title: Orson Welles

text: Infatuated with her since adolescence, Welles met del Río at Darryl Zanuck's ranch soon after he moved to Hollywood in 1939. Their relationship was kept secret until 1941, when del Río filed for divorce from her second husband. They openly appeared together in New York while Welles was directing the Mercury stage production "Native Son". They acted together in the movie "Journey into Fear" (1943). Their relationship came to an end due, among other things, to Welles's infidelities. Del Río returned to Mexico in 1943, shortly before Welles married Rita Hayworth.


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles married Rita Hayworth on September 7, 1943. They were divorced on November 10, 1947. During his last interview, recorded for "The Merv Griffin Show" on the evening before his death, Welles called Hayworth "one of the dearest and sweetest women that ever lived ... and we were a long time together—I was lucky enough to have been with her longer than any of the other men in her life."


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1955, Welles married actress Paola Mori (née Countess Paola di Gerfalco), an Italian aristocrat who starred as Raina Arkadin in his 1955 film, "Mr. Arkadin". The couple began a passionate affair, and they were married at her parents' insistence. They were wed in London May 8, 1955, and never divorced.


title: Orson Welles

text: Croatian-born artist and actress Oja Kodar became Welles's long-time companion both personally and professionally from 1966 onward, and they lived together for some of the last twenty years of his life.


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles had three daughters from his marriages: Christopher Welles Feder (born 1938, with Virginia Nicolson); Rebecca Welles Manning (1944–2004), with Rita Hayworth; and Beatrice Welles (born 1955, with Paola Mori).


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles is thought to have had a son, British director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (born 1940), with Irish actress Geraldine Fitzgerald, then the wife of Sir Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 4th baronet. When Lindsay-Hogg was 16, his mother reluctantly divulged pervasive rumors that his father was Welles, and she denied them—but in such detail that he doubted her veracity. Fitzgerald evaded the subject for the rest of her life. Lindsay-Hogg knew Welles, worked with him in the theatre and met him at intervals throughout Welles's life. After learning that Welles's oldest daughter, Chris, his childhood playmate, had long suspected that he was her brother, Lindsay-Hogg initiated a DNA test that proved inconclusive. In his 2011 autobiography, Lindsay-Hogg reported that his questions were resolved by his mother's close friend Gloria Vanderbilt, who wrote that Fitzgerald had told her that Welles was his father. A 2015 Welles biography by Patrick McGilligan, however, reports the impossibility of Welles's paternity: Fitzgerald left the U.S. for Ireland in May 1939, and her son was conceived before her return in late October, whereas Welles did not travel overseas during that period.


title: Orson Welles

text: After the death of Rebecca Welles Manning, a man named Marc McKerrow was revealed to be her son—and therefore a direct descendant of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth—after he requested his adoption records unsealed. While McKerrow and Rebecca were never able to meet due to her cancer, they were in touch before her death, and he attended her funeral. McKerrow's reactions to the revelation and his meeting with Oja Kodar are documented in the 2008 film "Prodigal Sons" by his sister Kim Reed. McKerrow died on June 18, 2010, suddenly in his sleep at the age of 44. His death was "...caused by complications from a nocturnal seizure" related to a car accident and resulting injury when he was younger.


title: Orson Welles

text: In the 1940s, Welles had a brief relationship with Maila Nurmi, who, according to the bio "Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pain of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi," became pregnant; since Welles was at the time married to Hayworth, Nurmi gave the child up for adoption. However, the child mentioned in the book was born in 1944. Nurmi revealed in an interview weeks before her death in January 2008 how she met Welles in a New York casting office in the spring of 1946.


title: Orson Welles

text: Despite an urban legend promoted by Welles, he is not related to Abraham Lincoln's wartime Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles. The myth dates back to the first newspaper feature ever written about Welles—"Cartoonist, Actor, Poet and only 10"—in the February 19, 1926, issue of "The Capital Times". The article falsely states that he was descended from "Gideon Welles, who was a member of President Lincoln's cabinet". As presented by Charles Higham in a genealogical chart that introduces his 1985 biography of Welles, Orson Welles's father was Richard Head Welles (born Wells), son of Richard Jones Wells, son of Henry Hill Wells (who had an uncle named Gideon "Wells"), son of William Hill Wells, son of Richard Wells (1734–1801).


title: Orson Welles

text: Peter Noble's 1956 biography describes Welles as "a magnificent figure of a man, over six feet tall, handsome, with flashing eyes and a gloriously resonant speaking-voice". Welles said that a voice specialist once told him he was born to be a heldentenor, a heroic tenor, but that when he was young and working at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, he forced his voice down into a bass-baritone.


title: Orson Welles

text: Even as a baby, Welles was prone to illness, including diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, and malaria. From infancy he suffered from asthma, sinus headaches, and backache that was later found to be caused by congenital anomalies of the spine. Foot and ankle trouble throughout his life was the result of flat feet. "As he grew older", Brady wrote, "his ill health was exacerbated by the late hours he was allowed to keep [and] an early penchant for alcohol and tobacco".


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1928, at age 13, Welles was already more than six feet tall (1.83 meters) and weighed over 180 pounds (81.6 kg). His passport recorded his height as six feet three inches (192 cm), with brown hair and green eyes.


title: Orson Welles

text: "Crash diets, [pharmaceutical] drugs, and corsets had slimmed him for his early film roles", wrote biographer Barton Whaley. "Then always back to gargantuan consumption of high-caloric food and booze. By summer 1949, when he was 34, his weight had crept up to a stout 230 pounds (104 kg). In 1953, he ballooned from 250 to 275 pounds (113 to 125 kg). After 1960, he remained permanently obese."


title: Orson Welles

text: When Peter Bogdanovich once asked him about his religion, Welles gruffly replied that it was none of his business, then misinformed him that he was raised Catholic.


title: Orson Welles

text: Although the Welles family was no longer devout, it was fourth-generation Episcopalian and before that, Quaker and Puritan.


title: Orson Welles

text: In April 1982, when interviewer Merv Griffin asked him about his religious beliefs, Welles replied, "I try to be a Christian. I don't pray really, because I don't want to bore God." Near the end of his life, Welles was dining at Ma Maison, his favorite restaurant in Los Angeles, when proprietor Patrick Terrail conveyed an invitation from the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, who asked Welles to be his guest of honor at divine liturgy at Saint Sophia Cathedral. Welles replied, "Please tell him I really appreciate that offer, but I am an atheist."


title: Orson Welles

text: "Orson never joked or teased about the religious beliefs of others", wrote biographer Barton Whaley. "He accepted it as a cultural artifact, suitable for the births, deaths, and marriages of strangers and even some friends—but without emotional or intellectual meaning for himself."


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles was politically active from the beginning of his career. He remained aligned with left-wing politics and the American Left throughout his life, and always defined his political orientation as "progressive". A Democrat, he was an outspoken critic of racism in the United States and the practice of segregation. He was a strong supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal and often spoke out on radio in support of progressive politics. He campaigned heavily for Roosevelt in the 1944 election. Welles did not support the 1948 presidential bid of Roosevelt's second vice president Henry A. Wallace for the Progressive Party, later describing Wallace as "a prisoner of the Communist Party."


title: Orson Welles

text: In a 1983 conversation with his friend Roger Hill, Welles recalled: "During a White House dinner, when I was campaigning for Roosevelt, in a toast, with considerable tongue in cheek, he said, 'Orson, you and I are the two greatest actors alive today.' In private that evening, and on several other occasions, he urged me to run for a Senate seat in either California or Wisconsin. He wasn't alone." In the 1980s, Welles still expressed admiration for Roosevelt but also described his presidency as "a semidictatorship."


title: Orson Welles

text: During a 1970 appearance on "The Dick Cavett Show", Welles claimed to have met Hitler while hiking in Austria with a teacher who was a "budding Nazi". He said that Hitler made no impression on him at all and does not remember him. He said that he had no personality at all: "He was invisible. There was nothing there until there were 5,000 people yelling sieg heil."


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1946, Welles took to the airwaves in a series of radio broadcasts demanding justice for a decorated Black veteran Isaac Woodard, who had been beaten and blinded by white police officers. Welles devoted his July 28, 1946 program to reading Woodard’s affidavit and vowing to bring  the officer responsible to justice.  He continued his crusade over four subsequent Sunday afternoon broadcasts on ABC Radio. “The NAACP felt that these broadcasts did more than anything else to prompt the Justice Department to act on the case,” the Museum of Broadcasting stated in its 1988 retrospect "Orson Welles on the Air: The Radio Years".


title: Orson Welles

text: For several years, he wrote a newspaper column on political issues and considered running for the U.S. Senate in 1946, representing his home state of Wisconsin—a seat that was ultimately won by Joseph McCarthy.


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles's political activities were reported on pages 155–157 of "Red Channels", the anti-Communist publication that, in part, fueled the already flourishing Hollywood Blacklist. He was in Europe during the height of the Red Scare, thereby adding one more reason for the Hollywood establishment to ostracize him.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1970, Welles narrated (but did not write) a satirical political record on the rise of President Richard Nixon titled "The Begatting of the President".


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles spoke before a crowd of 700000 at a nuclear disarmament rally in Central Park on June 12, 1982 and attacked the policies of President Ronald Reagan and the Republican party.


title: Orson Welles

text: "American: An Odyssey to 1947", a documentary by Danny Wu that looks at Welles’ life against the political landscape of the 1930s and ’40s, had its premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival in October 2022.


title: Orson Welles

text: On the evening of October 9, 1985, Welles recorded his final interview on the syndicated TV program "The Merv Griffin Show", appearing with biographer Barbara Leaming. "Both Welles and Leaming talked of Welles's life, and the segment was a nostalgic interlude," wrote biographer Frank Brady. Welles returned to his house in Hollywood and worked into the early hours typing stage directions for the project he and Gary Graver were planning to shoot at UCLA the following day. Welles died sometime on the morning of October 10, following a heart attack. He was found by his chauffeur at around 10 a.m.; the first of Welles's friends to arrive was Paul Stewart. Welles was 70 years old at his death.


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles was cremated by prior agreement with the executor of his estate, Greg Garrison, whose advice about making lucrative TV appearances in the 1970s made it possible for Welles to pay off a portion of the taxes he owed the IRS. A brief private funeral was attended by Paola Mori and Welles's three daughters—the first time they had ever been together. Only a few close friends were invited: Garrison, Graver, Roger Hill and Prince Alessandro Tasca di Cuto. Chris Welles Feder later described the funeral as an awful experience.


title: Orson Welles

text: A public memorial tribute took place November 2, 1985, at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles. Host Peter Bogdanovich introduced speakers including Charles Champlin, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Greg Garrison, Charlton Heston, Roger Hill, Henry Jaglom, Arthur Knight, Oja Kodar, Barbara Leaming, Janet Leigh, Norman Lloyd, Dan O'Herlihy, Patrick Terrail and Robert Wise.


title: Orson Welles

text: "I know what his feelings were regarding his death", Joseph Cotten later wrote. "He did not want a funeral; he wanted to be buried quietly in a little place in Spain. He wanted no memorial services ..." Cotten declined to attend the memorial program; instead, he sent a short message, ending with the last two lines of a Shakespeare sonnet that Welles had sent him on his most recent birthday:


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1987 the ashes of Welles were taken to Ronda, Spain, and buried in an old well covered by flowers on the rural estate of a long-time friend, bullfighter Antonio Ordóñez.


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles's reliance on self-production meant that many of his later projects were filmed piecemeal or were not completed. Welles financed his later projects through his own fundraising activities. He often also took on other work to obtain money to fund his own films.


title: Orson Welles

text: In the mid-1950s, Welles began work on "Don Quixote", initially a commission from CBS television. Welles expanded the film to feature length, developing the screenplay to take Quixote and Sancho Panza into the modern age. Filming stopped with the death of Francisco Reiguera, the actor playing Quixote, in 1969. Orson Welles continued editing the film into the early 1970s. At the time of his death, the film remained largely a collection of footage in various states of editing. The project and, more important, Welles's conception of the project changed radically over time.


title: Orson Welles

text: A version Oja Kodar supervised, with help from Jess Franco, assistant director during production, was released in 1992 to poor reviews.


title: Orson Welles

text: Frederick Muller, the film editor for The "Trial", "Chimes at Midnight," and the CBS Special "Orson Bag," worked on editing three reels of the original, unadulterated version. When asked in 2013 by a journalist of "Time Out" for his opinion, he said that he felt that if released without image re-editing but with the addition of "ad hoc" sound and music, it probably would have been rather successful.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1969, Welles was given a TV commission to film a condensed adaptation of "The Merchant of Venice". Welles completed the film by 1970, but the finished negative was later mysteriously stolen from his Rome production office. A restored and reconstructed version of the film, made by using the original script and composer's notes, premiered at pre-opening ceremonies of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival, alongside "Othello", in 2015.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1970, Welles began shooting "The Other Side of the Wind". The film relates the efforts of a film director (played by John Huston) to complete his last Hollywood picture and is largely set at a lavish party. By 1972 the filming was reported by Welles as being "96% complete", though by 1979 Welles had only edited about 40 minutes of the film. In that year, legal complications over the ownership of the film put the negative into a Paris vault. In 2004, director Peter Bogdanovich, who acted in the film, announced his intention to complete the production.


title: Orson Welles

text: On October 28, 2014, Los Angeles-based production company Royal Road Entertainment announced it had negotiated an agreement, with the assistance of producer Frank Marshall, and would purchase the rights to complete and release "The Other Side of the Wind". Bogdanovich and Marshall planned to complete Welles's nearly finished film in Los Angeles, aiming to have it ready for screening on May 6, 2015, the 100th anniversary of Welles's birth. Royal Road Entertainment and German producer Jens Koethner Kaul acquired the rights held by Les Films de l'Astrophore and the late Mehdi Boushehri. They reached an agreement with Oja Kodar, who inherited Welles's ownership of the film, and Beatrice Welles, manager of the Welles estate; but at the end of 2015, efforts to complete the film were at an impasse.


title: Orson Welles

text: In March 2017, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film. That month, the original negative, dailies and other footage arrived in Los Angeles for post-production; the film was completed in 2018. The film premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2018.


title: Orson Welles

text: On November 2, 2018, the film debuted in select theaters and Netflix, 48 years after principal photography began.


title: Orson Welles

text: Some footage is included in the documentaries "Working with Orson Welles" (1993), "Orson Welles: One Man Band" (1995), and most extensively "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead" (2018).


title: Orson Welles

text: "Too Much Johnson" is a 1938 comedy film written and directed by Welles. Designed as the cinematic aspect of Welles's Mercury Theatre stage presentation of William Gillette's 1894 comedy, the film was not completely edited or publicly screened. "Too Much Johnson" was considered a lost film until August 2013, with news reports that a pristine print had been discovered in Italy in 2008. A copy restored by the George Eastman House museum was scheduled to premiere October 9, 2013, at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, with a U.S. premiere to follow. The film was shown at a single screening at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on May 3, 2014. A single performance of "Too Much Johnson", on February 2, 2015, at the Film Forum in New York City, was a great success. Produced by Bruce Goldstein and adapted and directed by Allen Lewis Rickman, it featured the Film Forum Players with live piano.


title: Orson Welles

text: "Heart of Darkness" was Welles's projected first film, in 1940. It was planned in extreme detail and some test shots were filmed; the footage is now lost. It was planned to be entirely shot in long takes from the point of view of the narrator, Marlow, who would be played by Welles; his reflection would occasionally be seen in the window as his boat sailed down river. The project was abandoned because it could not be delivered on budget, and "Citizen Kane" was made instead.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1941, Welles planned a film with his then partner, the Mexican actress Dolores del Río. "Santa" was adapted from the novel by Mexican writer Federico Gamboa. The film would have marked the debut of Dolores del Río in the Mexican cinema. Welles made a correction of the script in 13 extraordinary sequences. The high salary demanded by del Río stopped the project. In 1943, the film was finally completed with the settings of Welles, led by Norman Foster and starring Mexican actress Esther Fernández.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1941 Welles also planned a Mexican drama with Dolores del Río, which he gave to RKO to be budgeted. The film was a movie version of the novel by the same name by Calder Marshall. In the story, del Río would play Elena Medina, "the most beautiful girl in the world", with Welles playing an American who becomes entangled in a mission to disrupt a Nazi plot to overthrow the Mexican government. Welles planned to shoot in Mexico, but the Mexican government had to approve the story, and this never occurred.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1941, Welles received the support of Bishop Fulton Sheen for a retelling of the life of Christ, to be set in the American West in the 1890s. After filming of "Citizen Kane" was complete, Welles, Perry Ferguson, and Gregg Toland scouted locations in Baja California and Mexico. Welles wrote a screenplay with dialogue from the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. "Every word in the film was to be from the Bible—no original dialogue, but done as a sort of American primitive," Welles said, "set in the frontier country in the last century." The unrealized project was revisited by Welles in the 1950s, when he wrote a second unfilmed screenplay, to be shot in Egypt.


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles did not originally want to direct "It's All True", a 1942 documentary about South America, but after its abandonment by RKO, he spent much of the 1940s attempting to buy the negative of his material from RKO, so that he could edit and release it in some form. The footage remained unseen in vaults for decades and was assumed lost. Over 50 years later, some (but not all) of the surviving material saw release in the 1993 documentary "It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles".


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1944, Welles wrote the first-draft script of "Monsieur Verdoux", a film that he also intended to direct. Charlie Chaplin initially agreed to star in it, but later changed his mind, citing never having been directed by someone else in a feature before. Chaplin bought the film rights and made the film himself in 1947, with some changes. The final film credits Chaplin with the script, "based on an idea by Orson Welles".


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles spent around nine months around 1947–48 co-writing the screenplay for "Cyrano de Bergerac" along with Ben Hecht, a project Welles was assigned to direct for Alexander Korda. He began scouting for locations in Europe whilst filming "Black Magic", but Korda was short of money, so sold the rights to Columbia pictures, who eventually dismissed Welles from the project, and then sold the rights to United Artists, who in turn made a film version in 1950, which was not based on Welles's script.


title: Orson Welles

text: After Welles's elaborate musical stage version of this Jules Verne novel, encompassing 38 different sets, went live in 1946, Welles shot some test footage in Morocco in 1947 for a film version. The footage was never edited, funding never came through, and Welles abandoned the project. Nine years later, the stage show's producer Mike Todd made his own award-winning film version of the book.


title: Orson Welles

text: "Moby Dick – Rehearsed" was a film version of Welles's 1955 London meta-play, starring Gordon Jackson, Christopher Lee, Patrick McGoohan, and with Welles as Ahab. Using bare, minimalist sets, Welles alternated between a cast of nineteenth-century actors rehearsing a production of "Moby Dick", with scenes from "Moby Dick" itself. Kenneth Williams, a cast member who was apprehensive about the entire project, recorded in his autobiography that Welles's dim, atmospheric stage lighting made some of the footage so dark as to be unwatchable. The entire play was filmed but is now presumed lost. This was made during one weekend at the Hackney Empire theater.


title: Orson Welles

text: The producers of "Histoires extraordinaires", a 1968 anthology film based on short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, announced in June 1967 that Welles would direct one segment based on both "Masque of the Red Death" and "The Cask of Amontillado" for the omnibus film. Welles withdrew in September 1967 and was replaced. The script, written in English by Welles and Oja Kodar, is in the Filmmuseum Munchen collection.


title: Orson Welles

text: This Monty Python-esque spoof in which Welles plays all but one of the characters (including two characters in drag), was made around 1968–9. Welles intended this completed sketch to be one of several items in a television special on London. Other items filmed for this special—all included in the "One Man Band" documentary by his partner Oja Kodar—comprised a sketch on Winston Churchill (played in silhouette by Welles), a sketch on peers in a stately home, a feature on London gentlemen's clubs, and a sketch featuring Welles being mocked by his snide Savile Row tailor (played by Charles Gray).


title: Orson Welles

text: Welles wrote two screenplays for "Treasure Island" in the 1960s, and was eager to seek financial backing to direct it. His plan was to film it in Spain in concert with "Chimes at Midnight". Welles intended to play the part of Long John Silver. He wanted Keith Baxter to play Doctor Livesey and John Gielgud to take on the role of Squire Trelawney. Australian-born child actor Fraser MacIntosh ("The Boy Cried Murder"), then 11-years old, was cast as Jim Hawkins and flown to Spain for the shoot, which would have been directed by Jess Franco. About 70 percent of the "Chimes at Midnight" cast would have had roles in "Treasure Island". However, funding for the project fell through. Eventually, Welles's own screenplay (under the pseudonym of O.W. Jeeves) was further rewritten, and formed the basis of the 1972 film version directed by John Hough, in which Welles played Long John Silver.


title: Orson Welles

text: "The Deep", an adaptation of Charles Williams's "Dead Calm", was entirely set on two boats and shot mostly in close-ups. It was filmed off the coasts of Yugoslavia and the Bahamas between 1966 and 1969, with all but one scene completed. It was originally planned as a commercially viable thriller, to show that Welles could make a popular, successful film. It was put on hold in 1970 when Welles worried that critics would not respond favorably to this film as his theatrical follow-up to the much-lauded "Chimes at Midnight", and Welles focused instead on "F for Fake". It was abandoned altogether in 1973, perhaps due to the death of its star Laurence Harvey. In a 2015 interview, Oja Kodar blamed Welles's failure to complete the film on Jeanne Moreau's refusal to participate in its dubbing.


title: Orson Welles

text: "Dune", an early attempt at adapting Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel by Chilean film director Alejandro Jodorowsky, was to star Welles as the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Jodorowsky had personally chosen Welles for the role, but the planned film never advanced past pre-production.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1978 Welles was lined up by his long-time protégé Peter Bogdanovich (who was then acting as Welles's "de facto" agent) to direct "Saint Jack", an adaptation of the 1973 Paul Theroux novel about an American pimp in Singapore. Hugh Hefner and Bogdanovich's then-partner Cybill Shepherd were both attached to the project as producers, with Hefner providing finance through his Playboy productions. However, both Hefner and Shepherd became convinced that Bogdanovich himself would be a more commercially viable director than Welles and insisted that Bogdanovich take over. Since Bogdanovich was also in need of work after a series of box office flops, he agreed. When the film was finally made in 1979 by Bogdanovich and Hefner (but without Welles or Shepherd's participation), Welles felt betrayed and according to Bogdanovich the two "drifted apart a bit".


title: Orson Welles

text: After the success of his 1978 film "Filming Othello" made for West German television, and mostly consisting of a monolog to the camera, Welles began shooting scenes for this follow-up film, but never completed it. What Welles did film was an 80-minute question-and-answer session in 1981 with film students asking about the film. The footage was kept by Welles's cinematographer Gary Graver, who donated it to the Munich Film Museum, which then pieced it together with Welles's trailer for the film, into an 83-minute film which is occasionally screened at film festivals.


title: Orson Welles

text: Written by Welles with Oja Kodar, "The Big Brass Ring" was adapted and filmed by director George Hickenlooper in partnership with writer F.X. Feeney. Both the Welles script and the 1999 film center on a U.S. presidential hopeful in his 40s, his elderly mentor—a former candidate for the Presidency, brought low by homosexual scandal—and the Italian journalist probing for the truth of the relationship between these men. During the last years of his life, Welles struggled to get financing for the planned film, and his efforts to cast a star as the main character were unsuccessful. Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds and Paul Newman turned down the role for various reasons.


title: Orson Welles

text: In 1984, Welles wrote the screenplay for a film he planned to direct, an autobiographical drama about the 1937 staging of "The Cradle Will Rock". Rupert Everett was slated to play the young Welles. However, Welles was unable to acquire funding. Tim Robbins later directed a similar film, but it was not based on Welles's script.


title: Orson Welles

text: At the time of his death, Welles was in talks with a French production company to direct a film version of the Shakespeare play "King Lear", in which he would also play the title role.


title: Orson Welles

text: "" was an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel. Welles admired Nabokov's "" and initiated a film project of the same title in collaboration with the author. Welles flew to Paris to discuss the project personally with Nabokov, because at that time the Russian author moved from America to Europe. Welles and Nabokov had a promising discussion, but the project was not finished.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal is bordered by Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. Senegal nearly surrounds the Gambia, a country occupying a narrow sliver of land along the banks of the Gambia River, which separates Senegal's southern region of Casamance from the rest of the country. Senegal also shares a maritime border with Cape Verde. Senegal's economic and political capital is Dakar.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is notably the westernmost country in the mainland of the Old World, or Afro-Eurasia. It owes its name to the Senegal River, which borders it to the east and north. The climate is typically Sahelian, though there is a rainy season. Senegal covers a land area of almost and has a population of around /1e6 round 0 million. The state is a unitary presidential republic; since the country's foundation in 1960, it has been recognized as one of the most stable countries on the African continent.


title: Senegal

text: The state was formed as part of the independence of French West Africa from French colonial rule. Because of this history, French is the official language, but it is understood only by a minority of the population. Over 30 languages are spoken in Senegal, and Wolof is the most widely spoken one, with 80% of the population speaking it as a first or second language, acting as Senegal's lingua franca alongside French. Like other post-colonial African states, the country includes a wide mix of ethnic and linguistic communities, with the largest being the Wolof, Fula, and Serer people. Senegalese people are predominantly Muslim.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is classified as a heavily indebted poor country, with relatively low HDI ranked 170th in the Human Development index . Most of the population is on the coast and works in agriculture or other food industries; other major industries include mining, tourism, and services. The country does not have notable natural resources, but the basis of its development lies in education, where almost half the state's budget is spent. Senegal is a member state of the African Union, the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States. Internationally, Senegal is best known in the sporting world for the Paris-Dakar Rally.


title: Senegal

text: The country of Senegal is named after the Senegal River. The name of the river may derive from a Portuguese transliteration of the name of the Zenaga, also known as the Sanhaja. Alternatively, it could be a combination of the supreme deity in ("Rog Sene") and "o gal" meaning "body of water" in the Serer language. It is also possible that it derives from the Wolof phrase "Sunuu Gaal," which means "our canoe".


title: Senegal

text: Archaeological findings throughout the area indicate that Senegal was inhabited in prehistoric times and has been continuously occupied by various ethnic groups. Some kingdoms were created around the seventh century: Takrur in the ninth century, Namandiru and the Jolof Empire during the 13th and 14th centuries. Eastern Senegal was once part of the Ghana Empire.


title: Senegal

text: Islam was introduced through Toucouleur and Soninke contact with the Almoravid dynasty of the Maghreb, who in turn propagated it with the help of the Almoravids and Toucouleur allies. This movement faced resistance from ethnicities of traditional religions, the Serers in particular.


title: Senegal

text: In the 13th and 14th centuries, the area came under the influence of the empires to the east; the Jolof Empire of Senegal was also founded during this time. In the Senegambia region, between 1300 and 1900, close to one-third of the population was enslaved, typically as a result of being taken captive in warfare.


title: Senegal

text: In the 14th century the Jolof Empire grew more powerful, having united Cayor and the kingdoms of Baol, Siné, Saloum, Waalo, Futa Tooro and Bambouk, or much of present-day West Africa. The empire was a voluntary confederacy of various states rather than being built on military conquest. The empire was founded by Ndiadiane Ndiaye, a part Serer and part Toucouleur, who was able to form a coalition with many ethnicities, but collapsed around 1549 with the defeat and killing of Lele Fouli Fak by Amari Ngone Sobel Fall.


title: Senegal

text: In the mid-15th century, the Portuguese landed on the Senegal coastline, followed by traders representing other countries, including the French. Various European powers — Portugal, the Netherlands, and Great Britain — competed for trade in the area from the 15th century onward.


title: Senegal

text: In 1677, France gained control of what had become a minor departure point in the Atlantic slave trade: the island of Gorée next to modern Dakar, used as a base to purchase slaves from the warring chiefdoms on the mainland.


title: Senegal

text: European missionaries introduced Christianity to Senegal and the Casamance in the 19th century. It was only in the 1850s that the French began to expand onto the Senegalese mainland, after they abolished slavery and began promoting an abolitionist doctrine, adding native kingdoms like the Waalo, Cayor, Baol, and Jolof Empire. French colonists progressively invaded and took over all the kingdoms, except Siné and Saloum, under Governor Louis Faidherbe.


title: Senegal

text: Yoro Dyao was in command of the canton of Foss-Galodjina and was set over Wâlo (Ouâlo) by Louis Faidherbe, where he served as a chief from 1861 to 1914. Senegalese resistance to the French expansion and curtailing of their lucrative slave trade was led in part by Lat-Dior, Damel of Cayor, and Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof, the Maad a Sinig of Siné, resulting in the Battle of Logandème.


title: Senegal

text: In 1915, over 300 Senegalese came under Australian command, ahead of the taking of Damascus by Australians, before the expected arrival of the famed Lawrence of Arabia. French and British diplomacy in the area were thrown into disarray.


title: Senegal

text: In January 1959, Senegal and the French Sudan merged to form the Mali Federation, which became fully independent on 20 June 1960, as a result of a transfer of power agreement signed with France on 4 April 1960. Due to internal political difficulties, the Federation broke up on 20 August 1960 when Senegal and French Sudan (renamed the Republic of Mali) each proclaimed independence.


title: Senegal

text: Léopold Sédar Senghor, internationally known poet, politician, and statesman, was elected Senegal's first president in August 1960. Pro-African, Senghor advocated a brand of African socialism.


title: Senegal

text: After the breakup of the Mali Federation, President Senghor and Prime Minister Mamadou Dia governed together under a parliamentary system. In December 1962, their political rivalry led to an attempted coup by Prime Minister Dia. The coup was put down without bloodshed and Dia was arrested and imprisoned. Senegal adopted a new constitution that consolidated the President's power.


title: Senegal

text: Senghor was considerably more tolerant of opposition than most African leaders became in the 1960s. Nonetheless, political activity was somewhat restricted for a time. Senghor's party, the Senegalese Progressive Union (now the Socialist Party of Senegal), was the only legally permitted party from 1965 until 1975. In the latter year, Senghor allowed the formation of two opposition parties that began operation in 1976—a Marxist party (the African Independence Party) and a liberal party (the Senegalese Democratic Party).


title: Senegal

text: The 1960s and early 1970s saw the continued and persistent violating of Senegal's borders by the Portuguese military from Portuguese Guinea. In response, Senegal petitioned the United Nations Security Council in 1963, 1965, 1969 (in response to shelling by Portuguese artillery), 1971 and finally in 1972.


title: Senegal

text: In 1980, President Senghor decided to retire from politics. The next year, he transferred power in 1981 to his hand-picked successor, Abdou Diouf. Former prime minister Mamadou Dia, who was Senghor's rival, ran for election in 1983 against Diouf, but lost. Senghor moved to France, where he died at the age of 95.


title: Senegal

text: In the 1980s, Boubacar Lam discovered Senegalese oral history that was initially compiled by the Tuculor noble, Yoro Dyâo, not long after World War I, which documented migrations into West Africa from the Nile Valley; ethnic groups, from the Senegal River to the Niger Delta, retained traditions of having an eastern origin.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal Senegambia Confederation on 1 February 1982. However, the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group (Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance or MFDC) in the Casamance region has clashed sporadically with government forces since 1982 in the Casamance conflict. In the early 21st century, violence has subsided and President Macky Sall held talks with rebels in Rome in December 2012.


title: Senegal

text: Abdou Diouf was president between 1981 and 2000. He encouraged broader political participation, reduced government involvement in the economy, and widened Senegal's diplomatic engagements, particularly with other developing nations. Domestic politics on occasion spilled over into street violence, border tensions, and a violent separatist movement in the southern region of the Casamance. Nevertheless, Senegal's commitment to democracy and human rights strengthened. Abdou Diouf served four terms as president.


title: Senegal

text: During the Gulf War, over 500 Senegalese participated in the Battle of Khafji and the unexpected Liberation of Kuwait campaign, under the command of the U.S.-led coalition.


title: Senegal

text: In the presidential election of 1999, opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade defeated Diouf in an election deemed free and fair by international observers. Senegal experienced its second peaceful transition of power, and its first from one political party to another. On 30 December 2004 President Wade announced that he would sign a peace treaty with the separatist group in the Casamance region. This, however, has yet to be implemented. There was a round of talks in 2005, but the results have not yet yielded a resolution.


title: Senegal

text: In March 2012, the incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade lost the presidential election and Macky Sall was elected as the new President of Senegal. President Macky Sall was re-elected in 2019 elections. The presidential term was reduced from seven years to five.


title: Senegal

text: Since 3 March 2021, Senegal has been rocked by a series of mass protests in response to the arrest of Ousmane Sonko for alleged rape and mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is a republic with a presidency; the president is elected every five years as of 2016, previously being seven years from independence to 2001, five years from 2001 to 2008, and seven years again from 2008 to 2016, by adult voters. The first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, was a poet and writer, and was the first African elected to the "Académie française". Senegal's second president, Abdou Diouf, later served as general secretary of the "Organisation de la Francophonie". The third president was Abdoulaye Wade, a lawyer. The current president is Macky Sall, elected in March 2012 and reelected in February 2019.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal has more than 80 political parties. The unicameral parliament consists of the National Assembly, which has 150 seats (a Senate was in place from 1999 to 2001 and 2007 to 2012). An independent judiciary also exists in Senegal. The nation's highest courts that deal with business issues are the constitutional council and the court of justice, members of which are named by the president.


title: Senegal

text: Currently, Senegal has a quasi-democratic political culture, one of the more successful post-colonial democratic transitions in Africa. Local administrators are appointed and held accountable by the president. Marabouts, religious leaders of the various Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal, have also exercised a strong political influence in the country especially during Wade's presidency. In 2009, Freedom House downgraded Senegal's status from "Free" to "Partially Free", based on increased centralisation of power in the executive. By 2014, it had recovered its Free status.


title: Senegal

text: In 2008, Senegal finished in 12th position on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. The Ibrahim Index is a comprehensive measure of African governance (limited to sub-Saharan Africa until 2008), based on a number of different variables which reflect the success with which governments deliver essential political goods to their citizens. When the Northern African countries were added to the index in 2009, Senegal's 2008 position was retroactively downgraded to 15th place (with Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco placing ahead of Senegal). , Senegal's Ibrahim Index rank has declined another point to 16th of 52 African countries.


title: Senegal

text: On 22 February 2011, Senegal severed diplomatic ties with Iran, saying it supplied rebels with weapons which killed Senegalese troops in the Casamance conflict.


title: Senegal

text: The 2012 presidential election was controversial due to President Wade's candidacy, as the opposition argued he should not be considered eligible to run again. Several youth opposition movements, including M23 and Y'en a Marre, emerged in June 2011. In the end, Macky Sall of the Alliance for the Republic won, and Wade conceded the election to Sall. This peaceful and democratic transition was hailed by many foreign observers, such as the EU as a show of "maturity".


title: Senegal

text: In August 2017, the ruling party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election. President Macky Sall's ruling coalition took 125 seats in the 165-seat National Assembly. In 2019 president Macky Sall easily won re-election in the first round.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is subdivided into 14 regions, each administered by a "Conseil Régional" (Regional Council) elected by population weight at the "Arrondissement" level. The country is further subdivided by 45 "Départements", 113 "Arrondissements" (neither of which have administrative function) and by "Collectivités Locales", which elect administrative officers.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal has a high profile in many international organizations and was a member of the UN Security Council in 1988–89 and 2015–2016. It was elected to the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1997. Friendly to the West, especially to France and the United States, Senegal has vigorously advocated more assistance from developed countries to the Third World.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal enjoys mostly cordial relations with its neighbors. In spite of clear progress on other issues with Mauritania (border security, resource management, economic integration, etc.), an estimated 35,000 Mauritanian refugees (of the estimated 40,000 who were expelled from their home country in 1989) remain in Senegal.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is well integrated with the main bodies of the international community, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU), and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States.


title: Senegal

text: The Armed Forces of Senegal consist of about 17,000 personnel in the army, air force, navy, and gendarmerie. The Senegalese military receives most of its training, equipment, and support from France and the United States, and to a lesser extent Germany.


title: Senegal

text: Military noninterference in political affairs has contributed to Senegal's stability since independence. Senegal has participated in many international and regional peacekeeping missions. Most recently, in 2000, Senegal sent a battalion to the Democratic Republic of Congo to participate in MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping mission, and agreed to deploy a US-trained battalion to Sierra Leone for UNAMSIL, another UN peacekeeping mission.


title: Senegal

text: In 2015, Senegal participated in the Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis.


title: Senegal

text: To fight corruption, the government has created the National Anti-Corruption Office (OFNAC) and the Commission of Restitution and Recovery of Illegally Acquired Assets. According to Business Anti-Corruption Portal, President Sall created the OFNAC to replace the Commission Nationale de Lutte Contre la non Transparence, la Corruption et la Concussion (CNLCC). It is said that the OFNAC represents a more effective tool for fighting corruption than the CNLCC established under former President Wade. The mission of OFNAC is to fight corruption, embezzlement of public funds and fraud. OFNAC has the power of self-referral (own initiative investigation). OFNAC is composed of twelve members appointed by decree.


title: Senegal

text: Homosexuality is illegal in Senegal. According to 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center, 96% of Senegalese believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society. LGBTQ community members in Senegal report a strong feeling of being unsafe.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is located on the west of the African continent. It lies between latitudes 12° and 17°N, and longitudes 11° and 18°W.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds The Gambia, namely on the north, east and south, except for Gambia's short Atlantic coastline.


title: Senegal

text: The Senegalese landscape consists mainly of the rolling sandy plains of the western Sahel which rise to foothills in the southeast. Here is also found Senegal's highest point, Baunez ridge situated 2.7 km southeast of Nepen Diakha at . The northern border is formed by the Senegal River; other rivers include the Gambia and Casamance Rivers. The capital Dakar lies on the Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost point of continental Africa.


title: Senegal

text: The Cape Verde islands lie some off the Senegalese coast, but Cap-Vert ("Cape Green") is a maritime placemark, set at the foot of "Les Mammelles", a cliff resting at one end of the Cap-Vert peninsula onto which is settled Senegal's capital Dakar, and south of the "Pointe des Almadies", the westernmost point in Africa.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal contains four terrestrial ecoregions: Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, Sahelian Acacia savanna, West Sudanian savanna, and Guinean mangroves. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.11/10, ranking it 56th globally out of 172 countries.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal has a tropical climate with pleasant heat throughout the year with well-defined dry and humid seasons that result from northeast winter winds and southwest summer winds. The dry season (December to April) is dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind.


title: Senegal

text: Dakar's annual rainfall of about occurs between June and October when maximum temperatures average and minimums ; December to February maximum temperatures average and minimums .


title: Senegal

text: Interior temperatures are higher than along the coast (for example, average daily temperatures in Kaolack and Tambacounda for May are and respectively, compared to Dakar's ), and rainfall increases substantially farther south, exceeding annually in some areas.


title: Senegal

text: In Tambacounda in the far interior, particularly on the border of Mali where desert begins, temperatures can reach as high as . The northernmost part of the country has a near hot desert climate, the central part has a hot semi-arid climate and the southernmost part has a tropical wet and dry climate. Senegal is mainly a sunny and dry country.


title: Senegal

text: The main industries include food processing, mining, cement, artificial fertilizer, chemicals, textiles, refining imported petroleum, and tourism. Exports include fish, chemicals, cotton, fabrics, groundnuts, and calcium phosphate. The largest export markets as of 2020 are Mali (20.4%), Switzerland (12.2%), and India (8.3%).


title: Senegal

text: As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff. Senegal is also a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal achieved full Internet connectivity in 1996, creating a mini-boom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82 percent of its GDP. On the negative side, Senegal faces deep-seated urban problems of chronic high unemployment, socioeconomic disparity, juvenile delinquency, and drug addiction.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is a major recipient of international development assistance. Donors include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan, France and China. Over 3,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Senegal since 1963.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal has a exclusive fishing zone that has been regularly breached in recent years (). It has been estimated that the country's fishermen lose 300,000 tonnes of fish each year to illegal fishing. The Senegalese government have tried to control the illegal fishing which is conducted by fishing trawlers, some of which are registered in Russia, Mauritania, Belize and Ukraine. In January 2014, a Russian trawler, "Oleg Naydenov", was seized by Senegalese authorities close to the maritime border with Guinea-Bissau.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal has a population of around /1e6 round 1 million, about 42 percent of whom live in rural areas. Density in these areas varies from about in the west-central region to in the arid eastern section.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the additional protocol. Senegal is also a signatory of the African Charter of Human and People's Rights, which was adopted during the 2003 African Union Summit. However, feminists have been critical of the government's lack of action in enforcing the protocols, conventions and other texts that have been signed as a means of protecting women's rights.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal has a wide variety of ethnic groups and, as in most West African countries, several languages are widely spoken. The Wolof are the largest single ethnic group in Senegal at 43%; the Fula and Toucouleur (also known as Halpulaar'en, literally "Pulaar-speakers") (24%) are the second biggest group, followed by the Serer (14.7%), then others such as Jola (4%), Mandinka (3%), Maures or (Naarkajors), Soninke, Bassari and many smaller communities (9%). (See also the Bedick ethnic group.)


title: Senegal

text: About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) reside in Senegal. Smaller numbers of other migrants, namely Lebanese Mauritanians and Moroccans reside in Senegal, mainly in the cities and some retirees who reside in the resort towns around Mbour. The majority of Lebanese work in commerce. Most of the Lebanese originate from the Lebanese city of Tyre, which is known as "Little West Africa" and has a main promenade that is called "Avenue du Senegal".


title: Senegal

text: The country experienced a wave of immigration from France in the decades between World War II and Senegalese independence; most of these French people purchased homes in Dakar or other major urban centers. Also located primarily in urban settings are small Vietnamese communities as well as a growing number of Chinese immigrant traders, each numbering perhaps a few hundred people. There are also tens of thousands of Mauritanian refugees in Senegal, primarily in the country's north.


title: Senegal

text: According to the "World Refugee Survey 2008", published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Senegal has a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 23,800 in 2007. The majority of this population (20,200) is from Mauritania. Refugees live in N'dioum, Dodel, and small settlements along the Senegal River valley.


title: Senegal

text: French is the official language, spoken at least by all those who spent several years in the educational system that is of French origin (Koranic schools are even more popular, but Arabic is less widely spoken outside of the context of recitation). However, in total, French is understood only by about 15–20% of males and 1–2% of women. During the 15th century, many European territories started to engage in trade in Senegal. In the 19th century, France increased its colonial influence in Senegal and thus the number of French-speaking people multiplied continuously. French was ratified as the official language of Senegal in 1960 when the country achieved independence.


title: Senegal

text: Most people also speak their own ethnic language while, especially in Dakar, Wolof is the lingua franca. Pulaar is spoken by the Fulas and Toucouleur. The Serer language is widely spoken by both Serers and non-Serers (including President Sall, whose wife is Serer); so are the Cangin languages, whose speakers are ethnically Serers. Jola languages are widely spoken in the Casamance. Overall Senegal is home to around 39 distinct languages. Several have the legal status of "national languages": Balanta-Ganja, Arabic, Jola-Fonyi, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon (Serer-Noon), Pulaar, Serer, Soninke, and Wolof.


title: Senegal

text: English is taught as a foreign language in secondary schools and many graduate school programs, and it is the only subject matter that has a special office in the Ministry of Education. Dakar hosts a couple of Bilingual schools which offer 50% of their syllabus in English. The Senegalese American Bilingual School (SABS), Yavuz Selim, and The West African College of the Atlantic (WACA) train thousands of fluent English speakers in four-year programs. English is widely used by the scientific community and in business, including by the "Modou-Modou" (illiterate, self-taught businessmen).


title: Senegal

text: Portuguese Creole, locally known as Portuguese, is a prominent minority language in Ziguinchor, regional capital of the Casamance, spoken by local Portuguese creoles and immigrants from Guinea-Bissau. The local Cape Verdean community speak a similar Portuguese creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and standard Portuguese. Portuguese was introduced in Senegal's secondary education in 1961 in Dakar by the country's first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor. It is currently available in most of Senegal and in higher education. It is especially prevalent in Casamance as it relates with the local cultural identity.


title: Senegal

text: A variety of immigrant languages are spoken, such as Bambara (70,000), Mooré (37,000), Kabuverdiano (34,000), Krio (6,100), Vietnamese (2,500), and Portuguese (1,700), mostly in Dakar.


title: Senegal

text: While French is the sole official language, a rising Senegalese linguistic nationalist movement supports the integration of Wolof, the common vernacular language of the country, into the national constitution.


title: Senegal

text: Senegalese regions of Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaffrine, Kaolack, Kedougou, Kolda, Louga, Matam, Saint-Louis, Sedhiou, Tambacounda, Thies and Ziguinchor are members of the International Association of Francophone regions.


title: Senegal

text: Dakar, the capital, is by far the largest city in Senegal, with over two million residents. The second most populous city is Touba, a "de jure communaute rurale" (rural community), with over half a million people.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is a secular state, although Islam is the predominant religion in the country, practiced by 97.2% of the country's population; the Christian community, at 2.7% of the population, are mostly Catholics but there are also diverse Protestant denominations. Less than one percent has animist beliefs, particularly in the southeastern region of the country. Some Serer people follow the Serer religion.


title: Senegal

text: According to a 2012 Pew demographic study, 55% of the Muslims in Senegal are Sunni of the Maliki madhhab with Sufi influences, whilst 27% are non-denominational Muslim. Islamic communities in Senegal are generally organized around one of several Islamic Sufi orders called tariqas, headed by a "khalif" ("xaliifa" in Wolof, from Arabic "khalīfa"), who is usually a direct descendant of the group's founder; the study found that 92% of Senegalese Muslims belonged to a Sufi order. The two largest and most prominent Sufi tariqas in Senegal are the Tijaniyya, whose largest Senegalese sub-groups are based in the cities of Tivaouane and Kaolack and has broad following in West Africa outside of Senegal, and the Murīdiyya (Murid), who are based in the city of Touba and has a follower base mostly limited to within Senegal.


title: Senegal

text: The Halpulaar (Pulaar-speakers), composed of Fula people, a widespread group found along the Sahel from Chad to Senegal, and "Toucouleurs", represent 23.8 percent of the population. Historically, they were the first to become Muslim. Many of the "Toucouleurs", or sedentary Halpulaar of the Senegal River Valley in the north, converted to Islam around a millennium ago and later contributed to Islam's propagation throughout Senegal. Success was gained among the Wolofs, but repulsed by the Serers.


title: Senegal

text: Most communities south of the Senegal River Valley, however, were not thoroughly Islamized. The Serer people stood out as one of this group, who spent over one thousand years resisting Islamization (see Serer history). Although many Serers are Christians or Muslim, their conversion to Islam in particular is very recent, who converted on their own free will rather than by force, although force had been tried centuries earlier unsuccessfully (see the Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune).


title: Senegal

text: The spread of formal Quranic school (called "daara" in Wolof) during the colonial period increased largely through the effort of the Tidjâniyya. In Murid communities, which place more emphasis on the work ethic than on literary Quranic studies, the term "daara" often applies to work groups devoted to working for a religious leader. Other Islamic groups include the much older Qādiriyya order and the Senegalese Laayeen order, which is prominent among the coastal Lebu. Today, most Senegalese children study at "daara"s for several years, memorizing as much of the Qur'an as they can. Some of them continue their religious studies at councils ("majlis") or at the growing number of private Arabic schools and publicly funded Franco-Arabic schools.


title: Senegal

text: Small Catholic communities are mainly found in coastal Serer, Jola, Mankanya and Balant populations, and in eastern Senegal among the Bassari and Coniagui. The Protestant churches are mainly attended by immigrants but during the second half of the 20th century Protestant churches led by Senegalese leaders from different ethnic groups have evolved. In Dakar Catholic and Protestant rites are practiced by the Lebanese, Cape Verdean, European, and American immigrant populations, and among certain Africans of other countries as well as by the Senegalese themselves. Although Islam is Senegal's majority religion, Senegal's first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, was a Catholic Serer.


title: Senegal

text: Serer religion encompasses a belief in a supreme deity called Roog (Koox among the Cangin), Serer cosmogony, cosmology and divination ceremonies such as the annual "Xooy" (or "Khoy") ceremony presided over by the Serer Saltigues (high priests and priestesses). Senegambian (both Senegal and the Gambia) Muslim festivals such as "Tobaski", "Gamo", "Koriteh", "Weri Kor", etc., are all borrowed words from the Serer religion. They were ancient Serer festivals rooted in Serer religion, not Islam.


title: Senegal

text: There are a small number of members of the Bani Israel tribe in the Senegalese bush that claim Jewish ancestry, though this is disputed. The Mahayana branch of Buddhism in Senegal is followed by a very tiny portion of the ex-pat Vietnamese community. The Bahá'í Faith in Senegal was established after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, mentioned Africa as a place that should be more broadly visited by Bahá'ís. The first Bahá'is to set foot in the territory of French West Africa that would become Senegal arrived in 1953. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Senegal was elected in 1966 in Dakar. In 1975 the Bahá'í community elected the first National Spiritual Assembly of Senegal. The most recent estimate, by the Association of Religion Data Archives in a 2005 report details the population of Senegalese Bahá'ís at 22,000.


title: Senegal

text: Life expectancy at birth was estimated to be 66.8 years in 2016 (64.7 years male, 68.7 years female). Public expenditure on health was at 2.4 percent of the GDP in 2004, whereas private expenditure was at 3.5 percent. Health expenditure was at US$72 (PPP) per capita in 2004. The fertility rate ranged 5 to 5.3 between 2005 and 2013, with 4.1 in urban areas and 6.3 in rural areas, as official survey (6.4 in 1986 and 5.7 in 1997) point out. There were six physicians per 100,000 persons in the early 2000s (decade). Infant mortality in Senegal was 157 per 1,000 live births in 1950., but since then it has declined five-fold to 32 per 1,000 in 2018. In the past five years infant mortality rates of malaria have dropped. According to a 2013 UNICEF report, 26% of women in Senegal have undergone female genital mutilation.


title: Senegal

text: In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began in Senegal, which led to the imposition of a curfew in the country.


title: Senegal

text: In June 2021, Senegal's Agency for Universal Health launched sunucmu.com (SunuCMU), a website that the agency hopes will streamline health care in the country. The website is a part of the Minister of State Mohammad Abdallah Dionne's plan for digitalization. He aims to make Senegal's health care system effective and sustainable. Using SunuCMU, Senegal hopes to achieve 75 percent coverage within two years of the launch.


title: Senegal

text: Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution adopted in January 2001 guarantee access to education for all children. Education is compulsory and free up to the age of 16. The Ministry of Labor has indicated that the public school system is unable to cope with the number of children that must enroll each year. Portuguese is taught at schools at the secondary high school level, given the large Cape Verdean community, and also from Guinea Bissau. There are sizeable Portuguese creole and standard Portuguese speaking communities in Zinguichor and Dakar.


title: Senegal

text: Illiteracy is high, particularly among women. The net primary enrollment rate was 69 percent in 2005. Public expenditure on education was 5.4 percent of the 2002–2005 GDP. Senegal was ranked 105th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 96th in 2019.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is well known for the West African tradition of storytelling, which is done by "griots", who have kept West African history alive for thousands of years through words and music. The "griot" profession is passed down generation to generation and requires years of training and apprenticeship in genealogy, history and music. "Griots" give voice to generations of West African society.


title: Senegal

text: The "African Renaissance Monument" built in 2010 in Dakar is the tallest statue in Africa. Dakar also hosts a film festival, Recidak.


title: Senegal

text: The Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr, known locally as Tabaski, is popularly celebrated by Senegalese people. Despite being predominantly Muslim, the Christian festival of Christmas is also popularly observed, with Christmas trees and decorations lining up the city of Dakar.


title: Senegal

text: Because Senegal borders the Atlantic Ocean, fish is very important. Chicken, lamb, peas, eggs, and beef are also used in Senegalese cooking, but not pork, due to the nation's largely Muslim population. Peanuts, the primary crop of Senegal, as well as couscous, white rice, sweet potatoes, lentils, black-eyed peas and various vegetables, are also incorporated into many recipes. Meats and vegetables are typically stewed or marinated in herbs and spices, and then poured over rice or couscous, or eaten with bread.


title: Senegal

text: Popular fresh juices are made from bissap, ginger, "buy" (pronounced 'buoy', which is the fruit of the baobab tree, also known as "monkey bread fruit"), mango, or other fruit or wild trees (most famously soursop, which is called "corossol" in French). Desserts are very rich and sweet, combining native ingredients with the extravagance and style characteristic of the French impact on Senegal's culinary methods. They are often served with fresh fruit and are traditionally followed by coffee or tea.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal is known across Africa for its musical heritage, due to the popularity of mbalax, which originated from the Serer percussive tradition especially the Njuup, it has been popularized by Youssou N'Dour, Omar Pene and others. Sabar drumming is especially popular. The sabar is mostly used in special celebrations like weddings. Another instrument, the tama, is used in more ethnic groups. Other popular international renowned Senegalese musicians are Ismael Lô, Cheikh Lô, Orchestra Baobab, Baaba Maal, Akon Thione Seck, Viviane, Fallou Dieng Titi, Seckou Keita and Pape Diouf.


title: Senegal

text: Hospitality, in theory, is given such importance in Senegalese culture that it is widely considered to be part of the national identity. The Wolof word for hospitality is "teranga" and it is so identified with the pride of Senegal that the national football team is known as the Lions of Teranga.


title: Senegal

text: Senegalese play many sports. Wrestling and football are the most popular sports in the country. Senegal will host the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, making Senegal the first African country to host an Olympic event.


title: Senegal

text: Senegalese wrestling is the country's most popular sport and has become a national obsession. It traditionally serves many young men to escape poverty and it is the only sport recognized as developed independently of Western culture.


title: Senegal

text: Football is a popular sport in Senegal. In 2022 the national team beat Egypt to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time, and they were runners-up in 2002 and 2019. They became one of only three African teams to ever reach the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup, after Cameroon in 1990 and before Ghana in 2010, defeating holders France in their first game in 2002. Senegal qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.


title: Senegal

text: Senegal has traditionally been one of Africa's dominant basketball powers. The men's team performed better than that of any other African nation at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, where they reached the playoffs for the first time. The women's team won 19 medals at 20 African Championships, more than twice as many medals as any competitor. When the country hosted the 2019 FIBA Women's AfroBasket, 15,000 fans flocked to the Dakar Arena which is registered as a record attendance for basketball in Africa. Senegal was one of the continent's pioneers in basketball as it established one of Africa's first competitive leagues.


title: Senegal

text: In 2016, the NBA announced the launch of an Elite's Academy in Africa, and more precisely in Senegal.


title: Senegal

text: The country hosted the Paris–Dakar rally from 1979 until 2007. The Dakar Rally was an off-road endurance motorsport race which followed a course from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal. The competitors used off-road vehicles to cross the difficult geography. The last race was held in 2007, before the 2008 rally was canceled a day before the event due to security concerns in Mauritania. The Ocean X-Prix of the electric off-road championship Extreme E was also hosted in Senegal.


title: Karl Urban

text: Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and TV series such as "". His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film "Ghost Ship". Since then, he has starred in many high-profile movies, including as Éomer in the second and third installments of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Vaako in the second and third installments of "Riddick" film series, Leonard McCoy in the "Star Trek" reboot film series, Kirill in "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004), John "Reaper" Grimm in "Doom" (2005), Judge Dredd in "Dredd" (2012), Gavin Magary in "Pete's Dragon" (2016), and Skurge in Marvel Studios' "" (2017). In 2013, he starred in the sci-fi series "Almost Human". Since 2019, he has starred as Billy Butcher in Amazon's superhero streaming television series "The Boys".


title: Karl Urban

text: Urban was born in Wellington, New Zealand. His father, a German immigrant, owned a leather goods store, and his mother once worked for Film Facilities in Wellington. Through his mother, the young Urban was exposed to classic New Zealand cinema and developed an interest in the film industry. Urban attended St Mark's Church School, where he showed an early love for public performance. His first acting role came at age eight, when he had a single line in one episode of the New Zealand television series "Pioneer Woman". Though continuing to take part in school stage productions, he did not act professionally again until after high school.


title: Karl Urban

text: He attended Wellington College in 1986–1990. He then enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington in the Bachelor of Arts program but left after one year to pursue a career in acting. Over the next few years, he appeared in several local TV commercials in addition to theater roles in the Wellington area. Eventually, he moved to Auckland where he was offered many guest roles in TV shows (one of which was playing a heroin addict in the police drama "Shark in the Park"). Urban then moved briefly to Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia in 1995 before returning to New Zealand the following year.


title: Karl Urban

text: Urban's first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film "Ghost Ship". Since then, he has worked on many high-profile movies, including the second and third installments of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy ("" and "") as Éomer, "The Bourne Supremacy" (as Russian Federal Security Service agent Kirill), "The Chronicles of Riddick", "Star Trek" and "Doom". "The Hollywood Reporter" speculated that Urban was one of several actors being considered for the part of British secret service agent 007 in "Casino Royale", directed by fellow New Zealander Martin Campbell.


title: Karl Urban

text: Urban played John "Reaper" Grimm in Universal Pictures' "Doom" (based on the first-person shooter video game "Doom"), which was released on 21 October 2005. In 2007, he starred in the Viking adventure "Pathfinder". A longtime fan of Westerns, he starred as Woodrow Call in "Comanche Moon", a television miniseries that aired in early 2008 as a prequel to the "Lonesome Dove" miniseries based on Larry McMurtry's book series of the same name.


title: Karl Urban

text: In 2009, he played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, a role originated by DeForest Kelley in the original "" TV series. A fan of the "Star Trek" franchise since childhood, Urban actively pursued a role in the film. His performance was widely embraced by the "Star Trek" fan community for its faithfulness to the spirit of Kelley's McCoy.


title: Karl Urban

text: Urban next appeared as CIA agent William Cooper in "Red", adapted from the graphic novel of the same name and co-starring Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren. He portrayed Black Hat, a villainous priest-turned-vampire, in the film adaption of the Korean manhwa "Priest", released in 3-D in 2011.


title: Karl Urban

text: In 2012, Urban starred as law-enforcing comic book character Judge Dredd in the film "Dredd". In an interview with "Shave" magazine, Urban described it as a "high-octane, action-fueled film... about the day in the life of Dredd". The film was directed by Pete Travis, with a script by Alex Garland. Though it underperformed at the box office, "Dredd" was well received by critics.


title: Karl Urban

text: In 2013, Urban starred as Detective John Kennex in "Almost Human", a TV series created by J. H. Wyman. The series was set 35 years into the future when cops in the L.A.P.D. are paired up with lifelike androids. Urban played a detective who has a dislike for robots but ends up being teamed up with one with emotional feelings. Urban next appeared in the ensemble thriller "The Loft", a remake of the Belgian film of the same name. It was filmed in New Orleans and Belgium by the director of the 2008 original, Erik Van Looy. In January 2015, Urban replaced Michael C. Hall as the main antagonist in the 2016 remake of "Pete's Dragon". In 2017, he played Skurge in "". Also in 2017, Urban played a psychotic cop in the action thriller "Acts of Vengeance" opposite Antonio Banderas and Robert Forster.


title: Karl Urban

text: In September 2004, Urban married his longtime partner, Natalie Wihongi, who was his makeup artist for the 2000 television film "The Privateers". Together they have two sons; Hunter and Indiana. His second son was named for the eponymous hero of the "Indiana Jones" franchise, which he has stated is one of his favourite movie series. They lived in their NZ$5.25 million mansion in the affluent Herne Bay section of Auckland, New Zealand. The couple announced their separation in June 2014, selling their home for NZ$6.65 million in December 2014.


title: Karl Urban

text: Urban serves as a celebrity ambassador for KidsCan, a charity that currently supports over 16,000 disadvantaged children in New Zealand by providing them with essentials such as food, clothing, and shoes.


title: Karl Urban

text: In May 2022, UNICEF Aotearoa New Zealand welcomed Urban as an official Ambassador to support in raising awareness on children’s rights both in New Zealand and around the world.


title: Karl Urban

text: On 1 June 2020, Urban, together with Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, and Elijah Wood, plus writer Philippa Boyens and director Peter Jackson, joined Josh Gad's YouTube series "Reunited Apart" which reunites the cast of popular movies through video-conferencing, and promotes donations to non-profit charities.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: DC League of Super-Pets is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets. Produced by Warner Animation Group and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it was directed by Jared Stern, who co-wrote the script with John Whittington. The film stars Dwayne Johnson as the voice of Krypto alongside Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, Marc Maron, Thomas Middleditch, Ben Schwartz, and Keanu Reeves. With CGI animation provided by Animal Logic, the film tells the story of Superman's pet dog Krypto and shelter dog Ace who work with other animals to save the captured superheroes from Lex Luthor and Lulu.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: During the early days of Warner Animation Group, Stern pitched the film in 2012, after working in an animal shelter, where he noticed how older animals were less likely to be adopted and wondered about the idea of those pets having superpowers. He was hired to write and direct a film about DC's Legion of Super-Pets in July 2018. Sam Levine would co-direct with Stern, and Patricia Hicks joined as the producer in January 2019. Johnson was hired to join the voice cast in May 2021, while other main cast were confirmed to join the voice roles by June 2021. The inspiration for the film's animation style came from Art Deco architecture and illustrator J.C. Leyendecker. Steve Jablonsky composed the film's musical score.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: "DC League of Super-Pets" premiered in Los Angeles on July 27, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 29, 2022, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing over $204 million worldwide on a $90 million budget.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: During the destruction of the planet Krypton, a Kryptonian Labrador Retriever comforts fellow infant survivor Kal-El as they head in an escape pod toward Earth.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: Years later, now known as the famous superheroes Krypto and Superman, they live in the city of Metropolis under their dual identities Bark and Clark Kent. Clark is a reporter and journalist at the "Daily Planet", a newspaper company, and dating Lois Lane, a fellow journalist whom Krypto is jealous of. Thinking that Krypto needs a friend to distract him, Clark heads to an animal shelter to find one. A Boxer named Ace tries to escape the shelter, but Krypto stops him. Later, Superman and Krypto spot their archenemy, LexCorp CEO Lex Luthor, reeling in a meteor strapped with orange kryptonite with a tractor beam, intending to gain superpowers. He is easily defeated as the two are aided by the Justice League.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: Meanwhile, Lulu, a guinea pig test subject from LexCorp sent to the shelter, reels in a piece of orange kryptonite with her own tractor beam, which gives her flight and telekinesis. Unbeknownst to her, everyone else in the shelter also gains superpowers. Ace is now super-strong and indestructible; PB, a potbellied pig, can change size; Merton, a nearsighted turtle, becomes super-fast; and Chip, a squirrel, gains electrokinesis. While at home, Superman and Krypto have an argument when the former plans to propose marriage to Lois. However, Clark is captured by Lulu. Krypto tries to save him, but due to a piece of Jarlsberg cheese inside a Batman toy he ate laced with green kryptonite, he loses his powers. Later, Krypto comes across the shelter pets who agree to help him, with Ace only agreeing after Krypto blackmails him.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: Meanwhile, Lulu recruits a group of guinea pigs, captures the Justice League, and heads to Stryker's Island to free Luthor. The shelter pets try to stop her but fail miserably. They regroup in the Hall of Justice where Ace tells a distraught Krypto he used to be the puppy of a family with a toddler. One day, the toddler nearly fell down the stairs when Ace bit her arm and pulled her to safety. Upon seeing the bite-marks, the parents assumed Ace attacked her and sent him to the shelter. However, Ace stands by his actions and ideals. Encouraged, Krypto leads the pets to LexCorp. While there, a kitten named Whiskers, who can create weapons at will, attacks them, and the team traps her. At Stryker's Island, the shelter pets confront Lulu, but put themselves in prison cells when she threatens to harm Krypto. Lulu frees Luthor, who betrays her and locks her in his cell while freeing Mercy Graves. Lulu breaks out easily and decides to destroy the Justice League and Luthor herself.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: The Kryptonite passes through Krypto's system, restoring his powers. Fearing for their safety, he asks his friends to stay out of harm's way and heads to LexCorp. He defeats the guinea pigs while Lulu traps Luthor in a similar prison as the League's and launches a rocket from the building. This forces Krypto to choose between the Justice League or Lois, who is in a nearby helicopter. He decides to save Lois while his friends help the League. Enraged, Lulu puts the orange kryptonite in her brain, becoming a "kaiju"-sized version of herself. The League and the pets team up to stop her. Realizing she has become too powerful, Krypto decides to use the "Solar Paw Punch", a move that can defeat any supervillain but will likely kill the user. The attack removes the kryptonite from Lulu's brain and her redeemed henchmen Mark and Keith trap her in a hot dog stand. Krypto accepts his fate, but Ace uses his invulnerability to save him.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In the aftermath, Krypto allows Clark to marry Lois. The shelter pets, Mark, and Keith get adopted by the rest of the Justice League. Sometime later, the pets have formed their own superhero team called the "League of Super-Pets".


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In a mid-credits scene, Luthor is still trapped in his prison asking any passing super-animals to free him. Meanwhile, Lulu is freed by Mercy who adopts her.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In a post-credit scene, Krypto and Superman encounter Black Adam and his dog Anubis. Krypto tricks them into flying to Pluto.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In July 2018, Jared Stern was hired to write and direct an animated film about DC's Legion of Super-Pets. In January 2019, it was announced that Sam Levine would serve as co-director with Stern, and that Patricia Hicks had signed on as producer. The film was pitched by Stern in 2012, during the early days of the Warner Animation Group.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In May 2021, it was announced that Dwayne Johnson would star as the voice of Krypto the Superdog. In addition to starring in the film, he, alongside Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, and Stern would be joining Hicks as producers; while John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, and Nicholas Stoller were set to executive produce.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In June 2021, additional cast members were announced, with Kevin Hart starring as the voice of Ace the Bat-Hound in the film. Additionally, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna, and Keanu Reeves were cast in undisclosed roles. The following week, Jameela Jamil joined the film. By September 2021, Marc Maron had joined the cast as the voice of Lex Luthor. By November of the same year, additional roles were revealed to be: Chip, Green Lantern's squirrel (Luna); Merton, The Flash's turtle (Lyonne); PB, Wonder Woman's pig (Bayer), Superman (Krasinski) and newer additions, Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz. In March 2022, Reeves was revealed to be voicing Batman. The following month, it was revealed that Dascha Polanco would be voicing Jessica Cruz / Green Lantern. Three weeks before the film's release, the remainder of the cast for the Justice League and Lois Lane were announced in July 2022 through posters.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: Stern developed a pitch for the film after working in an animal shelter, where he noticed how older animals were less likely to be adopted and wondered "what if those pets got superpowers?". Stern was originally unsure what DC characters he was allowed to incorporate in the film, thougth he added Luthor after the character was suggested by DC. This led to the concept of the villain, Lulu, being a guinea pig, as Stern felt "guinea pigs are someone who would have a chip on their shoulder" due to them being used as test subjects, and Lulu being Lex's test subject served as a parallel with Krypto and Superman's relationship.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: According to Stern, DC executives suggested adding satirical jokes regarding their properties, which Stern felt allowed the film to make fun of the characters while portraying them respectfully. Stern said the humor regarding DC characters was meant to be rooted in the film's focus on pets, such as portraying Superman as a dog owner or Batman as "a guy who really could use a pet". Early drafts for the movie had Ace in a more prominent role, but his role was changed to co-lead once the filmmakers concluded the focus for the film should be on Krypto's relationship with Superman.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: The animation was provided by Animal Logic in Sydney and Vancouver, which also provided animation for the Warner Animation Group's "The Lego Movie" series. Approximately 70 animators worked on the film. Animators worked on the film for 2 years, as well as an extra 3–4 months after the film's release date was delayed by a year.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: The film's art style was inspired by Art Deco architecture and illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, as well as the Art Deco style from the original "Superman" comics. Stern wanted the characters and environments to have both visible brushstrokes and "chunky heroic shapes". Character designers Mayumi Nose and Matt Williamês drew inspiration from the "Superfriends" animated series and Superman comics from the Silver Age of Comic Books for the designs of the characters, while still having a comedic edge to them.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: The artists aimed for the film's visuals to reflect the optimistic tone from the "Superman" comic books, while also being relatable and cartoonish. In order to accomplish this, they had the visuals to be mainly vertical and have a "painted feel". The artists were influenced by the "Superman" comics from the Golden Age of Comic Books, particularly in those comics' painting style.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: The film's original score was composed by Steve Jablonsky. The film's score album was released on July 29, 2022, by WaterTower Music. The Taylor Swift songs "Message in a Bottle" and, a re-recording of the song "Bad Blood", "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)", are also featured in the film.Also included is the powerful original ballad “Count On Me,” written and produced by Jeremy Silver and performed by Jac Ross. The song plays during an emotional montage sequence where we learn Ace (a tough shelter dog) used to have a great home life with a family.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: On May 24, 2022, Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Comics announced the release of merchandise inspired by the film in collaboration with Fisher-Price. The products include apparel, pet accessories, toys, collectibles, costumes, and furniture. McDonald's also announced that their Happy Meals will have toys based on the film.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In January 2019, the film was scheduled to be released on May 21, 2021. The release date was later pushed back to May 20, 2022, in favour of "The Matrix Resurrections", another WB film starring Reeves. It was then pushed back to July 29, 2022 (taking the release of "Black Adam", which also stars Johnson), among other films from Warner Bros. getting pushed due to production delays. The film's premiere was held on July 27. It is eligible to become available on HBO Max and/or premium video on demand on September 26, 2022 under a plan announced by WarnerMedia in 2021, though subsequent announcements by new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery suggest that streaming timing will be considered on a "case-by-case" basis going forward; it eventually became available on digital on August 23, 2022, and available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD beginning on October 4, 2022, along with the official announcement that the movie would be available on HBO Max on September 26, 2022.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: , "DC League of Super-Pets" has grossed $93.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $111 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $204.7 million. The film made $9.3 million on its first day, including $2.2 million from Thursday previews. It went on to debut to $23 million, topping the box office, though coming in at the low-end of expectations. The film made $11.2 million in its sophomore weekend, finishing second behind newcomer "Bullet Train". In its third weekend it made $7.1 million, staying in second place.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 146 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Although it never quite soars, "DC League of Super-Pets" is a more than satisfactory diversion for families in search of four-legged fun." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: Nell Minow writing for "RogerEbert.com" praised the "lively" voice talent, and called the script "smart, exciting, and very funny". Reviewer Dwight Brown wrote, "It doesn't break the mold. However, it is sly, wicked and so much fun. Kids will laugh at the antics. Adults will chuckle when they hear the puns, jokes, catty remarks and doggy banter." Peter Travers of ABC News wrote that while the movie "is not a revolution in animation. It gets the fun done for family audiences." Clarisse Loughrey of "The Independent" criticized its "limited imagination", adding: "The film is desperately craving an angle—one that certainly can’t be fulfilled by the fact all the pet ownership jokes have already been used up by the "Secret Life of Pets" series."


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: In August 2022, following the positive financial and audience reception, Johnson stated that the film will be the first installment of a new franchise.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: A video game based on the film titled "DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace" was announced during DC FanDome, and was released on July 15, 2022.


title: DC League of Super-Pets

text: "DC League of Super- Pets: The Great Mxy-Up" is a tie-in comic taking place after the events in the movie, featuring Mr. Mxyzptlk.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT team as part of a deal with Red Bull Racing, for whom he was test driving under its sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso. He has achieved 8 Grand Prix victories in Formula One. He is the 3rd driver for Red Bull Racing from 2023.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Ricciardo joined Toro Rosso in 2012 full-time after the team changed its driver lineup and drove a Ferrari-powered car for them in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull as a replacement for the retired Mark Webber alongside multiple time world champion Sebastian Vettel. In his first season with Red Bull under Renault power, Ricciardo finished third in the championship with his first three Formula One wins, in Canada, Hungary, and Belgium.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: After two years without a victory, Ricciardo returned to the top of the podium at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, eventually sealing third in the championship for the second time in three years at the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix. He has since added victories for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017 and the Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix in 2018. After 2018, Ricciardo signed with Renault and raced for them in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He joined McLaren for the 2021 and Formula One seasons, alongside Lando Norris. He obtained his first race win with McLaren at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. After the 2021 season, Ricciardo was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Daniel Joseph Ricciardo was born on 1 July 1989 in Perth, Western Australia, to Italian-Australian parents. His father, Giuseppe "Joe" Ricciardo, was born in Ficarra (Messina), but relocated to Australia with his family aged just seven. Ricciardo's mother, Grace was born in Australia, but had parents originally from Casignana (Calabria). Ricciardo also has a sister; Michelle. Growing up in Duncraig, one of Perth's northern suburbs, Ricciardo's earliest memories of motorsports were of his father racing at the nearby Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo. Raised Catholic, he attended high school at Newman College. He started karting at the age of 9.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Ricciardo pronounces his surname ""Ricardo"" () instead of the Italian pronunciation ""Rit-tchar-do"" (), attributing this to the way it was usually pronounced growing up in Australia and by his family. He is often referred to as "the honey badger" referencing his racing style, explaining how "It's supposed to be the most fearless animal in the animal kingdom. When you look at it, he seems quite cute and cuddly, but as soon as someone crosses his territory in a way he doesn't like, he turns into a bit of a savage and he'll go after anything – tigers, pythons – he turns very quickly, but he's a good guy." Growing up as a fan of NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt, Ricciardo adopted the number 3 as his racing number in honour of him.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Ricciardo supports the Australian Football League's West Coast Eagles and was the club's number-one ticket holder in 2015 and 2016. He is also a big UFC fan.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Ricciardo started karting at the age of nine, as a member of the Tiger Kart Club (TKC) and entered numerous karting events. In 2005, he entered the Western Australian Formula Ford championship driving a 15-year-old Van Diemen, finishing eighth by season's end. Towards the end of the season, Ricciardo took a leased 13-year-old Van Diemen across to Sandown Raceway in Melbourne to compete at the national Formula Ford series but his aging car was uncompetitive as he finished 16th, 17th and retired during the weekend's three races.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: After finishing sixth in 2007 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia, Ricciardo was selected by Red Bull Junior Team.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: During the mid-part of the 2008 season, Ricciardo made his Formula Three début at the Nürburgring, joining SG Formula's Formula 3 Euro Series team. Despite only a short amount of experience in the car, Ricciardo qualified in eighth for the first race, which later converted into sixth in the race after James Jakes and Christian Vietoris stalled on the grid. But he struggled in the reverse-grid race, finishing just fifteenth.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Ricciardo moved to the British Formula 3 Championship for the 2009 season driving for Carlin Motorsport.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: On 30 October 2009, Ricciardo was signed by Tech 1 to compete in the 2010 season. He had competed with the team at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal in 2009, and was the teammate to Brendon Hartley, another driver who drove for Tech 1 over the season.


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: Following a minor incident during a mountain bike exercise, Ricciardo was forced to miss the second test of the 2010 season, but went on to take pole position for both races at the season-opening round of the 2010 season in Alcañiz, Spain. He finished third and second in the races respectively, to leave himself at the head of the championship standings. Two weeks later, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Ricciardo was relegated to last on the grid after being deemed to have hindered the laps of other drivers. In the next two races, he finished 13th and fifth respectively – coming 2nd in the latter, until many of the front-runners were given penalties for infringing the parc ferme rules before the race. One week later, in Monte Carlo, Ricciardo secured his third pole position of the season, finishing three-tenths of a second ahead of championship rival Stefano Coletti. He secured his first win at the following race, one place ahead of Coletti. Ricciardo went on to secure two more wins at the Hungaroring and at the Hockenheimring in commanding fashion. Following Ricciardo's sixth pole from 12 races, Tech 1 team boss, Simon Abadie, praised his driver's efforts greatly, saying "I am happy, and happy for Daniel because six poles in 12 races is good going," and later stated his team's ambitions for success, by telling Autosport correspondent Peter Mills, "I really hopes Daniel wins the championship."


title: Daniel Ricciardo

text: At the first race at the Silverstone circuit, Ricciardo was involved in a spectacular incident with pole-sitter Jon Lancaster, in which Ricciardo was sent into a barrel roll, eventually landing on his wheels. The crash saw the end of his race, with teammate Jean-Éric Vergne becoming the eventual winner, following disqualifications. Securing pole for the second race of the weekend, Ricciardo spent much of the race leading the pack by upwards of three seconds. However, braking issues in the second half of the event meant that, on the final lap, championship-rival Esteban Guerrieri was able to pass the Tech 1 racer.