To a certain generation, Warner Bros. will always be 'that company who makes cartoons,' and for decades, that was an accurate description. It's not anymore. Back in 2003, Warner Bros. decided to get out of the animated films business for good, and it was 'Looney Tunes: Back in Action' that convinced them to do it. 'Looney Tunes' should have been a 'Greatest Hits' album for Warner, featuring all of their most famous animated characters, and giving them time to shine. Instead, it came across as a lazy and bored band trudging through their back catalog, and going through the motions.
The movie blended cartoons with live action footage, and even had the always-popular Brendan Fraser on screen. Even that wasn't enough. Despite the $80m production cost, and the high hopes for one of the biggest hits of the whole year, 'Looney Tunes: Back in Action' just didn't capture peoples' hearts the way that the characters used to back in the 1950s. It made $68m back, and Warner Bros. officially stopped making cartoons.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.