Pixar's upcoming films - THOUGHTS
Monday, August 31, 2015
Reach for the sky?!...
So continuing on from my last Post about the future and recent history of Disney's animation which I'll leave a link to at the end of this Post, today I'm going to talk about the latest news that came from Disney's D23 convention 2 Fridays ago in Anaheim where chief creative officer for Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, John Lasseter and a rotating panel of film-makers and performers revealed a slate of upcoming animated projects for both Pixar and Disney. Now I'm not going to go into too much detail regarding the Disney Animation simply because I did in fact cover most of the titles that were mentioned in this expo in my previous Post about Walt Disney animation. Don't get me wrong however, there are 1 or 2 Disney titles that I will be briefly talking about that are certainly interesting to talk around. To simply put it, the major news that came from this Disney-fest came from the news surrounding the next batch of Pixar animations in the likes of The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory, Coco, Toy Story 4, The Incredibles II and Cars 3 where for a lot of people, there are a lot of mixed opinions on these projects which I will express as we will start by firstly talking about the unheard Disney Animation, Gigantic.
So shortly after revealing more info on the upcoming Disney title of Zootopia which I won't be talking about due to the fact that I've talked about already on another Blog that I have done and that I'm sure everyone knows what the deal is in terms of what that film is showing off, the next thing that was on the talking agenda at this Disney-con was the reveal of Gigantic which is another new fairy-tale adaptation and re-imaging of the Jack and the Beanstalk narrative. Director Nathan Greno and Producer Dorothy Mckim came on stage to explain the story elements which involves an entire civilization of giants living high in the sky which you can see sort of on the left with the concept art shown here.
There really isn't much information to go off from with this piece in particular, but I do have a few thoughts around this animation which will be released in 2018. The one important thing to note about Gigantic is that it is directed by the Nathan Greno who also directed one of the more popular and recent Walt Disney Animations in Tangled which was revelled by multiple audiences for it's crisp animation design and well written characters. If Gigantic can emulate what Tangled did so successfully with it's beautiful animations and it's characters that offered a well rounded entertainment of humour and seriousness, then it's hard to suggest that this upcoming animated flick will be a failure. Although at the expo they didn't show any animation whatsoever regarding the film and only showed this concept artwork, I did like what they did say about the narrative of their project in which they talked about recreating the Jack and the Beanstalk story in which there is a whole society of giants living in the sky rather than just one in the story that I am aware of. For me personally, this narrative idea has the potential then to go on and really be free to build on more story opportunities like adding more characters and adding more depth into the story and so on.
Now that you know the low down on a new upcoming Disney animation, it's time to move to the bulk of the talking meat, and start mentioning the Pixar films, firstly with the close-to-being-released The Good Dinosaur. Like with the previous projects just before, The Good Dinosaur got some lengthy presentation time as Director Peter Sohn and Producer Denise Ream talked about the upcoming November release and in particular for Sohn, how he came about into animation directing. A little shortly after that, they gave away a few little plot details and a animated clip featuring the two main characters of the little dinosaur and a small human child communicating and bonding over their sense of sorrow after they both have lost their respective family members due to a circumstance we're not aware of yet, although, I didn't think that they would have given away too much of the films story. Despite Sohn also giving a 'touching' story board presentation about his family during his childhood, it can't heal the scars that this film had previously received in the fact that it was a project that was supposed to have been released from last year.
Over the many recent years, Pixar in terms of what films they have distributed, it's arguable to say that they are getting better from once they came. I think it's fair to say that besides the innovative and successful Inside Out which went back to the original Pixar routes of appealing to all audiences, some of the films that they did produce have left people very mixed. Ever since the likes of Cars 2 hit the silver screen, it's hard to know whether you're watching a Pixar film anymore due to the fact that they've done both prequels and sequels for instance with Cars 2 and Monsters University and that other animation studios have since stepped up their own quality with Dreamworks doing so well with How to Train Your Dragon. With all that in place, it allows audiences and mostly critics to question whether the Pixar magic is still here like it was when they first rose up with age of computers in the early 90's. Inside Out from this year was a film that Pixar needed to make since it brought back that originality and appeal to all audiences back. I think I speak for most animation lovers out there when I say that, hopefully Pixar can once again provide something original with The Good Dinosaur. Although the visuals look much improved from the 2 minute trailer, there doubts that shroud this film. One major doubt that I'm pondering over is the fact that it could play out to be a hardened copy of The Land Before Time with it's narrative being distinctly similar to that film with the families of the main characters splitting etc.
Probably the most popular moment of the Pixar portion of this Disney show came next as talk show host and actress Ellen Degeneres came out on stage with Director Andrew Stanton and Producer Lindsey Collins to talk a little bit about Finding Dory. Expected to be released for the summer of 2016, Finding Dory will take place six months after the first film where Dory sets out to find her family after she suddenly remembers her long lost childhood memories.
Now although Finding Dory really isn't a big reveal and surprise to anyone considering the fact that Ellen revealed the news about Finding Dory 2 years ago on her own show and also to mention that Finding Nemo to this day, holds the title as being the best selling DVD title of all time with over 40 million copies sold, there are always question marks over sequel whether it's animated or not. I talked a little bit about this before with the issue of the Cars Pixar series and how Cars 2 really was pushing it's luck considering that it is potentially the weakest work that Lasseter has published with it's lack of weak storytelling. It would be a shame if Finding Dory falls into the same pit that Cars 2 resides in simply because Finding Nemo back in 2003, is a lot of people's favourite animated film with it's loveable characters and themes that all family members can relate to. I have no doubts that Finding Dory will be a success and that everyone will watch it. The problem revolves around whether Andrew Stanton can not only create that familiarity we had with Finding Nemo, but also something that is subtly niche and new that makes a good sequel work.
Next up, Lasseter introduced Director Lee Unkrich and the rest of the team that worked on Toy Story 3 to reveal their new film Coco which is set to be released at the cinemas in 2017. The film is based around the Mexican celebration Dia de Muertos (day of the dead), with Unkrich explaining how his research into the traditions of this celebration affected him in a particularly personal and emotional manner as he thought about his family members who have passed away.
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Producer Darla K. Anderson gave an explanation of what Dia de Muertos is; including the building of altars and leaving out food for spirits of family members who return to visit each year for this big family reunion between the living and the dead. He went on to mention how they visited Mexico and witnessed how the holiday is celebrated in different parts of the country. Understandably, the only snippet of plot there is to share with everyone is that Coco will be a about a Mexican 12 year old boy named Miguel who goes on an adventure on the eve of Dia de Muertos that is destined to change his life. The one thing to note about the arrival of Coco is it will be interesting how the people behind this project go about making this film since the story which revolves around the celebration of Dia de Muertos which has already been covered in The Book of Life, an animated 2014 film which was accoladed with it's vibrant animation style and rightly so. It certainly will be interesting how Pixar goes about making Coco without taking influence from The Book of Life.
The panel came to an end with revelations about Toy Story 4. Lasseter himself will go ahead and direct the film and said that the film would focus on the romance between Woody and Bo Peep. It's story will be built around the fact that Bo Peep was absent in Toy Story 3, with Woody and Buzz Lightyear trying to find her and bring her back. Lasseter also announced that Randy Newman will return to compose the soundtrack for the film. For sure for a lot of others and myself, there are a lot of things that I'm most certainly perplexed about when it comes to ANOTHER Toy Story film. Looking at the 3 Toy Story films as one whole series, no one can argue it doesn't work. The way Toy Story 3 ended with Andy finally saying goodbye to his childhood in Woody, Buzz and the others toys, there wasn't any other perfect way that it could have ended. For me and my age group most certainly who grew up watching Toy Story back in the 90's, it was a sweet ending and a good nostalgia trip to go back to. When I look at the arrival of Toy Story 4, there is one word that comes into mind... overkill.
The news of another Toy Story feature makes me both mad and sad due to the facts that the way number 3 ended, concluded the series really well in a charming manner, it makes me mad because it just shows that Pixar don't have that killer imagination as they once had and now even they are obviously doing this film, so they can make as much money as possible. I hate to say it like this since Pixar was an ample viewing thing that did sustain my childhood experience. I'm just glad that they're not doing a story in which the toys go back after Andy, which EVERYONE would have facepalmed at. Toy Story 4 is the one idea in my head that I wish wasn't coming true. Personally, I really think they should change the title of the feature and class the film to be a spin-off, at least then I would, to an extent, understand. As for the story idea of it, it does make sense. But then again, will it work? I hardly think it won't and I think it will actually be one of the weakest Pixar films to watch. They honestly didn't need to do this film, but then again, Lasseter has a knack for overkill, especially with the Cars series of Pixar films which guess what?, THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER CARS FILM... WHY?!
Although the panel ended their for Pixar, it didn't mean that there was less talk surrounding other Pixar features are coming in the future as posters for both The Incredibles 2 and Cars 3 were revealed on stage. While there wasn't any significant talking points for either of these 2 films, it doesn't mean that people aren't talking about it and for me, the two films come at me in mixed ways. One film out of those two I think I really like the look of, and the other one boils my blood even more. Obviously if you've been paying attention to what I've been saying about Cars consistently throughout this post, you'll get the idea that I dislike the Cars series, and you would be right. Rather than fill more hatred for project that I'm not personally interested in, I'm instead going to talk about The Incredibles 2 which I think is a sequel idea that Pixar lovers have been waiting for in a long while.
For myself, the first Incredibles film back in 2005 remains to be one of my favourite Pixar, if not animated films that I've watched ever. Whats so funny about the actual film is that it does a better job of being a 'Fantastic 4' film than the other Fantastic 4 films. What I think everyone can appreciate from the original is how it created this family atmosphere having being that the story revolves a family full of superheroes. That kind of stays true in what Brad Bird, writer/director of The Incredibles, has mentioned when he said, 'for me, the interesting thing was never the superhero part of it, it was more the family dynamic, and how do superhero things play into that' to which I totally agree and understand. The best moments arguably within the original film, was probably the moments in which we saw the family communicate with each like when we see the mother and the father character humorous argue against each other or when the whole family are fighting with each other using their own powers. Even when I was around 9 or 10 at the time first watching The Incredibles, I always thought the potential of making another film was there since it was easy to come up with a story and a new villain for the main heroes. What will be interesting now is what the story will be in this 2nd installment. Will it still feature the family from the original film? or will we see a much older family of Incredibles? One thing is certain, a lot of excitement and mystery surrounds The Incredibles 2 and that's a good thing...
With the arrival of Inside Out and the accolades that it received due to it going back to that original Pixar magic with it's character, animation and storytelling, it certainly will be an interesting time in the coming years for Pixar whether now they can keep up this good work, although it does remain to be seen. Having not being entirely impressed with Pixar announcing this overkilling with the numerous sequels that they intend to release, you can't argue with the fact that they are trying with titles like The Good Dinosaur, Coco and The Incredibles 2. It is most certainly an interesting time to live in for animation all around...
On that note it's time to end. Thankyou to YOU who have read this film news piece covering the latest goings on with Pixar and their upcoming projects. If any new news does come about, I will let you guys know ASAP. As promised, here is the link to my previous Post where I talk about the Disney animation side of things - http://rabbittevision.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/paperman-review-disneys-future.html. Once again, thankyou for reading and I'll see you all very soon!! :).
Alex Rabbitte
So shortly after revealing more info on the upcoming Disney title of Zootopia which I won't be talking about due to the fact that I've talked about already on another Blog that I have done and that I'm sure everyone knows what the deal is in terms of what that film is showing off, the next thing that was on the talking agenda at this Disney-con was the reveal of Gigantic which is another new fairy-tale adaptation and re-imaging of the Jack and the Beanstalk narrative. Director Nathan Greno and Producer Dorothy Mckim came on stage to explain the story elements which involves an entire civilization of giants living high in the sky which you can see sort of on the left with the concept art shown here.
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| Can Gigantic emulate what Tangled did so well at? |
Now that you know the low down on a new upcoming Disney animation, it's time to move to the bulk of the talking meat, and start mentioning the Pixar films, firstly with the close-to-being-released The Good Dinosaur. Like with the previous projects just before, The Good Dinosaur got some lengthy presentation time as Director Peter Sohn and Producer Denise Ream talked about the upcoming November release and in particular for Sohn, how he came about into animation directing. A little shortly after that, they gave away a few little plot details and a animated clip featuring the two main characters of the little dinosaur and a small human child communicating and bonding over their sense of sorrow after they both have lost their respective family members due to a circumstance we're not aware of yet, although, I didn't think that they would have given away too much of the films story. Despite Sohn also giving a 'touching' story board presentation about his family during his childhood, it can't heal the scars that this film had previously received in the fact that it was a project that was supposed to have been released from last year.
Probably the most popular moment of the Pixar portion of this Disney show came next as talk show host and actress Ellen Degeneres came out on stage with Director Andrew Stanton and Producer Lindsey Collins to talk a little bit about Finding Dory. Expected to be released for the summer of 2016, Finding Dory will take place six months after the first film where Dory sets out to find her family after she suddenly remembers her long lost childhood memories.
 |
Next up, Lasseter introduced Director Lee Unkrich and the rest of the team that worked on Toy Story 3 to reveal their new film Coco which is set to be released at the cinemas in 2017. The film is based around the Mexican celebration Dia de Muertos (day of the dead), with Unkrich explaining how his research into the traditions of this celebration affected him in a particularly personal and emotional manner as he thought about his family members who have passed away.
The panel came to an end with revelations about Toy Story 4. Lasseter himself will go ahead and direct the film and said that the film would focus on the romance between Woody and Bo Peep. It's story will be built around the fact that Bo Peep was absent in Toy Story 3, with Woody and Buzz Lightyear trying to find her and bring her back. Lasseter also announced that Randy Newman will return to compose the soundtrack for the film. For sure for a lot of others and myself, there are a lot of things that I'm most certainly perplexed about when it comes to ANOTHER Toy Story film. Looking at the 3 Toy Story films as one whole series, no one can argue it doesn't work. The way Toy Story 3 ended with Andy finally saying goodbye to his childhood in Woody, Buzz and the others toys, there wasn't any other perfect way that it could have ended. For me and my age group most certainly who grew up watching Toy Story back in the 90's, it was a sweet ending and a good nostalgia trip to go back to. When I look at the arrival of Toy Story 4, there is one word that comes into mind... overkill.
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| *sigh... WHY?! |
Although the panel ended their for Pixar, it didn't mean that there was less talk surrounding other Pixar features are coming in the future as posters for both The Incredibles 2 and Cars 3 were revealed on stage. While there wasn't any significant talking points for either of these 2 films, it doesn't mean that people aren't talking about it and for me, the two films come at me in mixed ways. One film out of those two I think I really like the look of, and the other one boils my blood even more. Obviously if you've been paying attention to what I've been saying about Cars consistently throughout this post, you'll get the idea that I dislike the Cars series, and you would be right. Rather than fill more hatred for project that I'm not personally interested in, I'm instead going to talk about The Incredibles 2 which I think is a sequel idea that Pixar lovers have been waiting for in a long while.
 |
With the arrival of Inside Out and the accolades that it received due to it going back to that original Pixar magic with it's character, animation and storytelling, it certainly will be an interesting time in the coming years for Pixar whether now they can keep up this good work, although it does remain to be seen. Having not being entirely impressed with Pixar announcing this overkilling with the numerous sequels that they intend to release, you can't argue with the fact that they are trying with titles like The Good Dinosaur, Coco and The Incredibles 2. It is most certainly an interesting time to live in for animation all around...
On that note it's time to end. Thankyou to YOU who have read this film news piece covering the latest goings on with Pixar and their upcoming projects. If any new news does come about, I will let you guys know ASAP. As promised, here is the link to my previous Post where I talk about the Disney animation side of things - http://rabbittevision.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/paperman-review-disneys-future.html. Once again, thankyou for reading and I'll see you all very soon!! :).
Alex Rabbitte