Vincent (1982 film) of his life. The film was theatrically released for two weeks in one Los Angeles cinema with the teen drama "Tex". Before it was consigned to the Disney vaults, it garnered several critical accolades when it played at film festivals in London, Chicago and Seattle, winning two awards at Chicago and the Critics' Prize at the Annecy Film Festival in France. An early form of the character of Jack Skellington from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" can be seen in the upper-left corner of the screen from 1:18-1:25 as well as in front of the embodiment of his deceased wife from
Tim Burton's unrealized projects Miramax, which would have made it the first original animated film made by the company. However, Disney shut down the film's production, along with Skellington Productions, after the poor box office results of "James and the Giant Peach". After Kevin Smith had been hired to write a new "Superman" film, he suggested Burton to direct. Burton signed on with a pay-or-play contract of $5 million and Warner Bros. set a theatrical release date for the summer of 1998, the 60th anniversary of the character's debut in "Action Comics". Nicolas Cage was signed on to play Superman, with a $20 million