Oct 19 2009 Pixar Intro Gets Real
Almost too real. You can't un-imagine Luxo, Jr. being sodomized.
Oct 12 2009 'Toy Story 3' Trailer: Time For Toys to Escape From Somewhere Again!
Ut oh, toys! Andy has reached the age of 18, which, as we all know, is the age when a young man finally stops playing with wooden cowboys, packs up for college, and starts listening to somber Randy Newman songs to indicate the gravity of the situation. Andy's mom, like my dad, is eager to get that recently-vacated room turned into a den, and decides to donate the Woody, Buzz, Female Woody, Dinosaur Toy, and the rest of the gang to a daycare center. Now, since Woody hates acts of charity, it's time to escape!
Here's the trailer that explains that plot:
Continue Reading " 'Toy Story 3' Trailer: Time For Toys to Escape From Somewhere Again! "
Oct 9 2009 'Toy Story 3' Teaser Poster: Dinosaur Eats Three
I pretty sure what they're implying here is that, in Toy Story 3, the dinosaur toy will eat some sort of "3 capsule," which will result in him splitting into three versions of himself, each personifying only one part of his Freudian psyche--one dinosaur of pure id, one of pure ego, and one that's entirely superego--and each at a third of the original's size.
I suppose it's also possible the toy dinosaur eating a "3" is just kind of a cute, innocent way to present the concept there being a Toy Story 3, but I'm still pretty certain my first theory is sound.
Toy Story 3 Exclusive Banner Premiere and Teaser Trailer [MySpace]
Sep 16 2009 'Toy Story 3' Poster Confident You Can Decipher What Film 'Pixar', 'Toy', and '3' Imply
God, I wish the "no toy left behind" slogan were true. Sadly, I know a Battle Armor He-Man in a Waffle House somewhere between my childhood home and Orlando, Florida that would tell a very different story.
'Toy Story 3' Poster [Trailer Addict]
Sep 10 2009 'Toy Story 3' Casting: Timothy Dalton Won't Be Evil This Time
Fixing the series' dearth of gentlemanly British characters, Timothy Dalton will be providing the voice of Mr. Pricklepants in Pixar's Toy Story 3. From Empire:
Dalton will voice Mr. Pricklepants, a hedgehog toy with thespian tendencies. How he fits into the story, we’re not sure (could he be the story’s villain?), but if Dalton is allowed to keep his accent, he will be the first Brit to grace the Toy Story franchise, unless you count Andi Peters’ cameo in Toy Story 2. But we don’t.
I'm just happy a man known for playing James Bond and other similarly dignified characters now has to add the role of "Mr. Pricklepants" to his IMDb page. The only thing that would be better is if we found a way to get Sean Connery to play a character called "Professor Sillybottom."
Jul 28 2009 'Toy Story 1 & 2 (in 3D Now!)' Teaser
With Toy Story and Toy Story 2 returning to screens in Gimmick-Vision Disney Digital 3D for a limited, two week engagement, Pixar has released a brief trailer to remind you that, come October, you can finally see the beloved films as they were never meant to be seen: with depth! As you can see in the above still, it gets pretty weird when Buzz finally reveals his feelings for Woody and completely exposes his lower half:
Jul 17 2009 The 'Where the Wild Things Are' of 1983
Back in 1983, long before Spike Jonze showed us that giant monsters look best as practical effects in sun-drenched forests, Disney owned the rights to Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and were apparently considering making it an animated film. John Lasseter, then Disney emloyee and later founder of Pixar, did some tests to see if it would be feasible to use hand-drawn character animation over 3D backgrounds.
Studio heads decided the technique was "too expensive" and "what they do on Futurama," and Lasseter was fired shortly after. But now, thanks to internet, we can see one of those early tests:
Continue Reading " The 'Where the Wild Things Are' of 1983 "
Jun 19 2009 'Up' Color Script: Colors Pretty!
A less heartstring-tugging Up item: Pixar's Lou Romano has posted Up's color script--colored storyboards used as a reference for tone and visual ambiance (via Drawn). Just scrolling through them, you can plainly see how the color and saturation visually parallel the film's dramatic and comedic highs and lows. Or, if you're completely color blind, you can see how there are nice drawings of things. Fun for everyone.
Jun 19 2009 Girl Seeing 'Up' Creates More Touching Story Than 'Up' Itself
The emoticon with the tear time! Here's probably the saddest thing you'll read today: Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'. I don't want to spoil every heart-wrenching detail, but basically, as the title implies, a 10-year-old girl is dying of cancer, her mom contacts Pixar, Pixar flies out an employee with a DVD, and the girl dies 7 hours later. That's right, she doesn't even secretly make a copy of the disc and upload it to the internet; this story is pure, gut-wrenching sentimentality.
Sample quote: "I’m ready [to die], but I’m going to wait for the movie." And it only gets sadder. It's Fanboys for real, and obviously much better.
(Thanks for making everyone weep uncontrollably, Kelly.)
Jun 15 2009 Gambit is John Carter (of Mars)
Taylor Kitsch, the man with the playing cards, staff, and magenta dress shirt in Wolverine, has been given the lead in Pixar's live-action adaptation of John Carter of Mars, while Lynn Collins, also unfortunate enough to have explained the X-man's origins, is set to co-star. Says The Hollywood Reporter:
Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins will star in "John Carter of Mars," the adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book series that Andrew Stanton is directing for Disney."Carter" centers on a civil war veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where his involvement with warring races of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.
Kitsch will play the title character, while Collins is playing Dejah Thoris, heir to the throne of Mars' Helium kingdom.
Collecting actors from Wolverine seems an odd choice, given that the most commonly-gathered thing from that movie is contempt, but I guess these two are as good as anyone else to sell the unlikely story of A Civil War Veteran in Mars' Helium Court. With Disney pulling the strings, I'm just happy it isn't Family Favorite Adventurer Brendan Fraser and his Hammy, Wide-Eyed Stares of Mars.
Jun 10 2009 'Partly Cloudy': All Life is Created in the Hands of the Cloud-Gods
Don't tell your Pixar attorney dad, but Partly Cloudy, the short film that precedes showings of Up, has found its way online. Show it to your kids to perpetuate the myth that storks deliver babies; confuse them further with the notion that thunderstorms are created when omnipotent cloud-gods have friend break-ups with their co-workers!
This should unteach some science:
Continue Reading " 'Partly Cloudy': All Life is Created in the Hands of the Cloud-Gods "
May 29 2009 'Toy Story 3' Teaser: Living Toys Have Returned
In a futile attempt to keep up with the Shrekses, Pixar will be releasing Toy Story 3 in theaters June 18, 2010, and, now attached to Up, there's the following teaser trailer for the sequel. Keep the dream alive that sentient playthings are conspiring behind your back:
Continue Reading " 'Toy Story 3' Teaser: Living Toys Have Returned "
Apr 27 2009 'Partly Cloudy' Shots: What, You Didn't Know Baby Delivery Storks and Cloud Men Hung Out?
Judging by this gallery of stills from Partly Cloudy (thanks Flex), looks like Pixar has decided to walk straight out of the WALL-E/Johnny 5 controversy into a Cloud Guy/Mr. Bubble-Ziggy-Blobfish scandal. If only Buddy Hackett were still with us to provide the voice.
Apr 27 2009 Stork Baby Delivery System Introduced to New Generation
Here's a clip from Pixar's Partly Cloudy, the new animated short to be shown before screenings of Up. The preview reveals almost nothing but the premise, but you can already tell it will be charming. Storks delivering babies is always such a cute concept until you see the Dateline that exposed the massive, bloated Queen Stork in her mucus-filled birthing chamber:
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Apr 1 2009 Toy Story 1 & 2 & (Trailer for) 3 Coming to Theaters in Three Dimensions
Fans of Pixar's Toy Story franchise and action along the Z-axis, everything will be coming together for you this fall. Disney has announced that, for a limited time beginning October 2nd, both Toy Story movies will be re-released as a newly-rendered 3-D double-feature. And if that's not enough, the films will be preceded by the first trailer for Toy Story 3. By my calculations, that's about 2.2 Toy Stories for the price of one! What a deal, people. Unless it ends up these jerks may you pay more since it's a double-feature, in which case I'll get back to you with some updated figures and we can decide from there if it's still a worth leaving the house for.
Toy Story 3D Double Feature on October 2nd! [Coming Soon]
Mar 19 2009 'Up' Opening Cannes
Pixar's old-guy-traveling-with-a-fat-boy-and-his-house film, Up will be opening the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, Variety reports. There, the audience will recognize the picture as a flowing, contemplative, utterly charming commentary on finding meaning in sedentary, octogenarian life, and as a metaphor for impotence.
Mar 13 2009 'Up' Clips Available in Short Episodic Format
Disney/Pixar has posted some clips, or episodes, from Up, creating a new a new, amalgamated media format known as the "UPisode." The second UPisode just went up, so watch it at Apple and let's never use the term again.
Mar 9 2009 New 'Up' Trailer: Pixar Has Made Talking Dogs OK
A couple months ago, I heard from someone that attending an Up screening that Pixar had included a talking dog character to co-exist with the humans. I thought for sure these guys had finally slipped up. Oh, how the mighty had fallen for adorable talking pooches. I mean, a completely unjustified speaking animal serving only as comic relief? What is this movie, a Disney without a /Pixar immediately following it? But alas, no, the longtime leaders in computer animation have made yet another innovation to the field: rationalization for a funny talking animal sidekick. They did it. Just explain that the dog is wearing a specially designed collar that translates his dog-talk into various human languages and it's time for naysayers like me to shut the fuck up.
Here's the new trailer:
Continue Reading " New 'Up' Trailer: Pixar Has Made Talking Dogs OK "
Mar 4 2009 Kids Will Love This Horrifying 'Up' Toy
The French Disney/Pixar blog has posted some shots of toys from the upcoming animated feature Up, thus giving us a first look at a plastic version of the Christopher Plummer-voiced character, Charles Muntz. As /Film has noted, he looks a disturbing amount like Kirk Douglas (possibly doing a Gap Elderly ad).
I'm all for making the under-represented old age population the central characters in a film, but I would hold off on making too many of the action figures, Pixar. No matter how successful Up will undoubtedly be, I don't think many kids are going to ask to see this gaunt, sinister face under the tree on Christmas day. It's terrifying enough they'll have to see it in the mirror on their 90th birthdays.
Jan 22 2009 'Up' Poster: Old Man, Scout, Dog, Bird Thing, House, Balloons
No matter the circumstances, old guys love watering their lawn. It's just something that comes with retirement boredom and nascent senility. The next poster will probably be the old guy scattering hard candy.
'Up' Stills [Yahoo!]
