and fears everything. His exasperated parents have tried multiple ways to build up his courage, with little success. Richard

180-434: A deal with United Artists Pictures and MGM/UA Television for development, production and distribution of major motion picture and television projects for a two-year deal. Kirschner was appointed chairman of Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1989, where he wrote / created and executive produced many films, specials and shows, including Wake, Rattle & Roll , Gravedale High and The Pirates of Dark Water . Kirschner

216-512: A large dark room where the Pagemaster awaits them. Richard accuses the Pagemaster of causing the horrors that he suffered (some of which could have cost him his life ). Still, the Pagemaster reveals the journey was intended to make Richard face his fears. Dr. Jekyll, Captain Ahab, Long John Silver, and the dragon reappear in a magical twister and congratulate him. The Pagemaster swoops Richard and

252-464: A sassy but caring fairy-tale book; and Horror, a fearful "Hunchbook" with a misshapen spine. The three agree to help Richard if he checks them out using his new library card. Together, the quartet encounters classic fictional characters. They meet Dr. Jekyll who turns into Mr. Hyde, driving them to the open waters of the Land of Adventure. However, the group is separated after Moby-Dick attacks, following

288-457: A sufficient creative contribution to the writing process to warrant any screenwriting credit. Upon receiving this determination by the WGA, Fox threatened to pull out of arbitration and release the film without WGA-approved credits, positioning the WGA to be forced to file an injunction blocking the film's heavily promoted Christmas season release. Ultimately, a settlement was reached, and Fox released

324-475: A sword. In the fantasy section, Richard sees the exit sign atop a mountain. However, Adventure's bumbling awakens a dormant dragon . Richard tries to fight the dragon with a sword and shield, but the dragon swallows him. Richard finds books in the dragon's stomach and uses a beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk to escape the dragon's mouth. He and the books climb the beanstalk to reach the exit. They enter

360-470: A wide array of licensed consumer products. In 1986, Kirschner created and executive produced An American Tail , which was co-executive produced by Steven Spielberg , and, at its release, was the highest-grossing non-Disney produced animated feature of all time. It was followed by its theatrical sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), the television series Fievel's American Tails , and two direct-to-video sequels. In 1986, David Kirschner signed

396-399: Is 20th Century Fox's last animated feature film to use the traditional hand-painted cel method of animation. 20th Century Fox's next animated film, Anastasia , produced by its own in-house animation division , would use a digital method of coloring and combining scanned drawings similar to Disney 's CAPS software, which would eliminate the need for cels, the multiplane camera, and many of

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432-550: Is also creator of the Chucky animatronic doll which is featured in the Chucky series. He has produced all seven films in the original franchise, including the recent Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky , direct-to-video films made by Universal 1440 Entertainment. Other notable productions include 1997's Cats Don't Dance , winner of the 25th annual Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, 2006's Curious George , based upon

468-507: Is sent by his father to buy a bag of nails for building a treehouse . However, Richard gets caught in a harsh thunderstorm and takes shelter in a library. Despite Richard's protests, he meets Mr. Dewey, an eccentric librarian/custodian who insists that he needs a special book and gives him a library card. Searching for a phone, Richard finds a large rotunda painted with many famous literary characters. He slips on water dripping from his coat and falls, knocking himself out. Richard awakens to find

504-626: The Child's Play horror film series. After studying at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts , Kirschner began his career designing album cover art for Neil Diamond , most notably Neil Diamond 's The Jazz Singer , and illustrating characters for the Muppets and Sesame Street . In 1983, Kirschner created and released children's book series Rose Petal Place , which spawned two Television specials, toys, clothing, and

540-503: The WGA for approval well in advance of the release of a film or the publishing of posters or novelizations on which writing credits appear. In the case of The Pagemaster , the producers attempted to claim that, as the film was now largely animated, the WGA did not have jurisdiction to determine credits. Casci had written the screenplay under a WGA contract, as well as previous live-action versions for Disney Television dating back to 1985, also written under WGA contract. These facts positioned

576-526: The WGA to get involved, testing their tenuous authority over a feature film with animated elements. After a lengthy investigation and interviews with those intimately familiar with the genesis of the Pagemaster project, including three persons within Kirschner's own office, the WGA credit arbitration process determined that David Casci was, in fact, the primary writer, and that Kirschner did not provide

612-616: The bewilderment and delight of his parents. The Pirates of the Hispaniola are voiced by Richard Erdman , Fernando Escandon, Dorian Harewood , and Robert Picardo . The animation in the film was produced by Turner Feature Animation , headed by David Kirschner and supervising animator Bruce W. Smith and recently spun off from Hanna-Barbera . The crew included animators who were veterans of productions such as An American Tail (1986) (also produced by David Kirschner and composed by James Horner ), The Land Before Time (1988). This

648-765: The board of directors of the Writers Guild of America, West . Pogue and his wife Julieanne Beasley reside in Georgetown, Kentucky . They are both active in theatre productions and he frequently works with the Actors Guild of Lexington in Lexington, Kentucky . David Kirschner David Maxwell Kirschner (born May 29, 1955) is an American film and television producer and screenwriter. His producing credits include Don Bluth 's An American Tail (also wrote) and Titan A.E. animated features as well as

684-404: The books into the twister, returning them to the real world. Richard awakens, finding Adventure, Fantasy, and Horror lying next to him as real books. Mr. Dewey finds him, and even though the library policy only allows a person to check out 2 books at a time, he lets him check out all 3 books "just this once". Richard returns home a braver boy, sleeping in his new treehouse with his books, much to

720-605: The film (also for Getting Even with Dad and Richie Rich ). He lost the award to Kevin Costner for Wyatt Earp . The Pagemaster was first released on VHS and LaserDisc on April 4, 1995, by Fox Video . 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film on DVD on May 28, 2002, on Region 1 and Blu-ray on August 6, 2013, on Region A. The score was written by film composer James Horner . The soundtrack also featured two songs based on Horner's themes. The songs were titled "Whatever You Imagine" by Wendy Moten which

756-454: The film exist, including an illustrated book attributed to David Kirschner and Ernie Contreras, illustrated by Jerry Tiritilli, which contained large passages from the Casci screenplay without giving Casci writing credit. The film was well into production by the time this book was introduced in the 1993 F. A. O. Schwarz Christmas Catalog. Other properties based on the film include a novelization of

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792-501: The film with both Kirschner and Casci receiving story and screenplay credit, with a third writer, Ernie Contreras, also receiving screenplay credit. At the time, this case was the most expensive and extensive investigation of its type undertaken by the WGA on behalf of one of its members. The Pagemaster is presented in an extended cut version. During the production, some original scenes were removed, both live-action and animation. The deleted scenes and characters can be still seen during

828-404: The film's animation crew, the film went overbudget during animation production due to mismanagement and changes to the narrative. Joe Johnston went on to express his dissatisfaction over the production, claiming that the film was re-edited without his consent. He has since crossed The Pagemaster off his résumé. This was also the third film in which Leonard Nimoy and Frank Welker co-starred;

864-405: The film's principal appeal for adults would be its abbreviated running time, and that it did not do enough with its famous fictional characters, noting: "A more inspired moment has Richard using a book, Jack and the Beanstalk , to escape from the belly of a dragon. Unfortunately, such moments are few and far between". Rita Kempley of The Washington Post gave the film a positive review, calling it

900-548: The film, children's story books, pop-up books and other film ancillaries such as toys and games. Video game adaptations of the film were released the same year as the film. They were developed by Probe Software Ltd. and published by Fox Interactive . The PC and non-PC versions of the game are almost entirely different games; the PC game is an FMV adventure game and is developed by Mammoth Micro Productions, published by Turner Interactive and distributed by Turner Home Entertainment , and

936-586: The films that were made from his screenplays for Dragonheart and Kull the Conqueror , saying that they were ruined by studio interference. Whereas he believes that his most satisfying achievement was The Hound of the Baskervilles . Pogue is also a renowned actor in regional theater who has worked onstage with such stars as Charlton Heston , Jeremy Brett , Cyd Charisse , Martha Raye and Deanna Dunagan . From 1997 to 2001, Pogue served on

972-639: The first two were Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and The Transformers: The Movie . The two later co-starred again, 17 years later, in Transformers: Dark of the Moon . Nimoy, along with David Kirschner, were also involved in Hanna-Barbera's 1993 feature-length animated television film adaptation of Ray Bradbury 's 1972 fantasy novel, The Halloween Tree , in which Nimoy was the voice of Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. The Pagemaster

1008-767: The making of the film, trailers and TV spots, SkyBox International trading cards, books and other related products. They can be also seen during the sneak peek on the 1993 VHS release of Once Upon a Forest , the 1994 VHS release of Rookie of the Year , and in the promotional trailer of the VHS release of the film on the promotional demo/screener VHS copy in 1995. The film was a production by Turner Pictures. 20th Century Fox handled U.S. distribution, while Turner Pictures Worldwide handled international distribution. The film grossed $ 13.7 million in North American theaters from

1044-463: The non-PC versions are platformers. Charles Edward Pogue Charles Edward Pogue Jr. (born January 18, 1950) is an American screenwriter , playwright and stage actor . He is best known for writing the screenplays of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983), Psycho III (1986), The Fly (1986) and Dragonheart (1996). Pogue was born on January 18, 1950, in Cincinnati, Ohio ,

1080-478: The optical effects used for the last time in The Pagemaster . The screenwriting credits for this film were the subject of a protracted legal arbitration with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) when its producer, David Kirschner , attempted to claim sole authorship of the screenplay and original story, with no credit for its original screenwriter, David Casci. Typically, proposed credits are submitted to

1116-499: The rotunda art melting, which washes over him and the library, turning them into illustrations. He is met by the Pagemaster, the mythical Keeper of Books and Guardian of the Written Word. Richard asks for directions to the exit, so the Pagemaster sends him through the fiction section toward the green neon exit sign. Along the way, Richard befriends three anthropomorphic books: Adventure, a swashbuckling pirate-like book; Fantasy,

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1152-460: The science fiction, fantasy, horror, and thriller genres, and he has also scripted several Sherlock Holmes adaptations: The Hound of the Baskervilles , The Sign of Four , and Hands of a Murderer . His most well-known work to date is probably the acclaimed 1986 remake of The Fly ; he provided the initial drafts, though his work was heavily rewritten by David Cronenberg , the film's director. He has expressed his disappointment with

1188-460: The son of Charles Edward Pogue Sr. (1921–1994) and Ruth Elizabeth Hick (1921–2010). He grew up in Fort Thomas, Kentucky , and graduated from Highlands High School in 1968. He earned a degree in theater arts from the University of Kentucky in 1972 where he was active in theatre productions. Pogue began writing plays and screenplays after moving to Los Angeles, California . He has worked in

1224-438: The whale's battle with Captain Ahab . Richard and Adventure are shipwrecked and picked up by the Hispaniola , captained by Long John Silver . The pirates go to Treasure Island , but find no treasure except for one gold coin, nearly causing a mutiny between the captain and the crew. Fantasy and Horror return and defeat the pirates. Silver attempts to convince Richard to leave with him but surrenders when Richard threatens him with

1260-517: Was heard during the film when all four characters finally enter into the fantasy section and "Dream Away" by Babyface and Lisa Stansfield is heard during the end credits. The soundtrack album was released only on Compact Disc and Cassette Tape format on October 30, 1994, and is also available in the iTunes Store. Contrary to any claims, the screenplay and film are not based on any book. David Casci's screenplay preceded all novelizations and illustrated books by several years. A number of books based on

1296-533: Was one of the first films to feature live-action, traditional animation, and CGI animation all together. One scene involving a computer-generated dragon made from paint was used, a challenge for the filmmakers. All of the fictional works featured in the film were created and first published before January 1, 1923, making them a part of the public domain in most countries. The theme songs in the film are " Dream Away ", sung by Babyface and Lisa Stansfield , and "Whatever You Imagine", sung by Wendy Moten . According to

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