November Pixar Update

There hasn't been a heck of a lot of exciting Pixar news this month, but here's a brief recollection of the little tidbits that have dropped over the past few weeks.

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'Good Dinosaur' Delay Leads to Layoffs

Some sad news indeed. After the sudden and tragic closure of Pixar's offices in Vancouver, Canada last month, the studio announced last week that nearly 5% of its current staff will be laid off in the wake of The Good Dinosaur's recent 18-month delay.

The official statement:

"At Pixar, we are constantly re-evaluating the creative and business needs of our studio. With the release date change of The Good Dinosaur, we have realigned our production and support priorities, which includes a small reduction in our staffing levels." 

My condolences to those who have lost their jobs, and best of luck to them in their future endeavors.

Ed Catmull's New Book Gives In-Depth Look At Birth of Pixar

Pixar president and co-founder Edwin Catmull will provide the public with the first ever first-hand account of how a struggling division of Lucasfilm once known as the Graphics Group eventually became the animation empire it is known as today. Co-written by Amy Wallace, Creativity Inc. is 368 pages long and will be available April 8, 2014. You can pre-order it now through Amazon.

'Monsters University' Enters Race For Academy Award Nomination

The fourteenth feature to be pumped out by the animation powerhouse, Monsters University, has been submitted alongside 18 other films, including DreamWorks' The Croods and Blue Sky's Epic, for contention to receive nominations at this year's Academy Awards. The real competition, however, lies in Walt Disney Animation's Frozen, which hits theaters tomorrow (or today, depending on when and where you're reading this) and has received wildly enthusiastic reviews thus far, many going as far as calling it the studio's best since The Lion King. Pixar will have to once again butt heads with their sister studio to claim the title of Best Animated Feature; Brave's win in February over Wreck-It Ralph stirred controversy and outrage among many who believed that WDAS had produced the better film.

Read Scripts For 'Monsters University' & 'The Blue Umbrella'

If you're interested in becoming a screenwriter some day, or you just like going through the scripts of awesome movies and shorts, then you'll be thrilled to hear that the screenplays for both Monsters University and The Blue Umbrella are now up on the Walt Disney Studios Awards website for your reading pleasure. I spent a good while the other day just reading the first 60 pages or so of MU's rather brilliant script, and The Blue Umbrella's is equally delightful - it reads almost like a poem. Check out both scripts here and here.

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Like I said, nothing particularly thrilling, but the gap between autumn and the awards season is usually pretty quiet anyway in terms of Pixar-related news.

Are you upset by the layoffs at Pixar? Will you be getting Ed Catmull's new book come April? Which film do you think will win Best Animated Feature this year? Do you enjoy reading the scripts for films and short films? Sound off in the comments!

A Year Without Pixar...

Pixar's The Good Dinosaur is now scheduled for release in Fall 2015

It was bound to happen. The upcoming Pixar feature The Good Dinosaur recently lost its original director, Bob Peterson, and no new director was announced. The Pixar veteran soon took to Twitter to share a few words on how he was doing after being removed from the project:

Been a tough time, but I am good - thankful for family and hilarious friends. On to future projects. Long live TGD. It's gonna be great!

— Bob Peterson (@bob__peterson) August 31, 2013

Fortunately, Peterson is still with the studio and reportedly working on a new project, but nonetheless, the upcoming dino flick was left out in the cold without a set director and a  fast-approaching release date less than a year away. So I guess we all should have anticipated that the film would eventually end up being pushed back.

The news broke on Wednesday that The Good Dinosaur had been pushed from its original release date of May 30, 2014 all the way to November 25, 2015. The new date was previously held by Finding Dory, which has now consequently been moved to summer 2016 (boy, Ellen sure isn't going to be too happy). Pete Docter's Inside Out remains untouched and is still scheduled for release on June 19, 2015 and is now the next Pixar film that we can expect to see hit theaters.

So what does this mean? Yes, folks, there will be no Pixar film released next year. 2014 will be the first Pixar-less year since 2005. And while it all does seem very sad, I very much trust the studio's judgement. They wouldn't just push back a film many are dying to see just for the sake of it. If this decision benefits the finished product, then I think another 18 months of waiting is worth it. Pixar president Ed Catmull puts it perfectly:

"Nobody ever remembers the fact that you slipped a film, but they will remember a bad film. Our conclusion was that we were going to give the film some more time."

I think we can all agree that we'd much rather have The Good Dinosaur not come out until 2015 and have it be absolutely magnificent as opposed to seeing it this coming May but having it turn out a mediocre effort. John Lasseter once said, "Quality is the best business plan", and I think it's refreshing to see the studio sticking to that philosophy, even if it means have a Pixar-sized hole in next year's movie schedule.

So let's focus on the bright side of things, shall we? Now the studio has time to nurture all of their upcoming projects to perfection. Also, 2015 will now see the release of two original Pixar movies! That's right, two films within the same year, and two original ones no less! Pretty freaking exciting, isn't it? And if you're still bummed out that you won't be able to go on a new Pixar adventure until 2015, just think of all the other promising movies coming out next year - Disney's Big Hero 6, DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon 2, and many, many more.

Turn that frown upside down, Pixar is merely taking a quick break so that they can provide us with the best film they can give.

Ed's Hand Added to National Film Registry

Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney, is surely very proud right now.

The computer animated hand (which is actually titled A Computer Animated Hand) that he created at the University of Utah nearly 40 years ago has been welcomed into the National Film Registry. Each year, the NFR selects 25 films that should be carefully preserved forever, for future generations to enjoy. Disney's Bambi was also added to the list this year.

Many people think that computer animation started with Toy Story in 1995, but it was actually beginning to take shape over 20 years before Woody and Buzz first hit the big screen. With some of his colleagues in 1972, Ed Catmull created A Computer Animated Hand, which at the time was astounding to people, even though now it looks almost ancient, since technology has soared over the last four decades.

The short animation starring a seemingly simple animated hand is, today, one of the ancestors and pioneers of computer animation. Watch it here, along with some footage showing the making of the film.

Disney & Pixar Withdraw From Annie Awards/ASIFA

Just a quick update, Disney and Pixar have withdrawn from the Annie Awards and their parent organization, the ASIFA.

Ed Catmull, President of Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, tells Variety :

"After more than a year of discussions with the ASIFA board, we have regretfully decided to withdraw from the organization and no longer participate in the annual Annie Awards,"

"We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board. Although some initial steps have been taken, the board informed us that no further changes would be made to address our concerns."

I'm not too disappointed with Disney and Pixar withdrawing from the Annies, considering all the other awards Pixar can be nominated for besides the Annies.