May 17, 2012

‘Sam & Max’ Creator Steve Purcell Credited As Co-Director Of ‘Brave’

Image via Wikipedia

I am not sure whether this is something that we all missed, or specifically a detail that I, alone, missed – Steve Purcell, so integral at developing the story for Brave, is being credited as co-director on the film. He joins Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews in the growing list of credited directors on the [...]

Pixar’s Teddy Newton Cameos In ‘Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ (Updated With Video)

Teddy Newton

On the eve of the early IMAX-only opening of Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the Brad Bird film is pulling in overwhelmingly great reviews. It has already been certified “fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes and is currently sitting above 90% on the Tomatometer with more reviews continuing to roll in. The consensus seems to be that [...]

Help Emma Coats + Other Pixar Employees Make Their Film Great

Sweetpea

There is an incredible amount of talent that works on Pixar’s campus in Emeryville, California. That, of course, can be seen through the studio’s films. Many of those Pixar employees also display talents in other areas – some are musicians, others are comic book artists. There are even those who make their own independent films [...]

NY Times: Pete Docter Helped Make Real-Life Up House A Reality

Pete Docter

The New York Times is reporting that a studio executive told the paper that Up director Pete Docter played a crucial role in the painstaking process to get the Up house recreation built in Utah. When Blair Bangerter, the designer of the Utah house, came up with the idea to bring the home to life, [...]

D23 2011: A Conversation With The Pixar Creative Team Panel (Update: Video Footage Added)

PETE HAMMOND, RONNIE DEL CARMEN, PETER SOHN, PETE SOHN, DAN SCANLON, BOB PETERSON, MARK ANDREWS, PETE DOCTER, ANDREW STANTON, JIM MORRIS, JOHN LASSETER

In celebration of 25 years of Pixar magic, the top creatives from the studio sat down for an informal chat at the D23 Expo on Saturday.  On hand for the event were John Lasseter, Jim Morris, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, Mark Andrews, Dan Scanlon, Pete Sohn and Ronnie del Carmen.  Scheduled but missing [...]

D23 2011: The Art of Brave Panel

©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

D23 Expo goers were given a rare and wonderful opportunity this past Sunday when Pixar presented “The Art of Brave.” The panel, hosted by production designer Steve Pilcher and shader art director Tia Kratter, offered a glimpse into the production and visual development process of the studio’s next animated feature. This really was something special. [...]

Video: A Day In The Life of John Lasseter

John Lasseter

What does it take for an individual to oversee Pixar, Disney Animation, Disney theme parks, and direct Cars 2? Given that many of us would have a hard time managing just one of these tasks, the incredibly busy John Lasseter needs a regimented schedule in his life to accomplish all of the above. Walt Disney [...]

Pixar Story Artist & Animator Draw Covers For Marvel Comics

New Mutants 27 by Austin Madison

When Disney bought Marvel a few years ago, imaginations around the world ran wild with ideas of collaborations between the two companies. Since Pixar is also a subsidiary of Disney, many fans had hoped to see some sort of collaboration between Pixar and Marvel Comics. Comics based on Pixar properties are currently being published by [...]

Video of the Day: John Lasseter Shows Off Hawaiian Shirt Collection

John Lasseter

In early April, Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle toured Cars 2 director John Lasseter’s closet and found exactly what was to be expected – an absolute ton of Hawaiian shirts. The Hawaiian-shirt-aficionado’s closet of 374 unique designs is organized by theme, with Pixar and Disney obviously accounting for a large part of the [...]

What Will Lee Unkrich Do When He Hits 100,000? [Update: We Know]

Lee_Unkrich

About two years ago, Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich made a promise that he would do something fun when he cracked the 5,000 follower mark on Twitter. He was certainly a man of his word, as he shared a video of himself smashing his face into a cake. The video is just one example [...]

Get To Know ‘La Luna’ Director Enrico Casarosa

Enrico Casarosa. Photographer: Deborah Coleman. ©Disney/Pixar.  All Rights Reserved.

On Thursday morning, news broke on Pixar’s brand new short, La Luna, a film that is set to play in various festivals throughout the year. The short film’s director and head of story, Enrico Casarosa, may not have directed a film for Pixar up until now, but he has spent quite a bit of time [...]

Cars 2 Production Designer Harley Jessup Talks Animation World

Harley Jessup. Photograph by Deborah Coleman. ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, recently produced a series of videos entitled “Production Design in the 21st Century,” where they spoke to production designers within the film industry. Harley Jessup, who is the production designer for the upcoming Cars 2, sat down to talk about his career [...]

John Lasseter Named One of the Most Influential People in the World

John Lasseter Portrait

TIME released its annual ’100 Most Influential People in the World’ list and Pixar’s own John Lasseter made the cut. As Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Disney, Lasseter is one of the most powerful people in film. Even with his executive positions at the two companies, he has somehow managed to find time to [...]

Brad Bird Hopes To Make Return To Pixar

Brad Bird

Brad Bird was flying high at Pixar Animation Studios. After directing the critically-acclaimed animated film, The Iron Giant, he arrived at Pixar and went on to direct The Incredibles and Ratatouille, two films that proved the director was no ordinary filmmaker. However, in the past few years it was announced that he was set to [...]

Technical Director Michael Frederickson Helps Build London For Cars 2

Michael Frederickson

It is incredibly easy for us to overlook details in a film. However, the great films do not take that as a reason to forgo the intricacies in the background. It is true that shortcuts are utilized by filmmakers for many items in the background, as many of these various elements will not be seen [...]

Pixar Technical Director Nick Pitera Displays His Other Great Talent

Nick Pitera

It is often hard to think of Pixar employees as normal individuals. The studio is like a mythical place that creates amazing pieces of film, so sometimes it is difficult for the public to comprehend that artists, animators, directors, supervisors, and designers at Pixar lead normal lives – they each have their own hobbies and [...]