The UK Film Council have today published their Statistical Yearbook online, and it paints a very healthy picture despite the economical climate.

Of particular interest is this page, the Top 20 UK Films, which shows UK funded and part funded productions with some obvious (Harry Potter), some which were surprise hits (Sherlock Holmes) and some outstanding independent films (Moon).

Putting it all in context, and there is a lot of context, the UK film industry is putting out some very impressive films with the results that the audience grew 6% last year, reaching 173.5 million in 2009. One statistic in particular is worth paying attention, not because of its figures for 2009, but for how the growth will be seen in 2010′s results: 3D films accounted for 16% of UK and Republic of Ireland box office revenues in 2009 (£176 million), up from just 0.4% in 2008.

The UK Film Council point to the 3D spectaculars such as Pixar’s Up, Ice Age 3 and James Cameron’s Avatar, and the emergence of 3D cinema as one of the key reasons the UK box office saw its highest admissions since 2002, and this is sure to grow this year.

UK films did well abroad as well with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince earning half ($900 million) of the total earnings for the top ten UK films, with Danny Boyle’s Oscar magnet Slumdog Millionaire doing great work here and overseas.

I’ve copied in the Top 20 UK films below, but do check out the report to find out more.

We rather enjoyed Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and unlike the faltering Shrek series there’s an actual sense of expectation for this new chapter.

20th Century Fox and Blue Sky have great confidence in the prehistoric animation, so much so that there’s news this morning that Ice Age 4 is on its way.

Subtitled Continental Drift, this film has a release date of Summer 2012 so it will sit nicely alongside the other projected releases for Batman 3 and the SpiderMan reboot.

Variety shouted this one out, and there are no other details at present, but if it can repeat the huge box office return of the third film then this won’t be the last time we see Scratte, Ellie, Diego and Sid.

Last week HeyUGuys were invited to Air Studios in North London to witness the launch of the new Panasonic Full HD 3D TV and Blu-ray players, and while I can’t claim any immense technical knowledge I do know that when I left I was certain that 3D TV will play a major part in the future of home cinema.

Speakers from Panasonic (both product managers and R&D), Sky Movies, Pearl & Dean among others came on stage to wax lyrical about the shiny new dimension we’ll all be enjoying and much hyperbole was bought forth pertaining to 3D being the next logical step forward for home entertainment, much as colour had superseded black & white and HD is looking to overturn standard definition. And part of the problem will be convincing people to upgrade their recently purchased HDTV to these new TVs.

While broadcasters and DVD producers will have to catch up with this new technological frontier, as without content these new screens and players are nothing,  Ubisoft and Sky chimed in on their plans for 3D games and TV broadcasting respectively. Clearly excited by the prospect of a new wave of content there will of course be some recent content which will be available on launch. More details on this later.

The Panasonic 3D Viera sets were designed to lead the way to inroduce Full HD 3D TV and when the lights dimmed and we were shown the goods I briefly glimpsed the future through the 3D glasses. Panasonic collected footage specifically for their new HD 3D TV during the Beijing Olympics and it was truly stunning. The thousands of drummers moving in unison was crystal clear and the depth perception was totally immersive.

This was the 3DTV moment I was waiting for, when the potential of the medium was realised, and I have to be honest, I wasn’t convinced of the need to preview 3D TV in pubs using high profile sporting events but this is exactly the right arena to get people used to the technology, glasses and all.

For movie fans the big question is – Will 3D TV be the next big thing for your home cinema? This was highlighted by the majority of the speakers, using the ubiquitous Avatar as the shining example of embedding 3D  in the public consciousness, and the key to getting people to invest in these TVs will be in the 3D Blu-rays which will be released and I was pleased to see that pre-orders of the new TVs/3D Blu-ray will get a free copy of Ice Age 3 (fair enough – the Blu-ray looked pretty good) and Henry Selick’s Coraline. That is brilliant marketing on Panasonic’s part and that would easily entice me to put the TV/Blu-ray player on my wish list as Coraline, apart from being a brilliant film, makes great use of 3D.

With new content shot in 3D, and with Panasonic pushing these new TVs to play the HD 2D content as perfectly as possible, I can see a future which involves switching from 2D to 3D on the fly – something the guys were keen to point out that these TVs were made to do – and I can attest that while the 3D looked stunning in Full HD, there’s so much more than Match of the Day to look forward to. Avatar will clearly be the first high profile 3D Blu-ray, though Coraline does the job for me, and it’s an interesting time for TV companies as they try to push the boundaries of home entertainment.

In order to stand out from the crowd of 3D animated fare currently assaulting the box office you need to create a cast of charming characters in a world that is unique, throw in a witty script with lots of visual invention. The bar 20th Century and director and Ivce Age veteran Carlos Saldanha have to overcome has been set very high with the likes of  Up and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs this year alone, and Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, released this week on Blu-ray and DVD, succeeds on many levels.

When the film was released earlier in the year we reviewed it here, and it was a positive review. The film’s cast has a great hold on the characters and the visual fizz and momentum makes for an eye popping experience. It’s a wild ride that I found a lot to like, there was charm and the new characters and locations capture the essence of what makes Ice Age an enjoyable series. There are a few too many Flintstones lite anachronisms for my liking but there’s enough here to keep children of all ages happy.

The Blu-ray is really where this film shines – plainly put: This film looks incredible, even for Blu-ray standards, from the wide open landscapes and misty, ghostly caverns down to the intricate character models – the clarity of detail and colour is amazing – this is one to show off the new player.

The special features are the typical mix between the making of docs, abandoned scenes and cast interviews, the full listing is below and there’s so much to enjoy. The Blu-ray is bundled with a DVD copy and a digital version to watch ‘on the go’.

It’s a shot in the arm for the Ice Age series and with the digital acumen of Blue Sky Studios ever increasing it won’t be too long before the series gets a fourth installment.

To celebrate the launch of Ice Age 3 on Blu-ray and DVD 20th Century Fox enlisted the help of world famous street painter Edgar Muller to create a record breaking anamorphic street scene featuring the Ice Age characters – check it out below.

Blu-ray Special Features

• Disc One:
  • Blu-ray Disc Feature Film
  • Ice Age Storybook Maker
  • Buck’s Survival Guide: Fun Fossilized Factoids
  • Evolution Expedition
  • Buck: From Easel to Weasel
  • Unearthing the Lost World
  • Two Unfinished Deleted Scenes
  • Walk the Dinosaur Music Video
  • Animated Shorts
    • Surviving Sid
    • Gone Nutty ““ Scrat’s Missing Adventure
    • No Time for Nuts
  • Falling for Scratte
  • Filmmaker Commentary
  • Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character with Ray Romano
  • Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character with Queen Latifah
  • Fox Movie Channel Presents Making a Scene

Disc Two:

• Digital Copy ““ a copy of the film allowing a one-time download for watching Ice Age 3 on the go

DVD Special Features:

• Buck’s Survival Guide: Fun Fossilized Factoids
• Walk the Dinosaur Music Video
• Falling for Scratte
• Buck: From Easel to Weasel
• Digital Copy