Daily News Bytes: Lasseter’s Return Unlikely, Outsourcing in Anime, ‘Stolen Princess’ Hits $2.5M, & More

”He Who Must Not Be Named”: Can John Lasseter Ever Return to Disney?
As the end of his post-allegations “sabbatical” looms, THR examines the rise of the Hawaiian-shirt wearing figurehead, and whether the Pixar founder and current Disney animation creative chief is too big to be moved by the #MeToo tide. “All of his behavior was condoned … It wasn’t just the drinking. It was his never having grown up. Some of senior management believed that was part of the secret ingredient when really the secret ingredient was a group of people,” says an unnamed source.

TICKETS ON SALE: ‘Lu Over the Wall’ Opens May 11
Don’t miss this magical mermaid-meets-rock-band adventure for all ages from visionary animation auteur Masaaki Yuasa. GKIDS presents the picture in theaters nationwide in two weeks!

‘Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern’ Gets Canadian Release Date
ELEVEN Arts announces that the early 20th century coming-of-age, end-of-an-era tale will be released across Canada at Cineplex theaters starting June 8. They have also unveiled a new poster!

‘The Breadwinner’ Wins AUDI-end Award at Audi Dublin Int’l Film Festival
The Oscar-nominated film earned a VIP trip to the 2019 Berlinale as the 11th winner of the prize. “On behalf of our entire cast, crew, funders and producers across Ireland, Canada and Luxembourg, I am absolutely thrilled with the ADIFF AUDI-ence Award. The Breadwinner was a massive collaborative effort, and to have the film honoured at such a wonderful festival as ADIFF, makes me very proud of all involved with its creation,” said director Nora Twomey.

‘The Stolen Princess’ Sets Ukrainian Film BO Record
Animagrad’s (FILM.UA) debut feature film project has totted up an additional $1,086,865 outside the Ukraine, having already set a domestic box-office record, bringing the cumulative total to $2,467,850 and making it the highest-grossing Ukrainian-made film since the country’s independence. The Stolen Princess is currently screening in Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Vietnam and most recently, Mongolia and Georgia.

Keeping the Anime Industry Afloat from the Shadows: Wanpack and Outsourcing Studios
SakugaBlog shines a light on the many, many support teams the buoy Japan’s demanding TV Animation industry — and the struggles they in turn face in an industry which has seen more and more unemployment and underpayment of its artists.