After sitting down to chat with director Saschka Unseld, Indiewire has confirmed that composer Jon Brion, who recently did the music for last year's ParaNorman, will be scoring Pixar's latest short film, The Blue Umbrella.
I'm quite looking forward to seeing what Brion has to offer, and that tiny bit of score we got in the 30-second clip released a few weeks ago sounded really promising.
On why they selected Jon Brion to score the short, Saschka Unseld said:
“He has this ability in creating these really catchy short melodies that stay with you. And that was something that we really needed for the short.”
The Blue Umbrella looks all set to become a huge critically-acclaimed hit. Speaking of critically-acclaimed shorts, Walt Disney Animation Studios uploaded onto YouTube yesterday their brilliant 2012 short film Paperman, which played in theaters back in November with the studio's equally amazing feature film Wreck-It Ralph. If you haven't already seen Paperman, you don't know what you're missing. Disney have proven with both this and Ralph that they are capable of creating masterpieces like those of Pixar. Watch and you will not be disappointed. Kudos to director John Kahrs and the entire crew at Disney Animation - Walt would be proud.
Disney's upcoming computer-animated feature film Wreck-It Ralph has been creating quite a buzz on the web lately. Though it is not a Pixar film, I am quite excited to see it as the plot intrigues me and from what I have seen it looks like it is going to be an absolutely marvelous film.
Some concept art for the film has been put up on display at Disney's Hollywood Studios (replacing the Brave exhibit that had been there previously) and among the artwork you'll see a familiar face.
Let's see...short brown hair, rounded glasses, Hawaiian shirt. This is without a doubt a cartoon version of Pixar and Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter. Here the Hawaiian shirt-wearing Pixar honcho appears to be designed similarly to the Nicelanders; the inhabitants of the arcade game that the film's protagonist, Wreck-It Ralph, is the villain of. Ever since Lasseter took his current position as CCO at both Pixar and Disney animation studios in 2006, things at Disney Animation definitely seem to be going uphill with films such as Tangled and Winnie the Pooh, so including him in Wreck-It Ralph is likely a sort of homage, and similar to how a car named John Lassetire appeared in Cars 2.
Of course, this is only concept art and we can't be 100% sure that the Nicelander version of John will appear in the finished film, but I'd say there's a good chance that he will.
Wreck-It Ralph hits theaters November 2, and this is one movie I wouldn't dare miss!
The year of 2011 has come to a close, but that's not stopping Pixar from giving their fans one last thing to talk about this year. Or rather, multiple last things to talk about.
Unfortunately, not all of this is exactly good news. UPMAD (the Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs), which was announced at D23 Expo earlier this year and is currently in production at the Emeryville-based studio, being directed by Bob Peterson (co-director of Up; voice of Dug) has had its release date taken away by Disney's new film, Frozen, formerly titled The Snow Queen.
The new Pixar film about dinosaurs living in the modern world was set for release on November 27, 2013, but is now left without a certain release date until further notice.
The news broke about a week ago, when Disney's calendar read "Frozen" on the 27 of November, 2013, which led many to think that Bob Peterson's dino-film had been given this new title. However, it was soon announced that "Frozen" was simply the new title for Disney's The Snow Queen.
So once again, an attempt to release more than one Pixar feature film in the same year has been jeopardized.
On the happier side, Pixar's 2011 spy film, Cars 2, now holds the title for the most successful animated movie of the year. It even made the top-ten list of the overall highest grossing films of 2011, coming in seventh place, above three of the years blockbusters; Thor, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Mater and McQueen raked in a total of $551,852,396 worldwide at the box office this year, with $191,452,396 of the film's earnings made in the US and Canada.
Pixar honcho John Lasseter was recently over at the currently in-construction Cars Land at Disney's California Adventure (it opens this coming summer) testing out the spectacular new ride, "Luigi's Flying Tires".
"This was awesome!" he says. Check it out:
Cars Land will opens its doors summer 2012! Another thing to look forward to this new year!
Last but not least, Brave was recently listed on both Yahoo! and Rotten Tomatoes as one of 2012's most anticipated films! So I guess passionate Pixar fans are not the only ones looking forward to Pixar's first fairy tale, set in the highlands of medieval Scotland. Can't wait for Merida to hit the big screen!
So I guess this concludes 2011 here at Pixar Corner. It's been an amazing year. Cars 2 came out, Toy Story 3 won two Oscars, Pixar celebrated its 25th anniversary, the Toy Story Toons kicked off, and Pixar Corner turned one year old! And these are just a very short few of the spectacular, amazing, incredible things that happened this year.
There are a whole lot of things to look forward to in 2012, some being the release of Brave, and Finding Nemo being re-released in 3D (and most likely in Blu-ray). So prepare yourself, it's going to be a fantastic year.
Disney bought Marvel back in 2009, so now Marvel Comics will be releasing a brand new monthly magazine entitled the 'Disney•Pixar Presents'! The magazine will feature characters from some of Pixar's films including Toy Story, Cars, and The Incredibles, and is aimed at readers of all ages.
The Disney•Pixar Presents will first issue this May. This first issue of the magazine will use the characters from Cars and will be called Cars Magazine #1. It will be written by Alan J. Porter and Mark Cooper, and 'penciled' by Allen Gladfelter, Travis Hill, and Magic Eye Studios. Read the press release for the first comic strip below:
Rev up those engines and join your favorite characters from CARS in DISNEY•PIXAR PRESENTS: Cars Magazine #1 as Lightning McQueen organizes a charity race for young cars with special needs, but he didn’t invite Piston Cup champion Chick Hicks. The snub gets Hick’s competitive juices flowing, and he’s out to show McQueen a thing or two about racing! Will Hicks ruin the good nature of the Radiator Springs Rally Race? Find out this May everywhere books and comics are sold.
The Disney•Pixar Presents will regurgitate some of the material used in Pixar's BOOM! comics which will be replaced by Marvel's Pixar comics. Some of the people who worked on the Pixar BOOM! comics are being brought in to work on Marvel's 'Presents'.
Read this official description, taken directly from the Marvel website:
Marvel and Disney Publishing will debut DISNEY•PIXAR PRESENTS, a new monthly magazine featuring some of the most popular characters from the acclaimed Disney/Pixar films. Intended for readers of all ages and priced at $5.99, the first issue will hit stores in May 2011.
Each issue of the magazine contains 96 full color pages of content, including a mix of brand new stories, classic adventures, puzzles, games and more. Featuring characters from Disney/Pixar’s hit movies Cars, Cars 2, The Incredibles, Toy Story 3, and more, DISNEY•PIXAR PRESENTS will be available at bookstores, retail chains, comic stores and more. The series debuts with DISNEY•PIXAR PRESENTS: Cars Magazine #1
“We’re excited for the launch of DISNEY•PIXAR PRESENTS, teaming with our friends at Disney/Pixar to bring some exciting new material to fans all over the world and introducing a whole new generation to comics,” said Axel Alonso, Marvel Editor-in-Chief. “We’re committed to providing a great product and ensuring these books are available in locations that parents and kids frequent. The Disney/Pixar library includes some of the most popular characters of all time, making DISNEY•PIXAR PRESENTS exactly the kind of comic magazine that kids and parents have been demanding!”
You can hope to get your hands on this awesome magazine when it first issues this May!
