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?

The Pixar Alphabet!

Do you know your Pixar ABCs? Enjoy this fantastic piece of art by artist Mike Boon!

By the way, it's alright if you don't recognize the "X" character (his name is XP). He isn't technically a Pixar character, but he's from the Disney series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

Pixar characters really inspire lots of artists to make amazing creations for the world to marvel at! I give this a big two thumbs up!

"Cars 2" Left Out for Oscar Noms; "La Luna" Nominated

The Oscar nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards have finally been announced, and there is some disappointment yet some excitement in the air for Pixar fans.

First of all, Pixar's 12th feature film Cars 2 did not get a nomination for the "Best Animated Feature" category. In fact, many animated films from 2011 that I had hoped to see nominated were not recognized by the Academy this year, like Disney's Winnie the Pooh. Since now neither Cars 2 or Pooh are nominated, I hope Rango takes the prize.

I would've loved to see Cars 2 nominated, but even if it isn't, that doesn't stop it from being a great film.

On the bright side, there is still a chance for Pixar to walk away with an Oscar this year. Their new short, La Luna, directed by Enrico Casarosa, received a nomination for the "Best Animated Short Film" category, and is sure to win. I have not seen La Luna yet (only a short yet breath-taking 30-second clip), as it doesn't debut in cinemas until June 22, but it most definitely looks like a beautiful little fable.

The 84th Annual Academy Awards will take place on February 26. Stay tuned.

The Real Pizza Planet Truck - Finished!

A couple of months back we heard about a group of students from California with a seemingly impossible mission: recreating the iconic Pizza Planet Truck and take it all across the state. No big deal.

Well, it looks like the "recreating the truck" part is complete, because the crew recently posted a picture of the finished Pizza Delivery Shuttle on their blog. And, boy, does it look fantastic!!! I bet Pixar is going to be impressed!

These guys made sure they tackled everything - down to the last tiny detail. This extremely accurate replica of the Pizza Planet Truck includes even the three Aliens from Toy Story dangling at the front seat, and the lettering "YO" on the rear.

I can't wait to see this thing travel all the way to the Pixar Studios in Emeryville. It's going to be spectacular!

Be sure to check out the official "Road to Pixar" website!

The only difference I can find between the truck from the Pixar films and this recreation is that this one, rather than being filthy and rusted like the film version, is nice and shiny. But, who knows? Maybe it will look filthy and rusted by the end of the trip!

Behold the Awesome Cars Die-Cast Exhibit!

There's a pretty astonishing exhibit going on right now over at the Peterson Automotive Gallery in Los Angeles. It's called "From Silver Screen to Die-Cast: Disney-Pixar Cars Imagined by Mattel". It is essentially an exhibition of every single Cars, Cars Toon, and Cars 2 die-cast car ever made. Being both a big Cars fan and a Cars die-cast collector, I would not miss a chance to get into this spectacular exhibit!

And it features more than just little collectible cars. There is even a section that educates people on the history and evolution of Cars die-cast packaging! The astounding 1:55 scale fully-animated Lightning McQueen ALIVE toy also makes an appearance.

There are also some sweet recreations of famous Cars posters and movie scenes using the die-casts, along with a car-shaped shelf filled with more die-casts! Another section of the exhibition focuses on extremely rare or never-before-seen Cars die-casts.

The exhibit will also give you a sneak peek at the new Cars die-casts coming in 2012!

Watch an awesome video from the exhibition below:

 

I would do nearly anything to go see this downright mind-blowing exhibition.

La Luna Storybook Coming Soon!

Enrico Casarosa's advance copy of the book. Look at that beautiful cover!

"Hey lookeeee an advance copy of the La Luna book!!! Yay! Looks great, nice job on the gloss cover! :)"

"Read the La Luna book to my daughter tonight. She was so happy that the book has her name on it. It's dedicated to my dad, grandpa and her."

These are some of the things that La Luna director Enrico Casarosa has lately been tweeting about an upcoming storybook based on the latest Pixar short film, in theaters June 22 with Brave.

The book is written and illustrated in gorgeous watercolors by the director himself, Enrico Casarosa, however, he said on Twitter that the text is written by "the amazing Kiki Thorpe".

Here is the official description from Amazon:

"La Luna" is the timeless fable of a young boy who is coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait. A big surprise is in store for the little boy as he discovers his family's most unusual line of work. Should he follow the example of his Papa, or his Grandpa? Or will he be able to find his own way? This charming picture book is filled with incredible illustrations, and its unique story based on the Disney*Pixar short film is sure to delight.

You can pre-order here.

The book will be out in May, a month before the actual short makes its theatrical debut alongside Brave!

The Creepy Yet Cool Steve Jobs Figure

You may have heard of the Apple co-founder and former Pixar CEO, Steve Jobs, doll - sorry, action figure - that's been causing quite the scandal on the web lately.

A few weeks ago, a Hong Kong-based toy company named In Icons announced its $99 Steve Jobs collectible figure. The figurine gained popularity on the Internet, even though some considered its amazingly accurate features creepy and uncanny. The action figure was admittedly cool, though. However, Apple and the Jobs family quickly "pressured" the company to stop production on the doll, claiming they owned the rights to the Steve Jobs image.

In Icons soon released a statement saying how they "received immense pressure" from  the lawyers of Apple and Steve's family, and, out of their "heartfelt sensitivity to the feelings of the Jobs family", made the decision to "completely stop the offer, production and sale of the Steve Jobs figurine", still claiming, however, that they had "not overstepped any legal boundaries". Read the full statement at In Icons' official website.

So I guess we won't be seeing this creepy/cool Steve Jobs figure on our shelves now. It would've surely driven collectors and Jobs fans everywhere nuts, but there plenty of other neat Steve Jobs collectibles out there, so there's no need to be upset!

"Brave" Added to Pixar's Official Site!

This may not be very big news, but I thought it was worth writing a post about it. Pixar has updated their official Internet website and added several references to their new movie Brave, making it clear to visitors of the site that the new motion picture starring a Scottish princess is coming this summer.

Brave takes aim at theaters on June 22, 2012!

Cars Land Gearing Up For Opening!

Cars Land will finally be opening its doors to the public this summer at Disney's California Adventure, and the excitement sure is building for all Pixar fans and Disney Park fans out there!

A couple of weeks back, we saw a video of Pixar big boss John Lasseter testing out the "Luigi's Flying Tires" attraction over at Cars Land, and now we have two pics of some new signs that they've put up, and a pretty fantactic new time-lapse of how they painted Ramone's House of Body Art. Things sure look like they're shaping up over at DCA!

Don't forget to check out this virtual drive-through of the entire Cars Land area!

Also, check out this video of the ride testing at Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, another Cars Land attraction!

Cars Land definitely looks like it is going to be an exact replica of Radiator Springs from the films!

The summer of 2012 is rapidly approaching, so fasten your seatbelt because Cars Land is most certainly going to be something to rev your engine about!

Finding Nemo 3D Featured on Ellen; Trailer Debuts

With 2012 now in full swing, we are starting to get our first little bits of news regarding the Finding Nemo re-release - in breathtaking 3D.

Ellen DeGeneres, who actually voiced Dory the Regal Blue Tang in the 2003 underwater Pixar hit, recently mentioned Nemo's 3D re-release on her show. She even shared with the audience a brand-new "updated"clip from the film, which by the looks of it has had a little bit of modern technology and pop culture induced into it.

Watch for yourself:

Also, the official trailer for Finding Nemo 3D has made its debut in theaters before screenings of Disney's Beauty and the Beast 3D, but has also now been posted online. I can't imagine how incredible the underwater world will look in 3D on the big screen!

Finding Nemo 3D swims into theaters on September 14th, so don't miss your chance to Sea it like never before!

New "Brave" Image: Dinner Time at the Royal Home!

At last we have our first bit of Pixar news for 2012! And what a surprise! We have some Brave-related news to talk about today!

Pixar has released a new image from Brave. The pic seems to be taking place during dinnertime with Princess Merida and her family. She, King Fergus, and the triplets seem to be enjoying themselves, but Queen Elinor is watching them rather grumpily.

See Merida and her family in action when Brave takes aim at theaters this summer on June 22!