Pixar's "The Good Dinosaur" Update!

I was bummed when Pixar's The Good Dinosaur got bumped from this summer to next Thanksgiving (definitely one reason this summer has been a bit lacking in the film department - aside from Obvious Child and Guardians of course!), because it meant the film's problems must have been pretty severe. It looks like we were right, but, fortunately, that all has been resolved.

Collider released a video and article from an interview with John Lithgow explaining that he's going to re-record his entire role (Poppa) for the film. He says, "Don’t worry.  It’s coming and it’s gonna be better than I ever imagined.” That's good! Lithgow's got good taste, so I trust him on this one.

I also much prefer Pixar delaying and reinventing a movie rather than release something subpar. I hope that when The Good Dinosaur is released in November 25, 2015, it proves that this reboot was necessary and that the film is just as wonderful and magical as we expect from the Pixar pedigree.

You can read more and watch the video of Lithgow's interview over at Collider.

Clip from Pixar's "Lava"!

Disney and Pixar are pulling out all the stops to show us their new material. From Big Hero 6 to Inside Out to Feast, and now Lava, we're getting all kinds of fun animated sneak previews.

Here's the clip from Lava, courtesy of Yahoo:



It looks very sweet, and I love the colors. The music feels a bit fast, but I wonder if that was just for this clip's sake - it may feel more fluid in context.

Can't wait to see it!

Riley from "Inside Out" First Look!!

I'm SUPER excited about Pixar's new movie, Inside Out, even if it isn't going to be released until next year, and look how adorable the setting is!

Looks like Riley's just moved into her new place and is happy to be there. Or is she?

Moving is rough. It's exciting to see what the world looks like outside of Riley's brain, but I'm also excited to see more of what's inside it!

There's a full sneak peak video at Disney Movies Anywhere (you have to login, but it's free). Enjoy!

[via /Film and Pixar Times]

New "Inside Out" Concept Art!

The early buzz from the early, early footage people have seen of Inside Out has been entirely positive. I'm super excited for the movie, and this newly released concept art is making me even more pumped:

Lovely! And a nice Slate article on what the new film means for girls.

[via The Pixar Times]

Lava: A Love-a Story

Pixar announced the name and poster image for the short they'll play in front of next year's Inside Out. It's going to be called, "Lava" and it's "Inspired by the isolated beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes, “Lava” is a musical love story that takes place over millions of years." Like most Pixar shorts, it was completed well ahead of the feature it'll play in front of, and so many reviewers have seen it already. It looks pretty cute, and who doesn't like Hawaii? You can read more about the short over at /Film.

New Synopsis for Pixar's "Inside Out"

Pixar released a new synopsis for the very intriguing Inside Out. I'm stoked for the new film from always groundbreaking Pete Doctor. The synopsis is essentially unchanged, but a little fleshed out, from the ones we've seen before. Check it out!

From the tepuis of South America to a monster-filled metropolis, Academy Award®-winning director Pete Docter has taken audiences to unique and imaginative places. In 2015, he will take us to the most extraordinary location of all - inside the mind of an 11-year-old named Riley. 

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city,
house and school.

Reactions to the footage that was shown at D23 last year have been positive so keep those fingers crossed!

[via /Film]

Pixar Times: The Pixar Perspective (or Lack Thereof) on Race

The Pixar Times has a great article about Pixar's treatment of race. The Pixar Times is clearly a big fan of Pixar (duh), so it's nice to see them acknowledge that there is a problem, that Dreamworks is leading the way in bucking the trend, and exploring the reasons behind the (most likely accidental) whitewashing of the Pixar-verse. They also point out that small improvements are being made (i.e. Mindy Kaling in Inside Out and Pete Doctor's upcoming Day of the Dead movie) without taking them off the hook for ignoring diversity in their previous films. It's a great read. Highly recommend!

Real Life Inspiration for "Up"?

Who knew?

Bob Peterson off "The Good Dinosaur"

Bob Peterson has been taken off as director of The Good Dinosaur. No replacement has been made yet. Pixar has replaced directors in the past (most controversially Brenda Chapman from Brave, possibly leading to the addition of a bunch of unnecessary, goofy humor that didn't really fit in with the mother-daughter story... though we'll never know whose idea it was to - spoiler alert - turn the mom into a bear, which was really the part of the story that took away from the strength it had in the first act). In one instance, this worked really well - when Brad Bird took over for Ratatouille and made it a truly beautiful, heartfelt, original movie. Of course, it very well may have been just as wonderful had it been with the original director, but Bird certainly produced a great product. In other instances, it certainly hasn't turned out bad, and probably was for the best (it's really impossible to know).

Honestly, The Good Dinosaur is not the Pixar film I'm looking forward to most (that would be Inside Out, although the untitled Day of the Dead movie is a close second), so I really don't think it'll be that big of a deal. That being said, it always sucks to get replaced. It's a lot easier when they bring in a co-director to help out instead of full-on replacing (like Jennifer Lee is doing with Frozen, although that movie may have issues even she can't fix - goofy snowman and dog-like reindeer-sized issues). But it seems like here he's getting fully taken off the project, leaving co-director Peter Sohn to stand in until the Brain Trust finds a replacement (or maybe they'll just let Peter finish it up). I mean, it does premiere in less than a year after all!

Bob obviously knows how to make a great movie, as evidenced by his work co-directing Up. So here's hoping he's off working on something else great, and that the break was at least somewhat mutual. And, of course, let's hope that The Good Dinosaur is as brilliant and original as every Pixar film should be.

Why Does Everyone Have a Woman Problem?

No idea why, but The Hairpin has a great list here. So many problems! Also, I should clarify in most cases they mean a "woman problem" not a "woman's problem" which some might take to mean like, a period or something.

Pixar to Focus on Originals

In a win for fans of original material and just plain good storytelling everywhere, Pixar has announced that they will release an original movie every year, and only release a prequel or sequel once every other year from now on (or at least until 2017). Pixar President Ed Catmull made the announcement during a Buzzfeed interview. Thank goodness. I certainly don't begrudge them doing continuations on past stories, but they won't be able to generate those continuations without a solid, original idea to base them off of. The funds they receive from these continuations should help fun the original ideas, leading to a nice, positive cycle of great movies for us all to enjoy!

Of course, Disney just put out Planes and the princess in Frozen looks like an even doe-y-ier eyed twin of Rapunzel from Tangled, so let's not get our hopes up too high yet!

The Universal Pixar Theory of Everything

What if every Pixar movie was connected? That's the idea behind Jon Negroni's Pixar Theory. It's a mid-length read, and really fun if you're in the mood for some life fan speculation and some giant leaps of faith. Obviously, the author is writing for comedic effect, but it's a testament to the amount of Easter eggs in Pixar films just how - sometimes easily - he's able to connect the dots. Fair warning, though, it starts getting really weird after the events of Toy Story...

[via /Film]

/Film Newsflash(?): Disney Not Hand-Drawing Any Movies in the Near Future

Interesting that /Film would devote an entire article to what's NOT going on in the film world, but it is a bummer that Disney isn't developing any hand-drawn animated films right now. Just because CGI is fun and can be cheaper doesn't mean that 2D, hand-drawn animation isn't worth it. There is room in the world for all kinds of animation!

At least stop-motion animation has had a resurgence in the last few years. THAT is definitely good news.

Oscars Round-Up!

OMG this dress!

NY Mag does a pretty good "What you missed when you remembered that watching the Oscars and especially Seth MacFarlane is lame." Seriously, though, Jennifer Lawrence's fall is the most graceful thing I've seen in years, and her subsequent press conference responses were amazing.



Even her "sorry I forgot to thank you" statement was both charming ("brain farm") and eloquent ("your passion and unyielding support gave this film the opportunity to thrive and touch so many people").

Seriously, can I just wear this dress around the house all the time please?

Just saying, I can't wait for Catching Fire!

Not to mention the excitement over the Paperman producer kerfuffle - love that in a story about paper airplanes as an act of rebellion, rebelling with paper airplanes got producer Kristina Reed temporarily thrown out. Hilarious!

Also, gotta love Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews' epic "OMG WE DID IT!" photo after winning for Brave:

[via Big Screen Animation]

Congratulations, Pixar!

Many congratulations to Paperman and Brave on their Oscar wins tonight!

While I loved the other Oscar short nominees, as well, Paperman was a beautiful work that certainly deserves the honor.

Similarly, although Wreck-It Ralph and Frankenweenie were both absolutely wonderful (I also enjoyed Paranorman's screenplay, though I haven't seen the full movie), and, yes, I've got my issues with Brave just as much as the rest of us, despite it's flaws it remains a powerful film about a daughter and her mother and their quest to better understand and accept each other without losing themselves in the process. Also, Brave tried so hard to be something more than just a movie, as so many Pixar films do, and while it doesn't always succeed, the attempt is truly worth something - apparently, Oscar.

In conclusion, congratulations to all the nominees - excellent work this year! Keep up the excellent animation and, most importantly, storytelling!

A 'Brave' Congratulations...

... to Brave for winning the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film! I know Brave has its faults, but it is a beautiful film with a lot of heart, and I'm happy for the Pixar team. Who knows who the Oscar will go to, though, since Frankenweenie and Wreck-It Ralph were also great! And Paranorman wasn't bad, either. A strong near for animated films!

[via Big Screen Animation]

Sneak Peek: The Blue Umbrella

The WSJ has a sneak peek of Pixar's latest short, The Blue Umbrella...



Pixar's really on a love kick, aren't they? Fine with it!

The animated eyes on the umbrellas are cute, and the animated rain feels super realistic (especially in comparison to the intentionally unrealistic eyes). I hope the story is strong enough to back it all up!

Also, I'm a big fan of the director's name: Saschka Unseld - very Eastern European/Russian... just wondering if it's a guy Saschka (whatever) or a girl Saschka (awesome!).

[via Big Screen Animation]

Newwwwwttttt!!!!

A bevy of gorgeous concept art from Pixar's cancelled Newt emerged today, and it makes me even angrier that they canceled it! Who cares if it was like Rio (which is the general assumption I've made as to its cancellation - what other reason could their be?) - it looks like such a cool world for Pixar to explore!

You can see all of it on the visual development artist Katy Wu's blog or on PixarBlog (the German fansite that spotted it).

I'm sure Pixar's got its reasons, but couldn't we have gotten Newt instead of Cars 2?

[via Big Screen Animation]

Aww, Bearve

Very sweet watercolor by Julian Birchman of Pixar's Brave

[via /Film]

Pixar in Space!

To infinity... and costumes!

Someone over at NASA clearly just watched the Toy Story series...

[via VideoGum]