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More Jack Mathews on Spirited Away

Jack Mathews, the weekly columnist for the New York Daily News that has brought up Spirited Away a few times recently, has once again mentionend the film in his column. This week's column focuses on movies that are well received by critics but do not do very well at the box office. Towards the end of his column Mathews writes, "Walt Disney, Inc. lowered its 2002 earnings estimate earlier this week because of the abysmal opening of the studio's latest animated feature, "Treasure Planet." Disney will never know whether it squandered a potential windfall when it decide d not to commit to a wide release for "Spirited Away," the infinitely superior Japanese animated feature it bought for U.S. distribution. "Spirited Away" remains the best-reviewed movie of the year, and has already won the award for best animated feature from the National Board of Review. I predict it will win all of the critics' awards. Yet Disney sat on it, convinced it was a minor art-house film, spending accordingly. The phrase "penny-wise, pound-foolish" has never been more appropriate."