The Party is Coming

Party Central, a Monsters University short film, was set to be attached to what was going to be this year's Pixar event, The Good Dinosaur. That film was delayed to the autumn of next year, so it left us asking… What will happen to the short film?

I had suggested that it could be attached to either Muppets Most Wanted or Disney Animation's Big Hero 6, the former being the likely option since a Toy Story Toon was attached to The Muppets in 2011 plus Disney Animation makes their own shorts now, so we'll probably get something super cool (pun intended) before Big Hero 6.

Party Central is in fact playing before Muppets Most Wanted. Now we've got our first look, courtesy of Disney Insider!

First off, plot details…

When the Oozma Kappa fraternity brothers throw their first party and no one shows up, Mike and Sulley return to Monsters University with a plan to make sure it’s the most epic party the school has ever seen. It is directed by Kelsey Mann, the story supervisor from Monsters University, and features the following voice talent: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Peter Sohn, Julia Sweeney, Charlie Day, Nathan Fillion, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Bobby Moynihan, and Joel Murray.

Entertainment Weekly also got this intriguing tidbit of information...

Fortunately, they have some extra inter-dimensional doors handy, which they put to creative use (we won’t spoil how here) to get the party rocking.

Inter-dimensional doors, you say? Now that ought to be interesting! Maybe it means… Other monster universes! Speculating too much, perhaps! Human world doors? Well, humans aren't deemed toxic until after the events of Monsters, Inc., and that's roughly 15 years later. The Oozmas would've graduated by then, so that rules out the human world doors… Unless there's something else in play here. Secrets, secrets...

Judging by Nathan Fillion and Bobby Moynihan being listed, we'll be seeing Roar Omega Roar rivals Johnny Worthington and Chet Alexander as well. I guess the Oozmas, since no one comes to their party, are still unpopular despite their performances in the Scare Games and the fact that they are scare students after the events of the film. Will the RORs try to crash the party and get some kind of funny comeuppance? Or are they nicer to the Oozmas?

So much to speculate! Well, Muppets Most Wanted is not too far away so we won't have to wait too long. We may not be getting a Pixar animated feature this year, but I think this short will somewhat fill the void along with the announced Toy Story Toons and Cars Toons entries (at D23), and - if all went according to plan - the next Toy Story television special.

Are you looking forward to the short? Sound off below!

Where's The Party At?

Pixar's The Good Dinosaur was to have a Monsters University short film attached to it. Problem is, that Pixar film had been delayed from its planned summer 2014 release to the autumn of 2015. Of course, we all know this happened and why it had to happen, but…

What will happen with the short?

The short in question, Party Central, must be somewhere near completion at this point. At one point it was intended to be the obligatory short on the film's Blu-ray and DVD. It was unveiled for the first time at this year's D23 Expo during the Good Dinosaur presentation. However, was Party Central a Pixar Canada production? If so, then either the production is no more or it has been moved back to Emeryville so it can be completed.

Since there is no Pixar film coming out next year, what will Party Central be attached to?

First, let's rule out all of Disney's live action blockbuster releases. No way this thing is attached to something like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Maleficent, obviously. Let's rule out all the PG-13 stuff along with the smaller-scale live action stuff… Only one live action release in 2014 is a legitimate possibility… Muppets Most Wanted.

Why Muppets Most Wanted? It's the closest release to The Good Dinosaur's original date (May 30th). Also, the Toy Story toon Small Fry was attached to The Muppets, so I can definitely see that Pixar/Muppets double-whammy happening again.

I can't see them attaching it to Planes: Fire and Rescue, because that film is really for kids only unlike Muppets Most Wanted and the other animated release for 2014. Adults and teens like Pixar, but they are the least likely audiences to pay to see something like the Planes sequel. Pixar wants everyone to see the short, so why attach it to a kids-only flick?

The other big possibility, and the last of Disney's animated and/or family-friendly releases for 2014, is Walt Disney Animation Studios' Big Hero 6. A Cars Toon was attached to Bolt in theaters back in 2008, plus, Big Hero 6 has the biggest box office potential of the three G/PG films Disney is releasing next year. However, Big Hero 6 might possibly be Disney Animation's first PG-13 film considering that it's based on a Marvel comic. Also, according to Blue Sky Disney way back in 2011, Wreck-It Ralph almost got that rating, believe it or not. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney Animation broke the tradition and made a PG-13 film, but that's pure speculation at this point.

If not those three films, then it will be a home media exclusive. I can imagine it popping up on a Blu-ray for something like Toy Story of Terror (if that gets a release next autumn, which would be nice), since it is about monsters and that would fit in with the Halloween theme of the special.

What do you think? Theatrical? Or home media only? What film could it possibly be attached to next year?

Farewell, Pixar Canada...

Shocking news hit today... Pixar Canada is no more.

Reported by The Province, the Vancouver-based studio who produced short films like the Toy Story Toons and the post-2010 Cars Toons, has been shut down resulting in over 100 people being let go. Disney spokesperson Barb Matheson stated, "Staff were just told today. Not great news, obviously. It was just a refocussing of efforts and resources to the one facility."

Pixar also released a statement...

"The team at Pixar Canada has produced a wonderful slate of short films since opening in 2010, including Air Mater, Small Fry and Partysaurus Rex. As the dynamics of the animation industry continue to change rapidly, we continue to fine-tune our studio and its production processes. We have made the determination to refocus our creative and business efforts and resources under one roof. Pixar Canada will cease operations immediately."

If anything, this should not have happened. As the article points out, Vancouver is becoming a hotspot for animation studios. Sony Pictures Animation has a unit there, the makers of Sausage Party - Nitrogen Studios and several others. Pixar Canada was a great idea for short film and specials production, but moving that all back to the main building? I'm really not sure if that could work out or not, given Pixar's own problems with their scheduling.

Sad, sad news... I hope the staff end up at Pixar's main unit or find work immediately. Pixar Canada's work, visually, was well above competent. The Toy Story Toons and Cars Toons liked just fine, and I was anticipating what they would do next and it was possible that they'd bring Pixar into other realms beyond television. Pixar's big TV debut begins with Toy Story of Terror, which will be premiering next week on ABC... Hopefully the closing of this studio doesn't affect those plans to branch out.

Cartoon Musings: "Goliath II"

Goliath II

A Walt Disney Productions Cartoon

Originally released on January 21, 1960

Goliath II is a very notable Disney short subject for one big reason. It was the first animated production to be done entirely in the then-newly introduced Xerox process, the very format that would be used for all things animated at Disney from this short up until the introduction of APT (Animation Photo Transfer) in the mid-1980s.

Now I don't really admire the look that Xerography brought to the Disney animated features and shorts, the only exception for me is One Hundred and One Dalmatians, where the animators and artists based the entire look of that film around the sketchiness produced by the new process. Because of this, Dalmatians is an iconoclastic Disney film in many ways and a visual feast. Now if they repeated that for other films, I'd be fine, but...

To me, something like The Jungle Book isn't as refined as it should be because the extra lines and scribble was kept in the character animation which clashes with the more naturalistic art direction. I think it works in Dalmatians because everything else around the characters is decidedly sketchy and crawling with lines! It's not completely bothersome, but I can't help but notice the scribble wars going on in the characters during some sequences. I know some may like this, but I personally don't have much praise for it. Walt himself particularly hated Xerography...

It all began with Goliath II, the sort of testing ground for the format that would be attached to the live action film Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus in early 1960. Does it work as a short, though?

Goliath II's titular elephant is ridiculously small, he's practically a little critter. His father rejects him because in the elephant's society - bigger means better. On the other hand, his mother cares for him and is constantly trying to keep him out of harm's way. He at times is a problem for the other elephants, too. Since Goliath II is the exact opposite of a goliath, he's very vulnerable. A buffoonish tiger named Raja takes complete advantage of this, and throughout the entire film, he's always trying to eat the little pachyderm. Not to mention, this is his opportunity to actually taste an elephant.

Later on, he runs away because he feels like he's being treated like a baby by his mother. As expected, the world away from home is frightening. The film uses a trope that would showed up in some other Disney animated films - Bongo and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! immediately comes to mind - the whole "at night, animals are scary" sequence. Things like frogs and owls making their usual noises and whatnot frighten the scared elephant. Soon enough, he encounters Raja again only for his mother to save him and subsequently punish him. Running away is such a crime, Goliath II is looked at in a negative light... That is until the herd encounters the most terrifying thing to them on the planet.

You can probably guess what it is.

This surprisingly malicious mouse encounters Goliath II and tells him to leave his sight, or he'll tear him to shreds. (He means business!) Goliath II gets the better of him and reduces him to a coward, who begs for the elephant's mercy in a typical but funny turning of the tables. The brave little elephant now regarded as honorable: He gets to ride on top of his father's head, the herd respects him and he's never out of his mother's sight.

One of Disney's "featurettes" from their late short subject period, Goliath II is perhaps a little longer than it should be, but it tells its story well within the 15-minute timeframe. Sterling Holloway makes for a good narrator, as always. You just can't beat that voice! Goliath II is no Dumbo, but he's likable enough and there are some mildly funny moments. But it's mostly calm, quiet and not really that heavy on the jokes. Like most of the featurettes from the late 1950s and 1960s, it feels like an abridged animated feature.

George Bruns' score definitely fits the more quiet mood, as the short does have a nice look to it. The minimalist and abstract jungle backdrop is fun and vibrant, the colors often pop, and the score only adds to it. The characters all look good too, I especially like the design on Raja, a humorous goofball tiger design. It's a very competently-designed film, but the art direction is the stand-out feature of this mere test film. Actually, listen to Bruns' score and you'll notice that pieces of it would be used in later films like One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Bruns' was often reused, particularly the "sad" music that you'll hear in particular moments in (for a few examples) Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book.

In fact, this short is like The Jungle Book's predecessor. The look of it, the score and the setting all scream Jungle Book... A film that wasn't made until seven years later! Either this was some sort of prototype Jungle Book or the crew working on the feature film simply looked back on this short for inspiration.

The former, to me, sounds the most plausible because story man Bill Peet always wanted Walt to tackle Rudyard Kipling's stories. As far back as the late 1930s, even! (A Disney Jungle Book made and released sometime in the 1940s really would've been something!) Walt ended up obtaining the rights to Kipling's classic books in 1962; Bill Peet ultimately ended up abandoning the project and left the studio after many disagreements with Walt over the direction the film was going. (Detailed extensively in books and The Jungle Book's Platinum Edition DVD.)

Anyways, the Sterling Holloway narration also adds to that. I'll always refer to this film as a prototype Jungle Book, or a sort of Jungle Book before it was even approached.

The other notable thing about this short is the heavy use of recycled animation. You thought Robin Hood overdid it? This one makes all of that film's tracing over spree look like nothing. Goliath II not only recycles animation from previous Disney films, it recycles characters! Peter Pan's crocodile is in this, along with Friend Owl from Bambi. A redrawn version of the paranoid bird from Alice in Wonderland also makes an appearance. On top of that, we see animation from Dumbo to several other things being reused. It's probably the most economic piece of animated filmmaking that Disney has ever made!

And funny thing is, The Jungle Book recycled a lot of animation from this! The elephants all collapsing and banging into each other? What casual Disney fan would've known that the scene of Col. Hathi stopping only for the elephants to crash into him was taken from an older short subject? Certainly fascinating, indeed. Man, the Jungle Book connections are unavoidable! Oh yeah, did you know that the film is coming to Blu-ray next spring? Okay, let's move on...

So yes, this little short isn't one of Bill Peet's finest hours in storytelling, but it's not terrible. It's lightweight with some good moments, but it's mostly good to watch for some Disney animation history. I liken it to something like Bongo, a good showcase of what was going on at the studio at the time (animation historian Jerry Beck's analysis of that subject is spot on), but not necessarily a stellar short subject. But I do like the score, the art direction and the Jungle Book connections. It's what I take away from this film.

Anyways, for your viewing pleasure... Goliath II...

You can find this short on the Walt Disney Treasures set Disney Rarities, the 2009 DVD of The Reluctant Dragon (short subject only, not the full 1941 film) or a 2006 DVD entitled It's A Small World of Fun Volume One. If you want to go vintage and do a little collectible hunting, you can track down the 1985 Cartoon Classics Limited Gold Edition II release How The Best Was Won: 1933-1960 - on VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc. The titular character is on the front cover!

What's your take on this short subject? Good? Classic? An interesting watch? A weaker offering from Disney? Sound off below!

Branching Out on Blu

In a rather strange move, Disney's home entertainment division announced that two titles that are hitting stores on November 5th... But they aren't full-length features!

That's right... A featurette and a cash grab holiday special assembled from a television episode and other footage.

According to DVDizzy, Mickey's Christmas Carol will come with two other cartoons that are currently unspecified. My guess is that The Small One will be one of the two, being a holiday-themed roughly half hour-long short subject. Coincidentally, both films were products from the then-young turks at the Disney studio. Don Bluth worked on The Small One - which was released in 1978 to accompany the holiday re-release of Pinocchio - one of the last projects he completed work on at the Disney studio before leaving in 1979. Mickey's Christmas Carol was another safe project for the animators, as the executives weren't willing to let them tackle the likes of a big budget Snow White-type epic - something like The Black Cauldron - just yet.

Though it may be criticized for being a watered down version of the classic story, I always thought it was a good short. I particularly liked the surprise appearances of characters from some of the classics, including the package features. I'll happily pick it up. If the Blu-ray contains The Small One, what else will it contain? Supposedly the main feature runs 95 minutes, and that's 52 minutes down so... I'm guessing a package of Christmas Mickey short subjects (Cartoon Classics-style) or maybe a special from the 90s or something... Can't really guess at the moment.

A Very Merry Pooh Year was a 2002 special cobbled together from "Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too" (a special from the New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh television series that ran from 1988 to 1991) and newly-created animation... All I can say is this: Does this really warrant a Blu-ray release? Why can't Disney just do the right thing and release the entire first season of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on Blu-ray... Oh, and while they're at it, seasons for every Disney Afternoon cartoon. Consumers may not demand it, but many other folks do! Plus, if they forget the special and just release seasons of New Adventures, parents will snatch them up for their tykes. Heck, even Pooh's Grand Adventure is more deserving of a Blu-ray release than this!

Anyways, if Disney is willing to release short subjects and specials on Blu-ray as standalone titles, then what could they possibly churn out next year? Cartoon compilations, maybe? More shorts? What do you think?

P.S. - I saw Monsters University yesterday and I thought it was very, very good... Review should be up soon, but I'd prefer if I gave it another watch... Until then, stay tooned!

A Rainy City Tale

Did you ever follow the Twitter and/or Tumblr account detailing an upcoming Pixar short film? For a while, we've gotten various updates on the cryptic project. Now, we know what it's called: The Blue Umbrella. The Wall Street Journal was the first to get their hands on a clip. It's thirty seconds of typical Pixar: Pure brilliance...



The Blue Umbrella will be attached to Monsters University, which of course opens on June 21st. I'm already looking forward to this, and what's great is that it's another unconventional choice for a short film. That's what you always get from Pixar when it comes to the short films.