Toy Story 3 Viral Videos for Lots-O'-Huggin Bear

Toy Story 3 Viral Videos for Lots-O'-Huggin Bear. Love the Japan version where the other toys bow down before him.

Final Halloween Post

Sesame Street Characters (Pixar Employees)


Tauntaun costume (Pixar Employee)



Star Wars R2D2 Stroller


"King of Kong" Costumes


Where the Wild Things ride the subway

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.

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

My review of UP

I am a sucker for Pixar movies. I was first introduced to their short films when I was a film student at the University of Utah. From the simplicity of Luxor Jr. to the madcap slapstick in Knick Knack, I knew the filmmakers at Pixar were doing something special. From the simple friendship of Buzz and Woody, to the story of two robots falling in love, I have enjoyed all of Pixar's films. I can't choose a favorite, how can you? I can say that CARS and A Bugs Life are my two least favorites, but a lesser Pixar film is better than 95% than other films, and I include live action as well as animated films in that equation.

With UP though, we have  a movie about a man grieving over his dead wife and learning to overcome that grief and find new adventures to live.  As much as I love the first Toy Story, we've come a really long way in storytelling from toys that come to life when no one is around and talking bugs striving to save their colony.  That's what I love about Pixar, they are constantly progressing, always pushing new stories, new emotions and new ways to share those human emotions with their audience.

The thing that sets Pixar apart from so many studios, is that they dare. They risk. They don't listen to focus groups about marketing potential, they just tell stories. They made a film about a rat who wants to cook.  A film with robots where there is no dialogue for about 1/3 of the film.  What other studio would even dare to pitch such stories to management, let alone greenlight them, develop them with love and attention to detail and still make money at the box office?

The key to Pixar films though, is story. I attended a lecture with Doug Sweetland a few months ago (Director of the Pixar short "Presto" and he talked of Pixar's constant devotion to story. They work around the clock on story for years before they even begin to animate. There is even a sign in the lobby at Pixar that states simply "Story is King". Each word, each space between words means something, it builds the character, propels the story and entertains the audience.

In UP, the filmmakers of Pixar have gone above and beyond. They tell the story of Carl Fredrickson, a 78 year old man that lives alone and doesn't like being bothered. However, there is much more to Carl than being an animated version of Walter Walter Matthau from "Grumpy OId Men", there is much more. From here on out, I will be writing with heavy spoilers, so if you haven't seen the film yet, you may want to avoid reading further. Honestly, the less you know about this movie going into it, the better it is. I knew only a little from the trailers and I wished I could have avoided even that much.

The film opens with a young Carl viewing a newsreal about his favorite adventurer Charles Muntz and his recent adventures in South America who claims to have discovered a giant bird that scientists say can't possibly exist. Muntz swears to travel back to Paradise Falls and capture a live bird and won't return until he can restore his good name. Carl is mesmerized by the story and that love of adventure, leads this shy boy to meeting a girl that will become the love of his life, Ellie.

Ellie is everything Carl isn't. Loud,rambunctious, outspoken and driven and of course he falls head over heels for her immediately. The film now shifts into an absolutely beautifully filmed and edited montage where we watch Ellie and Carl fall in love, get married, discover they cannot have children, vow to visit Paradise Falls, work at the zoo where Carl sells balloons and Ellie shows off the birds, get old and 

eventually Ellie's death. That's a lot to pack into less than 10 minutes, and not only do the animators pull it off, it is one of the most beautifully touching sequences that I have ever seen. They give us more character analysis, background, and depth in those few short minutes than many films pull off in their entire running time.

Pixar doesn't shy away from tough subjects, but they handle it so delicately, it is breathtaking. Ellie and Carl lay on a hill and view shapes in the clouds. Ellie sees a turtle, and Carl points out a cloud that looks like a baby. Ellie nods and then points out that many of the clouds look that way.  A dissolve to a doctor's office where Ellie is crying and Carl looks devestated, and in just a few short seconds, we understand that Carl and Ellie have fertility issues and won't be able to have children of their own.  It's so brief, but it says so much and handled with such class.  As one who has been on the receiving end of that news, it hit me like a sucker punch to the gut.  I rarely cry in movies, but I instantly had tears flowing down my cheeks.  I was overcome.

The montage goes on to show us that Ellie and Carl 

go on to live a perfectly wonderful life, full of time together, living in old abandoned house they'd  discovered as children, fixing it up and saving up money for a trip of a lifetime to Paradise Falls.  Carl promised Ellie that he would take her there one day, and even crossed his heart on it.  Unfortunately, real life settles in as it always does and Carl and Ellie are forced to slowly spend their vacation money on home repairs, new tires for the car, hospital bills, etc.  Near the end of the montage, Ellie becomes ill and passes away and sets up the theme for the rest of the film about love, loss and moving on.  

The film could end there, and it would be amazing, but the story has many more surprises for the audience.  UP becomes about following your childhood dreams, a floating house, talking dogs, a bird that loves chocolate and adventure.  It's the most unique of all the Pixar films, in that our hero is 78 years old.  

Carl as a child, has a very round face, and as the years progress, he becomes more and more square.  It's almost like he has deflated like a balloon and he is hunched over, has trouble getting out of bed, uses a walker, etc.  Everything around Carl is square, even the picture frames that hang on the walls of his home.  As we move further in the film, we get a less square shapes and more circular, suggesting movement, freedom and adventure.  Russell whole body, all the  balloons, etc.  As the film progresses, Carl stands straighter, moves quicker, and finds that there are new adventures for him.  It's everything that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should have been. 

We eventually meet Carl's childhood hero Muntz, and he is a recluse obsessed with capturing that elusive bird and restoring his good name.  Is it too obvious to point out his name sounds a lot like Kurtz?  His only companions are dogs with collars that translate their thoughts to speech.  He is a man consumed with the past and unwilling to move on and sets up a brilliant counterpoint to Carl.

At one point, Carl must find a way to lighten the load in his house, in order to go after Russell the Wilderness Explorer that tagged along for the ride.  Carl finds Ellie's adventure book, and for the first time ever, looks past the page that says "Things I am going to do".  He sees their wedding photos, shots of them at work at the zoo, the two of them reading together, a shot of Ellie looking peacefully outside a window, and finally a note that reads "Thank you for the wonderful adventure, now go have one of your own."  Once again, I teared up at the simplicity of the message, the gentleness of the delivery and the beauty of the animation.  It's hard to believe a computer ran a program made up of ones and zeroes and created something so beautiful.  

This sequence reminded me very much of "The Fountain" in that a dying wife gives her husband permission to move beyond her death and continue to live.  Throughout the film, I thought about "The Mission" and "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" and after the film Lisa told me that I must be the only person to watch a Pixar film and think of those two films.  :)

Carl then goes through the house and is able to finally let got of all the items that he held so dear, for so long.  Items that he tied down during the storm are deposited onto the plateau of Paradise Falls and the house then begins to lift back off.  It's such a simple way to symbolize what is internally happening to our character.  

In the end, Carl is even able to let the house that he has called Ellie throughout the film, to float gently away as he pilots an airship with Russell who has become the son he never had, back to the United States.  Russell tells Carl that he is sorry he lost the house, to which Carl replies "It's just a house."  We witness what the characters do not, and that is that the house has landed at the edge of Paradise Falls, just as Ellie wanted it to. 

The film is full of humor, wit, and especially heart.  There is so much more I could write about this film, but this blog post is already way too long, and it's late at night, so I will simply say that UP is a beautiful film, that deserves multiple viewings.  It is another classic Pixar film, and I am once again reminded of how powerful film as a medium can be.  It's not just a child's film, it's not just an animated film, it's a film about the human spirit, of childhood dreams, of love, of keeping promises and most of all hope.  It helps reinforce a feeling that I have been having more and more of, and that is so many people judge success on net worth, instead of self worth and that makes all the difference.  It's not the possessions that we buy, but the time spent with loved ones.  There is adventure all around us, if we just take the time to see it.  As Russell tells Carl about sitting on a curb eating ice cream with his father "That may seem boring, but it's the boring stuff that I seem to remember."  That's deep stuff for an animated film, and it works perfectly.

Bravo Pixar, and thank you.

Toy Story 3 Trailer

Pixar never disappoints

Pixar Vs. Dreamworks

Found this Poe-News

Quantum of Incredible

Quantum of Solace Meets The Incredibles. Very well edited trailer mashup.

A little Batman Humor

The Dark Knight - Toy Story Edition

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!

Slave Leia pillow fight

"I'm a married Spud, I'm a married spud, I'm a married spud"
Slave Leia pillow fight

New Wall-E Commercial

New Wall-E Trailer (Super Bowl Ad)

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...

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.

New Trailer for Pixar's Wall-E

The new trailer for Wall-E comes out tomorrow, but here is a sneak peek from a French website.

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18752463.html

There is one short commercial (in French) but then the video trailer will play. I love the new Pixar opening animation with Wall-E helping out the desk lamp.

The great thing about the films from Pixar is that story comes first and foremost, with everything else supporting the story. Their films don't hire celebrities as voice actors, they hire the right voice for the right character. In this case, Wall-E doesn't talk, he just makes robot noises similar to R2D2 in Star Wars. I have heard the first 1/3 or more of the movie has no dialogue, but tells the story through sound (Wall-E's robotic sounds) and facial/body acting.

This trailer is in French, and I understood every bit of it. That's the genious of Pixar.

No release date yet, just sometime 2008. It can't get here soon enough.