New Mystery Pixar Film Due In 2015

A short while ago, the Walt Disney Studios unveiled their upcoming release schedule, which included not only some approaching entries into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also an all-new project from Pixar - but is it really all-new?

The press release didn't give any title for this upcoming Pixar feature; it simply stated that a new untitled animated film from Pixar is scheduled for release on November 25th, 2015. If this release date actually remains untouched until 2015, then it mark the first ever year in which the studio releases two new movies. Of course, this was originally supposed to happen in 2011, but has been postponed over and over again each year. Only time will tell whether 2015 will be the year or not.

While this new project is now set for late 2015, Lee Unkrich's new Día de los Muertos film, however, still has not been given a release date - unless, of course, that this "new" film is in fact Lee's film. After all, Día de los Muertos takes place at just about the same time as Halloween, so November 25 wouldn't be that far away from the holiday itself.

So whether this is the new Lee film or a brand-new one, we can't be sure yet, but hopefully Disney and Pixar will clear it up for us real soon. Let's keep our fingers crossed, because I don't know about you, but this is going to be bugging me until I know for sure.

The 83rd Academy Awards (UPDATED LIVE)

The night began as Anne Hathaway and James Franco gave a brief introduction to the 83rd Academy Awards. Tom Hanks, voice of Woody, presented the awards of Best Art Direction (which went to Disney's Alice and Wonderland), and Cinematography (which Inception won).

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis presented the awards for Best Animated Short AND Best Animated Feature. Day & Night unfortunately lost to The Lost Thing. But, it is already a victory to be nominated. Congrats to Teddy Newton! The Best Animated Feature Film award went to...

TOY STORY 3!!!!!!!!!!

Director Lee Unkrich came up to recieve the award, and thanked everyone at Pixar, and stated that Pixar is the 'most AWESOME place on the planet to make movies!!!", and I totally agree with him!

Best Adapted Screenplay went to The Social Network, but congratulations to TS3 and Pixar for being nominated!

Best Sound Editing was one of the other awards for which TS3 was nominated, and did not win, but as I have stated, it's already a victory to be nominated. The award went to Inception.

Randy Newman did an AMAZING job performing his song from Toy Story 3, 'We Belong Together'!

Billy Crystal, voice of Mike Wasowski from Monsters, Inc., came up to talk for a few minutes.

Randy Newman won the the award for Best Original Song for his amazing song from TS3, 'We Belong Together'! Congratulations!

And the winner for Best Motion Picture at the 83rd Academy Awards is...

The King's Speech

Today was not the day that an animated film won the big one at the Oscars, but, as all the films which were nominated for an Oscar this year, Toy Story 3 was truely a masterpiece. The night concludes with a lovely performance by the PS22 Chorus. Good night everybody, and congratulations to Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson, John Lasseter, Randy Newman, everyone else at Pixar, and all the other great people who were nominated for an Oscar.

Disney and Marvel Present...The "Disney•Pixar Presents"

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!

"Newt" Concept Art Revealed on Facebook!

Recently on Disney/Pixar's Facebook page, some concept art of Pixar's cancelled film, Newt, done by the brilliant artists at Pixar was released. It's a pity the film was shelved because judging by these beautiful images, it could have been really good. But maybe some day Pixar will decide to continue Newt and release it for all audiences to enjoy.

Some of my favorite pieces of the Newt concept art are this one, this one, and this one. Which ones are your favorites?

Toy Story 3 Reaches $1 BILLION Worldwide!!! (Finally)

YAHOOOOO!!!! Way to go Toy Story 3!!! Only two weeks after becoming the highest grossing animated film ever, TS3 finally reached the $1 billion dollar mark.

I've been waiting for this movie to reach $1,000,000,000 since it first came out. After its spectacular success on its first weekend, I was sure this would be another box office hit. And sure enough, it was!

TS3 is already the 7th highest grossing film of all time, and I think it will at least pass Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland's $1,024,298,794, and land in 5th place on the list. Speaking of Disney blockbusters, this is the second movie this year released by Walt Disney Studios to reach the one billion mark. Surely, TS3 can break some more records? Pixar just has this awesome habit of creating the best movies! Keep it up Pixar!

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.

Monsters Inc 2 Release Date Moved

Yesterday afternoon, it was revealed by Box Office Mojo that the Walt Disney Studios have changed the theatrical release date of Pixar's Monsters Inc 2 to November 2, 2012, rather than the original date, November 16, 2012. This is because Part 2 of the last installment of the "Twilight" saga is also scheduled for November 16, so they were afraid of some heavy competition at the box office. However, I do have a feeling that Monsters Inc 2 will do a pretty good job at the box office, even if it was still being released on November 16. You may also remember that the first Monsters Inc was also released on November 2, but in 2001. The plot has still not been confirmed, and neither has the director. Look forward to hearing on further news about Monsters Inc 2!