New York Times discusses Ratatouille

Great New York Times article on Ratatouille's Best Picture chances at the Oscars and the possibility of ballot-splitting between the Best Picture and Best Animated Feature categories.

Link

When will we be seeing next Wall-E trailer?

My guess is with National Treasure: Book of Secrets on December 21. It's the only date that makes sense.

Would Pixar go 3-D?

With 3-D making a big comeback, I’ve begun thinking about the possibility that we could be seeing future Pixar films released in digital 3-D, perhaps starting with Toy Story 3 in 2010, if the surge in popularity holds.

Personally, I have not heard anything much about Pixar having any solid interest 3-D presentation, although the studio did experiment with the traditional technology on the 3-D version of Knick Knack. The same cannot be said of Disney. Walt Disney Animation Studios has actually much interest in 3-D and has had some very modest successes with the Disney Digital 3-D brand, so this may end up influencing any future decision at Pixar.

It must be said that Pixar has a brand, and that brand has never included 3-D (note here, please, the difference between 3D computer animation and stereoscopic 3-D presentation, where the picture jumps off the screen). Even so, Pixar seems to be experimenting more and more with unfamiliar technologies, including traditional hand-drawn animation in the short Your Friend the Rat and a live-action cameo in next year’s feature Wall-E.

Considering the above, I wouldn’t view it as too bold a step for a studio with the experience and intuitiveness of Pixar. They could pull it off, and very well. Any move to 3-D would, however, carry some risk, notably that the mode of presentation could end up distracting the viewer from the what is possibly the one thing that makes Pixar films truly great: the story. 3-D can have that effect.

Even with 3-D remaining popular, the chances of a move by Pixar to 3-D presentation are, at best, 50/50. Either way, I wouldn't worry: these guys know what their doing.

Sure, go ahead, make the movie in 3-D. That's great for people with ONE EYE!

The end of Pixar?

Read this.

Whoever wrote this is a ---------...

Could Ratatouille get Best Picture nod?

Could Pixar's Ratatouille get nominated or even win (!) the Best Picture Oscar?? I'm really on the fence on this. It could happen. "Rat" is the best reviewed film of 2007, according to RottenTomatoes.com, with a 97% "fresh" rating, or 189 out of 195 critics giving it a "thumbs up". Last year's big winner, The Departed, had a rating of 92% "fresh". 2005's winner, Crash, had an only 75% "fresh" rating.

With the above numbers, a nomination for Ratatouille in the Best Picture category starts to look more and more possible. Also a possibility is that director Brad Bird might get nominated for the Best Director Oscar. These possibilities are, however, balanced out by the fact that only one animated film has ever been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 1991).

So it could go either way. Regardless, "Rat" is almost guaranteed to win Best Animated Feature. It's closest competition is Jerry Seinfeld's brainchild, Bee Movie, which received a rating of only 50% fresh on RottenTomatoes.

Pixar working on a 'Princess' movie?

This has just now come to my attention: On Monday, the Wall Street Journal, in an article dealing with the 'Disney Princess' franchise, made an obscure reference to an upcoming Pixar film which will star a "Scottish princess". The Journal article lacks any details on the film, including year of release. More to come...hopefully...

Link

IMDb Wall-E error fixed

The incorrect designation of Fred Willard's role in Wall-E as voice-only on the Internet Movie Database has been corrected. IMDb now lists him as a live-action actor in the film.

Link

First Wall-E test screening (old news)

Movie critic Shawn Levy of OregonLive.com reported on October 30 that Pixar has begun test screenings of Wall-E. Levy reports that the film, which features a "much darker tone than any other Pixar film thus far", is indeed (as previously reported) dialogue free for the first half.

Full story @ blog.oregonlive.com

New Wall-E poster released!

Source: ign.com

Disney gets back into shorts [UPDATE]

The new animated short film program at Walt Disney Animation Studios (now Pixar's sister studio), instituted by Pixar's John Lasseter and Ed Catmull, is releasing its first animated short.

The 2D How To Hook Up Your Home Theater, which stars classic Disney character Goofy, will be released on November 21. The traditionally animated, 7-minute long short marks the first time since 1961 (!) that Disney has produced an animated theatrical short starring Goofy.

Full story @
Animation World Network (AWN)
IMDb page

Update: How To Hook Up Your Home Theater will be released on December 21st not November 21st as had previously been reported. It will be shown alongside National Treaure: Book of Secrets. At time of writing, IMDb still has the incorrect release date.

Buy a Pixar-style lamp

There actually is a Luxo lamp company. Duh.

luxo.com/

Whoa...

To any who saw that truly horrible colour scheme at around 4:20, I am truly sorry.

As promised, more Wall-E stuff...

Not sure but this video might have premiered at Comic-Con.

IMDb Wall-E mistake

IMDb lists Fred Willard as a voice actor only in Wall-E, while Willard has stated that he will appear live-action in the film (a Pixar first).

More Wall-E stuff to come, I'm going for lunch...

To Infinity and Beyond! The Story of Pixar Animation Studios

Jobs wrote part of the foreward to the book? Wow, that's surprising. He didn't even write the foreward for Woz's book.

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Beyond-Story-Animation-Studios/dp/0811850129

"News" on BNL site

Check out this "news" post on the Buy-N-Large (BNL) site. The end is especially funny...

In case you're not familiar with BNL, it's Disney/Pixar's viral marketing site designed to promote Pixar's next feature, Wall-E. It purports to be the website of the company that makes the "Wall-E" robots in the upcoming movie. No obvious clues it's Disney unless you do a whois search...

Here's the link: buynlarge.com/newscenter

Pixar in running for another Oscar

Pixar's latest full-length feature, Ratatouille, has been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 80th Academy Awards (that's the 2007 Oscars, which will be handed out on February 24, 2008).

No real competition except for Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie, which has been getting some positive media buzz (pun intended).

See here.

First post...

Hey everyone, this is my first post. Round of applause, please... This will be the new place to get up-to-date news on everything Pixar. A little opinion here and there, too. Don't forget to bookmark...