pixar Tagged Articles at Cinematical

On November 10, 2009, Walt Disney Home Entertainment is releasing a 4-disc Blu-ray set for Monsters, Inc., Pete Docter's feature directorial debut. Much like Finding Nemo set the stage for what Andrew Stanton eventually did on Wall-E, the 2001 Pixar film offers a glimpse of what was yet to come from Docter – who went on to direct this summer's Up, also out next week – but it also reiterates some of the themes that run throughout all of the studio's best work, including the concept of an alternate perspective on a place or idea that seems obvious, and the idea of families that are both familiar and unconventional. But how effectively does it examine and explore those things, particularly in light of what the studio has done since?

Suffice it to say that the Blu-ray set offers not only the best presentation of the film imaginable, but a bounty of extra content that expands the film's universe in new and interesting ways. As for the movie itself?

Two decades after their work on The Little Mermaid ushered in a renaissance for hand-drawn animation, directors Ron Clements and John Musker are at the forefront of a new movement to resuscitate the art form yet again. The Princess and the Frog is Disney's first non-computer animated feature film since 2003's Home on the Range, and in addition to competing artistically with Pixar's stellar roster of releases through their shared parent company, the film may ultimately serve as a test among studio executives all over Hollywood who want to see if audiences really want to watch movies where pencils and ink reclaim the place now occupied by ones and zeroes.

Given this enormous pressure, Musker and Clements seem remarkably calm, and most importantly, pragmatic about the film's potential success. Cinematical recently sat down with a small group of journalists to discuss the future of Disney's hand-drawn animation department, vis-à-vis the directors' latest film. Following a day at Disneyland and a tour of the studio's Animation Research Library, Cinematical posed questions to the filmmakers as they enter the final days before the film's release. (While the interview was conducted as a group, questions asked specifically by Cinematical questions are indicated in the transcript below.)

This is the second opportunity for you two to bring traditional animation in at Disney. Can you talk about what's different for you on this one, particularly in terms of technology allowing you to raise the bar?

Having put the final touches on a brilliant cast, John Carter of Mars is getting underway at Disney. Edgar Rice Burroughs' epic series has seen a lot of stops and starts over the years, and it's still unbelievable that it's actually happening. But at this point, it's still shrouded in pre-production mystery, but Ain't It Cool News wheeled a little information out of Willem Dafoe about his role as Tars Tarkas, a great Martian warrior and eventual ally of Carter. (Do AICN's Capone a favor and read the whole interview when you're done here. It's excellent.)

Dafoe revealed to Capone that he doesn't know much more than you or I might, but his enthusiasm for Tarkas and for Andrew Stanton is contagious. "I've seen a lot of the designs and things, and I've just started to do prep work now. I'm doing a play in New York, so I'm kind of preoccupied by that, but I'm starting doing scans and things like that, but it's going to be a real full-on ... Well, I'm nine feet tall with four arms, but, just from the scheduling, I'm going to do the stuff ... They'll use my face, but they'll enhance it in a way --both after and before-- in a way that I may not be recognizable. But, I'm good with that. It's particularly cool, because he's a creature, but he's got this huge range of character. And, he does cool things in the movies." As John Carter will be coming on the heels of all James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, and Disney's Davy Jones' "game changing" technology, the possibilities of what this could look like are pretty enticing.

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Maybe it's not your cup of tea, but I'm continually impressed with the original content College Humor puts out each month. Okay, not all of it is comedic gold, but there's definitely enough of the good stuff to wonder who, exactly, is behind all these hilarious shorts ... because I think they should be writing some big-screen comedy so that we don't have to deal with more mall cops and bad Eddie Murphy fat suit humor.

My buddy Aaron sent over their latest video this morning, and it recreates the Pixar opening (ya know, Luxo Jr. hops over to the letter 'I' in Pixar and stomps on it), but instead -- and in the spirit of Halloween -- they go the horrific angle and imagine a scenario in which the other letters freak out and accuse Luxo Jr. of murdering their buddy. From there they go to a funeral for the letter 'I', Luxo Jr. goes to prison and, well, just watch it for yourself after the jump.

I know College Humor have or had a TV show, though I never got around to watching it. Is it good? Is it worth watching?

I think it's safe to say that Toy Story holds a special place in the heart of most, if not all, modern film geeks. First and foremost it was a great film that, regardless of the technology behind it, tapped into everyone's inner child by wondering what the secret life of toys would be like. But not only did it usher in a new age of computer generated imagery that would prove, for the most part, the downfall in popularity of hand-drawn animation, it also introduced the world at large to a little studio called Pixar, a word that didn't make much sense back when Toy Story was released in 1995, but is now synonymous with the being the gold standard in animated filmmaking.

Now that Toy Story 1 and 2 are currently enjoying a reborn run at the American box-office (this time re-tooled for 3D exhibition), Pixar and Walt Disney have unveiled the trailer for Toy Story 3 (watch it after the jump), their long awaited trip back to the toy box. The newest in the franchise will be the first made specifically for 3D, and judging by the trailer embedded below, it looks like the film's sensibilities have matured along with the technology powering the animation. Andy, the owner of all the toys, is all grown up now and ready to head off to college. His box of toys, a box so many of us have grown to love, has gone neglected for too long and now his mother is ready to put the dust-collecting bits of nostalgia out to pasture.

Apparently the gaming community is all gung ho this week after details emerged regarding the upcoming video game Epic Mickey, which originally was designed as a Wii exclusive, but may branch out to other systems. The reason folks are all excited over a Disney game involving Mickey Mouse is because it carries what I think is one of the coolest concepts to ever come out of the Mouse House.

Essentially, the game's plot revolves around a whole bunch of "forgotten" Disney characters who, for one reason or another, were pushed aside when the more popular characters like Mickey, Goofy and Donald took over the Disney landscape. Now, rallied together by Disney's first ever cartoon hero, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also the game's main villain), all of these pissed off, jaded Disney characters set out to destroy the Disney universe by unleashing the Phantom Blot, which uses black ink and melting colors to distort the world we've all come to know and love. Obviously it's then up to Mickey Mouse to be the hero and fix this giant mess before the wonderful world of Disney is erased forever.

Pretty cool, right? Even cooler is the news that Warren Spector and Junction Point Studios have been "working hard on our own and (get ready for the cool factor to go way up) in collaboration with folks from Disney Feature Animation and Pixar," according to an interview from awhile back. So, yeah, while we'll probably see some cool animated cut scenes designed (in part) by Pixar and Disney Animation, I wonder whether the game's popularity could then spawn a feature film. Why not? Or perhaps they're already working on one as we speak ...

Check out some stills from the game below and tell me this wouldn't make for a very cool animated movie.

As a cinephile and animation fan long before I became a professional critic, I have a couple of very specific memories associated with Toy Story and Toy Story 2: With the first film, I remember being unimpressed with its ad campaign and even its technological novelty – that is, until I actually saw the thing, and totally loved it. And with the second, I recall sitting in a theatre the opening weekend of its release, sobbing my eyes out to "Jessie's Song" as hundreds of pre-teens and their parents impatiently awaited the next set piece.

Unfortunately, I think few people who are already fans of the franchise will find much new or different to remember now that they're in 3D. Meanwhile, newcomers to the most important computer-animated series in movie history will also probably not find anything more profound than the stories themselves, since they were already multi-dimensional long before anyone made their experience technical in addition to already being an emotional one.

If you have ever wandered into the children's section of a bookstore, you've undoubtedly seen the work of William Joyce. If you have small ones, you may have even read them. Joyce is a wonderful author, one of the rare picture book authors who write as well as they draw. Few of Joyce's books have made it to the big screen (a truly curious thing), but one of his more recent efforts will be coming to theaters near you, as Variety reports that The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs has been re-optioned by Fox.

At the moment, though, the story behind the option is causing more of a stir than Joyce's work. Pixar and Fox were both fighting over The Leaf Men, which was originally set up at Fox with Chris Wedge directing, and a script by Joyce and James V. Hart. Allegedly, Wedge was then given permission to shop the project to other studios, and Pixar immediately said "Bring it here! We'll make it!" (Wedge and Joyce both have good history with Pixar. Wedge is friends with John Lasseter, and Joyce helped design characters for Toy Story and A Bug's Life.) But when all involved moved to close the deal, Fox said "No way. We're keeping it." Now it's all back at Fox, but at least there's no hard feelings towards Wedge.

Now we just have to hope that Fox Animation makes a good movie, because The Leaf Men is a lush and enchanting book starring a group of doodle bugs who reside in an elderly woman's garden. She falls ill, and the garden falls into disrepair fermented by an evil spider queen. The doodle bugs call on the legendary Leaf Men (characters who Joyce's daughter described as "so handsome!") to help save them. A bit like A Bug's Life, but more along the lines of Robin Hood than The Seven Samurai. It'll be beautiful if handled right. Now, if Pixar would just make Dinosaur Bob ....

Even though it's TIFF time and seemingly the entire movie world is descending on my home town of Toronto, remember, the Great White North isn't your only source of movie news. During the London-based Disney Animation Showcase, Pixar's John Lasseter dropped a tiny bombshell and let a few details fly about the upcoming sequels (or 'threequel' in Toy's case) to Toy Story and Cars. To be fair, we only got a taste, but at least we know a little more than what we did before. So on that note, let's go right to the big dog first, shall we?

Toy Story 3
Back in June, Elisabeth brought us the news that Pixar was looking to make a more a little more 'grown-up', but details about the flick were still being kept under lock and key. Today, though, the big news came when Lasseter showed a clip from the film with Andy all grown up and packing for college, while Woody and the gang headed for a storage container. The scene goes on to show Andy changing his mind and holding on to Woody, but unfortunately the rest of the toys aren't so lucky. Lasseter also gave a preview of the upcoming trailer that fleshes out the story a little more, and it looks like the action will center on Woody saving his friends from a local daycare center. Lasseter must have been in the 'sharing mood' because along with the clips and trailers, he confirmed that Timothy Dalton will be adding to the mix as a stuck-up hedgehog by the name of Mr. Pricklepants -- a name I will totally steal if I ever get a pet, but I digress.

After the jump: an update on Cars 2...

Sometimes movie stories are just too good to be true. A few days ago, Scott Weinberg brought us the delicious rumor that Edgar Wright's Ant-Man could be the first product to come of Pixar and Marvel having sweet access to each other.

Unfortunately, it is not to be. Wright set the record straight on CHUD, squashing the rumors, but giving fans hope that he might team up with Pixar for something, someday: "The news that Pixar is involved is not wholly accurate and a little premature to comment on. I love Pixar's work more than anyone and indeed would love to collaborate with them. I'm not sure though that they would want to do a 'shrinking' film as a Pixar animation -- since Toy Story and A Bug's Life already cover this territory to some extent. Am guessing that someone just speculated on the 'bug' angle and tried to put two and two together. My spin on Ant Man is very different than a straight superhero origin -- and very much live action."

But lest you think this means Ant-Man languishes in scriptwriting or pre-production, not so. "I am still attached to Ant Man and indeed am still working on a second draft with Joe Cornish. That had to take a back seat while I worked on Scott Pilgrim, but am keen to get back into it once I get into post. I just spoke to Kevin Feige for the first time since I wrapped and we are meeting this week to discuss the next phase." Hopefully, the next phase involves our antennaed friend accompanying Thor and Captain America to the big screen very, very soon.