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!

Disney Slate Update: Marvel, Muppets, Planes & More!

Disney has once again changed their upcoming slate, but this change doesn't affect releases from Walt Disney Animation Studios or Pixar. The details are here thanks to Box Office Mojo and /Film...

The big news here is that two untitled Marvel productions have been slated for May 6, 2016 and May 5, 2017. Marvel usually takes the first Friday of May for most of their films (the Iron Man films, The Avengers and its sequel, Thor), and I guess Star Wars spin-offs are opening in theaters in both May 2016 and May 2017.

What will be ready? For the May 2016 film, probably Doctor Strange, though in my recent set of predictions, I thought that the film would come a month early since Marvel has locked the early April 2014 spot for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I was thinking that Disney would release Marvel movies in April to distance them from any Lucasfilm productions (i.e the Star Wars spin-offs, since Disney wants at least one Star Wars film a year), but it looks like Disney is okay with releasing both a Marvel film and a Lucasfilm production in the same month. That is, if Lucasfilm follows the mid-May tradition for everything they release.

Oddly enough, no other Marvel production is slated for a 2016 release. This implies that Marvel may produce one film a year after 2015, but maybe we'll hear more in the coming months. I can't see Marvel ditching the 2-film-a-year strategy anytime soon since the momentum is still there. Speaking of Lucasfilm, no date for Star Wars: Episode VII yet! But I think we all know what it will be...

Yep, Ricky Gervais is going to be in this.

Some minor changes were made to one 2013 release and two 2014 releases...

Brad Bird's Tomorrowland has been moved a week forward. The film will now open on December 12, 2014... Good. The only thing that stands in its way is the finale to Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, but something tells me that this Bird-directed sci-fi will overshadow the hobbits since the first one did very well, but didn't perform like a titan. In addition to George Clooney, Hugh Laurie and Raffey Cassiday, Thomas Robinson has now been cast. It'll be fun to track this one, since the marketing will be decidedly enigmatic!

The Muppets... Again! is now Muppets Most Wanted. Not really sure about that title, to be honest. It may fit in with the plot, but I think it sounds a bit awkward. What do you think of it? The release date is still the same: March 21, 2014.

This December's Disney film, Saving Mr. Banks, has also been moved a week forward. The film opens on December 13, 2013.

More films have been scheduled for release in 2014...

The first of which is Planes: Fire and Rescue, which opens on July 18th... I was hoping that this spin-off franchise wouldn't be a theatrical thing. I was already not to thrilled with the fact that Planes was getting a theatrical release, this will only cause more confusion since a lot of people assume that the series was made by Pixar. Like I need to hear any more "Planes? What are you doing, Pixar?!" complaints. Anyways, Disney is apparently very confident in the first film. After all, it probably didn't cost much to make being a DisneyToon Studios production, but I'll be surprised if it makes much more than $100 million at the domestic box office.

Opening on August 8th is a project I've never heard of before: The Hundred-Foot Journey. A Touchstone/DreamWorks production, the film is based on a book by Richard C. Morais. It's about an Indian boy living in Paris who becomes the apprentice for a chef that's a rival to his father.

This one was announced last year: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. An adaptation of the children's book of the same name where a boy's family has a bad day thanks to him wishing they'd experience his daily problems, this might go the way of The Odd Life of Timothy Green... It just screams unspectacular to me. However, The Jim Henson Company is working on it so there might be something interesting about it. Steve Carrell and Jennifer Garner will be in it, and Cedar Rapids director Miguel Arteta will direct. The film is set to open on October 10, 2014.

Into The Woods will arrive on Christmas Day. I had initially predicted that it would be Disney's March 2015 release, but apparently it'll be ready by the end of next year. The Rob Marshall-directed production stars quite the cast, too: Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep. This ought to be a big success for Disney, though it's being released a little too close to Tomorrowland.

A total of 13 films from the Mouse House (including Marvel and Touchstone/DreamWorks films) will now be coming to theaters in 2014! I guess Disney really does want to bang 14-15 films out a year! Now I'll have to update my predictions...

What's your on this news? What do you think of Planes' sequel getting a theatrical release? Are you interested in any of the live action films that Disney has planned for 2014? Or not? What do you of think the new title for the Muppets sequel?

Sound off below!

Disney Updates Their Schedule

Walt Disney Pictures announced some new additions to their upcoming schedules and also moved a few releases.

For starters, the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series will open on July 10, 2015. This is a return to the series' usual spot, only At World's End and On Stranger Tides were late May releases. As for the film itself, I can take it or leave it. I felt that On Stranger Tides was less convoluted than At World's End, but I thought it was just bland and lacked any punch. If the fifth installment restores some of the franchise's lost luster, I'll check it out.

Maleficent also moved. It was originally scheduled for release on March 14, 2014. It now opens on July 2nd. This way, it won't go head to head with DreamWorks' Me and My Shadow.

Brad Bird's cryptic upcoming project, 1952, is now penciled in for December 19, 2014. It will also be the director's first 3D film, but will they film it in 3D? Or will it be another post-conversion job? Speaking of 3D, the two Marvel Cinematic Universe films opening in 2014 will also be in the format: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (opens April 4th) and Guardians of the Galaxy (opens August 1). I assume both will be post-conversion 3D like the other MCU films.

The Muppets II was initially announced for a December 20, 2013 release; the same day as Saving Mr. Banks. Thankfully Disney moved the sequel to March 21, 2014. This way, it can probably outgross its predecessor and be a big hit. Why the first one didn't do so well is beyond me.

We got no word on other 2014/2015 releases. There's still no date for the Phineas and Ferb film adaptation; I just hope it isn't in limbo at this point. The untitled Walt Disney Animation Studios film (to be released on November 7, 2014) remains, well... Untitled. Star Wars Episode VII has no date either, but this is understandable. The usually May spot will dominated by The Avengers 2 among other releases. Hopefully we'll find out what's coming in 2016 in the coming months be it one of the new projects Disney green lit or the third Tron film.

Most of this is all good news, but part of it isn't. In fact, the last change is pretty bad news. The planned 3D re-release of The Little Mermaid is no longer a reality. I was hoping to see the 1989 classic on the big screen, but it seems as if Disney has lost faith in the 3D re-release routine. I believe they went about it the wrong way; releasing films that weren't out of reach to theaters and hoping they would replicate the success of The Lion King 3D.

I've been saying it for a while: The 3D re-releases of Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. didn't make big bucks because they weren't out of reach. The Lion King was vaulted in January 2005, so the re-release came at the right time. Beauty and the Beast and Monsters, Inc. were available when the 3D re-releases hit theaters. Finding Nemo was vaulted in January 2010, but literally everyone and their brother has a copy of Finding Nemo. Of course those re-releases wouldn't match The Lion King 3D's $93 million domestic total.

All I can say is: Disney, you are making a mistake. Big time.

Update: Brad Bird confirmed on Twitter that 1952 being in 3D is a rumor.