A Dispatch From the Great Northwest

Pearl Jam brings its road gear out of storage Friday when one of rock’s most compelling but least active bands begins a four-day engagement as the opening act for the Rolling Stones at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The shows--which continue Saturday and Nov. 18-19--are the Seattle quintet’s only scheduled live performances of the year and may include a preview of its upcoming, still-untitled fifth album, which is due Feb. 3. The first single from the album, “Given to Fly,” is expected in late December or early next year, and the band is said to be planning a spring tour. The question facing lead singer Eddie Vedder and the group as it begins this “flurry” of activity: Has it lost its standing as the nation’s most popular rock band after sales of its 1996 album, “No Code,” failed to live up to expectations? While each of Pearl Jam’s first three albums has sold more than 4 million copies (its debut, “Ten,” has sold 8 million), “No Code” stalled out after selling 1.3 million. “Interest in Pearl Jam has quieted down, obviously,” says Lisa Worden, music director at KROQ-FM (106.7). “But I think people are still interested in seeing what they have to put out. They’ve got enough fans out there that people are going to be curious to hear their new stuff. I know I am.”

‘Toon Town: It’s No Place for the Timid Tom Sherak admits he’s worried. On Nov. 21, 20th Century Fox will release its feature-length animated film, “Anastasia,” and, by all rights, the musical about a fabled Russian princess should do well at the box office. But Sherak, who heads distribution at Fox, looks at the stiff competition in family films and says it concerns him. What has Fox concerned is that “Anastasia” will be sandwiched between Disney’s re-release this week of the 1989 animated musical “The Little Mermaid” and Disney’s new “Flubber” starring Robin Williams, which debuts the week after “Anastasia.” “I’m worried about everything,” admitted Sherak. “There is no question in my mind that ‘Flubber’ is a big family movie. [Director] John Hughes makes big family movies. And ‘Little Mermaid’ is very formidable. I worry about that, too. But we have a lot of confidence in our movie.” For its part, Disney is holding a huge, invitation-only party tonight in New York after a screening of “The Little Mermaid.” The studio is turning Madison Square Garden into an “under the sea”-themed beach bash and encouraging guests to show up in beach attire under their coats and fall wraps. Whether any of this works for a movie that has been out on video remains to be seen. As for Fox, Sherak said the mood on the lot is positive, reviews have been good, and he noted that even Siskel & Ebert have given “Anastasia” two thumbs up--”and they work for Disney, so it can’t be all bad.” Added Sherak: “Disney is synonymous with great animation. . . . All we want to do is get out in the marketplace and have people enjoy what we are giving them.”

Abracadabra! Sweeps Cast Magic Spells Given the difficulties the major networks have faced attracting viewers this season, it’s not surprising that they’d turn to magic, hoping to conjure them up during a sweeps period. ABC gets the ball rolling tonight with “Penn & Teller’s Home Invasion Magic,” the first of four prime-time magic specials scheduled before Thanksgiving. Another three arrive in two weeks: ABC will offer “The Champions of Magic II,” hosted by the unlikely team of Princess Stephanie of Monaco and “Meego’s” Bronson Pinchot; NBC serves up “World’s Greatest Magicians IV”; and Fox delivers “The Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.” The last--which Fox is billing as “controversial”--features an anonymous “Masked Magician” who supposedly “fears he would be blacklisted from his profession if his identity is known” for divulging such information. ABC and NBC are using the specials in lieu of canceled or low-rated series. Although CBS is probably most responsible for magic’s TV popularity thanks to its past success with David Copperfield, the network opted not to board this month’s magic bus.

--Compiled by Times staff writers and contributors.