The New Director?

The Good Dinosaur's confusing and rather worrisome journey into production continues to breed speculation and whatnot, thanks to what original director Bob Peterson had to say a few days ago...

@iFarrie Not sure but it will be talented people who will take good care of the movie - people like Lee Unkrich.
— Bob Peterson (@bob__peterson) September 9, 2013

So does this mean that The Good Dinosaur finally has its "finishing" director?

When the news broke that Peterson was removed, it was reported that co-director Pete Sohn and three other higher ups (John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich and Mark Andrews) are currently "improving" the film (or killing it, if you believe that Lasseter is ruining each post-Toy Story 3 film), but why did he just mention Lee Unkrich in his tweet and not Lasseter and Andrews?

This could mean a few things...

Lasseter is as bad as they say... Perhaps, maybe it's Peterson subtly implying that things didn't go down too well between him and Mr. Hawaiian Shirt Man. After all, original Brave director Brenda Chapman was vocal about her opinions on the man. As for Mark Andrews, well... A lot of people say that he ruined Brave (I don't think he did, but that's not the point), because he's supposedly nothing more than a yes man for Lasseter. This is of course, what I call, the "downer" option.

It means nothing at all... No director has been picked yet. He only mentioned Lee Unkrich because he wanted to throw a name out there. Has nothing to do with his feelings towards John Lasseter and/or Mark Andrews.

Lee Unkrich is the director... We all want this to be true, but I think it's unlikely. Why?

Unkrich is working on his "Day of the Dead" project right now, which ought to be the studio's summer 2016 release. Unless...

See, what confuses me is that when Disney announced the dates they secured for their animation studio's films and Pixar's, they didn't outright say that the Day of the Dead project was what was coming in summer 2016, following Finding Dory. It's just untitled, ditto the two 2017 projects and the 2018 one.

Perhaps Unkrich's film is not set in stone for summer 2016, but maybe some time after that? We all think it's going to be released in the summer of 2016 for a very good reason - and it may very well be released then - but you never know. Those dates were announced in late May, and Peterson was removed from The Good Dinosaur around that time... Maybe Unkrich is the replacement director of this film, and that they aren't sure when Day of the Dead will be ready hence Disney not saying that it is the 2016 Pixar release. All because Unkrich is going to be busy with prehistoric beasts, and that his own project will have to wait.

But then again, despite the fact that Zootopia was officially unveiled at D23 last month, Disney hasn't officially announced that it'll be the March 2016 release from Walt Disney Animation Studios... Even though Honor Hunter of Blue Sky Disney says it will be, and it seems like a given at this rate, the company still hasn't said anything yet - implying that it'll come out whenever. But it pretty much is the March 2016 release, no two ways about it. (I'll gladly eat crow if it isn't.) The same is probably the case for Unkrich's film.

So maybe Unkrich is not directing this, and that he's going to continue working on his film.

Who knows, who knows...

Pixar, Pixar, Pixar...

It's that time again. Pixar revealed quite a few things...

It's always big news when Pixar reveals a tiny smidgen of what they have in the works, but just in time for the new year, they gave us one piece of concept art each for three of their upcoming features: Bob Peterson's The Good Dinosaur (opening May 30, 2014), Pete Docter's "Inside the Mind"/Inside Out project (opening June 19, 2015) and Lee Unkrich's "Dia De Los Muertos" film (which I assume will hit theaters in summer 2016).

Beautiful... Just beautiful... The Good Dinosaur's piece is very minimal, but the lighting and use of color is gorgeous. I can already see a Pixar-esque shape and design for the dinosaur, despite the fact that it's only a silhouette. Like I've speculated before, it seems like the film will in fact focus on the boy and the apatosaur that first showed up in one of the Up B-roll videos back in 2009.

The "Inside the Mind" artwork gives us a glimpse at what the film's characters may end up looking like, and so far, I'm beyond impressed. After all, this is Pixar. Also, the drawing proves that the idea is pure Pete Docter at its finest.

The "Dia De Los Muertos" piece is the most stylized here, and again, excellent use of color to give it the appropriate mood. Already looking great! Who is the man in the photo? Will he be a main character in the story? Or not?

Pixar also treated us to this nice slice of Monsters University, another faux-ad for the titular campus...



Even though this clip is no longer than 30 seconds, it shows just how stunning and elaborate this production will be. If I could go to MU, I would!

Last but not least, more breathtaking concept artwork has been revealed for Gary Rydstrom's shelved feature film directorial debut Newt. It's almost like a sneaky message, as if they are quietly saying, "It's coming... It's coming... We still need time to iron out the problems!"

Almost everyone I know pretty much wants Pixar to end up making this film a reality. I have a feeling they will, no idea ever went away for good at Pixar. One thing is for certain though, that concept artwork shows that the film had a ton of potential. I'm curious, what were the story problems that halted this film? That's not all of it either, there's even more on the German-language Pixar Blog.

Pixar certainly gave us our fix for the beginning of the new year. I'm psyched to see more in the coming months!