2015... The Real Big Year

Earlier in the year, I talked about how 2014 would not only be a better year for animation than this year, but also just a great one in general. The best one since the bursting-with-goodness 2010...

Things have changed since then, with some big changes taking place recently. It seems like 2015 is now going to be that great year (and such a big year for blockbusters and must-see movies in general), but 2014 is not without merit. Many potentially fine films are opening that year: How To Train Your Dragon 2, The BoxTrolls, Book of Life, Big Hero 6. The likes of Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Home also sound good, there's some of the usual (Rio 2), and then some potentially poor by-the-books stuff (The Nut Job).

It's just that the year was kind of gutted, mostly because of Pixar's The Good Dinosaur's migration to the autumn 2015 spot and Sony Animation's Popeye going to the TBD pit. Minions was pushed to 2015, Disney's long-gestating Phineas and Ferb film went from a potential 2014 release to an undecided one. Losing the Pixar film did a good number on the year, losing Popeye, for me, was also disappointing. Minions? I'm okay with that film moving, and I hope the Phineas and Ferb film finds a date soon. (Show co-creator Jeff "Swampy" Marsh says it's just "on hold".)

Anyways, what does 2015 have to offer?

The Big Studio Offerings

For starters, the Emeryville crew will release two original films...

Many people are disheartened that Pixar doesn't have a film ready for release next year, but the good thing is, two films in one year will more than make up for it... Two original films...

Of course, we all know that The Good Dinosaur (opening November 25, 2015) ran into some major problems. The director had to be removed, the producer left the project and things seemed to going haywire at Pixar. But instead of hastily getting it ready for next May, Pixar opted to delay the film to the autumn of 2015 so they can not only get a new director but also fix the problems that they have with it. With more than two years to do that, we may actually get an excellent film in the end.

Pete Docter's Inside Out remains in the summer 2015 spot - June 19th to be exact. Sequel Finding Dory originally had The Good Dinosaur's current release date, but now that's been moved to make way for the recouping dinosaur film. People may say the studio is on the decline, but what would be a better "comeback" than two back-to-back great, original, non-sequel films? These two films don't sound like what we've seen before: A world where dinosaurs don't go extinct and what goes on inside your mind? Pure Pixar...

Pixar has made 2015 a much bigger year than it was for animation.

What's next?

DreamWorks has three projects ready for 2015. The Penguins of Madagascar (opening March 27, 2015) is probably the least interesting of the trio for me, since it's really just a cash grab though a full-length Penguins film could deliver a lot of fun. I just hope that it's a one-time thing, because I really can't see the Penguins being part of a big, enthralling story. It's pretty much a franchise film in my eyes, but since Madagascar 3 was marked improvement over the first two, anything is possible.

B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations (opening June 5, 2015) should be another good original story, one that suggests a more spooky atmosphere than the other DreamWorks films. Maybe it won't be some giddy, goofy comedy about ghosts... But rather something better. Horror is so well done in animation, and recent examples like ParaNorman prove that... But B.O.O. is probably just going to be a comedy "for fun" kind of film, but it's possible that it may dip into some darker waters. Kung Fu Panda 2 wasn't afraid to do so, then again Guillermo del Toro was working on that film.

Kung Fu Panda 3 is the one I'm really anticipating, given the quality of the second film and how much potential it has. I'm sure DreamWorks will make it a grand finale, unless a second trilogy is a go. With how big the sequel was in scope in comparison to the original will ensure that this will be even bigger, and hopefully it's a little darker much like how the second film. Raise the stakes, develop Po more and even give the Furious Five some major development (something I felt was kind of lacking in the second film), balance the humor and drama, and you'll have a fine third entry. I think DreamWorks can do it.

Of course, with DreamWorks, something could change. Their schedule is always shuffling and changing, so I wouldn't be surprised if one of these films ended up in 2016 with a 2016 film ending up in 2015. You never know, but for now, that's a decent trio of films.

But the other big studios don't have much to offer in my eyes.

Blue Sky's Peanuts? Pass for now, because I fear they'll go the Chipmunks/Smurfs route with it, only spitting on the beloved creations of Charles Schulz. Paramount Animation enters the ring with SpongeBob SquarePants 2 and Monster Trucks. Neither one really piques my interest, because another SpongeBob film seems too safe and the other one (for now) sounds like a commercial for a toyline, though Chris Wedge is directing the latter. I'll be surprised if Monster Trucks ends up sounding like something cool. Illumination's got Minions, I'm not really interested in that one either, or most of their upcoming films in general. Sony Animation? The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania 2. *yawn*

Walt Disney Animation Studios is sitting out for the year, as 2014's Big Hero 6 will be followed by Zootopia in March 2016.

Warner Bros. Animation may or may not have Storks ready for 2015, their second film from their revived feature animation studio. To be directed by former Pixarian Doug Sweetland, it sounds like it has potential, but very little is known about it. Will it make it to 2015?

It's also likely that DisneyToon will make a third Planes for a summer 2015 release. Ugh...

Most of 2015's most exciting animation releases, for me, are the ones from the smaller studios and the ones that aren't the big guns.

Aardman returns - with a stop-motion film no less - with Shaun the Sheep. Aardman's never made a poor quality film, even Flushed Away managed to be good despite the DreamWorks meddling. Their last film The Pirates! Band of Misfits was an irreverent, overlooked treat. Arthur Christmas was also very good, a fine Christmas film and a fine film overall. Shaun the Sheep should be another charmer from the studio, plus it'll probably be silent for the most part. Another plus!

Sony wants the Ratchet and Clank movie out in 2015, and that has so much potential being based on the long-running video game series. (Personally, I'd like to see someone make a Jak and Daxter animated film!) They'll get away with a lot too since the games aren't exactly family-friendly. Again, we need more adult-oriented animation like this. Other than that, so much potential lies in this because the games do call for an animated feature adaptation. It should do what several live action films based on video games have failed to do, and then some.

If Reel FX Creative Studios has a "one-film-a-year" plan, then Beasts of Burden should be out in 2015 as well. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, it'll be very different and not like your usual animated fare. More animated horror, and one that'll certainly not be for all ages! Their 2014 offering, Book of Life, also sounds very fresh and exciting. Reel FX plans to take some big risks for their future endeavors, and I like that.

Paul McCartney recently announced an animated feature based on a children's book he wrote with two others: High in the Clouds. That's expected to be released in 2015, and since Paul is no stranger to animation, this ought to be great. And of course, different and original. A lot of the animation that Paul has been involved with in his post-Beatles career is fresh, unique and exciting to 21st century eyes. Imagine a whole film based around his ideas and music? Just... Awesome...

The Adventures of Tintin's sequel should also arrive in 2015 as well, since Peter Jackson will be done with The Hobbit by late 2014. One can hope, right? The first film was a solid fine action film that was rooted in classic Spielberg escapism and it was also definitely more on the adult-oriented side. Thankfully it did recoup its costs with its big overseas grosses. I'm all for another round of good old-fashioned action-adventure fun, but of course another round of the hilarious Captain Haddock and various hijinks.

Then we have Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's R-rated comedy Sausage Party, which could either open up the door for more theatrical adult-oriented animation or it will only inspire suits to invest in similarly raunch fare that sets adult animation back 15 years. Either way, the film itself sounds like it could be weirdly hilarious and perhaps a send-up of Pixar's approach to filmmaking. This Is The End was rip-roaringly hilarious and fresh, this ought to be as well.

Now this last film is a possibility... Henry Selick's The Shadow King was canned by Disney when it was halfway done, and LAIKA sadly rejected the half-complete stop motion film. It was acquired by K5 International earlier in the year, and it doesn't seem like it'll come out in 2014 (The BoxTrolls and Book of Life occupy the ideal spots for this film). Maybe 2015, perhaps?

Since a lot of these films don't have release dates, it's possible that not all of them will debut in 2015, but it seems likely that they will at the moment.

So... In 2015, we'll be getting some good/great stuff along with some competent and unexciting stuff from the big studios - the usual. It looks like the smaller studios will rule the creative roost, but will their efforts pay off at the box office? I sure hope so! Last year gave us three rather unconventional stop-motion films, this year will give us more than three eclectic films.

Do you think 2015 will be that big year for animation? Does it excite you? What films are you looking forward to?

Sound off below!

Moving Away

It looks like Pixar's big green brontosaurus is not stomping into theaters next summer...

Yes, in a rather shocking but inevitable move, Pixar's The Good Dinosaur has been delayed. It makes sense because no new director was announced for the project after Bob Peterson was booted off. Only a few Brain Trust members are "shepherding" it and fixing whatever problems they have with it.

So when is it opening now? November 25, 2015...

That was Finding Dory's original release date, now that sequel has been moved back... To June 17, 2016. This one will go head-to-head with How To Train Your Dragon 3, and it'll make for a very interesting animation box office battle. If I were Fox, I'd move Dragon 3 as soon as possible. Finding Dory is poised to be a box office gargantuan, and if Dragon 2 pulls a Despicable Me 2 next summer, then it'll be massive as well.

On top of that, it looks like we'll have to wait till summer 2017 at the earliest for Lee Unkrich's "Day of the Dead" project... Disney not officially announcing that his film wasn't the summer 2016 release makes a lot more sense now, ditto its absence from D23...

Inside Out is still slated for a June 19, 2015 release...

2014 will be a Pixar-less year...

It makes me wonder if Party Central - the Monsters University short that was supposed to be attached to the dinosaur film - will end up going on the Monsters University Blu-ray. That is, if they haven't produced the actual discs yet...

Pixar's higher ups can't deem that Inside Out is strong enough to enter production for the summer of 2014, there's very little time and Disney decided to fill The Good Dinosaur's original May 30th spot with tentpole/pointless fairy tale reboot Maleficent.

Could this be like the old times? When you didn't get a Pixar motion picture event every summer?

If anything, this could be a very good thing. You heard that right, a good thing...

I'd rather have a good Good Dinosaur than a rushed Good Dinosaur, and I think Lasseter & Co. are well aware of this. They've already got a bad reputation for firing directors, so it's better that they give whoever takes the throne a lot of time to sort out the problems. I just sincerely hope that this is not a Newt situation where they delay the film, only to outright cancel it. I still think that Newt isn't dead in the dirt, it's just sitting on the shelf, waiting to be re-evaluated.

Logically, nothing can really take the summer 2014 spot now, so we'll have to wait till a 2-a-year deal the following year. It's almost like Walt Disney Animation Studios' schedule, two films in 2016 and two in 2018 due to Pixar releasing two of their films in 2015 and 2017. Maybe Pixar will release two films every other year (was Ed Catmull alluding to this a couple months ago?), rather than one each year. If it ensures quality/non-rushed films, then I welcome that. It'll be abrupt, since we've been used to getting one Pixar film every year.

When Peterson was removed from the project, I speculated that Pixar's recent director-change problems were due to their one-a-year schedule and the fact that their films' release dates are set in stone a long while before they hit theaters. Maybe breaking that current one-a-year tradition will relieve the animators and directors of tremendous pressure, so they'll be able to have their stories in fine shape before production begins thus... No more director changes! That is... If it's not true that John Lasseter is an evil tyrant hellbent on tooling everything to be his way.

Anyways, see where I'm going with this?

No films are scheduled for release in 2014, thus allowing Pete Docter to perfect his film, the replacement director to perfect The Good Dinosaur, and Andrew Stanton to perfect Finding Dory. Unkrich will have more than enough time with his film, and Teddy Newton's film could very well be the autumn 2017 release rather than what a lot of people think will be the autumn 2017 release - a sequel. Give them time, I say.

We might see even more changes to the schedule, but in the mean time, I hope that The Good Dinosaur turns out to be a fine film whoever is directing it. Maybe things will start looking up, and all these troubles with director changes will be a thing of the past. A rather rough phase, if you will.

Stay optimistic...

And just watch... People think Pixar is on the decline? Well what's a better "comeback" than two great, original films being released the same year?

D23 Live

Alright, just like my CinemaCon and Comic-Con posts this year, I'll be talking about some big happenings this weekend while they are happening... You know... The D23 Expo!

Thursday, 8:06 PM Eastern

Entertainment Weekly got a piece of concept artwork from Pixar's next release, The Good Dinosaur in addition to details on what we will see at the expo! Feast your eyes on this lovely image...

Beautiful, isn't it? It's great to see our apatosaur protagonist in full color, rather than in silhouette form. Where's the boy? Well maybe we'll see more of him and other prehistoric beasts and humans over the weekend, since we may be seeing even more concept artwork!

Lasseter went on to talk about running Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar and DisneyToon and made some comments on DisneyToon going theatrical due to the sales of home media these days... Errr, I don't know how to feel about that.

Unfortunately, he also said that there are "no features on the docket for hand-drawn" but he did talk about how the studio is keeping it alive and how it's being integrated into Disney's style of computer animation... But damn it, I still want to see traditionally animated hand-drawn films. They can co-exist with the likes of Frozen and Paperman! Plus, you can make a very good-looking one for less than $100 million... C'mon... On the bright side, he also said that hand-drawn won't be a "lost art", as the interviewer puts it. In the end though, what matters is the quality of the film, of course... But of course hand-drawn shouldn't be kept away from features at the very studio that specialized in great hand-drawn classics.

Friday, 1:07 PM Eastern

Looks like Walt Disney Animation Studios will be making their presentation today... Also, have a look at this. See anything interesting on the bottom?

Yes indeed, Disney outright confirmed that Disney Animation's next film after Big Hero 6 (a new first look here, courtesy of /Film!) is in fact titled Zootopia and that it is Byron Howard's film. Yep, Honor Hunter of Blue Sky Disney was right! Also interesting to see that Jared Bush is one of the writers. His background is in television shows like All of Us, Still Standing and Who Wants To Marry My Dad? Disney and Pixar have been picking outsider (in an animation sense) writers recently, and the results have been good so far. Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee had little to no involvement with animation prior to penning Wreck-It Ralph's fresh and fantastic screenplay, and Victoria Strouse - who will be writing Finding Dory - has only worked on television shows and productions, most notably ABC's October Road. Branching out and then some.

Anyways, I'm psyched to hear about Zootopia but of course I'm looking forward to more on Frozen and Big Hero 6 (the latter especially!), though I do have my theories about Howard's film and the other secret Disney Animation projects. The ones on Zootopia may be moot by the end of the day, or maybe not. Either way, I hope for a small detail or two!

1:52 - 4:19 PM Eastern

Pixar is now up.

Some footage from Pixar's The Good Dinosaur has been teased, along with Party Central, a Monsters University short that will be attached to it in theaters. I was hoping for a short that wasn't based on a film of theirs, but this could be good...

The footage description, reports ComingSoon's writers, shows the asteroid missing Earth, even though it looked it was going to hit it. Dinosaurs watch it go by. Now, they're saying that the dinosaurs in this film are like farm equipment and they all look tired. Brontosauruses are bending down, using their heads to plow fields. Very, very interesting so far. They also apparently talk! The main bronto is named Marlow. (1:55-1:58 PM)

John Lithgow will voice Marlow's father, Frances McDormand voices the mother and Bill Hader voices the brother. Strong cast so far! (2:00 PM)

Marlow is actually in fact named Arlo, as ComingSoon made a small mistake. He'll be voiced by Lucas Neff. Judy Greer will voice his sister, Ivy. As said a little earlier, Arlo is green like the film's logo implies. (2:03 PM)

Peter Sciretta of /Film describes the footage as "almost like a segment from Fantasia." Have we got Pixar's "The Rite of Spring" on our hands here? (2:04 PM)

The dinosaurs also hate bugs, but Arlo doesn't. Outcast story, much? Color me intrigued. (2:07 PM)

Arlo comes across what he thinks is a bug, but it's actually a caveman-like boy wearing a disguise that makes him look like a bug. The boy doesn't talk and is named Spot. So talking dinosaurs, but silent cavemen-esque humans? And Pixar is losing their creativity and touch? Gimme a break. (2:08 PM)

More concept art is shown, focusing primarily on the settings, one that includes a "snowy mountaintop". That concept art, anyone? (2:11 PM)

Now it's Inside Out time!

Director Pete Docter mentioned how the concept was "wholly unique" to animation and how it will be grounded as well. The young girl's name is Riley and she is a fan of hockey and other sports, who ends up having to move to San Francisco and find new friends. Hmmm, I wonder why... Her five emotions are the following...

• Anger, a red "toad" with a white shirt and tie voiced by Lewis Black.
• Disgust, a green thing with a dress, is voiced by Mindy Kaling.
• Fear is voiced by Bill Hader (again!), ComingSoon's Silas Lesnick describes him as a "pink, non-furry Gonzo".
• Joy is voiced by Amy Poehler, who may be the lead emotion. She has blue hair and a yellow dress, interesting color scheme...
• Sadness is voiced by Phyllis Smith, and apparently looks like "a little blue Velma".

All these characters are said to be human-esque, like the human-like Muppets, as Lesnick puts it. It's only the designs that they are showing. (2:19 PM)

In a Monsters, Inc.-esque fashion, the emotions work for a headquarters that Lesnick describes as a "more colorful Minority Report base". They watch what Riley does from her point-of-view, Joy captures the memory, as it comes in the form of a ball. (2:22 PM)

The creation of her dreams is shown, as it's said to resemble a Hollywood film studio. They also show a "Train of Thought", which is an actual train. Joy and Sadness end up getting lost within Riley's mind, leaving the other three emotions to keep things going... Hmmmmmm, curioser and curioser... (2:24 PM)

Forgot this update, Neil Patrick Harris voices one of Arlo's siblings in The Good Dinosaur, Cliff. Now back to Inside Out... (2:28 PM)

We'll also be seeing what goes on inside other people's minds. Riley's mother and father have a fight, and they show how it all works inside both of their minds. (2:31 PM)

Now onto Finding Dory...

New characters are being announced... Dory's parents! Her mother Jenny is voiced by Diane Keaton and her father Charlie is voiced by Eugene Levy! There's also a beluga whale in this too, Bailey, he'll be voiced by Ty Burrell. Andrew Stanton jokingly says that Bill Hader won't be in it. Boy, Pixar seems to love Mr. Hader right now, don't they? Hader jokingly tried to get into this film on stage, boy would I love to be there right now! (2:35 PM)

After screening ten minutes of the upcoming Toy Story Halloween special Toy Story of Terror (the footage sounds amazing), now Disney is presenting DisneyToon stuff. I'll pass on this... In the mean time, I'll collect my thoughts on what was shown and revealed of the three upcoming Pixar films... (3:11 PM)

So... All of that Pixar news was inevitably exciting. The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out's footage reminds me of why I love the studio, not just for their storytelling and heart... But for their creativity. I love the idea of humans not speaking in this world, and how dinosaurs work as farmers, something that was talked about months and months ago. Our main character Arlo already seems like the outcast in his world, hence the title which implies that he may be doing something right while other dinosaurs do traditional things that may be in many cases... Well... Bad. Maybe...

Inside Out on the other hand reminds me of how well pulled off Monsters, Inc.'s concept was, especially the descriptions of the headquarters where the emotions work and how other people's inner-workings work as well. People may accuse Pixar of being formulaic now, I don't know about that... This sounds nothing like they've done in the past, and the whole plot of Joy and Sadness getting lost in the mind already piques my interest. Big time! I have a feeling that the emotional content in this film is going to be so thick that a jackhammer can't crack them... Buckets will be cried, maybe?

Other than that, I'm glad that we got some information on Finding Dory even if it wasn't more on the plot. Rumblings went around today about Pixar completely changing the film's planned ending after watching the controversial SeaWorld documentary Blackfish and speaking with the director, but since Pixar declined to comment, I think that article might be fake because it gives away both the planned ending and what they're going to do with the ending in the finished film. Massive spoilers. If those got out, I think Pixar would've seized the article or something. For now, I think the stories are rather... Fishy? Pun shamelessly intended.

While we didn't get a scrapping (yet) on "Dia De Los Muertos" or any of the other three untitled films scheduled for release between June 2017 and June 2018, it was great to hear some of the details on the three films that are next in line. Toy Story of Terror also sounds like fun, taking the toys to a spooky hotel and most likely playing off of horror movie tropes and whatnot. I was hoping the specials would branch out a bit, and it looks like they are! Party Central, I'm not too sure about that one yet, because I really want to see something original with each theatrical Pixar short, but this could work out. (3:39 PM)

Walt Disney Animation Studios is currently up! (3:58 PM)

Footage from Big Hero 6 is currently being shown... Can't wait to read about it! (4:02 PM)

Eric Vespe of AICN tweeted that it "looks kind of like Wreck-It Ralph in tone and design." Sciretta said "We might not get an Incredibles sequel anytime soon but Big Hero 6 will fill this void. Looks awesome."

Lasseter also officially announced Zootopia! Hooray! (4:09 PM)

Now we're getting details on Zootopia! According to Lesnick, it's similar to Robin Hood. It's an all-animal world with no humans, and they act and dress up like humans. Lasseter says he misses that. They also showed a wildebeest wearing a shirt saying "I'm with Gnu-pid". There are neighborhoods based on the different habitats of the animals. One of them is called Tundratown, which is all wintry and frozen... And it contains a polar bear karaoke club with seal waiters! The nightclub has a "fridgasine"... A limousine and a freezer... Man, they went all out! They also showed Sahara Square, where desert animals go at night. A fence chills the cold areas and warms the desert...

Yes that's a lot of little details and my goodness... It sounds very different and a tad bizarre. I love it! (4:14 PM)

Huh, looks like Jason Bateman is voicing a fox lead after all. His name is Nick Wilde, and he's got a rabbit friend named Lt. Hopps. Rabbits lives in Burrow Borough, and they ride a Rabbit Transit System. There's a pop musician named Gazelle with brawny white tiger back-up dancers. Wilde's wardrobe consists of a suit and sunglasses, and he also has very sharp teeth. Lesnick revealed that this puts him at odd ends with his rabbit friend. (4:18 PM)

In other words, holy smokes this all sounds very cool. Definitely creative and runs with the all-animal world ideas of Disney's Robin Hood and DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda. There is an enormous, I repeat... An enormous amount of potential in this project! (4:19 PM)

8:42 PM Eastern

In the four hours I was away, I still was able to check updates... We got concept art for all of the animated films unveiled today.

First up, a new still from Frozen that looks fine, plus some great footage that was leaked last night. The YouTube comes courtesy of The Rotoscopers!

The footage looks great, no doubt. One minor nitpick is the dialogue, since I was no fan of Tangled's rather distracting modern slang. But I still loved that film, and this looks like it'll be a fine mix of action, comedy and drama. I also love the Elsa reveal at the very end.

This Big Hero 6 piece may be minimal in its content, but it's beautiful nonetheless. The full plot was revealed. Loosely adapted from the comic, 14-year-old boy genius Hiro's developed Microbots technology is stolen by an underground force below his home city, San Fransokyo. Soon, he finds himself in a team of crime-fighters including a robot named Baymax, whom he befriends after losing his brother. Sounds like an emotional ride and a crazy action-packed experience at the same time, classic Disney with a bigger bite. Think The Incredibles, which will coincidentally turn ten years old two days before this film opens.

Zootopia... Now I love this sketch, then again I'm in love with the concept. Seriously, I already see so much in this film even though we know little about it! Anyways, does the piece give you a slight Chris Sanders' vibe? It has that unique weirdness to it, if you ask me... Anyways, just awesome. Nick Wilde is already a favorite of mine. The full plot was also revealed:

"In the animal city of Zootopia, a fast-talking fox who’s trying to make it big goes on the run when he’s framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Zootopia’s top cop, a self-righteous rabbit, is hot on his tail, but when both become targets of a conspiracy, they’re forced to team up and discover even natural enemies can become best friends."

Wow, wow and wow...

This piece of Good Dinosaur concept art shows us how the dinosaurs will really look...

Leaked concept art showed more designs, which surprisingly didn't do much for me... Yet. The dinosaurs have a sort of clay-like look, they are definitely not naturalistic in their designs but definitely very cartoony. I think they'll grow on me, though I think Arlo looks fine.

The big one... Inside Out concept art!

The designs are certainly different, and again, I'm not too, too fond of them just yet. They do have that Muppet-esque look that Lesnick mentioned. I like the designs of Anger, Disgust Fear. Joy and Sadness? They're not bad, they just seem weird... But then again, in the finished film, they all ought to look fine. That's usually the case.

This piece is actually my favorite of the bunch, believe it or not... Finding Dory! (I am in Devil's Advocate mode right now?)

Murky, dark and mysterious in a sense. Looking at it already brings the atmospheric feel of Finding Nemo back, from the great sound design to Thomas Newman's immersing score. Now let's hope the film is great... Well it should be!

What do you think of the concept artwork for these films? Do any of them excite you?

Saturday, 9:15 PM Eastern

After a panel focusing mainly on live action (Disney, Marvel and some Lucasfilm), Disney then had a panel focusing on Pixar shorts and specials.

General Manager and Executive Vice President Jim Morris jokingly said that Toy Story of Terror is the studio's "first horror film". Angus MacLane (director of Small Fry) added "We wanted to have many things from the horror genre, but also make it accessible to everyone." It's a genre that I'd certainly love to see them tackle for a feature-length film, but... We'll save that idea for another day!

Then it was announced that two more Cars Toons shorts are coming next year: Radiator Springs 500 1/2 and To Protect and Serve. Now for a while, I was thinking that the Cars Toons series should ditch the whole "Mater's Tall Tales" deal because it got tiresome, and there's so much more they can do with the world of Cars through these shorts and possibly specials. The first sounds like it'll focus on racing, which is what I kind of wanted for the next Cars Toon. Something about, you know, Lightning McQueen. He's the star of the franchise too, right? Right? Anyways, one of the problems I had with Cars 2 was that the racing aspect was mostly glossed over. I wanted to see more of McQueen's colorful competitors, but alas we got bits of the races and only three of his rivals spoke.

The latter on the other hand sounds like a plug for Planes: Fire and Rescue since that opens next summer... Yeah, let's just I'm not happy with the fact that the "should be DTV" franchise is now theatrical. Feh!

Anyways, it's good to see that Pixar can continue franchises through shorts rather than sequels. I think that's why there's more Toy Story Toons and specials being made, ditto Cars and now Monsters. Better that than sequels, right?

~

July Animation Tidbits

More tidbits for ya... Lovely French Frozen posters, by the way... Now if only there was a third one to make a triptych! Disney has done it before!

Disney wants you to cool off this summer, with more Frozen-related stuff... Such as this international teaser poster featuring comic relief sidekick Olaf...

I love the design of this poster; everything from the water down to the icy film logo. Without showing too much, Disney is just effortlessly capitalizing on the wintery aspect of the film... Makes sense during a hot summer, right? Hopefully we'll be getting a full trailer sometime soon... Ahem, one that doesn't have spoilers in it.

~

Blue Sky has given another cute Rio 2 teaser.

And that's just what it is, really... Cute. Nothing special, but I will admit the black jaguar singing bit was kind of funny. I think I'll reserve judgment until I see a full trailer, because I did actually enjoy the first Rio despite its problems.

~

Pete Docter has spilled a few details on Inside Out, which is surprisingly one of a few non-sequel films that's slated for release in 2015...

He says the film "takes place inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl, and emotions such as anger, sadness, disgust and joy are the main characters." Hmmmm, three negatives and one positive as the "main" emotion characters? Does this mean that the girl might have a more pessimistic outlook on things? A child wanting to find happiness and joy in life, but somehow has a hard time? If so, that would make for a very interesting character, and it could also imply that the film's emotional content will be quite potent... Up, anyone? This is a Pete Docter film after all. Scratch that! This is a Pixar film, after all...

Then again, he might've just mentioned a few emotions off of the top of his head since there are five in the piece of concept artwork... What's the fifth one? Maybe anticipation? Trust? Who knows!

He also had this to say about the animation itself...

"The characters are created with this energy because we are trying to represent what emotions would look like. They are made up of particles that actually move. Instead of being skin and solid, it is a massive collection of energy. It’s a lot of fun and really takes advantage of what animation can do."

Yep... Pixar sure is dying alright. If anything, I'm curious to see what they do with their style of animation for this film... Or if they try out a completely different one. Could we see hand-drawn elements in a Pixar film sometime soon?

Docter also revealed that the film has two stories, "One story is hard enough. This is two stories that need to talk to each other." Now that sounds like a real challenge, and people say Pixar is running out of ideas or that they have lost their touch? If The Good Dinosaur doesn't shake the idiotic "Pixar is dead" belief, then this should... Like an earthquake! This sounds like nothing they've tackled before, and quite frankly, that's already something to get geared up about. This is another Pixar masterpiece in the making. It's everything you want from them: Risky, ambitious, emotional, rich in terms of the story and characters... I have a feeling that this will be grand.

~

What are your thoughts on the Inside Out details? Do you think this will be a great Pixar film? Or one that could potentially be a mess? What do you think of the recent promo materials for Frozen? Did you think the Rio 2 teaser was cute? Or could you care less about that sequel and anticipate something like Anubis instead?

Sound off below!