Monster Mania!

It's been a crazy week filled to the brim with exciting Monsters University news, which is only two months away! Can you believe it?

Pixar screened an unfinished but full-length cut of their latest feature for attendees at CinemaCon on Wednesday, and so far the response has been quite enthusiastic, which is great because this may mean the end of all this "Pixar is dead" rubbish. Check out some tweets from bloggers who got the chance to see the film:

Monsters University (by @mrdanscanlon) is a fun broad college comedy set in a cleverly designed world, surprising turns & gutsy message
— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) April 17, 2013

Disney just screened MONSTERS UNIVERSITY in its entirety! It's smart, funny and makes me want to rewatch MONSTERS INC immediately.
— silaslesnick (@silaslesnick) April 17, 2013

#MonstersUniversity my favorite full screening of #CinemaCon. Reminded me why the world/characters are so special. (Not that I ever forgot.)
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) April 17, 2013

Just screened all of Monsters University at CinemaCon! Funny, clever and beautifully animated: what I expect from Pixar.
— Eric Eisenberg (@eeisenberg) April 17, 2013

The studio's famed lucky charm, the very talented John Ratzenberger (who has thus far voiced a character in every single Pixar film), will indeed lend his voice to a character in MU. This year he will not be reprising his role from the original film as the friendly Abominable Snowman, but will be the voice behind "a Monsters, Inc. employee". Look forward to hearing his iconic voice once again this June! (via Entertainment Weekly)

Another beautiful still (above) from the film made its way online this week, and gives us another look at Mike and Sulley's rough rivalry.

The official Monsters University website received a minor update the other day, and now includes a large assortment of colorful downloads featuring the characters from the film, with everything from wallpapers to Twitter headers and more. The site also now includes character bios for Mike, Sulley, and other scary folks.

Lastly, this mischief-filled poster from the UK was posted online a couple of days ago. Heaven knows what other pranks Sulley has got in store for Mike... (via A113Animation)

It's hard to believe the film is so close already. It seems like just yesterday came the announcement that "Monsters, Inc. 2" was in the works, but it's already been three years since we first found out that we'd be seeing our favorite monsters return to the big screen. So just hold on two more months, because Monsters University is almost here.

Classic 'Easter Eggs' to Return in Brave

Pixar is known to infuse little hidden 'Easter eggs' into all of their films, which makes watching a Pixar movie even more exciting.

Sometimes, we get little glimpses at characters from upcoming films. For example, Monsters, Inc. had a hidden Nemo, Lotso from TS3 made a discrete appearence in Up, as did Cars 2's Finn McMissile in Toy Story 3. Cars 2 also had 'car-ified' versions of Merida, Elinor, Fergus, and the triplets from Brave.

Pixar also has some other hidden goodies that their fans have grown to love looking for in the films, such as the mysterious code, A113, the Pizza Planet truck, which first appeared in Toy Story, and John Ratzenberger's voice. Mark Andrews has confirmed that all of these will make an appearence in this year's Brave.

What's intriguing is that Brave is set in Medieval Scotland; back when pizza delivery trucks didn't exist. However, back at D23 Expo last year, John Lasseter himself stated:

"Here's the challenge for all of you; Brave. Medieval Scotland. Try to find the Pizza Planet truck there!"

Now, Bleeding Cool talked with Brave director Mark Andrews recently, and here's what Mr. Andrews had to say on the subject:

"Yes, everything is in here. Everything. All of the typical things, those little insider jokes are all in the movie. You’ve got hours and hours hours with the Blu-ray to look for them. There it is! But it’s right there, yeah.

John Ratzenberger’s Scottish accent is good, it’s not bad. He had a couple of goes at it, but he got there. He’s one of the guards in the background. His voice is in there but if you can’t pick him out we’ve done our job and nailed it."

So it seems that John Ratzenberger's role in Brave won't be as big as some of his previous Pixar voices, such as Hamm in the Toy Story trilogy and P.T. Flea in A Bug's Life. But at least Pixar's keeping up tradition by including John's voice once again.

As for the Pizza Planet truck, I am not sure how they'll have it in there. A rock or cloud shaped like the truck? A Pizza Planet wagon or cart? I guess we'll have to wait until June 22 to find out.

The Amazing John Ratzenberger!

The amazingly talented John Ratzenberger

Ever heard of John Ratzenberger? Actor, has a mustache, voices a character in every single Pixar film to date? Ring a bell?

Cliff Clavin, the character that made John famous, from "Cheers"

John Ratzenberger is well known for having played the mailman Cliff Clavin (the role which made him famous) in the TV series Cheers and also made an appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back as Major Bren Derlin. He also recently joined Twitter, and is following Pixar Corner's Twitter feed!

Major Bren Derlin from "The Empire Strikes Back"

If you had never heard of John Ratzenberger before reading this blog post, or just weren't aware of his history with Pixar, you may be wondering, "Which Pixar characters has this guy voiced?"

Well...

- In the Toy Story series: Hamm the Piggy Bank

- In A Bug's Life: P.T. Flea

- In Monsters, Inc.: The Yeti/Abominable Snowman

- In Finding Nemo: The School of Moonfish

- In The Incredibles: The Underminer

- In the Cars series: Mack the Truck

- In Ratatouille: Mustafa the Waiter

- In WALL-E: John

- In Up: Tom the Construction Foreman

All of John Ratzenberger's Pixar characters, so far

Now think about all these characters' voices. Do they sound similar?

John Ratzenberger is considered Pixar's lucky charm, which is why they never do a film without him having at least one line. He is set to once again play a character in Brave, although it has not been announced which one. See if you can catch his voice when you watch the film this summer!

John Ratzenberger sure is one talented guy! Follow him on Twitter, if you're not already!

Which is your favorite John Ratzenberger character?

First Look at 'Small Fry'

Mini Buzz meets Woody in 'Small Fry'

Ironically, today I was thinking to myself, 'Hmm, Pixar hasn't released any clips or stills from Small Fry yet'. Then, I go on my computer a few hours later and I find two never-before-seen images from the upcoming short film, along with some new facts about the plot.

Small Fry revolves around Buzz being left behind at a fast food restaurant, while an irritating miniature version of himself takes his place in Bonnie's bedroom. Our favorite space ranger then has to deal with a gang of "Happy Meal" like toys, including a mermaid voiced by Glee's Jane Lynch.

The mermaid's name has been announced to the public; Neptuna. Judging by the picture seen below, she may be the leader of the rejected toys at the restaurant.

Angus MacLane, director of the short, talked with USA Today about Small Fry.

MacLane describes the short as "the Prince and the Pauper tale for toys" only that "one of them happens to be 3 inches tall".

He tells how Small Fry is about how these miniature fast food meal toys feel unloved after always being discarded right after all the food has vanished from the table.

"These toys' existence is about being really popular before the meal and then being totally forgotten about. And sometimes they don't even get played with."

Most of the cast from the short has been confirmed. Tim Allen and Tom Hanks are set to return as Buzz and Woody, respectively, Joan Cusack reprises her role as Jessie the cowgirl, and John Ratzenberger is back as the voice of Hamm the piggy bank. Neptuna the mermaid is voiced by Jane Lynch, and guess who has been cast as the cheeky Mini Buzz...

Teddy Newton, director of Day & Night and voice of the Chatter Telephone in Toy Story 3. Now that I think of it, he does sound like the perfect voice for a naughty little 3-inch Buzz. His voice work should be hilarious! Also, Angus MacLane, the director of the short, will voice several of the fast food restaurant toys, including T-Bone and Super Pirate.

Pixar wants audiences to remember to just "give these guys a little bit of love", 'these guys' being the little toys you get with your burger and fries.

Small Fry hits theaters November 23 with Disney's The Muppets. The new film starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermit the Frog, and all the other awesome characters looks incredible all on its own already, so the latest Toy Story Toon is just another bonus! Plus, there are rumours that the next Brave trailer will also play with the film, so it's even better!

Pixar Articles on TIME Website

There's always an interesting article about Pixar out there on the Internet.

Today I found a 'Pixar timeline' called A Brief History of Pixar on the TIME website, where TS3 director Lee Unkrich was nominated to be on the TIME 100 list. This timeline is a very concise summary of the Pixar films, from Toy Story to Cars 2.

Also, Pixar's John Lasseter landed a spot on this year's TIME 100! John Ratzenberger, considered to be Pixar's lucky charm, wrote the article for the TIME website, which you can read here. I've always been a big John Lasseter fan, so I'm glad to see him on the list of "Most Influential People".

Pixar By The Numbers

Have you ever wondered how many people currently work at Pixar? Or how long it takes to make a Pixar movie? Or how many toys are in Toy Story 3? Well, I've gone around the Internet and read my Pixarpedia and tried to answer a lot of those curious questions as best as I could. A lot of the answers are estimates, because it would be almost impossible to get the exact answers to everything. So I encourage you to read on, and let all (or at least most) of your questions about Pixar be answered!

• Around 1200 employees...or more...work at Pixar Animation Studios.
• The average Pixar movie usually takes 4 to 5 years to create...or in other words, about 1460.97 to 1826.21 days.
• As many people know, Pixar has made 11 films up to date, and will release their 12th film, Cars 2, on June 24, 2011.
• Pixar's highest grossing film, Toy Story 3, earned an estimated $1,063,171,609 at the box office. It became the 5th highest grossing film of all time, the #1 animated film of all time, and the highest grossing film of 2010.
• John Lasseter has directed 4 of Pixar's films to this day, and is set to make his 5th debut as director this year with Cars 2.
• So far, there are 9 hilarious Cars Toons, and more will be released in the years to come.
• Randy Newman has scored 6 Pixar movies, including all 3 Toy Story films.
• John Ratzenberger, considered Pixar's 'lucky charm', has voiced 9 Pixar characters, including Hamm the piggy bank and Mack the truck.
• Ever since the Best Animated Feature Film award was introduced to the Oscars in 2001, Pixar has been nominated 8 times, and has won 6 times.
• Not only has Pixar made many fantastic feature films, but the company has created 19 ground-breaking short films, their most recent being Day & Night. Their 20th short, Hawaiian Vacation, will be played in front of Cars 2.
• Pixar has received 10 Academy Award nominations for their short films, and has won 3 times.
• Pixar was founded in 1986, so the company has existed for 25 years.
• Russel, the 8 year-old wilderness explorer from Up, has over 40 badges!
• In Pixar's Ratatouille, the word 'rat' is used 51 times!
• Sulley, the big, blue, furry monster from Monsters, Inc., has around 2,137,000 hairs in total!
• Carl Fredricksen from Up uses about 10,000 to 20,000 balloons to lift his house up into the air!
• In Toy Story 3, Andy only has 12 toys left...but at Sunnyside Daycare, there are probably over 100 toys!
• In Pixar's Cars, there are, of course, over 200 cars seen in the film...probably a lot more!
• There are exactly 96 days left until the North American theatrical release of Cars 2!!!

Of course, those are only a few of Pixar-related facts, because well, with numbers, Pixar always goes.........

To Infinity, and Beyond!