First Look at 'Party Central'

With just about a month to go until the release of Pixar's latest short film, we've got our first detailed look at the new Monsters University-themed short.

Check out the brief 36-second short clip that was revealed earlier this month (don't worry, it's spoiler-free):

Moviefone got the exclusive first look at the short and premiered some sweet stills alongside an interview with director Kelsey Mann, which I highly recommend you check out here.

This looks all set to be yet another classic from the folks who brought us the likes of Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. - I can only begin to imagine all the criminally clever and inventive gags that they've conjured up for this fast-paced party-centric (pun intended) short film. It's also great to be able to revisit Mike, Sulley, and the rest of the Oozma Kappa fraternity for the first time since we last saw them last summer in MU.

Mark your calendars, Party Central romps into theaters March 21 alongside Muppets Most Wanted!

Pixar Announces Plans for 2014

Apologies for the blog silence this month, January has been incredible busy for me. Now that the month is over, however, let's take a moment to recap on the exciting announcements that were dropped over the past few weeks in the world of Pixar.

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It looks as though us fans will no longer have to wait until 2015 to get a healthy yearly dose of goodness from the studio since Pixar announced this month its two latest (non-feature-length) projects and when we can expect to see them.

Looking back at 2011, you may recall that when the fantastic Muppets "revival" film, The Muppets, opened in theaters in November, it was accompanied by the Pixar Canada-produced Toy Story short Small Fry. Well, Pixar seems to have formed a nice partnership with everyone's favorite felt oddballs, as this year's Muppets Most Wanted will be preceded by another short film from the folks in Emeryville. This time around, we'll get to catch up with Mike, Sulley, and their Oozma Kappa brothers as they come together to throw an unforgettable party in Party Central. The new Monsters University short was announced back in August at D23 Expo and was originally supposed to debut in May with Pixar's The Good Dinosaur, but that film, of course, was pushed back to the fall of 2015, so it's great that the studio found an alternative way to get the short to audiences this year.

The official synopsis for the short reads:

Mike and Sulley are back at Monsters University for a fun-filled weekend with their Oozma Kappa fraternity brothers. The gang is throwing their first party, but no one’s showing up. Luckily for them, Mike and Sulley have come up with a plan to make sure “Party Central” is the most epic party the school has ever seen.

Don't miss Party Central when it romps into theaters on March 21 alongside Muppets Most Wanted (which, by the way, also happens to look absolutely brilliant).

This past October, ABC aired the first ever Pixar television special, Toy Story of Terror, which, unsurprisingly, was met with rave reviews and high ratings. And why wouldn't it? It's a Toy Story television special; audiences love these characters and want to see more of them. So it should come as no surprise that this week the studio announced their next television special - Toy Story That Time Forgot.

While no specific air date has been given, the special will debut around the holiday season this year. Brave co-director Steve Purcell will direct, while Galyn Susman, who produced Toy Story of Terror, will serve as producer. Here's the official synopsis:

During a post-Christmas play date, the “Toy Story” gang find themselves in uncharted territory when the coolest set of action figures ever turn out to be dangerously delusional. It’s all up to Trixie, the triceratops, if the gang hopes to return to Bonnie’s room in this “Toy Story That Time Forgot.”

Similar to how Toy Story of Terror delved deeper into the character of Jessie, it looks like this time it will be the quirky Trixie the triceratops (voiced by the hilarious Kristen Schaal) that gets her turn in the spotlight. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and the rest of the original cast will reprise their roles, and we'll be hearing some new voices also. Kevin McKidd (who voiced Lord MacGuffin and Young MacGuffin in Brave) will be voicing a character named Reptillus Maximus.

It's still a while away, but mark your calendars and don't forget to tune in to ABC this holiday season to catch Toy Story That Time Forgot!

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So how about it, folks? We may not be getting a feature-length Pixar flick this year, but a short and a television special should be enough to fill that void, don't you think? Share your thoughts below!

A Look Back at 2013

Here we are, once again at the end of yet another year. While not without its fair share of saddening tragedies in the Pixar realm, this year has nonetheless seen the release of not one, not two, but three fantastic new works from the folks down in Emeryville.

Unfortunately, this hasn't quite been the best year for Pixar. We saw the removal of Bob Peterson as director from The Good Dinosaur - making this the fourth time a director at the studio has gotten the boot. This eventually lead to nearly 5% of the staff being laid off.

Then in October came the headline that probably devastated me most of all - Pixar Canada was shut down. It's a real shame; the Vancouver-based satellite studio had made some remarkable shorts since opening in April 2010, and the studio itself was filled to the brim with talented artists. Those who have followed this blog for a while now may know that I was fortunate enough to visit Pixar Canada this January and tour the studio (you can read about my visit here). I'm more thankful for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity now than ever before, so a big thank-you is due to Amir Nasrabadi (general manager and vice-president of Pixar Canada at the time of its closure) for allowing this dream of mine to become a reality. The studio itself may have closed, but it built quite the legacy in the short three years that it was operational. So long live Pixar Canada!

Now let's talk about some of the more exciting things that happened this year.

Of course, Monsters University, the studio's fourteenth feature-length film and prequel to fan-favorite Monsters, Inc., hit theaters in June and its reception was generally quite warm, despite a select stubborn few still riding that old bothersome 'Pixar is losing it' bandwagon. Oh well, you can't please everybody. Let them keep riding that bandwagon while we look forward to the studio's future wildly ambitious projects.

The latest short film to be pumped out by Pixar, The Blue Umbrella, also made its debut this year alongside MU. While perhaps not as groundbreaking as, say, Day & Night or La Luna, it's arguably still a splendid and very creative work of art, accompanied by an irresistibly catchy soundtrack, not to mention its gorgeous photo-realistic visuals.

More recently, in October Pixar released its first ever television special! Toy Story of Terror saw the return of Woody, Buzz, Jessie and co. and delighted audiences across the globe, proving that the folks at Pixar are more than capable in handling the half-hour special format. Needless to say, Toy Story of Terror left audiences hungry for more Pixar TV specials, so here's hoping they're cooking up some more for us to enjoy in the near future.

All in all, it's been another great year. 2014 will likely be quite a quiet year in terms of Pixar news, what with no new feature film until 2015, but who knows, maybe the studio will surprise us with another television special later in the year. Whether that happens or not, let's make 2014 another memorable year.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Pixar Kicks Off 'Monsters University' FYC Campaign

We've come full circle once again. As the year comes to a close, awards season is in full swing as we look back at the year's greatest accomplishments in film. Despite being inexplicably robbed of a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature this year, Pixar is pushing hard to earn Monsters University some recognition at the 86th Academy Awards, focusing primarily on the Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score categories.

Here are two For Your Consideration posters that have been released:

The Oscars will take place on March 2, 2014 and will be hosted by Dory herself, Ellen DeGeneres. Stay tuned for more awards season updates!

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!