Happy Halloween 2011!

(Photo credit: pixarjunkie)

Can you believe Halloween is already here?

The festival of thrills, chills, pumpkins, and of course, candy, brings new surprises every year. Pixar fans also always come up with new ways to infuse the beloved characters into their Halloween celebrations. For example, costumes of Pixar characters are very popular among children and adults alike, and the characters from the animated films also make fantastic Jack O' Lanterns!

This year, I dressed up in a homemade Woody costume, and carved a Mike Wazowski pumpkin.

Check out this brilliant Halloween costume, inspired by the famous Pixar Luxo lamp!

 

I hope everyone had a safe and pleasant Halloween! And don't forget, Cars 2 comes out on DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow!

Awesome Stills From 'Air Mater'

It's been almost a whole year since we last saw a brand-new Cars Toon, so now that Air Mater is coming on the Cars 2 home release, it's quite exciting to see Mater in another one of his hilarious Tall Tales.

While we won't get to see Mater fly until Tuesday, we can enjoy these fantastic new images from the short. They're amazing! Pixar Canada did a spectacular job on this Toon!

Doesn't Mater look AWESOME as a Falcon Hawk??

Catch Air Mater on the Cars 2 home release this Tuesday. Don't miss out, because Mater is going to fly! This is going to be the best Cars Toon ever!

Pixar Book Talk!

Books. What would we do without them? They educate us, entertain us, and help us discover new things. There's been a whole lot of news about Pixar-related books lately.

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First of all, Steve Jobs' authorized biography came out on Monday! I haven't had the chance to see it just yet, but I plan on at least obtaining it from the public library, if not buying it,  sometime soon. The bio, entitled simply Steve Jobs and written by Walter Isaacson, tells the story of Jobs' brilliant and inspirational life; how he co-founded Apple, how he helped bring them back to the top, how he invented the contraptions we know today as the iPad and iPhone, and, what he is best known for by animation fans around the globe, how he helped bring Pixar to life. Steve Jobs is available now, and I would not miss out on this good read.

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Also, we have another one of the popular "Art of" books coming up next month, but this time, it's not focusing on just the latest Pixar release, it's focusing on all their films so far, from Toy Story all the way to Cars 2. It even includes the majority of their short films--including the upcoming La Luna. So, naturally, this new book is called, The Art of Pixar. It's being released this year to celebrate Pixar's 25th anniversary.

One of the unique aspects of The Art of Pixar is how only nine of its 320 pages contain text (not counting captions of the pictures and artwork throughout the book, of course). This book is all about the art, or, more specifically, a type of art form which Pixar uses to perfect all their features and shorts. It is called, the color script. Also, it will include a foreword by Pixar honcho John Lasseter!

The Art of Pixar will have all the color scripts for all of Pixar's feature films and most of their short films, and it will be available on November 2! You can pre-order and read the official description of the book here.

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Lastly, another "Art of" book was just announced. No, it's not The Art of Brave (although we are likely to hear about that in a few months or so), but it is The Toy Story Films: An Animated Journey, or in other words, "The Art of all 3 Toy Story movies". Amazon.com has listed it as a 192-page book, hardcover, which will be available on August 7, 2012. As the name suggests, it will be a retelling of the making of the beloved Toy Story franchise, and will include concept art from Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and of course, Toy Story 3, as well as interviews with the filmmakers! Don't forget to check out the official description here.

If you are an avid Pixar and Toy Story fan, this book sounds like something you probably won't want to miss out on.

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Were you looking for a good book to read or one to look forward to? Well then, hopefully this blog post gave you some ideas.

Pixar Canada Reveals Studio and Current Project!

Until today, Pixar's studio in Vancouver, BC, Canada, remained quite mysterious. Now, the Vancouver Sun has given us an inside scoop on what the studio has been up to for the last year and a half.

First of all, it has been confirmed that Air Mater is in fact being produced at the Vancouver studio, as previously speculated. But after seeing the concept art which was revealed when the studio first opened, it was almost certain that something involving Mater flying was being worked on at Pixar Canada. Don't forget to catch Air Mater, the first ever Pixar project to come from the Canadian studio, on the home video release of Cars 2 on November 1!

Also, the location of Pixar Canada has now been revealed to the public; Gastown in Downtown Vancouver, where the famous steam clock can also be found. Having have visited this street several times before, I can tell you that it is quite the sight with countless flowers everywhere you look, and fancy lamp posts lined along the the street. I'm almost certain that Pixar is very happy with the place they chose to put their second animation studio.

As seen in the picture above, the replicas (or at least copies of the replicas) of McQueen and Mater that have been touring the United States and Canada for the past few months are now on display right in front of the Pixar Canada studios, to mark the location of where dozens of talented artists and animators go to work everyday. These two cars may stay there only temporarily, but there is a chance that they could stay as permanent decor, or at least be moved slightly.

We are prone to find out what else Pixar Canada is cooking up for us soon, but for now, just enjoy Air Mater on the Cars 2 Blu-ray and DVD!

Sneak Peek at Cars 2 Blu-ray/DVD!

We are already halfway through the month of October, and before you know it, it'll be November! And you know what that means...Cars 2 on Blu-ray and DVD!

As always, Pixar has released a few clips of what is to come on their next home release.

Check out this cool trailer for the film. It's not a new trailer however, it's one of the ones we saw a few months ago before the theatrical release of Cars 2. So now instead of "Coming soon to theaters" it says "Coming soon to Blu-ray and DVD", but it's still a really awesome trailer.

Here is a short clip called "Getting Behind The Wheel", which shows how the geniuses behind the sequel to Cars got to experience the racing world while making the film.

The next clip is an extended look at Hawaiian Vacation, the Toy Story Toon which played in front of Cars 2 in theaters, and will be included as a bonus feature on the home video release. If you haven't watched Hawaiian Vacation, I think that this clip gives you a pretty good taste of what the short has in store.

Lastly, here is a 5-minute sneak peek at Cars 2 itself. That's right! Five full minutes of awesome footage from Cars 2! It's the entire scene where Mater gets Lightning involved in the World Grand Prix after seeing the cocky Francesco Bernoulli boast about how he could easily beat Lightning McQueen in a race.

Also, you may have seen this already, but here is a nice and short look into Air Mater, the latest Cars Toon, which will be on the Cars 2 Blu-ray and DVD as well.

Race on over to your local retail store on November 1st and get your hands...er, I mean wheels...all over the smash hit of the summer, Cars 2!