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(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

"I got my heroes secondhand, from television and movies, to a certain extent. When fans ask if I was influenced by issue 47 of Whoeverman, I have no idea what they're talking about." Those are the words of director Brad Bird discussing his 2004 smash hit "The Incredibles" with Michael Barrier. "I'd be astonished if anyone could come up with any truly original powers that were at all interesting any more," the filmmaker added.

Somewhat ironically, 2004 was also when superhero cinema reached a turning point thanks to "Spider-Man 2" making a whopping $784 million worldwide, building off the back of Sam Raimi's first hit "Spider-Man" in film 2002, which was building itself off of hits like "X-Men" and "Blade." Superheroes were about to become more...

At long last, Franklin Armstrong has gotten the spotlight. After 55 years, the first Black character inducted into the Peanuts gang gets to show off his complexities beyond his complexion in Apple TV+‘s latest Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home Franklin. Right in time for Black History Month, no less.

The special focuses on the titular character depicted as a socially awkward kid who struggles to make new friends organically in the new neighborhood his family moves into. When he befriends hapless Charlie Brown, they instantly bond and enter a soapbox derby race. Franklin was never given this much attention or personality despite his long-running presence in Peanuts. As overdue as this special was, the significance of Franklin as a character cannot be overstated -not only to the Peanuts series but also to the diversity across the comic medium and the voices it inspired. One of whom was a co-writer on the special.

On October 23, 1941, "Dumbo" soared into audience members' hearts. With his wide, bright blue eyes and floppy ears as big as his whole body, he quickly stood out as one of the cutest Disney characters ever. Sadly, the playful baby elephant is mocked by others, referred to as "Dumbo" instead of Jumbo Jr., and ridiculed for his oversized ears which give him the ability to fly. In the book "The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney," author Michael Barrier notes that the Walt Disney movies "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia" failed at the box office because World War II disrupted the European markets. A successful film was crucial for the studio's continued survival.

Working with a small budget, the filmmakers came up with what Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called "the most genial, the most endearing, the most completely precious cartoon feature film ever to emerge from the magical brushes of Walt Disney's wonder-working artists.

Ensign Chekov brought youthful energy and charm to the Star Trek crew, attracting a younger audience. Chekov's wit and charm added humor to the show, making him a fan favorite among viewers. Walter Koenig's portrayal of Chekov in various Star Trek episodes and movies showcased his acting prowess.

Ensign Pavel Andreivich Chekov (Walter Koenig) joined Star Trek: The Original Series season 2 as the young Russian navigator of the USS Enterprise. Joining the Tos cast for the show's second and third seasons and the first seven movies, Walter Koenig hoped to attract a younger, teenage audience to the space-faring franchise. Koenig's boyish charm and Davey Jones-esque haircut added youthful energy and charming whimsy to the otherwise slightly more mature Enterprise crew. Like Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, Koenig was born to Russian parents and grew up in America, using a Russian accent for the role.

Comic-Con International has announced the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for 2015. The nominees, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, highlight the wide range of material being published in comics and graphic novel form today, from companies big and small, in print and on line. The awards will be given out during a gala ceremony on Friday, July 10 during Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Best Short Story

“Beginning’s End,” by Rina Ayuyang, muthamagazine.com

“Corpse on the Imjin!” by Peter Kuper, in Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World (Simon & Schuster)

“,” by Lee Bermejo, in Batman Black and White #3 (DC)

“,” by Max Landis & Jock, in Adventures of Superman #14 (DC)

“When the Darkness Presses,” by Emily Carroll, http://emcarroll.com/comics/darkness/

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

Astro City #16: “Wish I May” by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson (Vertigo/DC)

Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, by Evan Dorkin...

Fictionalised account of animator's life, one of nine new productions to be staged by the company, will present a 'nightmarish' vision of Walt Disney

A new work by Philip Glass about Walt Disney will have its UK premiere at English National Opera (Eno) in June 2013. Glass's opera – his 24th – is based on Peter Stephan Jungk's 2004 novel The Perfect American, a fictionalised account of the final years of Walt Disney's life, described by Glass as "unimaginable, alarming and truly frightening". The novel, narrated by Wilhelm Dantine, a fictional Austrian cartoonist who worked for the animator in the 50s, mixes fact and fantasy, including meetings with Andy Warhol and Abraham Lincoln, to discover Disney's delusions of immortality and glimpse into his murky private life. He is controversially depicted as a racist, a misogynist and an antisemite.

La Times reviewer Richard Schickel called the book a "partially successful fiction ... [that asks us to] reflect on fame and...

"Toy Story 3" was the highest rated movie of 2010, bringing moviegoers young and old out to the theaters in massive, excitable numbers. An animated film managed to send them home in a haze of emotion, happy to be reunited with their friends and nostalgic at all the time that had passed since the original film -- 16 years!

Now, "Toy Story 3" is the overwhelming favorite for the Best Animated Picture Oscar on Sunday -- not to mention being the third animated movie to be nominated for Best Film -- but not everyone is so sold on its charms. Count animation expert and historian Michael Barrier as a doubter.

An author and widely respected expert in the field, Barrier views "Toy Story," along with its illustrious producers Pixar, not as leading an exciting new frontier in a new Golden Age for cartoons, but instead as creating mechanical, manipulative series of films that don't...

Saturday was Carl Barks’s birthday. Had he not died in 2000 at the age of 99, he’d be 109. Anyone else who grew up loving Ducktales has him to thank: For nearly 65 years he was involved with Disney, most famously as author and illustrator of the “Duck” comic books, and among his creations are Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, Flintheart Glomgold, Magica DeSpell, the Beagle Boys, and, of course, Uncle $crooge.

Born in Merrill, Oregon, in 1901, Barks grew up on a small farm his parents owned and purportedly took up a number of odd jobs (that would later be reflected in Donald Duck’s vocational transcience) before deciding, on a whim, that he should go into cartooning, taking up a job at Disney in 1935. In 1942, he began his celebrated tenure working on Donald Duck comics, his first effort being the comic adaptation of an unproduced feature animation film showcasing Mickey, Goofy, and...