Some 250 pieces of original Disney animation art that wound up lying in a janitor's closet at Chiba University in Japan for nearly a half century are due to be returned to the Walt Disney Co. after being rediscovered. In return, Disney has agreed to provide high-resolution digital copies of the artworks and $1 million to be used by the university to further studies in animation art. Items in the collection had originally been selected by Walt Disney himself to illustrate both the history of animation and its processes. It includes artwork from the 1932 short Flowers and Trees, Disney's first animated film in Technicolor. Since the exhibit was also intended to promote the Japanese opening of Sleeping Beauty, a large portion of the material focuses on that film, but there are also cels and background paintings from such movies as Fantasia, Bambi, and Cinderella. "There is no way to put a price on these works -- they represent our artistic heritage," Lella Smith, creative director of the Disney Animation Research Library, told the New York Times. "That said, their value as archival materials for study and research is very high."

Box office analysts were predicting big mid-week business for 20th Century Fox's Horton Hears a Who! as schools let out for the pre-Easter holiday break. On Monday, the G-rated film earned $3,615.494, according to box-office trackers Media by Numbers. That brought the film's four-day take to $48,628,492. Another family-targeted film, Disney's College Road Trip, took in $655,236 on Monday, off only 10 percent from the previous Monday.

Arthur C. Clarke, the science-fiction novelist who famously collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the screenplay for his 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died in his beloved Sri Lanka at age 90. In his novels he had predicted geostationary communications satellites (in 1945), cellular phones, the Internet and a moon landing that would employ a mother ship and a landing pod. Following the release of 2001, which was said to have been based largely on Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," Kubrick remarked, "He has the kind of mind of which the world can never have enough, an array of imagination, intelligence, knowledge and a quirkish curiosity, which often uncovers more than the first three qualities." Clarke saved his final prediction for his 90th birthday last December. "Over the next 50 years, thousands of people will travel to Earth orbit -- and then, to the moon and beyond," he wrote. "Space travel and space tourism will one day become almost as commonplace as flying to exotic destinations on our own planet."

NATO's supreme commander for operations, Gen. John Craddock, has expressed concern that a short documentary film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders critical of the Koran will provoke attacks on NATO soldiers serving in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Associated Press, Craddock remarked, "It's a problem of extremists; they want to use this to their advantage, whether it's rational or not." He said that he is particularly concerned that attacks might be directed at Dutch troops. "It would be unfortunate if soldiers of that nationality are held responsible for something they had nothing to do with," Craddock said. Meanwhile, Lynndie England, the Abu Ghraib guard who took many of the pictures that resulted in the biggest scandal of the Iraq war, said that while she "felt bad" about doing so, "If the media hadn't exposed the pictures to that extent, then thousands of lives would have been saved." In an interview with the German magazine Stern, England said that she also knows of other, more graphic pictures taken at the prison that have yet to surface including those showing vicious dogs being sicced on the prisoners. "If those had been made public at the time then the whole world would have looked at those and not at mine," she said.

Following the death of Anthony Minghella in London on Tuesday from a post-operative hemorrhage, some initial obituaries mentioned that he had won not only a director's Oscar for his 1996 film The English Patient but one for best adapted screenplay as well for that film. However, although Minghella was nominated for the screenplay award, it actually went to Billy Bob Thornton for Sling Blade. Minghella did take home the screenplay award for Patient at the Golden Globes and BAFTA ceremonies.

During a week in which Fox Broadcasting took over the lead from CBS to become the most-watched network of the season, the show that put it there, American Idol, drew more viewers than all its competition combined. Tuesday's "performance" edition drew 29.88 million viewers, while Wednesday's "results" show was not far behind with 27.13 million. It was a different tale with Fox's Canterbury's Law, which drew 7.72 million in its premiere on Monday night and the debut of Friday night's The Return of Jezebel James was shot down with only 3.18 million viewers. For the week, Fox averaged a 6.8 rating and an 11 share, representing 11.3 million viewers. CBS and NBC tied for second place with a 5.0/8, while ABC trailed with a 4.0/7. Meanwhile, veteran media journalist Alex Ben Block, in his online Hollywood Today report, noted that all of the major broadcast networks continue to lose viewers. Citing a report prepared for ad agency Rubin Postaer, Block noted that network viewership is down as much as 12 percent since September, with only ABC showing improvement over last year. The report blames the writers' strike, changes in the way Nielsen measures audiences, a glut of reality shows and the failure of network TV to produce a single breakout hit this season.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 16.9/26; 2. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 15.8/24; 3. Law and Order, NBC, 7.9/13; 3. Survivor: Micronesia, CBS, 7.9/13; 5. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 7.6/12; 6. Lost, ABC, 7.5/12; 7. Deal or No Deal (Monday), NBC, 7.4/11; 8. 60 Minutes, CBS, 7.3/13; 8. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 7.3/11; 10. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC, 7.1/11.

On Tuesday night, American Idol went head-to-head against ABC's Dancing With the Stars. The result was that each show saw its ratings eroded somewhat, although Idol remained the clear winner. In the 9:00 p.m. hour, Idol averaged a 15.5 rating and a 23 share, while Dancing pulled a 9.9/15. Without competition from Dancing, Idol peaked at 8:30 p.m. with a 16.3/25, while without competition from Idol, Dancing peaked at 10:00 p.m. with a 12.3/19.

The latest American Idol scandal -- this one involving top-12 finalist David Hernandez, who, it turned out, had once worked as a stripper at a gay nightclub in Phoenix -- has redounded to the benefit of the tabloid TV shows, according to Broadcasting & Cable magazine. The trade publication noted that coverage of the Hernandez story helped boost the number of viewers of CBS's Entertainment Tonight 6 percent above what it was the previous week. NBC's Access Hollywood saw its numbers grow 4 percent (6 percent among women 25-54). CBS's The Insider and Warner Bros.' TMZ were flat, while Inside Edition and Extra were down.

HBO, which was shaken by the decision of Entertainment President Carolyn Strauss to step down followed by word that it would not put the series 12 Miles of Bad Road from producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason on the air after filming six episodes, finally got some good news Tuesday. Its latest miniseries, John Adams, starring Paul Giamatti in the title role, got off to a solid start with 2.65 million viewers tuning in for the first two episodes Sunday night. The audience figure is regarded as high for a premium cable channel, although it's not nearly as high as several earlier HBO hits.

Some staffers of CBS's The Early Show who quit while executive producer Shelley Ross was at the helm may return to the show or withdraw their resignations now that she's gone, according to the online edition of Condé Nast's Portfolio magazine. Citing an unnamed CBS News insider, Portfolio columnist Jeff Bercovici said that morale has risen and "the atmosphere at the show has totally changed" since Ross was replaced by CBS Evening News executive producer Rick Kaplan earlier this month. "You can feel it," the insider told the columnist. "People are alive again. It's really remarkable."

TiVo, which announced last week, that it was adding YouTube to its video offerings (YouTube, in turn, announced that it would offer upgraded resolution of many of its clips), said Tuesday that it will provide software that will allow users to watch many popular online video shows on their TV sets -- beginning immediately. The enhancement will require the installation of TiVo's Desktop Plus PC software (at a one-time charge of $24.95). It also requires a Windows-based PC connected to the Internet.