New Muppets Teaser Trailer is the Best One Yet

I absolutely cannot wait for the new Muppet Movie.

Disney Marketing Fail

Usually Disney is a little better at the marketing of their products. Straw placement in cup design is crucial, but Buzz is happy at least.

Teaser Poster for Toy Story 3

From www.cinemaspy.com

This past weekend, Pixar chief John Lasseter talked about Toy Story 3. Apparently, the inspiration was Lasseter’s own feelings as a parent, having just dropped off his son, Ben, at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

"Driving away, when you leave your child behind at college, all I could think of was him as a little kid, sliding down the slide," Lasseter said in a press conference. "It was very emotional for us."

Buzz, Woody, and the other Toy Story characters will go through similar feelings as Andy, their longtime playmate, goes off to college in the upcoming sequel. Never-before-seen footage unveiled at the D23 Expo, and subsequently reported on by the L.A. Times blog Hero Complex, showed the toys discussing his imminent

departure.

Andy’s rite of passage has practical consequences as well; the toys get dumped at a day-care center, where the children torment them until they decide to make a break for it, leading to the search for a new home. Lasseter offered no additional details, but did say some new cast members would be joining up. Among them, Michael Keaton will provide the voice of Ken, Barbie’s anatomically-incomplete boyfriend.

Ned Beatty, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopie Goldberg, and Jeff Garlin from HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” will also voice characters in Toy Story 3. Meanwhile, a new character -- a hedgehog in green tights wearing a traditional German feather cap -- made an appearance. Mr. Pricklepants, as he was referred to, will be voiced by former James Bond actor Timothy Dalton.

Disney purchases Marvel Studios

Found images at SuperPunch. Great blog if you haven't found it yet, check it out.

A Groom wears a Grape Soda pin at his wedding in honor of UP

A groom wears a Grape Soda pin at his Disney/Pixar themed wedding. From quizzes and caricatures on the program through the quotes in the officiant's speech.
Found Via

Great Apple Computer Mod

Found on Flickr

If Disney made Lord of the Rings

I love that Peter's shadow is like Gollum.  I found this here: 

http://artjumble.blogspot.com/2009/03/lotr.html

A few pictures from Disneyland

Here are a few photos from our trip to Disneyland. Full story and lots more photos coming soon. Check my Flickr account to see more in the meantime.

I'm going to Disneyland!

TeaCupsART2
Originally uploaded by Scoops Mangum

Lisa, Her brother, his wife and I are going to Disneyland at the end of October. We'll actually be there on Halloween! Crowds will be crazy I'm sure. I took this photo last year of the Tea Cups. I love the fact that the girl with Mickey ears stayed mostly in focus. The picture has not been photoshopped. Sometimes good photos happens in the camera and not the computer, even if you are using a trash can instead of a tripod. I think it's the magic of Disney.

You can see more of my photos from that trip here.

Early Reviews of Wall-E are Starting to Appear

Aint it Cool News ran the first screening of Pixar's latest film Wall-E, and even though formal reviews can't be released yet, due to a press embargo, the early word is extremely positive. For example, one lucky attendee had this to say: "Masterpiece. That's it. That's truth in one word. WALL*E is a masterpiece. It tells its story with economy, with little dialogue, but there is no question what is going on. It's like a Buster Keaton silent film mixed with the wonder of the original STAR WARS and the morals of the best fables, except this moral is an imperative one, and one to which we must pay attention. It's emotional, but not overly so. For children, it is instantly accessible, maybe more so than a film with more dialogue, because it's from the character's actions that the story is propelled. WALL*E and EVE and the rest of the robots are unique characters and they do it with deeds, not words." You can read the full article at aintitcoolnews.com

New Wall-E Trailer

The film I am most excited about seeing this summer is definitely The Dark Knight (as the few loyal readers of my blog know), but Wall-E, already a close second, is gaining in momentum. Check out the new trailer and let me know what you think!

Ollie Johnston - the Last of Disney's "Nine Old Men" has died

Ollie Johnston, the last of the "Nine Old Men" who animated "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Fantasia," "Bambi" and other classic Walt Disney films has died. He was 95.

Pixar honored Ollie and his co-animator Frank Thomas with a small role at the end of the film "The Incredibles".

Ollie worked on films like "The Rescuers", "The Jungle Book" and was a pioneer in personality based animation.

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Do yourself a favor and check out the film "Frank and Ollie".   It's a wonderful documentary about this amazing artist and his best friend and fellow Disney animator Frank Thomas.  They worked at Disney for 43 years and their work will be cherished by generations to come.  The world needs more artists like Ollie.  May he rest in peace.

Story about Ollie's death: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gQEVsnYz7DkzKQBtLPySm4JKqNEgD902IKT81

New Wall-E Trailer (Super Bowl Ad)

Annie Leibovitz's Disney Fantasyland

World famous photographer Annie Leibovitz "Disney Dream Portrait Series" was commissioned by Disney Parks to celebrate their Year of a Million Dreams promotion for Disneyland and Walt Disney World.  Photos from http://thedisneyblog.com

Scarlet Johansen as Cinderella. The tagline reads, "Where every Cinderella story comes true." 

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is Wendy Darling, with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan and actress Tina Fey as Tinker Bell. The tagline is "Where you never have to grow up."

Close up of Tina Fey as Tinkerbell.  Love the facial expression.

Rachel Weisz is Snow White with the tagline "Where you're the fairest of them all"


Beyoncé appears as "Alice in Wonderland," twirling in a teacup, accompanied by Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter and Lyle Lovett as the March Hare. The tagline reads, "Where Wonderland is your destiny."

Roger Federer is King Arthur and the tagline reads "Where You're Always King of the Court"

Julie Andrews is the Blue Fairy and Abigail Breslin is her apprentice fairy.  The tagline is "Where the magic begins"

Jessica Biel is Pocahontas. The tagline reads "Where Dreams Run Free."

Jennifer Lopez as Jasmine and Marc Anthony as Aladdin.  The tagline is "Where a whole new world awaits."

Whoopi Goldberg as the Genie from Aladdin. No tagline

David Beckham is Prince Phillip from "Sleeping Beauty,". The tagline reads, "Where imagination saves the day."

New Wall-E Trailer from Pixar

It is the year 2700. Following man's decision to abandon earth due to the deadly toxins that fill the air, human life flees to live aboard a huge spaceship circling the planet. Waste Allocation Load Lifters -- Earth Class are deployed to clean up the surface, but after hundreds of years of work, one of the robots decides he's had enough and heads off into outer space...

Lawyers and political correctness run amok

There is an attraction at Walt Disney World called "Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor", where computer generated images (CGI) interact with guests via performers backstage. Part of the show asks the audience to text in jokes that may be used during the show. Check out the disclaimer sign. Sigh, even in the magic kingdom, we have to cover our butts at all time.

I found the sign here

New Disneyland Castle Snow Show

New Wall*E Poster

I can't wait to see this next year. I am a HUGE Pixar fan, and this film looks to carry on the Pixar tradition of not only amazing visual work, but storytelling with heart and intelligence. Rumor has it, that the first 1/3 or more of the film has no dialogue. It's a film about the last robot on Earth, so Pixar artists communicate his thoughts, feelings and emotions through electronic beeps, and the visual image. It's almost a throwback to the silent films of Keaton or Chaplin. I love this poster, because the face on this animated robot has more emotion, more humanity, more character than a lot of Human faces/posters.

John Lasseter says "It's our first foray into science fiction, which I'm excited about. It's a love story. It's got a lot of heart but it's really appealing. It's less dialogue with the characters but it's really fantastic. The art of animation is about the acting that the character does in the story that you're telling, whether it's with dialogue or pantomime."

It's being directed by Andrew Stanton who was the co-director of "Finding Nemo", but it's also a group effort. As Lasseter explains it: "In those situations we have what we call the creative brain trust which is all the other directors, key story people, and we take a look at the film every three months or so and give comments. We're very honest with each other when it's working and when it's not working. It's about making the movie the best it can be. It doesn't matter whose idea it is."

It's quotes like that, that confirm to me that Lasseter is this generation's Disney. We are in the middle of the new Animation era, and I am so glad that we have people who have the talent, craft and passion that will drive the genre to new and unexpected heights.


Thanks to http://upcomingpixar.blogspot.com/ for the poster

The real life inspiration for Mater and the cast of "Cars"

The town of Galena, Kansas lies on Route 66, while getting inspiration for the movie "Cars", John Lasseter and the people at Pixar drove by a run down service station and a tow truck that was rusting in the grass nearby. That truck became the inspiration for Mater and the service station that had run down cemented their idea about how in the film, the town of Radiator Springs would work to clean up the town and make things there better. Well, life is now imitating art, as the city of Galena is repairing the service station, and put eyes on the Mater truck to draw in more tourists. You can see more photos and read more about it here:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM28DX

Pixar Does 2D Animation

The upcoming DVD of Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille will include the first hand-drawn animated 2-D short film in Pixar history. Hand-drawn animation is dead? HA! The piece is called "Your Friend, the Rat" is 11 minutes in length, making it the longest Pixar short-film ever.

The movie follows Remy the rat (voiced again by Patton Oswalt), and his brother, Emile (Peter Sohn), who talk about the “history and behavior of rats in an effort to persuade human viewers not to kill the ubiquitous rodents.” The director, Jim Capobianco claims is reminiscent of 1960s-era educational films, old UPA shorts and classic Ward Kimball animation from Disney.

There is also a mix of 3D computer animation, 2D line animation, live-action filmed segments and even a little stop-motion animation which is another Pixar first.

My guess is that this short was a lead up test to next year's Wall-E, where Fred Willard will be the first live-action actor in a Pixar film. They are starting work on a film called 1906 rumored to be directed by Brad Bird (Dir. of Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Iron Giant, etc.) that is the first full live action film by Pixar about the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Sounds very cool!

Ratatouille was a delightful little film that has earned over $500 million world wide, and will soon surpass the earnings of "Cars". Not bad for a film about a rat. The film was beautiful in design, full of emotion and real character development, and just an uplifting film in general. I'll write up my full review on the DVD when it arrives with my Pixar Shorts DVD from Amazon.com next week.