title: Friends

text: In fall 2001, Warner Bros. Domestic Cable made a deal with sister network TBS (both were owned by Time Warner) to air the series in rerun syndication. Warner Bros. Domestic Cable announced that it had sold additional cable rights to "Friends" to Nick at Nite which began airing in the fall of 2011 (unlike the TBS and broadcast syndication airings, Nick at Nite broadcasts of the series, which began airing as part of a seven-night launch marathon on September 5, 2011, replace the end credit tag scenes with marginalized credits featuring promotions for the series and other Nick at Nite programs). Warner Bros. was expected to make $200 million in license fees and advertising from the deal. Nick at Nite paid $500,000 per episode to air the episodes after 6 pm. ET for six years through fall 2017. In syndication until 2005, "Friends" had earned $4 million per episode in cash license fees for a total of $944 million.


title: Friends

text: Having already made huge success in the United States, "Friends" producers decided to air the show in Europe. It premiered in the UK on April 28, 1995, Season 1 broadcast until September on Channel 4 at 9:30 PM on Friday nights, and immediately was a success. The popularity of the show allowed the theme song by the Rembrandts to hit number 3 in the UK Singles Charts in September 1995.


title: Friends

text: The popularity of the show in Britain led to an episode being produced in London at the end of the fourth season, starring British actress Helen Baxendale, who became a leading character in seasons four and five during her relationship with Ross. The show has since aired on different channels in the UK in their original, unedited international versions prior to their being re-edited for US broadcast and syndication. These versions, with additional footage not seen domestically, have aired on such stations as Channel 4, Sky1, E4, and Comedy Central UK.


title: Friends

text: In September 2011, "Friends" officially ended on E4 after the channel re-ran the series since 2004. Comedy Central took over the rights to air the program from October 2011. Since 2018 Channel 5 started airing the program. In the Republic of Ireland, each season of the show made its European debut on RTÉ2. After 2004 RTÉ2 began to repeat the series from the start before moving over to TV3 and its digital channel 3e in 2010. , repeats of the show have returned to RTÉ2 while also broadcasting on Comedy Central Ireland.


title: Friends

text: Series 10's finale in the UK, broadcast on May 28, 2004, was on Channel 4. It was broadcast from 9 pm to 10 pm and attracted "Friends"' largest UK audiences. It attracted almost 10 million viewers, and is currently standing at Number 10 in Channel 4's most-watched shows. "Big Brother" was moved to 10 pm, which "Friends" had beaten. "Friends" got 9.6 million viewers at 9 pm, while "Big Brother 5"s launch attracted 7.2 million viewers at 10 pm, which is the most-watched premiere on UK TV ever. However, on January 3, 2007, "Celebrity Big Brother 5"s launch was watched by 7.3 million viewers, and its eviction on January 19, 2007, was watched by 8.7 million viewers.


title: Friends

text: "Friends" has previously aired in Australia on the Seven Network (season 1 only), Nine Network (season 2–10), Network Ten (2007–09, repeats), Arena, 111 Hits, 9Gem (2012-2018, repeats) and TVHits. It currently airs on 10 Peach and on pay TV channel Fox Comedy, who both broadcast the HD remastered version of the series. The show is broadcast on TV2 in New Zealand.


title: Friends

text: In Canada, the series was broadcast on Global. In later years, it was syndicated on several of its cable sibling networks, including Slice, DTour, and TVTropolis, its previous incarnation. The series is now syndicated to Bell Media owned CTV Comedy Channel.


title: Friends

text: In Latin America, the first seven seasons aired on Sony, and the remaining seasons on Warner. In Brazil, free-to-air networks RedeTV! and SBT also aired a few seasons.


title: Friends

text: In India, the show is broadcast by Comedy Central at various times. It is the most-watched English language show in the country.


title: Friends

text: In the Philippines, the show was originally aired on ABC-5 from 1996 to 2005 and ETC from 2005 to 2014.


title: Friends

text: In Greece, the show was broadcast on Star Channel. In Cyprus, "Friends" aired on CyBC 2 while reruns air on TVOne.


title: Friends

text: In 2022 versions of Friends re-released by Bilibili, iQiyi, Tencent, and Youku in China had edited scenes, including edits to remove LBGT content, not edited in original Chinese airings. Online fans had a negative reaction to these edits.


title: Friends

text: Beginning in March 2012, high definition versions of all 236 "Friends" episodes were made available to local broadcast stations, starting with the pilot episode. For the remastered episodes, Warner Bros. restored previously cropped images on the left and right sides of the screen, using the original 35 mm film source, to use the entire widescreen frame. Because the show was not originally filmed for widescreen, but rather filmed in 4-perf format and protected for 4:3, some cropping problems arise in some shots where information from the top and bottom of the frame is removed, and some expanded shots reveal unintentional artifacts, including set edges, boom mics and body doubles replacing some of the main cast.


title: Friends

text: In early versions of the HD remasters, there were also a few shots, including chroma effects shots, which were sourced from standard-definition videotape sources, as not all of the footage had been located in time for the remaster. The original film sources for these shots were later rescanned for later broadcast and release. These masters had been airing in New Zealand on TV2 since January 2011 and the earlier HD prints continue to air on Comedy Central in the United Kingdom as of 2020. Netflix added all ten seasons of "Friends" in high definition to its streaming service in the United States in January 2015.


title: Friends

text: In October 2014, Warner Bros. chairman and chief executive officer, Kevin Tsujihara, announced that the company had licensed the North American streaming rights of all ten seasons of "Friends" to Netflix, in a deal said to be worth around $500,000 an episode, or about $120 million in total. The show became available on Netflix from January 1, 2015. The Netflix airings are the versions aired on NBC rather than the longer international versions, as discussed below. The series left Netflix in the US on January 1, 2020, as it began streaming on HBO Max on May 27, 2020. In Canada, the series left Netflix in Canada for Crave on December 31, 2020.


title: Friends

text: All ten seasons have been released on DVD individually and as a box set. Each Region 1 season release contains special features and are presented in their aforementioned original international broadcast versions, although Region 2 releases are as originally aired domestically. For the first season, each episode is updated with color correction and sound enhancement. A wide range of "Friends" merchandise has been produced by various companies. In September 1995, WEA Records released the first album of music from "Friends", the "Friends Original TV Soundtrack", containing music featured in previous and future episodes. The soundtrack debuted on the "Billboard" 200 at number 46, and sold 500,000 copies in November 1995.


title: Friends

text: In 1999, a second soundtrack album entitled "Friends Again" was released. Other merchandise includes a "Friends" version of the DVD game "Scene It?", and a quiz video game for PlayStation 2 and PC entitled "Friends: The One with All the Trivia". On September 28, 2009, a box set was released in the UK celebrating the series's 15th anniversary. The box set contained extended episodes, an episode guide, and original special features.


title: Friends

text: Warner Home Video released a complete series collection on Blu-ray on November 13, 2012. The collection does not feature the extra deleted scenes and jokes that were included on prior DVD releases, and are therefore presented in their NBC broadcast versions.


title: Friends

text: In Australia, the original DVD releases were fold out box sets which contained three discs, and released as follows: Season 1 and Season 2 on March 13, 2002, Season 3 and Season 4 on July 9, 2002, Season 5, 6 and 7 on July 29, 2002, Season 8 on March 18, 2003, Season 9 on February 11, 2004, and Season 10 on November 24, 2004. Repackaged sets, slimmed into regular DVD cases also containing three discs were released from 2003 to 2004. Collector's Edition sets were released from September 9, 2003, through to February 1, 2006, these sets contains 4 discs, in fat DVD cases, with extra bonus material.


title: Friends

text: On October 4, 2006, the individual seasons were repackaged into regular DVD case sets and marked as "Including Brand New Bonus Disc". Once again each individual season were repackaged with new artwork on March 31, 2010. The first complete series boxset on DVD was released around 2004 or 2005, this was titled 'The One With All Ten Seasons" and the packaging was a black box with a lift up lid and contains exclusive packaging for all ten seasons.


title: Friends

text: The second complete series boxset was released August 21, 2013 and was a red box which contained the 2010 individual season sets inside. On October 1, 2014, was the 20th Anniversary boxset, this was a white box and contained the same 2010 individual releases inside. On October 7, 2015, another boxset was released 'The One With All Ten Seasons", the same name used on the original boxset, however this time slimmed down and contains the 2010 individual releases inside. The outer box is open on insert side for the cases to slide in and out, more of a budget release. In 2016, a repackaged 'The Complete Series' Blu-ray boxset was issued, containing the same 10 individual seasons in the original set, however the box is more cut down and is opened on one side, and also does not include the book that contained the episode guide.


title: Friends

text: After the series finale in 2004, LeBlanc signed on for the spin-off series, "Joey", following Joey's move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. Kauffman and Crane were not interested in the spin-off, although Bright agreed to executive produce the series with Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan. NBC heavily promoted "Joey" and gave it "Friends"<nowiki>'</nowiki> Thursday 8:00 pm timeslot.


title: Friends

text: The pilot was watched by 18.6 million American viewers, but ratings continually decreased throughout the series's two seasons, averaging 10.2 million viewers in the first season and 7.1 million in the second. The final broadcast episode on March 7, 2006, was watched by 7.09 million viewers; NBC cancelled the series on May 15, 2006, after two seasons, leaving eight episodes unaired. Bright blamed the collaboration between NBC executives, the studio and other producers for quickly ruining the series:


title: The White Lotus

text: The White Lotus is an American black comedy-drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO. It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose stay is affected by their various psychosocial dysfunctions. The first season is set in Hawaii and the second season is set in Sicily.


title: The White Lotus

text: Intended as a six-part limited series, "The White Lotus" premiered on July 11, 2021, to critical acclaim and high ratings. The show's success led to HBO renewing it as an anthology series; a second season premiered on October 30, 2022. In November 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.


title: The White Lotus

text: The American Film Institute named it one of the ten best television programs of 2021 and 2022. The first season was the most-awarded series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 10 awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing for White, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jennifer Coolidge, and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Murray Bartlett.


title: The White Lotus

text: The series details "a week in the life of vacationers as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. With each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel's cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself."


title: The White Lotus

text: On October 19, 2020, HBO gave "The White Lotus" a limited series order that consisted of six episodes. The series was created, written and directed by Mike White. White also serves as executive producer alongside David Bernad and Nick Hall. In an interview with Ben Travers of "IndieWire" at the 2021 ATX Television Festival, White explained his creative inspiration for the first season. White wished to explore the question of "how money can pervert even our most intimate relationships," to examine the "ethics of vacationing in other people's realities," and to present the "flesh and blood" experience of being gripped by the power dynamics of "today's culture wars." Cristobal Tapia de Veer is the series' composer and Ben Kutchins is the cinematographer for the series.


title: The White Lotus

text: On August 10, 2021, HBO renewed the series for a second season, which consists of seven episodes and is titled "The White Lotus: Sicily". White initially envisioned the second season taking place in a political setting, such as a Bilderberg conference, but scrapped this idea and chose Italy instead. Said White, "The kind of mythology of Sicily, at least from the point of view of Americans, is the archetypal sexual politics and role play that you associate with, like, opera and the mafia and Italian romance. I felt like it should be more focused on men and women and relationships and adultery and have an operatic feel to it, so I pivoted." Asked to describe the second season, White likened it to "a bedroom farce with teeth." Kim Neundorf served as an additional composer for season two. On November 18, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a third season.


title: The White Lotus

text: Upon the limited series order announcement, Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Jake Lacy, Brittany O'Grady, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney, and Steve Zahn were cast to star. On October 30, 2020, Molly Shannon, Jon Gries, Jolene Purdy, Kekoa Kekumano, and Lukas Gage joined the cast in recurring roles. Alec Merlino, who was a fellow contestant on "" with Mike White, was cast as a waiter.


title: The White Lotus

text: Upon the announcement of the second season renewal, it was reported that a predominantly new cast of characters would be focused on at another White Lotus property for the second season, though Mike White had stated there was a possibility for a few cast members from the first season to return as their characters. On October 15, 2021, it was reported that Coolidge was set to return for the second season. In January 2022, it was announced that Michael Imperioli, Aubrey Plaza, F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Tom Hollander, and Haley Lu Richardson were cast to star in the second season. In February 2022, Theo James, Meghann Fahy, and Will Sharpe joined the cast as series regulars while Leo Woodall was cast in a recurring role for the second season. In March 2022, Beatrice Grannó, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Simona Tabasco joined the starring cast for the second season. The second season features White's fellow "Survivor: David vs. Goliath" contestants Kara Kay and Angelina Keeley in cameo roles.


title: The White Lotus

text: Upon the third season renewal announcement, it was reported that there will be a new cast of characters on another White Lotus resort.


title: The White Lotus

text: Principal photography for the first season began in October 2020 in Hawaii under COVID-19 guidelines. On November 21, 2020, it was reported that the series was halfway through filming at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea and was scheduled to film in December at locations around Maui.


title: The White Lotus

text: On January 20, 2022, it was announced that the second season would film at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in Taormina, Sicily, Italy; on February 28, 2022, HBO confirmed that production had begun there. The opening theme of the second season, accompanied by a chorus of voices, shows scenes from the frescoes of Villa Tasca in Palermo. Filming took place in various locations in Sicily, in particular: throughout the city of Taormina, in particular the San Domenico Palace hotel which represents the main location, the ancient theatre of Taormina; in Cefalù, with the long beach and the view of the Norman Cathedral; in Fiumefreddo di Sicilia (with the famous Slave Castle); In Palermo, in particular at the Teatro Massimo and at Villa Tasca; The interior scenes of the Opera house are held in Catania at the Teatro Massimo Bellini. In the city of Noto, in particular "Villa Elena"; and Giardini Naxos. Different views of the seafront of Sicily and various views of Mount Etna.


title: The White Lotus

text: According to "Vulture", the costs of production of season 2 remained at under million per episode, the same as season 1. Italy, where season 2 was filmed, offers up to 40% tax credit to foreign productions taking place in the country.


title: The White Lotus

text: The series premiered on July 11, 2021, on HBO. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the series premiered on Sky Atlantic on August 16, 2021. The second season premiered on October 30, 2022.


title: The White Lotus

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 89% for the first season of "The White Lotus" based on 95 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though its true intentions can get a bit murky, gorgeous vistas, twisty drama, and a pitch perfect cast make "The White Lotus" a compelling—if uncomfortable—viewing destination." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 82 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: The White Lotus

text: Matthew Jacobs of "TV Guide" rated it 4.5 out of 5 and wrote that it is "some of the year's best television thus far." "Rolling Stone"s Alan Sepinwall graded it 3.5 out of 5 stars and called it "frequently uncomfortable, sometimes poetic, occasionally hilarious, and deeply idiosyncratic throughout." White's attention to character detail was praised, with Naomi Fry of "The New Yorker" lauding his "affection for his characters, who never feel like caricatures", and Judy Berman of "Time" commenting he is "uniquely attuned to characters' internal conflicts as well as their varying level of self-awareness.""The New York Times"s James Poniewozik commended White's signature balance of "sardonic and sincere" tones and his "ear for how people can weaponize idealism", though he also noted the writing "sometimes strains to be topical, with its culture-war Mad Libs references to triggering and cucking, canceling and doxxing." The performances of the ensemble cast were widely praised, with Roxana Hadadi of RogerEbert.com giving four stars out of four and writing it reveals a "combination of performances that are nearly universally enthralling." Of the character of Armond, Poniewozik wrote Bartlett shows "the invisible gymnastics that go into this job" and plays him like "a coiled spring." Hadadi lauded Rothwell's "nuanced, elastic work" with a "haunting" final onscreen moment. Berman said Coolidge is poised to be the series' breakout but also praised Zahn, Bartlett, Rothwell, Lacy, Sweeney, and Daddario.


title: The White Lotus

text: Criticisms of the first season lamented that the nonwhite, native Hawaiian characters who work at the resort, such as Lani and Kai, received little screen time and were the least developed characters. In this way, critics argued the show did not sufficiently engage in the topics of imperialism and white privilege, issues the show seemed poised to critique in its satirization of the affluent, white upper class. Poniewozik felt the show "could use more attention to the downstairs half of its upstairs-downstairs story; it flicks at, but doesn’t really explore, the lives of the native Hawaiian staff busing tables and performing dinnertime rituals" for the guests. Mitchell Kuga of "Vox" wrote, "scraping at imperialism, "The White Lotus" mimes a moral center but never engages the topic beyond mere gesture...how successful can a piece of satire be if it replicates the very power structures it purports to satirize?" White has said the intention of giving native characters less screen time was to show how "interchangeable" the workers appear to the more privileged.


title: The White Lotus

text: Inkoo Kang of "The Washington Post" said the characters and performances "make for a twisty, queasy, sweatily claustrophobic drama", but opined that next to other popular TV shows that center on white, affluent people, such as "Succession", "Big Little Lies", "The Undoing", and "The Crown", "The White Lotus" does not have anything new "to observe about the trail of casual destruction the moneyed and connected can leave in their unhappy wake." In "The Observer", Kyle Turner wrote, "as someone who is very fond of White’s usually tender, deft hand at balancing tone", he hoped the show had "more precision in its aimed poisoned arrows." Turner added the show is "too broad to be a good satire, too pointedly critical to be a straight tragedy, too invested in its melodrama to be a broad comedy, until it becomes ouroborosian in its indecision on tone and ethos. It’s not that these genres and tropes can’t coexist. It’s that here, they float adrift, devoid of alchemical balance."


title: The White Lotus

text: Critics were divided about the season one finale, with Kang saying the "swerve late in the series disappointingly sails the story toward calmer waters. Once the turbulence is over, only froth remains." Other critics, such as Emily St. James of "Vox", argued the anticlimactic nature of the ending was precisely the point of the show and underscored White's commentary on the powerful and the privileged.


title: The White Lotus

text: For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating with an average score of 8.10/10, based on 94 reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Swapping its tropical trappings for Euro chic while focusing primarily on the corrosive influence of carnal desire, "The White Lotus" remains a cookie full of arsenic that goes down smooth." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 81 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: The White Lotus

text: Multiple critics voiced that White repeated the success of the first season with sharp writing, his ensemble cast, and more focused plot lines, with some saying it is an improvement on the first season. Lucy Mangan of "The Guardian" rated it 5 out of 5 and wrote, "The writing is as dense and layered as ever, the plotting is immaculate and the viewers' sympathies – or loathings – are never allowed to rest in one place for too long." Writing for "The New Yorker", Inkoo Kang gave a positive review, writing "the airless sociological fatalism of Season 1, which was matched by a claustrophobic production due to covid-19 restrictions, gives way to a more mature drama, as well as a deeper exploration of how the characters’ class concerns converge with gendered angst." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote, "Mike White is a writer that is as thrilled with a fascinating dinner conversation as he is a murder mystery, and so even as the plotting sags more than it did the first time, the way that his characters bounce off each other, unpacking their social constructs, remains fascinating." Alison Herman of "The Ringer" praised the series' pivot to the theme of gender politics, writing "White knows that sex, like money, is a form of power, and that each is intimately bound up in the other." Melanie McFarland of "Salon" observed, "You may not want to be in the same room with the people you're watching, but the sights alone provided a level of escapism like nothing else on TV." For "The Washington Post", Travis M. Andrews wrote "though these new episodes meander at times, Season 2 is more tightly plotted and there are enough new ideas, with even the most staid insights heightened by White’s razor-sharp writing, for it to feel fresh." Some critics welcomed the characters Mia and Lucia, two Sicilian girls whose plot lines intersect with many of the hotel guests', saying their presence felt like a response by White to criticisms of the previous season’s focus on its white, well-off leads. Others noted how the second season "has invested in horror imagery in a way the previous outing didn't, and it's been one of this installment's best through lines."


title: The White Lotus

text: Others thought the shift from the themes of class criticism to gender roles made for a less riveting watch. Writing for "Vulture", Roxana Hadadi said season two "centers infidelity, to diminished effect", and that "there’s also a new bluntness, and a noticeable tentativeness, that keeps this second season from hitting as hard and bruising as immediately as its predecessor." "Vanity Fair"s Richard Lawson wrote season two is a "vibrant set of plates to set spinning, which White does with his usual mix of acerbic bite and melancholy. Though, things do feel a little less pointed this season." Shirley Li of "The Atlantic" noted "Season 2 is as juicy as season 1, but it's not as caustic in its approach." Commenting on the more diminished role of the hotel staff, Linda Holmes of NPR wrote, "Thematically, without that tension between how the guests see themselves and how the staff sees them, "The White Lotus" seems adrift. With all the criticism of the first season and the fair questions about whether it was satirizing its rich and white characters' lack of interest in the people around them or just reproducing it, it was always clear what the show was trying to be about, or thought it was about. It was trying to be about the foibles of wealth and carelessness; it's much less clear where White is going with this story."


title: The White Lotus

text: Like the first season, the American Film Institute named it one of the ten best television programs of 2022.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms "Blackadder" (1983–1989) and "Mr. Bean" (1990–1995), and the film series "Johnny English" (2003–2018). Atkinson first came to prominence in the BBC sketch comedy show "Not the Nine O'Clock News" (1979–1982), receiving the 1981 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance, and "The Secret Policeman's Ball" (1979) where he performed a skit. Subsequent skits on stage have featured solo performances as well as collaborations.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: His other film work includes the James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" (1983), playing a bumbling vicar in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994), voicing the red-billed hornbill Zazu in "The Lion King" (1994), and playing jewellery salesman Rufus in "Love Actually" (2003). He portrayed Mr. Bean in the film adaptations "Bean" (1997) and "Mr. Bean's Holiday" (2007). Atkinson also featured in the BBC sitcom "The Thin Blue Line" (1995–1996), and he played the titular character in ITV's "Maigret" (2016–2017). His work in theatre includes the role of Fagin in the 2009 West End revival of the musical "Oliver!".


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson was listed in "The Observer" as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy in 2003, and among the top 50 comedians ever, in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with screenwriter Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, both of whom he met at the Oxford University Dramatic Society during the 1970s. In addition to his 1981 BAFTA, Atkinson received an Olivier Award for his 1981 West End theatre performance in "Rowan Atkinson in Revue". Atkinson was appointed a CBE in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson was born in Consett, County Durham, England, on 6 January 1955. The youngest of four boys, his parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May (née Bainbridge), who married on 29 June 1945. His three older brothers are Paul, who died as an infant; Rodney, a Eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the UK Independence Party leadership election in 2000; and Rupert.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson was brought up Anglican, and was educated at the Durham Chorister School, a preparatory school, and then at St Bees School. Rodney, Rowan and their older brother Rupert were brought up in Consett and went to school with the future Prime Minister, Tony Blair, at Durham Choristers. After receiving top grades in science A levels, he secured a place at Newcastle University, where he received a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. In 1975, he continued for the degree of MSc in Electrical Engineering at The Queen's College, Oxford, the same college where his father matriculated in 1935, and which made Atkinson an Honorary Fellow in 2006. His MSc thesis, published in 1978, considered the application of self-tuning control.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson briefly embarked in doctoral work before devoting his full attention to acting. First winning national attention in The Oxford Revue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 1976, he had already written and performed sketches for shows in Oxford by the Etceteras – the revue group of the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC) – and for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), meeting writer Richard Curtis, and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson starred in a series of comedy shows for BBC Radio 3 in 1979 called "The Atkinson People". It consisted of a series of satirical interviews with fictional great men, who were played by Atkinson himself. The series was written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, and produced by Griff Rhys Jones.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: After university, Atkinson did a one-off pilot for London Weekend Television in 1979 called "Canned Laughter". He gained further national attention when he performed on the third "The Secret Policeman's Ball" in June 1979 which was broadcast on the BBC, and since then he has appeared on televised skits with various performers including Elton John, John Cleese ("Beekeeping") and Kate Bush, the latter with whom he performed the humorous song "Do Bears... ?" for the British charity event "Comic Relief" in 1986. Solo skits on television (and without dialogue) have included playing an invisible drum kit and an invisible piano. In October 1979, Atkinson first appeared on "Not the Nine O'Clock News" for the BBC, produced by his friend John Lloyd. He featured in the show with Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, and was one of the main sketch writers.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: The success of "Not the Nine O'Clock News" led to Atkinson taking the lead role of Edmund Blackadder in the BBC mock-historical comedy "Blackadder". His co-stars included Tony Robinson (who played his long-suffering sidekick Baldrick), Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. The first series, "The Black Adder" (1983), co-written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, was set in the medieval period, with the title character unintelligent and naive. The second series, "Blackadder II" (1986), written by Curtis and Ben Elton, marked a turning point for the show. It followed the fortunes of one of the descendants of Atkinson's original character, this time in the Elizabethan era, with the character reinvented as a devious anti-hero. "Metro" states, "watching Atkinson work in series two is to watch a master of the sarcastic retort in action". Two sequels followed, "Blackadder the Third" (1987), set in the Regency era, and "Blackadder Goes Forth" (1989), set in World War I. The "Blackadder" series became one of the most successful of all BBC situation comedies, spawning television specials including "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" (1988), "" (1988), and later "" (1999), which was set at the turn of the Millennium. The final scene of "Blackadder Goes Forth" (when Blackadder and his men go "over the top" and charge into No-Man's-Land) has been described as "bold and highly poignant". Possessing an acerbic wit and armed with numerous quick put-downs (which are often wasted on those at whom they are directed), Edmund Blackadder was ranked third (behind Homer Simpson from "The Simpsons" and Basil Fawlty from "Fawlty Towers") on a 2001 Channel 4 poll of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson's other creation, the hapless "Mr. Bean", first appeared on New Year's Day in 1990 in a half-hour special for Thames Television. The character of Mr. Bean has been likened to a modern-day Buster Keaton, but Atkinson himself has stated that Jacques Tati's character Monsieur Hulot was the main inspiration. Atkinson states, "The essence of Mr Bean is that he's entirely selfish and self-centred and doesn't actually acknowledge the outside world. He's a child in a man's body. Which is what most visual comedians are about: Stan Laurel, Chaplin, Benny Hill."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Several sequels to "Mr. Bean" appeared on television until 1995, and the character later appeared in a feature film. "Bean" (1997) was directed by Mel Smith, Atkinson's colleague in "Not the Nine O'Clock News". A second film, "Mr. Bean's Holiday", was released in 2007. Atkinson portrayed Inspector Raymond Fowler in "The Thin Blue Line" (1995–96), a television sitcom written by Ben Elton, which takes place in a police station located in fictitious Gasforth.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson has fronted campaigns for Kronenbourg, Fujifilm, and Give Blood. He appeared as a hapless and error-prone espionage agent named Richard Lathum in a long-running series of adverts for Barclaycard, on which character his title role in "Johnny English", "Johnny English Reborn" and "Johnny English Strikes Again" was based. In 1999, he played the Doctor in "", a special "Doctor Who" serial produced for the charity telethon Comic Relief. Atkinson appeared as the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on the BBC's "Top Gear" in July 2011, driving the Kia Cee'd around the track in 1:42.2. Placing him at the top of the leaderboard, his lap time was significantly quicker than the previous high-profile record holder Tom Cruise, whose time was a 1:44.2.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson appeared at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London as Mr. Bean in a comedy sketch during a performance of "Chariots of Fire", playing a repeated single note on synthesizer. He then lapsed into a dream sequence in which he joined the runners from the film of the same name (about the 1924 Summer Olympics), beating them in their iconic run along West Sands at St. Andrews, by riding in a minicab and tripping the front runner. Atkinson starred as Jules Maigret in "Maigret", a series of television films from ITV.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In November 2012, it emerged that Atkinson intended to retire Mr. Bean. "The stuff that has been most commercially successful for me – basically quite physical, quite childish – I increasingly feel I'm going to do a lot less of," Atkinson told "The Daily Telegraph"s Review. "Apart from the fact that your physical ability starts to decline, I also think someone in their 50s being childlike becomes a little sad. You've got to be careful." He has also said that the role typecast him to a degree. Despite these comments, Atkinson said in 2016 that he would never retire the character of Mr. Bean. Appearing on "The Graham Norton Show" on the BBC in 2018, Atkinson told Graham Norton that it was unlikely Mr. Bean would reappear on television again before also saying "you must never say never".


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In October 2014, Atkinson also appeared as Mr. Bean in a TV advert for Snickers. In 2015, he starred alongside Ben Miller and Rebecca Front in a sketch for BBC Red Nose Day in which Mr. Bean attends a funeral. In 2017, Atkinson appeared as Mr. Bean in the Chinese film "Huan Le Xi Ju Ren". In February 2019, Atkinson appeared as Mr. Bean in a commercial for Emirati-based telecommunications company Etisalat. Atkinson, who also narrated the commercial, takes on multiple characters: a Scottish warrior, a gentleman and a lady from the Victorian era, a football player, a jungle man, a man revving up a chainsaw, a racing car driver, and a masked sword-wielding Spanish vigilante.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In October 2018, Atkinson (as Mr. Bean) received YouTube's Diamond Play Button for his channel surpassing 10 million subscribers on the video platform. Among the most-watched channels in the world, in 2018 it had more than 6.5 billion views. Mr. Bean is also among the most-followed Facebook pages with 94 million followers in July 2020, "more than the likes of Rihanna, Manchester United or "Harry Potter"".


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In January 2014, ITV announced a new animated series featuring Mr. Bean with Rowan Atkinson returning to the role. It was expected to be released online as a Web-series later in 2014, as a television broadcast followed shortly after.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: On 6 February 2018, Regular Capital announced that there would be a fifth series of "Mr. Bean: The Animated Series" in 2019 (voiced by Atkinson). Consisting of 26 episodes, the first two segments, "Game Over" and "Special Delivery", aired on 29 April 2019 on CITV in the UK as well as on Turner channels worldwide. All five series (104 episodes) were also sold to Chinese children's channel CCTV-14 in February 2019.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson's film career began with a supporting part in the James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" (1983) and a leading role in "Dead on Time" (also 1983) with Nigel Hawthorne. He was in the 1988 Oscar-winning short film "The Appointments of Dennis Jennings". He appeared in Mel Smith's directorial debut "The Tall Guy" (1989) and appeared alongside Anjelica Huston and Mai Zetterling in "The Witches" (1990), a film adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's novel. He played the part of Dexter Hayman in "Hot Shots! Part Deux" (1993), a parody of "Rambo III", starring Charlie Sheen.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson gained further recognition as a verbally bumbling vicar in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994, written and directed by his long time collaborator Richard Curtis), and featured in Disney's "The Lion King" (also 1994) as the voice of Zazu the red-billed hornbill. He also sang the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" in "The Lion King". Atkinson continued to appear in supporting roles in comedies, including "Rat Race" (2001), "Scooby-Doo" (2002), jewellery salesman Rufus in another Richard Curtis British-set romantic comedy, "Love Actually" (2003), and the crime comedy "Keeping Mum" (2005), which also starred Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, and Patrick Swayze.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In addition to his supporting roles, Atkinson has also had success as a leading man. His television character Mr. Bean debuted on the big screen with "Bean" (1997) to international success. A sequel, "Mr. Bean's Holiday" (2007), (again inspired to some extent by Jacques Tati in his film "Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot"), also became an international success. He has also starred in the James Bond parody "Johnny English film series" (2003–2018). In 2023, Atkinson is to star in "Wonka", a film which serves as a prequel to the novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", exploring Willy Wonka's origins.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Rowan Atkinson performed live on-stage skits – also appearing with members of Monty Python – in "The Secret Policeman's Ball" (1979) in London for Amnesty International. Atkinson undertook a four-month tour of the UK in 1980. A recording of the stage performance was subsequently released as "Live in Belfast."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In 1984, Atkinson appeared in a West End version of the comedy play "The Nerd" alongside a 10-year-old Christian Bale. "The Sneeze and Other Stories", seven short Anton Chekhov plays, translated and adapted by Michael Frayn, were performed by Rowan Atkinson, Timothy West and Cheryl Campbell at the Aldwych Theatre, London in 1988 and early 1989.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In 2009, during the West End revival of the musical "Oliver!" based on Charles Dickens' novel "Oliver Twist", Atkinson played the role of Fagin. His portrayal and singing of Fagin at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London gained favourable reviews and he was nominated for an Olivier Award for best actor in a musical or entertainment.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: On 28 November 2012, Rowan Atkinson reprised the role of Blackadder at the "We are Most Amused" comedy gala for The Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was joined by Tony Robinson as Baldrick. The sketch involved the first new Blackadder material for 10 years, with Blackadder as CEO of Melchett, Melchett and Darling bank facing an enquiry over the banking crisis.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In February 2013, Atkinson took on the titular role in a 12-week production (directed by Richard Eyre) of the Simon Gray play "Quartermaine's Terms" at Wyndham's Theatre in London with costars Conleth Hill ("Game of Thrones") and Felicity Montagu ("I'm Alan Partridge"). In December 2013, he revived his schoolmaster sketch for Royal Free Hospital's Rocks with Laughter at the Adelphi Theatre. A few days prior, he performed a selection of sketches in a small coffee venue in front of only 30 people.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Best known for his use of physical comedy in his Mr. Bean persona, Atkinson's other characters rely more on language. Atkinson often plays authority figures (especially priests or vicars) speaking absurd lines with a completely deadpan delivery.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: One of his better-known comic devices is over-articulation of the "B" sound, such as his pronunciation of "Bob" in the "Blackadder II" episode "Bells". Atkinson has a stammer, and the over-articulation is a technique to overcome problematic consonants.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson's often visually based style, which has been compared to that of Buster Keaton, sets him apart from most modern television and film comics, who rely heavily on dialogue, as well as stand-up comedy which is mostly based on monologues. This talent for visual comedy has led to Atkinson being called "the man with the rubber face"; comedic reference was made to this in an episode of "Blackadder the Third" ("Sense and Senility"), in which Baldrick (Tony Robinson) refers to his master, Mr. E. Blackadder, as a "lazy, big-nosed, rubber-faced bastard".


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson's early comedy influences were the sketch comedy troupe "Beyond the Fringe", made up of Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, major figures of the 1960s British satire boom, and then Monty Python. Atkinson states, "I remember watching them avidly as students at university." He continued to be influenced by the work of John Cleese following his Monty Python days, regarding Cleese as being "a major, major inspiration", adding, "I think that he and I are quite different in our style and our approach, but certainly it was comedy I liked to watch. He was very physical. Yes, very physical and very angry." He was also influenced by Peter Sellers, whose characters Hrundi Bakshi from "The Party" (1968) and Inspector Clouseau from "The Pink Panther" films influenced Atkinson's characters Mr. Bean and Johnny English.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: On Barry Humphries' Dame Edna Everage, he states, "I loved that character – again, it's the veneer of respectability disguising suburban prejudice of a really quite vicious and dismissive nature." Of visual comedians, Atkinson regards Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd as influential. He was also inspired by French comedian Jacques Tati, stating, ""Mr. Hulot's Holiday" I remember seeing when I was 17 – that was a major inspiration. He opened a window to a world that I'd never looked out on before, and I thought, "God, that's interesting," how a comic situation can be developed as purely visual and yet it's not under-cranked, it's not speeded-up, it's more deliberate; it takes its time. And I enjoyed that."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson met makeup artist Sunetra Sastry in the late 1980s when she was working for the BBC, and they married in February 1990. They had two children together, and lived in Apethorpe. In 2013, at the age of 58, Atkinson began an affair with 32-year-old comedian Louise Ford after they met while performing in a play together. Ford ended her relationship with comedian James Acaster in order to be with Atkinson, who in turn separated from his wife in 2014 and divorced her in 2015.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In June 2005, Atkinson led a coalition of the United Kingdom's most prominent actors and writers, including Nicholas Hytner, Stephen Fry, and Ian McEwan, to the British Parliament in an attempt to force a review of the controversial Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, which they felt would give overwhelming power to religious groups to impose censorship on the arts.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In 2009, he criticized homophobic speech legislation, saying that the House of Lords must vote against a government attempt to remove a free-speech clause in an anti–gay hate law. Atkinson opposed the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 to outlaw inciting religious hatred, arguing that, "freedom to criticise ideas – any ideas even if they are sincerely held beliefs – is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. And the law which attempts to say you can criticise or ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In October 2012, he voiced his support for the Reform Section 5 campaign, which aims to reform or repeal Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, particularly its statement that an insult can be grounds for arrest and punishment. It is a reaction to several recent high-profile arrests, which Atkinson sees as a restriction of freedom of expression. In February 2014, Parliament passed a redaction of the statute which removed the word "insulting" following pressure from citizens.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In 2018, Atkinson defended comments made by Boris Johnson over wearing the burqa. Atkinson wrote to "The Times" stating, "as a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think that Boris Johnson's joke about wearers of the burka resembling letterboxes is a pretty good one."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In August 2020, Atkinson added his signature to a letter coordinated by Humanist Society Scotland along with twenty other public figures including novelist Val McDermid, playwright Alan Bissett and activist Peter Tatchell which expressed concern about the Scottish National Party's proposed "Hate Crime and Public Order Bills." The letter argued the bill would "risk stifling freedom of expression."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In January 2021, Atkinson criticised the rise of cancel culture. He said, "It's important that we're exposed to a wide spectrum of opinion, but what we have now is the digital equivalent of the medieval mob, roaming the streets looking for someone to burn. The problem we have online is that an algorithm decides what we want to see, which ends up creating a simplistic, binary view of society. It becomes a case of either you're with us or against us. And if you're against us, you deserve to be 'cancelled'."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson holds a category C+E (formerly "Class 1") lorry driving licence, gained in 1981, because lorries held a fascination for him, and to ensure employment as a young actor. He has also used this skill when filming comedy material. In 1991, he starred in the self-penned "The Driven Man", a series of sketches featuring Atkinson driving around London trying to solve his obsession with cars, and discussing it with taxi drivers, policemen, used-car salesmen and psychotherapists. A lover of and participant in car racing, he appeared as racing driver Henry Birkin in the television play "Full Throttle" in 1995.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson has raced in other cars, including a Renault 5 GT Turbo for two seasons for its one make series. From 1997 to 2015, he owned a rare McLaren F1, which was involved in an accident in Cabus, near Garstang, Lancashire, with an Austin Metro in October 1999. It was damaged again in a serious crash in August 2011 when it caught fire after Atkinson reportedly lost control and hit a tree. That accident caused significant damage to the vehicle, taking over a year to be repaired and leading to the largest insurance payout in Britain, at £910,000. He has previously owned a Honda NSX, an Audi A8, a Škoda Superb, and a Honda Civic Hybrid.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: The Conservative Party politician Alan Clark, a devotee of classic motor cars, recorded in his published "Diaries" a chance meeting with a man he later realized was Atkinson while driving through Oxfordshire in May 1984: "Just after leaving the motorway at Thame I noticed a dark red DBS V8 Aston Martin on the slip road with the bonnet up, a man unhappily bending over it. I told Jane to pull in and walked back. A DV8 in trouble is always good for a gloat." Clark writes that he gave Atkinson a lift in his Rolls-Royce to the nearest telephone box, but was disappointed in his bland reaction to being recognised, noting that: "he didn't sparkle, was rather disappointing and chétif."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In July 2001, Atkinson crashed an Aston Martin V8 Zagato at an enthusiasts' meeting, but walked away unhurt. This was while he was competing in the "Aston Martin Owners Club" event, at the Croft Racing Circuit, Darlington.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: One car Atkinson has said he will not own is a Porsche: "I have a problem with Porsches. They're wonderful cars, but I know I could never live with one. Somehow, the typical Porsche people – and I wish them no ill – are not, I feel, my kind of people."


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In July 2011, Atkinson appeared as the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on "Top Gear", driving the Kia Cee'd around the track in 1:42.2, which at the time granted him first place on the leaderboard; subsequently, only Matt LeBlanc set a faster time.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: Atkinson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.


title: Rowan Atkinson

text: In March 2001, while Atkinson was on holiday in Kenya, the pilot of his private plane fainted; Atkinson managed to maintain the plane in the air until the pilot recovered and was able to land the plane at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Lightyear is a 2022 American computer-animated science-fiction action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film is a spin-off of the "Toy Story" film series. It centers on the character Buzz Lightyear, as well as the film presenting itself as part of a franchise within the "Toy Story" films in which Lightyear is a character. It was directed by Angus MacLane (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Galyn Susman, from a screenplay and story written by MacLane and Jason Headley, both of whom co-wrote the latter with Matthew Aldrich. The film stars Chris Evans as the voice of the titular character, with Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, and Uzo Aduba in supporting roles. The film follows Lightyear operating as a space ranger who, after being marooned on a hostile planet with his commander and crew, tries to find a way back home while confronting a threat to the universe's safety.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: The concept of a human Buzz Lightyear, who exists in a fictional universe within a fictional universe, was first introduced in the 2000 direct-to-video film "", which was then used as the pilot to the TV series "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" (2000–2001). Development of "Lightyear" began with MacLane, an avid science-fiction fan, pitched the idea of making a film about Buzz Lightyear at Pixar, evoking the science-fiction films he grew up watching, while finishing work on "Finding Dory" (2016). The animators were giving the film a "cinematic" and "chunky" look. To design the vehicles of the film, Angus used Lego pieces to build various ships such as the Armadillo and pitch them to the designers and artists to match the chunky feel within the film. Development on "Lightyear" lasted for five and a half years, on an approximate $200 million budget.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: "Lightyear" premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on June 8, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 17, in RealD 3D, 4DX, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX formats. It became the first Pixar film to be released in theaters worldwide since "Onward" in March 2020, and the first to include scenes specifically formatted for IMAX theaters. The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $226 million worldwide against a $200 million production budget before marketing and distribution costs. It received generally positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, technical aspects, voice acting, visuals, action sequences and score, but criticism for its screenplay.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: A Star Command exploration vessel nicknamed "the Turnip" changes course to investigate signs of life on the unknown world T'Kani Prime. Woken from hibernation, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear and his commanding officer and best friend Alisha Hawthorne scout the landing site, accompanied by rookie Featheringhamstan. Attacked by hostile lifeforms, they attempt to take off, but the Turnip's escape trajectory is compromised by Buzz, who inadvertently causes the ship to crash despite his best efforts. Blaming himself for failing their escape and stranding the crew, Buzz volunteers as the test pilot for the hyperspace fuel crystal they will need to develop to return home. One year later, the crew has constructed a new colony to conduct repairs.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Buzz's disastrous first test flight is compounded by the effects of time dilation: for the four minutes he spent in flight, four years have passed on T'Kani Prime. Alisha shares that she is now engaged to a scientist named Kiko, whom she met three years ago. She gifts Buzz Sox, an AI robot therapist, with the shape and programming behaviors of a cat. Alisha instructs Buzz to wait on testing new crystal mixtures until they find another way to return the crew home, but Buzz decides to take the initiative and conduct further tests, with Alisha's reluctant approval. After a dozen failed tests, Buzz returns from his last flight to discover that Alisha has died of old age. She leaves a recording for him where she shares her happiness and introduces him to her granddaughter, Izzy. Her successor, Commander Cal Burnside, informs Buzz that the colony has given up attempting to regain lightspeed capability and has decided to live on the planet, relying on a laser shield to protect the colony from outside indigenous hostiles. Sox reveals he has spent the last six decades calculating a stable formula for the crystal. When Star Command sends personnel to decommission Sox, Buzz escapes with him and defies Burnside's orders to conduct one final test.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: With Sox's help, Buzz is able to test the new mixture and achieves hyperspeed. However, he skips another 22 years into the future, where he meets a grown-up Izzy. She explains that recently, an army of robots invaded T'Kani Prime and are attempting to enter the colony, which is currently being protected by Burnside's laser shield. She and a group of cadets, Mo and Darby, intend to destroy a large cruiser that the robots descend from. After an encounter with one of the robots, Buzz witnesses firsthand the group's incompetence in combat and vows to finish the mission himself, but the group accidentally joins him on the mission. During an escape from a nest of hostile bugs that they inadvertently disturb, the group departs in a ship, named "Armadillo", which is then subsequently shot down by the leader of the robots named Zurg. After investigating a nearby mining facility to find a small energy coil that will help them restore power to the ship, Buzz begins to understand the value of relying on other people for help, and he allows Izzy, Mo, and Darby to join him and Sox in finishing the mission.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: However, Zurg intervenes, and despite the group being able to escape from him and his robots, the hyper crystal is lost. Zurg then captures Buzz and takes him aboard the cruiser, where he reveals himself to be an older version of Buzz from an alternate future timeline, which split upon Lightyear's return to the planet after the successful hyperspace test: without the robot army to detain them, soldiers from the colony attempted to arrest Buzz under Burnside's orders, forcing Buzz to flee into space. Alternate Buzz and Sox escaped at full speed and, via time dilation, flew hundreds of years into the far future, where he encountered extremely advanced technology. He spent 50 years developing a way to travel back in time to prevent the Turnip from ever landing on T'Kani Prime and avoid stranding the ship upon the planet. Having worn out his own crystal through time travel and excessive usage, Old Buzz, called B-Zurg by the robots, needs a fresh crystal to power his ship and complete his mission, so he requests it from his younger self. Realizing this would erase Alisha and Kiko's life together, along with Izzy, Buzz refuses.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: In his attempts to forcibly use the crystal himself, Zurg is incapacitated by the alternate Sox (who is against Zurg's plan) who leads Buzz to the ship's control room to initiate a self-destruct sequence before being crushed by an enraged Zurg. After a chaotic assault on the cruiser, Buzz and his team manage to escape the ship before it detonates. On their return to the planet via a crash landing, Buzz's ship is attacked by Zurg once again, who then takes the crystal for himself. Buzz is forced to shoot the crystal, causing an explosion that seemingly kills Zurg, and he is able to subsequently save his team from crashing onto the planet's surface with their help.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: With the fuel gone, Buzz finally accepts T'Kani Prime as his home. Burnside arrests Buzz, Izzy, Mo, and Darby with the intention of detaining them for their reckless actions, but relents in light of Buzz's bravery against the robot armada. Allowed to revive the Space Ranger Corps, Buzz unexpectedly selects Izzy, Mo, Darby, and Sox as his trainees. With a new hyper crystal created using the computer left behind during the mutiny, Buzz and his team embark on a new adventure.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Development on "Lightyear" started after finishing work on "Finding Dory" (2016). After co-directing "Finding Dory" with Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane was allowed to pitch the idea of making a Buzz Lightyear film, having always wondered what movie Andy Davis saw in the original "Toy Story" (1995) to get interested in a Buzz Lightyear action figure. MacLane, a science fiction fan, had felt attracted to the character of Buzz since he started working at Pixar, feeling that the film's story was very "personal" for him, whose favorite movie since childhood had been "Star Wars" (1977). An aspect present in the "Toy Story" films that "Lightyear" explores is Buzz's disagreement over the nature of reality, which, coupled with his heroic ideals, made an amalgam of sci-fi clichés that MacLane intended to make more than just a punchline.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: In February 2019, Tim Allen, who voiced Buzz in the films, expressed interest in doing another film as he "did not see any reason why they would not do it", while in that May, on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", Tom Hanks, who voiced Sheriff Woody, said that "Toy Story 4" (2019) would be the final installment in the franchise, but producer Mark Nielsen disclosed a possibility of a fifth film, as Pixar was not ruling out that possibility. In December 2020 at a Disney Investor Day meeting, "Lightyear" was announced as a spin-off film depicting the in-universe origin of the human Buzz Lightyear character, with Chris Evans providing the character's voice.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: When asked about the relationship between "Lightyear" and "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command", a "Toy Story" spin-off series that also serves as an in-universe production starring the Buzz character, MacLane, who directed the CG opening sequence for "Star Command", said that he did not have it in mind while working on the film, but always pictured the series being developed in-universe after a trilogy of "Lightyear" films. He later explained that "Lightyear" serves as a "live-action" film within the "Toy Story" universe, whereas "Star Command" serves as a hand-drawn animated series based on the film, from which the toy versions of Buzz and Zurg derive. On May 4, 2022, production of "Lightyear" was completed after spending five and a half years in development.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Producer Galyn Susman said that the creative team did not discuss bringing back the original voice actor for Buzz Lightyear, Tim Allen, in any capacity for this film because they believed that his voice would have tied the film too closely to "Toy Story" when the film aims to be its own stand-alone story while also saying:


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Chris Evans was announced as the voice of the human Buzz Lightyear along with the project's announcement in December 2020. Evans was the first and only choice MacLane had for Buzz; MacLane defended the recasting as follows:


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Evans visited Pixar's offices one day and they pitched him the project during a visit; he accepted the offer immediately, given his love for animation. Evans credited Tim Allen as his guideline and also wanted to "create his own understanding of the character, and try to make some fresh tracks in the snow while paying homage to his work in the film". He eventually felt comfortable with his own interpretation and had to lower his voice for the role.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Keke Palmer, Dale Soules, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez and Isiah Whitlock Jr. were reported to have been cast in supporting roles in February 2022, following the release of the official trailer. On May 6, 2022, European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake was revealed to have a cameo as "Tim from Mission Control". On May 25, it was revealed that Formula One drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc would cameo in the film; both playing the same undisclosed character for the Spanish and Italian dubs of the film, respectively.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: The animators wanted the film to look "cinematic" and "chunky" in order to evoke the feeling of the sci-fi films MacLane grew up with. In order to achieve this, they asked a former Industrial Light & Magic employee to build a spaceship model for them, from which the animators drew inspiration; this technique was inspired by designers for early sci-fi films using models as inspiration for their sets and props. MacLane said the animation took several "visual lessons" from early sci-fi and space opera films such as those of the "Star Wars" franchise, though without intentionally imitating such films. Perception helped with the opening and end credits of the film.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: To design the vehicles of the film, Angus used Lego pieces to build various ships such as the Armadillo and pitch them to the designers and artists to match the chunky feel within the film. Originally, like Lego films, the world sets within the film via design and concept art. However, for the film, this is the first Pixar film to use Lego as part of their pipeline than what Lego does. Angus already made a Lego design for WALL-E for the Lego Ideas set.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Korean animators Chun Sung-uk and Lee Chae-yeon worked on the animation process in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. They said that it is "overwhelming to see the full scale of what computer animation can do on the big screen". The animation team went to NASA to research about spaceships, space suits and overall set pieces as they wanted "everything to look like a live-action film rather than an animation". According to Lee, a 3D animator, who also worked on "Toy Story 2" and "3", said "The director wanted to make a film that felt true so he asked for a much more toned-down version of Buzz's personality. Being part of the team required an enormous amount of responsibility, but it was really exciting for me professionally".


title: Lightyear (film)

text: For the IMAX release, "Lightyear" is the first ever animated feature film to have its aspect ratio opened up from 2.39:1 to 1.43:1 for select sequences of the film. Jane Yen, who served as the film's visual effects supervisor, spoke to "/Film" stating that the team had developed virtual IMAX cameras to shoot the sequences in 1.43:1 and then would be cropped to standard-definition. The team had brought two sets of lenses, two cameras, and a larger sensor equivalent to 65 millimeters, which was earlier initiated by Pixar in "WALL-E" (2008).


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Recurrent Pixar composer Michael Giacchino was announced to compose the score for the film, marking his eighth collaboration with Pixar and the second time he would score an installment to a film franchise from Pixar that is traditionally scored by Randy Newman, after "Cars 2". He earlier scored for the "Toy Story" television specials: "Toy Story of Terror!" (2013) and "Toy Story That Time Forgot" (2014), the former was written and directed by MacLane.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Following the announcement of the film, a first look was shown at the Disney Investor Day on December 10, 2020. The marketing campaign for "Lightyear" began on October 27, 2021, with the release of a teaser trailer, set to David Bowie's "Starman", that received 83 million views in its first 24 hours. Compared to other Pixar films, the teaser's viewership ranks second behind a teaser for "Incredibles 2" (114 million). It was positively reviewed by commentators, with CNN-based editor Leah Asmelash writing, "the trailer filled many millennials with sentimentality". The first trailer was released online on February 8, 2022, and was then aired at Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022. "Comicbook.com"'s Aaron Perine opined that "the animated movie will be as comedic as expected of these family movies" and further stated "Chris Evans' version of the Space Ranger takes shape as he gets used to some alien surroundings. Also of note would be Lightyear's new companion, a robot cat that will also end up being comedic relief played by Peter Sohn." Aaron Couch of "The Hollywood Reporter" had stated "The "Lightyear" trailer reveals that Buzz is sent on a rescue flight after he and a group of people are stranded on a planet. After a year of hard work, they've managed to send Buzz off world for help."


title: Lightyear (film)

text: On April 27, 2022, the first 30 minutes of the film was premiered at CinemaCon along with the second trailer, which released online six days earlier. It was positively received by critics, who referred to the film as "Pixar's "Star Wars"" and a "beautifully animated, fun, and emotional journey", and appreciated the cinematic qualities, including animation and visuals. Critics further went on to praise the robotic cat Sox (voiced by Peter Sohn), and called it "the standout performer." CNBC's Sarah Whitten compared Sox, with K-2SO of "Rogue One" and Baymax from "Big Hero 6", attributing the character with a "dry sense of humor and blunt vocal delivery and also an innocence and caring nature". On May 5, 2022, a poster, stills from the film, and a "special look" trailer was released online.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Fandango Media's managing editor Erik Davis, and John Rocha, film critic for "Outlaw Nation", predicted a demand for Sox toys, even before the film's release. Mattel, which had the master toy license for "Toy Story" franchise, had announced a new Lightyear toy line consisting of action figures, playsets and vehicles. After Sox's character in the film received praise from insiders, Mattel created "an animatronic interactive version" which costs $80, apart from the plush and action figures. Mattel's executive lead, PJ Lewis had said "We knew he was much more than a sidekick and offered multiple ways to drive product innovation for the 'Lightyear' line. Plus, we have a few cat people on the team who were smitten."


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Lego released three sets based on scenes from the film, which were released April 24, 2022. On May 29, 2022, Ferrari announced that "Lightyear" would be a sponsor on their cars starting at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix. In addition, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. would also be cast for roles in the film, respectively voicing for the Italian and Spanish versions. American food manufacturing company Lightlife, collaborated with Disney and Pixar for launching several food packages inspired from the film. It also planned for a sweepstake promotion, which enable customers to win several prizes, including private film screening and Disney merchandises. Singapore-based WE Cinemas announced the debut of "Lightyear Premium Pack" with refreshments marketed with stills and images from the film. A half-hour-long documentary featurette entitled "" was released on the Disney+ streaming service on June 10 in anticipation of the film's release, chronicling the conception and production of "Lightyear".


title: Lightyear (film)

text: "Lightyear" had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on June 8, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 17, 2022, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in RealD 3D, 4DX, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX formats. It is Pixar's first film since "Onward" (2020) to receive a theatrical release after "Soul" (2020), "Luca" (2021), and "Turning Red" (2022) were assigned direct-to-streaming releases on Disney+ in response to the closure of cinemas due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Lightyear" also becomes Pixar's first film to have virtual IMAX cameras in its progress.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Despite being released internationally in the United Kingdom (Cineworld), Japan (Toho Cinemas), India (AMC Theatres India), France (Le Péniche Cinéma), Germany (Cinemagic), New Zealand (Event Cinemas), South Africa (Ster-Kinekor and Nu Metro) and Australia (Event Cinemas and Village Cinemas) in RealD 3D, IMAX, 4DX, Dolby Cinema and D-BOX formats, the film was banned in the Muslim world (including Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates) due to a scene featuring a same-sex kiss between Uzo Aduba's female character Alisha Hawthorne and her partner Kiko. The People's Republic of China (PRC) also requested that the scene in question be removed; however Disney declined to make the cuts. Indonesia stated that they did not ban the film, "but suggested the owner of the movie think about their audience in Indonesia where an LGBT kissing scene is still considered sensitive." In Singapore, the scene resulted in the film being allowed only for people above 16 years of age.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: The specific scene was initially cut from the film in mid-March 2022, but following Disney CEO Bob Chapek's opposition to Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill and the internal polarizing uproar it caused within Disney, the scene was reinstated. Speaking to "Variety"'s Angelique Jackson, Evans had stated about the scene saying: "I've been asked the question a few times — it's nice, and it's wonderful, it makes me happy. It's tough to not be a little frustrated that it even has to be a topic of discussion [...] The goal is that we can get to a point where it is the norm, and that this doesn't have to be some uncharted waters, that eventually this is just the way it is. That representation across the board is how we make films."


title: Lightyear (film)

text: The film was made available on Disney+ on August 3, 2022, with the option to view the theatrical version of the film or the IMAX Enhanced version. The film was also released on Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia and Malaysia as the film did not release theatrically in these territories following the demand of removing the same-sex kiss. The movie was released under the ratings of 18+ for Malaysia and 21+ for Indonesia (both Indonesian and Malaysian equivalents of the adults-only NC-17), with mature content warning included prior to the start of the film. IGN Southeast Asia also confirmed that the same-sex relationship remained untouched, even for the previously mentioned same-sex kiss. Disney+ in the Middle East did not include the film as they decided to align with local censorship rules, meaning that content aimed at children that include LGBTQIA+ references, including this film, will not be released in these territories.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: It was streamed by 1.7 million U.S. households during its first five days on Disney+ according to Samba TV. According to Nielsen, it was viewed for 1.3 billion minutes and ranked third overall in streaming titles for the week. Its viewership fell sharply in the second week to 700 million minutes, with the film being positioned tenth overall and third among all streaming films.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released "Lightyear" on Ultra HD Blu-ray, DVD and Blu-ray on September 13, 2022.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: According to Whip Media, "Lightyear" was the 2nd most watched movie in the United States across all platforms, during the week of August 5, 2022 to August 7, 2022. According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, "Lightyear" was the 10th most watched program across all platforms, during the week of August 12, 2022. According to Nielsen Holdings, "Lightyear" was the 9th most streamed movie across all platforms, during the week of August 29, 2022 to September 4, 2022.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: , "Lightyear" has grossed $118.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $108.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $226.4 million.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Lightyear" was originally projected to gross $70–85 million from 4,255 theaters in its opening weekend, with some estimates reaching as high as $105 million. However, after making just $20.7 million on its first day (including $5.2 million from Thursday night previews), estimates were lowered to $51–55 million. It went on to debut to $50.6 million, finishing second behind holdover "Jurassic World Dominion". Additionally, the film earned $34.6 million from 43 international markets, bringing its worldwide three-day debut to $85.2 million. In its second weekend, "Lightyear" declined 64.1% to $18.2 million, the second-worst sophomore drop for a Pixar film after "Onward" (73%), which opened at the onset of the pandemic.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Both "Deadline Hollywood" and "Variety" attributed the performance to competition from "Jurassic World Dominion" and "", though ultimately noted it as a disappointment given the brand strength of both Pixar and the "Toy Story" franchise. "Los Angeles Times" writer Ryan Faughnder believed that the film was at a disadvantage, since, as a spin-off film, it did not have well-known "Toy Story" characters such as Woody. He also noted that spin-offs tend to not gross as much as the main franchise installments, and compared the film to the spin-off films "" and "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw". Pamela McClintock of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that, in addition to competition from "Jurassic World Dominion" and "Top Gun: Maverick", the lackluster opening was attributed to brand confusion in the film's marketing. McClintock, Martha Ross of "The Mercury News", and "The Washington Post"s Sonny Bunch also questioned if the response from people over the inclusion of a lesbian couple kissing and the decision not to cast Tim Allen in the part of Buzz Lightyear was to blame for the film's underwhelming opening. Other box office analysts believed family audiences might have not shown up to theaters after becoming accustomed to the availability of Pixar films at home after their three previous films, "Soul", "Luca", and "Turning Red," were released directly to Disney+ during the pandemic. Some box-office analysts theorized that family audiences were reluctant to attend theaters in general due to COVID-19 concerns, although this was disproven after "" opened to $107 million in the U.S. and Canada two weeks later.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: It is the lowest rated film of the "Toy Story" franchise on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 85% (including an average 4 out of 5 stars), with 62% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: Peter Bradshaw's four-star review for "The Guardian" stated "This cracking origin story for Toy Story's spaceman hero is fun and clever and reminds us why we loved Pixar in the first place." David Rooney of "The Hollywood Reporter" called it "a funny spinoff with suspense and heart, a captivatingly spirited toon take on splashy live-action retro popcorn entertainment." Emma Stefansky of "Thrillist" said "There's plenty in "Lightyear" to enjoy, and it's one of Pixar's better efforts over the last 10 years, but it ultimately feels half-done. It feels like it ought to be the beginning of something, like its narrative is a prologue stretched into a feature awaiting the much more interesting second and third and fifth installments down the road." Valerie Complex of "Deadline Hollywood" stated ""Lightyear" does not rely too much on "Toy Story" lore to build its world, but it would have benefited from showing some connection to that part of the franchise instead of using title cards." She further praised the technical aspects and wrote "The animation is gorgeous and hyper-realistic. The art department put their all into designing this universe and its characters and robotic villains," but criticized the screenplay saying "sometimes the story becomes convoluted and drags on, almost like there was a need to pad the runtime, causing "Lightyear" to get into even more trouble and creating a never-ending slew of trampling obstacles."


title: Lightyear (film)

text: "Variety"'s Owen Gleiberman wrote: ""Lightyear" in its eminently conventional and likable way, is a far less audacious movie than that. For what is surely not the first time, Buzz's I-can-do-anything myopic bravado has failed [...] part of that may be that in the 'Toy Story' films, he "is" a toy — that's part of the joke, one that Buzz is never quite in on. He thinks he's a real Space Ranger! So when you actually turn Buzz Lightyear into a Space Ranger, you enlarge him and diminish him at the same time." In contrast, BBC's Nicholas Barber wrote "The story is thin, repetitive, and almost entirely dependent on the heroes being clumsy" and gave the film two stars. David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote ""Lightyear" remains firmly stuck in the past even as it hurtles toward the future. And while screenwriters Jason Headley and Angus MacLane need that push-pull in order to tell a story about reconciling the lure of nostalgia with the potential for something new, it's hard for a movie to sell us on living in the moment when every scene feels like it's settling for less." Kaleem Aftab of Time Out called the film "a franchise low, Pixar's meta 'Toy Story' spin-off gets lost in space." The film has received criticism from some conservatives, who have argued that the film's scene with a same-sex kiss is inappropriate for children, saying that Disney sexualizes them.


title: Lightyear (film)

text: The film was nominated for the 47th Saturn Awards for Best Animated Film, but lost to "Marcel The Shell With Shoes On".


title: Roger Federer

text: Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. He won 103 ATP singles titles, the second most of all time, including 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record eight men's singles Wimbledon titles, an Open Era record-tying five men's singles US Open titles, and a record-tying six year-end championships.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer played during an era where he dominated men's tennis along with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as the Big Three, collectively considered by some to be the three most successful male tennis players of all time. Federer's 20 Grand Slam singles titles also put him at third most of all time, only behind Djokovic with 21 and record holder Nadal with 22, as of the end of 2022 season when Federer retired. A Wimbledon junior champion in 1998 and former ball boy, Federer won his first major singles title at Wimbledon in 2003 at age 21.


title: Roger Federer

text: Between 2003 and 2009 Federer played in 21 out of 28 major singles finals. He won 3 of the 4 majors and the ATP Finals in 2004, 2006, and 2007 as well as 5 consecutive titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open. He completed the career Grand Slam at the 2009 French Open after 3 consecutive runner-up finishes to Nadal, his main rival until 2010. At age 27, he surpassed Pete Sampras' record of 14 major men's singles titles at Wimbledon in 2009.


title: Roger Federer

text: Although Federer remained in the Top 3 during most of the early 2010s, the success of Djokovic and Nadal ended his dominance over grass and hard courts, winning two majors between 2010 and 2016. During this period of time, he and Stan Wawrinka led the Switzerland Davis Cup team to their first title in 2014, following their Olympic doubles gold victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Federer also won a silver medal in singles at the 2012 London Olympics, where he finished runner-up to Andy Murray. After a half-year hiatus in late 2016 to recover from knee surgery, Federer made a stellar return to tennis, winning three more majors over the next two years, including the 2017 Australian Open over Nadal and an eighth singles title at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships. At the 2018 Australian Open, Federer became the first man to win 20 major singles titles and shortly the oldest ATP world No. 1 at age 36. In September 2022, he retired from professional tennis following the Laver Cup.


title: Roger Federer

text: A versatile all-court player, Federer's perceived effortlessness has made him highly popular among tennis fans. Originally lacking self-control as a junior, he transformed his on-court demeanor to become well-liked for his general graciousness, winning the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award 13 times. He has won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award a record five times. Outside of competing, he played an instrumental role in the creation of the Laver Cup team competition. He is also an active philanthropist. He established the Roger Federer Foundation, which targets impoverished children in southern Africa, and has raised funds in part through the Match for Africa exhibition series. He is routinely one of the top ten highest-paid athletes in any sport and ranked first among all athletes with $100 million in endorsement income in 2020.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer was born on 8 August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. A member of the Federer family, his Swiss-German father, Robert Federer, is from Berneck in the canton of St. Gallen, and his Afrikaner mother, Lynette Federer (née Durand), is from Kempton Park, Gauteng, in South Africa. He has one sibling, his older sister, Diana, the mother of twins. Since Federer's mother is South African, he holds both Swiss and South African citizenship. He grew up in nearby Birsfelden, Riehen, and then Münchenstein, close to the French and German borders, and speaks Swiss German, Standard German, English, and French fluently as well as functional Italian and Swedish. Swiss German is his native language. He was a ball boy at his hometown Basel event, the Swiss Indoors in 1992 and 1993.


title: Roger Federer

text: Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003 he was ruled "unsuitable" and was subsequently not required to fulfill his military obligation. Instead, he served in the civil protection force and was required to pay 3% of his taxable income as an alternative. He grew up supporting FC Basel and the Swiss national football team. He also credits his hand-eye coordination to the wide range of sports he played as a child, including badminton and basketball.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Miroslava Federer (née Vavrinec), whom he met while they were both competing for Switzerland at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Usually called Mirka, she retired from the tour in 2002 because of a foot injury. They were married at Wenkenhof Villa in Riehen near Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family. In 2009, she gave birth to identical twin girls. They had another pair of twins in 2014, this time fraternal twin boys. Their children were baptized in the Catholic faith by Federer's distant cousin Monsignor Urban Federer, who is the Abbot of Einsiedeln Abbey.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer played his first junior match in 1996 at the age of 14 at a grade 2 tournament in Switzerland. His main accomplishments as a junior player came at Wimbledon in 1998 when he won both the boys' singles final over Irakli Labadze, and in doubles teamed with Olivier Rochus defeating the team of Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram. In addition he reached the US Open Junior final in 1998, losing to David Nalbandian. Federer won four ITF junior singles tournaments in his career, including the prestigious Orange Bowl, where he defeated Guillermo Coria in the final. By the end of 1998 he attained the No. 1 junior world ranking and was awarded ITF junior World Champion. He ended his junior career at the end of 1998 with a high-ranking of No. 1 in singles and No. 7 in doubles (both attained on December 31, 1998) and a win–loss record of 78–20 in singles and 36–21 in doubles.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer made his ATP debut at the 1998 Swiss Open Gstaad in his home country of Switzerland losing to Lucas Arnold Ker in the first round. Later that year, he won his first ATP match in Toulouse against Guillaume Raoux. He got a wildcard into the 1998 Swiss Indoors and lost in the first round to 4th seed and former world number 1 Andre Agassi. Federer finished his career as a 10-time champion of the tournament.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer entered the top 100 ranking for the first time on 20 September 1999 and started at the 1999 Marseille Open defeating the reigning champion of the 1998 French Open, Spaniard Carlos Moyá. His first final came at the Marseille Open in 2000, where he lost to fellow Swiss Marc Rosset. Federer won the 2001 Hopman Cup representing Switzerland, along with world No. 1 Martina Hingis. The duo defeated the American pair of Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill in the finals. Federer later said that his experience with Hingis "definitely helped me to become the player I am today."


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer's first singles win was at the 2001 Milan Indoor tournament, where he defeated Julien Boutter in the final. Although he won his first title already in 1999 on the Challenger tour, winning the doubles event in Segovia, Spain with Dutchman Sander Groen, the final was played on Federer's 18th birthday. In 2001, Federer made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open, losing to former world No. 2 and eventual finalist Àlex Corretja. His run to the French quarterfinals launched him into the top 15 for the first time in his career.


title: Roger Federer

text: His international breakthrough came at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, when the 19-year-old Federer faced the four-time defending champion and all-time Grand Slam leader Pete Sampras. Federer beat the No. 1 seed in a five-set match to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarters he faced Englishman Tim Henman, eventually losing in a fourth-set tiebreaker.


title: Roger Federer

text: The first final he reached at the Masters level came at the 2002 Miami Masters event, where he lost to former and future No. 1 Andre Agassi on hard court. Federer won his first Master Series event at the 2002 Hamburg Masters on clay, over Marat Safin; the victory put him in the top 10 for the first time. Federer made 10 singles finals between 1998 and 2002, of which he won four and lost six. He also made six finals in doubles. He finished 2001 with an ATP ranking of No. 13, and 2002 was the first year he was ranked within the top 10, finishing at No. 6.


title: Roger Federer

text: In 2003, Federer won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, beating Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippoussis in the final. In August he had a chance to take over the No. 1 ranking for the first time from Andre Agassi if he made it to the Montreal final. However, he fell in the semifinals to Roddick, in a final-set tiebreaker, leaving him 120 points behind Agassi. This, coupled with early losses to David Nalbandian at Cincinnati and the US Open, denied Federer the chance to become No. 1 for the duration of the season.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer won his first and only doubles Masters event in Miami with Max Mirnyi and made it to one singles Masters event in Rome on clay, which he lost. Federer made it to nine finals on the ATP Tour and won seven of them, including the 500 series events at Dubai and Vienna. Lastly, Federer won the year-end championships over Andre Agassi, finishing the year as world No. 2, narrowly behind Andy Roddick by only 160 points.


title: Roger Federer

text: During 2004 Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles and became the first person to do in one season so since Mats Wilander in 1988. His first major hard-court title came at the Australian Open over Marat Safin, making him the world No. 1 for the first time. He then won his second Wimbledon crown over Andy Roddick. At the US Open, Federer defeated the 2001 champion, Lleyton Hewitt, for his first title there.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer won three ATP Masters events, one on clay in Hamburg, and the other two on hard surfaces at Indian Wells and in Canada. Federer took the ATP 500 series event at Dubai and wrapped up the year by winning the year-end championships for the second time. He also won his first tournament on home soil by capturing the Swiss Open in Gstaad. His 11 singles titles were the most of any player in two decades, and his record of 74–6 was the best since Ivan Lendl in 1986. He reached the year-end No. 1 ranking for the first time.


title: Roger Federer

text: In 2005, Federer failed to reach the finals of the first two Grand Slam tournaments, losing the Australian Open semifinal to eventual champion Safin after holding match points, and the French Open semifinal to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. However, Federer reestablished his dominance on grass, winning Wimbledon for a third time by defeating Andy Roddick. At the US Open, Federer defeated Andre Agassi in the latter's last major final.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer also took four Masters wins: Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati on hard court, and Hamburg on clay. The win in Miami was particularly noteworthy as it was the first final contested between Federer and Nadal. Federer recovered from two sets and a break down to take the final in five sets. Furthermore, Federer won two ATP 500 series events at Rotterdam and Dubai. Federer lost the year-end championships to David Nalbandian in five sets while playing through a foot injury that sidelined him for almost the rest of the season after September. He maintained his position as No. 1 for the entire season.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer won 11 singles titles, which ties his 2004 season. Federer's 81 match victories were the most since Pete Sampras in 1993, and his record of 81–4 (95.2%) remains the third-best winning percentage in the Open Era behind John McEnroe's 1984 and Jimmy Connors's 1974.


title: Roger Federer

text: The 2006 season was statistically the best season of Federer's career. In November 2011, Stephen Tignor, chief editorial writer for Tennis.com, ranked Federer's 2006 season as statistically the second-best season of all time during the Open Era, behind Rod Laver's Grand Slam year of 1969.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer won 12 singles titles (the most of any player since Thomas Muster in 1995 and John McEnroe in 1984) and had a match record of 92–5 (the most wins since Ivan Lendl in 1982). Federer reached the finals in an astounding 16 of the 17 tournaments he entered during the season.


title: Roger Federer

text: In 2006, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles and reached the final of the other, with the only loss coming against Nadal in the French Open. This was Federer and Nadal's first meeting in a Grand Slam final. He was the first man to reach all four finals in a calendar year since Rod Laver in 1969. Federer defeated Nadal in the Wimbledon Championships final. In the Australian Open, Federer defeated Marcos Baghdatis, and at the US Open, Federer defeated 2003 champion Roddick. In addition, Federer reached six Masters finals, winning four on hard surfaces and losing two on clay to Nadal. Federer, however, consistently pushed Nadal to the limit on clay throughout the season taking him to fourth-set tiebreakers in Monte-Carlo and Paris, and a thrilling match in Rome that went to a deciding fifth-set tiebreaker.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer won one ATP 500 series event in Tokyo and captured the year-end championships for the third time in his career, again finishing the year as world No. 1. Federer only lost to two players during 2006, to Nadal four times in finals, and to 19-year-old Andy Murray in the second round of the 2006 Cincinnati Masters, in what was Federer's only defeat before the final of a tournament that year. Federer finished the season on a 29-match winning streak, as well as winning 48 of his last 49 matches after the French Open.


title: Roger Federer

text: Near the end of the season he won his hometown tournament, the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland for the first time, having finished runner up in 2000 and 2001, and missing the tournament in 2004 and 2005 due to injuries.


title: Roger Federer

text: In 2007, Federer reached all four Grand Slam singles finals, winning three of them again. He won the Australian Open without dropping a set, beating Fernando González in the final. This made him the first man in the 21st century to accomplish the feat, as Björn Borg at the 1980 French Open was the last to win a Grand Slam tournament without the loss of a set. Federer had entered the year on a huge winning streak and after capturing his fourth Dubai crown Federer's winning streak stood at 41 matches, the longest of his career and only five shy of the record. Federer entered Indian Wells as the three-time defending champion, but his streak ended in controversy. He was defeated by an Argentine, Guillermo Cañas, who had failed a drug test for illegal doping.


title: Roger Federer

text: This surprising first-round loss marked the first time he was defeated since August 2006, a period spanning over 7 months.


title: Roger Federer

text: During the clay season Federer's victory in the Hamburg Masters final was particularly impressive, as it snapped Nadal's 81-match winning streak on clay, an Open-era record. Federer turned the match around from a set down to sweep 12 of the final 14 games, including a final set bagel. At the French Open, some anticipated that Federer could become the first man in almost 40 years to hold all four majors simultaneously, having just resoundingly defeated young rival Nadal on clay entering the tournament. However, in a repeat of the previous year Federer played a tough four-set final against Nadal, but was undone by going 1/17 on break-point chances.


title: Roger Federer

text: At Wimbledon Federer entered the tournament not only as the four-time defending champion, but also riding a 48-match winning streak on grass. Once again, he defeated Rafael Nadal for a second consecutive year in the final, this time in a thrilling five-set encounter that many analysts hailed as the greatest Wimbledon final since 1980. Victory at Wimbledon equaled him with Björn Borg for the record of five consecutive championships at the All England Club.


title: Roger Federer

text: Federer reached the final in Montreal before playing a young and relatively unknown Serbian named Novak Djokovic. Djokovic proved his potential by beating the world No. 1 in a final-set tiebreaker upset. Federer rebounded in Cincinnati to capture his fifth title of the year. Federer entered the US Open as the three-time defending champion and faced Djokovic in the final. This time, Federer prevailed in a close straight-set match. Victory in New York moved him ahead of Laver and Borg for third on the all-time list of major championship victories. Throughout the tournament the American press nicknamed him Darth Federer for his all-black attire (which included tuxedo-striped shorts) and the tournament played "The Imperial March" from "Star Wars" when he was announced onto the court for each of his matches. He closed out the year with victories in Basel and the year-end championships in Shanghai.