Fantasy World

Inside most animated movie studios, the workplace background noise is little more than gentle mouse clicks and the dull drone of computers. The sounds within Laika, the maker of the new stop-motion animated film "Coraline," are often distinctly different: the buzz of electric drills, the whir from sewing machines and the occasional wallop of a hammer. Animation has grown into not only a billion-dollar business but also a high-tech hotbed of visual effects.

With his competition focused on the chilly Midwest, Newt Gingrich wooed California's Republican faithful Saturday, banking on a Republican contest so chaotic that the most populous state in the country could actually matter when voters go to the polls in June. "You cannot follow the recent Republican practice of writing off our largest state and imagine that you are going to run an American campaign," the former House speaker told delegates to the state party convention, meeting outside of San Francisco.

Most likely, "Kinsey" didn't get nominated for a best picture Academy Award because of the story it told: Guy meets girl, guy marries girl, guy does pioneering research into human sexuality (this is where his Oscar chances began to go south) and discovers that sex is more than an expression of love between a man and a woman, it's multi-variant -- a host of desires that, whether acted upon or not, are not necessarily less moral than straight, monogamous, federally funded married sex.

Nek Chand became a road inspector in Chandigarh six decades ago, when India's only planned city, a geometric dream of clean lines and modernist buildings designed in part by French architect Le Corbusier, was just taking shape. One day, using his access to city maps, Chand spotted some forest land out of sight that wasn't slated for development. He set about creating a wonderland, a bit of beautiful chaos in tidy Chandigarh. On his rickety bicycle, he slipped into the woods after work with scrounged stones, chunks of concrete and discarded wire.

MGM is showing mucho confidence in its George Lucas-produced, Ron Howard-directed fantasy "Willow": It rejected initial bids that came in from theater operators and is pressing for a better deal, as in hefty 16-week-minimum playdates and a "substantial guarantee and advance," according to a copy of its rebid letter to exhibitors obtained by Outtakes.

"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," a recently released film created entirely on computers, is a staggering technical achievement. For a few moments during this 90-minute movie, the animation on the big screen is utterly indistinguishable from live action. But the $140-million film is tanking at the box office, largely a victim of a mediocre story line and images that only rarely match what audiences can see in a traditional movie.

At the start of "Phoebe in Wonderland," the mother of a young girl (played by Elle Fanning) gives her a handmade diorama depicting "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." But when the girl joins a school production of that same story, she begins to blur fantasy and reality. "If you look carefully at that diorama, you see every portion of Wonderland that's later realized" in the film, said writer-director Daniel Barnz. That was largely thanks to production designer Therese DePrez.

A new display at the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building, on view through March 15, includes two toy electric trains that chug through a fantasy world of live plants and miniatures called Smithsonian Land. The theme is a whimsical one: With the arrival of locomotives in the countryside, fairies have taken to the hills, leaving behind an intricate imaginary world of miniature houses, trains with clanging bells, bridges, pines and mosses. Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Free admission.

From the moment I heard about it, I wondered how the reality of Las Pozas, an elaborate sculpture garden in northeastern Mexico, measured up to Edgar Allan Poe's fictional Arnheim, a fantasy landscape so perfect that Poe protested that it could not be captured in mere words. But Poe's supremely beautiful estate, created in his short story "The Domain of Arnheim," never existed outside his imagination.

Patrick J. Naughton has lost his job as an executive in Walt Disney Co.'s Internet empire and his $2.4-million Seattle house since his arrest three months ago on charges of using the Net to solicit sex from a minor. But he is mounting an unusual legal defense to make sure that he does not also lose his trial, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Nobody knows why Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt decided to call his restaurant Don the Beachcomber. Maybe he just thought Ernest the Beachcomber wouldn't roll off the tongue quite as easily. In fact, as his Hollywood eatery and watering hole became famous in the years after its 1937 founding, he would change his own name, first to Donn Beach-Comber, then to Donn Beach. He would also play a key role in introducing Polynesian restaurants and tiki bars to America. "If you can't get to paradise, I'll bring it to you," Beach liked to say. As a young man, Beach had sailed around the globe, working odd jobs on steamships while developing a love for the South Pacific.

Aries (March 21-April 19): Someone has drawn you in and now your needs are clearer. Soon you can ask in a straightforward manner. Taurus (April 20-May 20): You have several projects on at once. How are you to tackle them all? With help. And get organized. Gemini (May 21-June 21): In the near future, you will get special care from an adoring supporter who either has more heart or more free time than the others. Cancer (June 22-July 22): Your relationships are like gold in the bank.

OK everyone, time to daydream a little. Ready to daydream? You there, reading this on the Metrolink: Ready to daydream? Now imagine you are at Staples Center. It's Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The lights go dim as Lawrence Tanter introduces the lineup for the Lakers: At one forward, 6-9 in his fifth year out of North Carolina, James Worthy The other forward, 6-5 in his seventh year out of Seattle University, Elgin Baylor At center, 7-2 in his 11th year out of UCLA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar At one guard, 6-6 in his sixth year out of Lower Merion High School, Ko-beeeeeee Bryant The other guard, 6-8 in his ninth year out of Michigan State, Earvin "Magic" Johnson The head coach, in his 18th year, Hall of Famer Phil Jackson Now, come back to reality.

Aries (March 21-April 19): Throw out the list of things you are supposed to do today. Dare to wing it. You'll probably accomplish everything and more — yet your approach will be more free and fun loving. Taurus (April 20-May 20): You will likely go deeper into the state of mind you are in. If it's not a positive one, take drastic measures to pull yourself in a new and improved direction. Gemini (May 21-June 21): The way you see yourself is not the way you are. Think only the best about yourself.

It used to be that the only adults who read young adult literature were those who had a vested interest -- teachers or librarians or parents who either needed or wanted to keep an eye on developing readers' tastes. But increasingly, adults are reading YA books with no ulterior motives. Attracted by well-written, fast-paced and engaging stories that span the gamut of genres and subjects, such readers have mainstreamed a niche long derided as just for kids. Thanks to huge crossover hits like Stephenie Meyer's bloodsucking "Twilight" saga, Suzanne Collins' fight-to-the-death "The Hunger Games" trilogy, Rick Riordan's "The Lightning Thief" and Markus Zusak's Nazi-era "The Book Thief," YA is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak publishing market.

SERIES Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: When a boy is set on fire, detectives Stabler and Munch (Christopher Meloni, Richard Belzer) end up at a private school, where their student escort (Jesse McCartney) introduces them to a chastity circle. Dann Florek co-stars (8 p.m. NBC). Accidentally on Purpose: Scheduling issues force Billie and Zack (Jenna Elfman, Jon Foster) to take parenting classes separately, she attends with her sister Abby and her friend (Lennon Parham, Ashley Jensen)

Nek Chand became a road inspector in Chandigarh six decades ago, when India's only planned city, a geometric dream of clean lines and modernist buildings designed in part by French architect Le Corbusier, was just taking shape. One day, using his access to city maps, Chand spotted some forest land out of sight that wasn't slated for development. He set about creating a wonderland, a bit of beautiful chaos in tidy Chandigarh. On his rickety bicycle, he slipped into the woods after work with scrounged stones, chunks of concrete and discarded wire.

Good Grief, Not a Grown-Up, Charlie Brown!: Forty years after starting his "Peanuts" comic strip, Charles Schulz plans to introduce an adult for the first time into the fantasy world populated by Snoopy and several children--but only on a television special to be aired next year. The adult will have only a small part and be a character that works at a puppy farm where Snoopy and his brothers, Spike and Olaf, meet for a reunion.

Production designer John Myhre won Oscars for his work on director Rob Marshall's 2002 period musical "Chicago" and his 2005 drama "Memoirs of a Geisha." He's also supplied the eye-popping looks for the 2006 musical "Dreamgirls" and last year's fantasy thriller "Wanted." But for all that, perhaps his most creative project is his latest, the musical "Nine," opening Dec.18. Marshall directed this lavish adaptation of the Broadway musical hit, itself based on the 1963 Fellini film "8 1/2 ," about a movie director (Daniel Day-Lewis)