Here's All The News Announced At The Walt Disney Studios Panel At D23 2019

Well, the Disney+ panel at D23 certainly got the job done in terms of generating excitement for Disney's new streaming platform. Showing off an impressive trailer for The Mandalorian as well as announcing new Marvel Studios (Kamala Khan!!!) and Lizzie McGuire TV shows got a lot of positive publicity for Disney+. Next up in terms of high-profile D23 panels is the one for Walt Disney Studios, which will show off upcoming films from Disney's big theatrical studios that provide family-friendly content (so no 20th Century Fox or Fox Searchlight), Walt Disney Studios, PIXAR, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.

Toy Story 4 Manages To Be A Worthy Epilogue To The Toy Story 4 Saga

I have been beating the drum on the fact that Toy Story 4 shouldn't exist ever since the project got announced all the way back in November 2014. Toy Story 3 just wrapped up the saga of Woody, Buzz and company so well, was there any need for a fourth one? Having now seen Toy Story 4, I can't say this new entry in the saga is an essential beat, but it does work well as an epilogue to Toy Story 3's conclusion as well as a satisfying movie on its own standalone terms. Plus, instead of just serving up a bunch of nostalgic callbacks to prior films, it primary focuses turns out to be on exploring larger ideas about how to define one's self-worth as a person, a theme covered by most summertime animated kids movies.

An Animated Short About A Ball of Yarn May Just Point To The Future of PIXAR

For well over thirty years now, PIXAR has been producing short films and the studio is doubling down on their dedication to that format of storytelling by starting up the PIXAR SparkShorts program. Basically, this institution will now have people from all over the studio coming to helm animated short films that occupy various mediums of animation. The possibilities for SparkShorts are endless, especially since it's been made clear that the directors for these shorts will be made up of a more diverse group of artists than the predominately white male filmmakers behind past PIXAR feature films and shorts. The first of these shorts debuted today and is entitled Purl. You can watch the Kristen Lester directorial effort below!

Writer/Director Brad Bird Provides A Fun Return To A Super-Powered World With Incredibles 2

The various films released by Pixar Animation Studios (there's exactly 20 of them now) has become heavily associated with the big heartfelt moments that leave adult audiences reaching for the tissues. Remember the endings of Toy Story 3 and Coco? Remember that montage of married life from Up? Remember every other scene from Inside Out? Big moments of pathos that pay off well-developed characters and result in moviegoers becoming a puddle of tears are a staple of the studios canon so it's interesting that Incredibles 2 is the first film from the studio since maybe the first Incredibles and maybe even A Bug's Life to not even attempt a moment of overwhelming poignancy, something even recent Pixar sequels like Cars 3 and Finding Dory incorporated multiple times in their own storylines.

Coco Is Alive On Arrival

In terms of comparing it to past PIXAR productions, Coco is most evocative to me of Ratatouille and not just because both are PIXAR films taking place in non-U.S. territories in the modern era and both are the only features in the studio's canon to depict characters drinking alcohol on-screen.  Both are animated family movies heavily reliant on dialogue, with little in the way of big chase scenes or explosions (which, of course, are not inherently bad elements to have around) and both explore the concept of chasing your dream in a nuanced realistic fashion while still utilizing heavily fantastical elements. Plus, Coco, like Ratatouille, is a pretty great movie and is easily one of the studios strongest creations from this decade.

In Laman's Terms: Get Shorty: A Plea For More Theatrical Films To Be Preceded By Short Films

In Laman's Terms is a weekly editorial column where Douglas Laman rambles on about certain topics or ideas that have been on his mind lately. Sometimes he's got serious subjects to discuss, other times he's just got some silly stuff to shoot the breeze about. Either way, you know he's gonna talk about something In Laman's Terms!

As a kid, I was always transfixed by the short films that would play before PIXAR movies. None of the other movies I had on VHS tapes had little short films paying before them, making the likes of Geri's Game and Luxo Jr. all the more special than they already were. As I got older,  I realized PIXAR was an anomaly in the world of American cinema in that they were the only production company or studio to put short films on all their releases (once PIXAR head honcho John Lasseter took the reins on Walt Disney Animation Studios, features from that studio also always carried short films) as everyone else in Hollywood seemed to consider the artform of short films a frivolous affair and a pointless business expense.

Here's All The News Announced At The Walt Disney Animation Studios/PIXAR Panel At D23 2017

The bi-annual Disney centered convention D23 is going on this weekend and today they held their panel centered exclusively on their two animation studios, PIXAR and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Expect some news on the next two PIXAR movies, Coco and The Incredibles 2 and also the 2018 Disney Animation movie Wreck-It Raph 2. What else will be there? Expect some news from the single features each studio expects to put out in 2019; Toy Story 4 for PIXAR (I guess we'll find out if that film is even still happening given how much it's been delayed since it was announced four years ago) and Frozen 2 for Disney Animation. I'm personally hoping to get some plot details on the two completely original movies PIXAR has planned for 2020.

Ten Years Later, Ratatouille Is Even More Delectable Than Ever

SPOILERS FOR RATATOUILLE AHEAD!

Ratatouille was released to American movie theaters ten years ago today and I'm still in utter disbelief that it exists. In a decade where American computer-animated movies were primarily imitating the more abrasive and pop-culture reference laden style of the first Shrek movie, here comes Ratatouille, bearing more resemblance to a low-key drama than most 2000's DreamWorks Animation fare, with its heavy emphasis on small-scale dialogue and contemplations on the cost and dangers of upsetting societally implemented social constraints by way of embracing who you really are. The fact that it had such a troubled production (Geri's Game director Jan Pinkiva came up with the story for this project and was originally directing the movie as well before replacing by Brad Bird) only makes it all the more mystifying that it even exists at all.

Cars 3 Delivers A Shocking Amount Of Emotionally Engaging, If Sometimes Formulaic, Storytelling

In many ways, Cars 3 feels like a companion piece to last summer's PIXAR movie, Finding Dory. Not only are both sequels but they arrive in an era of PIXAR's filmography so heavily dominated by sequels it's become understandable to question whether the more bold storytelling instincts the studio was relying on for its first 15 years of existence have escaped them (though Inside Out is the kind of masterpiece demonstrating how good this studio can be when it really swings for the fences). Cars 3, even moreso than Finding Dory (whose predecessor never really spawned much in the way of merchandise) is mostly a gamble to create toys and assorted paraphernalia that these Cars movies have become most noteworthy for.

My Thoughts On The New Cars 3 Trailer

Like all summers since 2006 (sans 2014), the hot months of this years bring forth a new PIXAR movie, with this year's newest movie being Cars 3, the newest entry in the animated saga that aggravates adults and sells billions of dollars in merchandise to children. I'm a big fan of the first Cars movie myself despite some major flaws in it (Lightning McQueen may be the worst protagonist in a PIXAR movie, save for Mater in Cars 2) but that second Cars movie really was the pits. Can Cars 3 turn things around for the franchise? I've got no clue but that first teaser trailer brought an ominous atmosphere that was unexpected at least.

Finding Dory Review

There's been some understandable apprehension lobbed at the slate of future movies emerging from PIXAR Animation Studios, namely in the fact that three of the four films the company will be releasing until the end of the decade are follow-ups to existing motion pictures. It's easy to see why such a feeling exists, not only because I've felt it time after time again, but also because the studios output has included features like Up, WALL-E or Inside Out whose basic premises seemed to defy conventional family-friendly American animation routines. To now see Cars 3 and Toy Story 4 on the horizon from a studio championed for its originality can't help but leave one with a tad bit of disillusionment.

Ranking The PIXAR Short Films (Part Two)

OK, last Friday I started out my examination of the short films of PIXAR by ranking all 17 of them (not counting short films starring characters from PIXAR movies) from worst to best. Today, we look at the 9 best PIXAR short films, starting with....

A Look At The Short Films Of PIXAR (Part One)

Next week, PIXAR Animation Studios releases their seventeenth motion picture, Finding Dory. And with said movies release comes the unveiling of a new short film entitled Piper. At this point, short films accompanying each new PIXAR movie is a grand tradition that started with A Bug's Life and hasn't ceased since. To tie into the release of Finding Dory and Piper, I've decided to examine the PIXAR short films by ranking them from worst to best in a two part essay series. Just a heads up before we go ahead, I have decided to look at only short films that aren't spun-off from PIXAR movies, so no Cars Toons or BURN-E to be found here.

Concept Art And Plot Details From Cars 3 Have Finally Been Revealed!

Some concept art and the first plot details have been revealed for PIXAR's Summer 2017 release, Cars 3 via USA Today.

A New Finding Dory Trailer Has A Certain Memory Challenged Fish Searching For Her Family

PIXAR has a deluge of sequels to their classic films on the way in the next few years, with the next three years bringing (in order of release) Cars 3, Toy Story 4 and The Incredibles 2. Before all of those films, 2016 will deliver Finding Dory, a follow-up to one of the studios biggest features, Finding Nemo. This time, as the title makes clear, the focus has shifted to scene-stealer Dory (Ellen Degeneres) and her own adventure. A new trailer for the movie has been released today, and you can watch it below.

The Good Dinosaur Review

One of the reoccurring storytelling templates that have cropped up in the filmography of PIXAR Animation Studios (and it's such a basic template for storytelling that its reappearance amongst the studios output feels less like repetition and more like an inevitability) is to apply human characteristics to distinctly non-human entities. This trait can even be seen in the pre-PIXAR feature The Brave Little Toaster (incidentally, that's the movie that inspired my life-long fear of clowns), which employed future PIXAR alumni John Lasseter and Joe Ranft (the latter was a screenwriter on the project) as crucial members of its crew.

Just Keep On Swimming And Give The First Finding Dory Trailer A Watch!

A common criticism for PIXAR in recent years has been their over-reliance on sequels, a critique that feels simultaneously too harsh and very much appropriate. Now, perhaps we should all pause our negative judgement of these impending follow-ups considering the track record PIXAR has not just with their overall filmography, but with their sequels. The two Toy Story sequels, especially the third one, are top-notch masterpieces and Monsters University is a fun adventure with a surprisingly insightful climax.

Sam Elliot As A T-Rex Wanders Into The Final Trailer For The Good Dinosaur

If 20th Century Fox tends to advertise their family films in a hyperactive manner that tries to toss in as many references to modern pop culture as possible (the perfect proof of this is the placement of DJ Khaled's All I Do Is Win in the trailer for a freaking Charlie Brown movie), it seems Disney has decided to market the animated features from Walt Disney Animation Studios and PIXAR in a manner that allows them to embrace the fact that a number of the films from both studios are known to generate "feels". Notice how the trailers for Big Hero 6 and Inside Out had action and humor a-plenty, but also didn't shy away from displaying the more heart-tugging moments of the proceedings.

Here's All The News Announced At The Walt Disney Animation Studios/PIXAR Panel At D23

The bi-annual Disney centered convention D23 is going on this weekend and today they held one of two major panels centered on upcoming Disney motion pictures. Tomorrow they'll hold a panel centering on live-action films (which does include future Marvel and Star Wars movies), but today they're holding a panel solely focused on the upcoming features from Walt Disney Animation Studios and PIXAR.

Why Exactly Is Cars 2 The Worst PIXAR Movie?

A two year hiatus from releasing a motion picture left many wondering if audiences would show up for the newest PIXAR film, Inside Out, but this weekends box office made it blatantly clear that there was no reason to fret. The newest effort from the studio made $91 million in its opening weekend, the biggest opening for an original film (one that's not a sequel or based on a preexisting source material) in history. To boot, it was the second biggest opening for a PIXAR movie in history, only behind the mammoth $110 million debut Toy Story 3 had five years back.