Pixar news. All the time.
Immediately following the Academy Awards last night, the stars proceeded to the Governers Ball. The annual party is always the first stop of (likely) many parties for the winners. Cameras caught Lee Unkrich and Randy Newman celebrating their big Oscar wins in style. Enjoy the photos below.
Lee Unkrich with admirer. Credit: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Going into the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, Toy Story 3 had been nominated for five Oscars, while Day & Night was up for one. After a broadcast that lasted a bit longer than three hours, the smoke cleared and Toy Story 3 emerged a winner. The film did not walk away with the Best Picture award, but did come away with two more golden statuettes that can now be placed in Pixar Animation Studios’ ever-growing trophy case. [Read more...]
Congratulations to Lee Unkrich, Randy Newman, and everyone at Pixar who helped make Toy Story 3 happen.
Jerrod Maruyama, art director for The Pixar Times, put together this great piece.
Click here to read our recap of the Academy Awards.
Welcome to The Pixar Times’ live-blog of tonight’s Academy Awards, where you will find all Pixar-related updates below. Throughout the telecast, we will be posting updates, so hit your refresh button frequently to find out what is happening live! Are you unable to watch The Academy Awards tonight? Already watching but want some commentary to accompany the broadcast? This is the perfect place to be.
Keep it right here! (Note: All times reflected will be Eastern Standard Time) [Read more...]
Tonight is the big night, as The 83rd Annual Academy Awards are being held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Pixar’s Toy Story 3 is nominated for five Oscars, while the studio’s short, Day & Night, is up for one. Read on for a complete list of categories in which they have received nominations. [Read more...]
The marketing team at Disney/Pixar knew that since Toy Story 3 was an animated film, they would need to employ creative tactics to raise awareness of the film come awards season. Not only were they going for Best Animated Film, but Best Picture was also on their minds. They rose to the challenge as they released tongue-in-cheek “For Your Consideration” posters that referenced past Best Picture winners like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, On The Waterfront, The Silence of the Lambs, Slumdog Millionaire, Platoon, and more. Though Disney is in charge of the marketing, it is not difficult to see that whatever Pixar, its films and characters grace (even if it is an advertisement), it is fantastic. [Read more...]
Toy Story 3 was the best-reviewed film of the year, sitting at the top of Rotten Tomatoes’ tracking system with a 99% rating. Further, the film broke records left and right at the box office, ultimately settling in the position of the biggest movie of 2010 and the highest-grossing animated film of all-time. It is true that box office status and Tomatometer ratings do not guarantee a Best Picture win – actually, they, often don’t. However, many (filmgoers and critics) have called Toy Story 3 the best film of the year, so what is standing in the way of the animated film and the most coveted Oscar? History. [Read more...]
In the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly, the popular magazine has a first look at the new Toy Story short entitled Hawaiian Vacation. The Toy Story Toon is set to hit theaters alongside Cars 2 on June 24, 2011. We have a scan of the magazine’s first look, which you can take a look at here: [Read more...]
Disney unveiled two more new Cars 2 characters today, releasing hi-res images and descriptions. Before today, we did not know that much about these two but Rod ‘Torque’ Redline and Siddeley but considering one of them is voiced by Bruce Campbell and the other is the biggest Cars 2 character we have seen to date and has the ability to fly, they are likely to be memorable characters. Did we mention they are both spies? Read on for images and descriptions!
Rod “Torque” Redline (voiced by Bruce Campbell)
Wazowski Live! By MUD!
All the way from Billy’s Bedroom, we give you MIKE WAZOWSKI LIVE! But seriously folks, we’re just crazy about this great image from the artist known as MUD! Check out his site for some more Pixar themed work. He’s got a great poster featuring everybody’s favorite Wilderness Explorer! Read on for more about the artist in his own words… [Read more...]
I decided I wanted to clear up a misconception that may exist about The Pixar Times. This site may have its focus directed squarely upon Pixar, but that does not mean that we view other studios (e.g. Dreamworks Animation) negatively. Actually, I fully support the development of great films, regardless of the production studio.
Twitter lit up yesterday when a Cars 2 television commercial made a surprise appearance during the annual Daytona 500. It includes lots of new footage so it was quite a delight to watch. Check it out below:
Did you really think we were done with our Toy Fair coverage? Well, think again! On the Cars 2 media day at Toy Fair this past week, there were some very cool pieces of art that were displayed. Most of them seem to be associated with the characters’ trip to Tokyo, Japan. We have set up a gallery of the images, which you can view below: [Read more...]
Disney/Pixar had already confirmed that the first Toy Story short will be attached to the upcoming Cars 2. Today, at their Investors Conference, the Walt Disney Company announced that the second Toy Story short will be attached to the upcoming Disney film, The Muppets, which is set to debut in theaters late this year. [Read more...]
As part of the Cars 2 media event in New York City yesterday, Disney Interactive Group unveiled a playable version of Cars 2: The Video Game. Due in June 2011, the game, which will be available on the XBox 360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, and the PC and MAC, allows players to take control of the various characters in the Cars universe and undergo simulated missions. I had the pleasure of seeing the game in action, and I am pleased to report that it looks to be a fun experience.
The basic storyline is that the Cars characters join up with an agency named C.H.R.O.M.E. (Command Headquarters for Recon Operations & Motorized Espionage) and participate in missions that have been simulated, which opens up the game to many exciting new directions. This allows for the game to remain faithful to the story of the Cars films, which the developer (Avalanche Software) and Pixar seem intent to do. [Read more...]
As part of the Cars 2 panel that was held today in New York City, Disney debuted two new English characters: Miles Axelrod and Nigel Gearsley. The film continues to add famous individuals to its cast, as comedian Eddie Izzard was announced as the voice of Miles Axelrod. Read on for hi-res images and official descriptions of the characters.
Miles Axelrod (voiced by Eddie Izzard)
In conjunction with the New York International Toy Fair, Disney Consumer Products held a Cars 2 panel, where they spoke about the film, a few new characters, and (of course) the more than 300 toys that will tie in to Pixar’s upcoming movie. Film stars Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer were also on hand to discuss Pixar and their time spent shooting the film. I have kept this article largely spoiler-free, but there are a few plot details (nothing substantial) that are discussed.
[UPDATE 1: Added a gallery of high-resolution photos from the media event at the bottom of the post.]
[UPDATE 2: Added a video recap of yesterday's event below.]
Leading into the Academy Awards, it seems that there is not much that stands in the way of Toy Story 3 capturing the Best Animated Film Oscar. Earlier tonight, the 64th Annual BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards took place and handed out the big animation prize to Pixar’s latest, further cementing the film’s status as the best animated film (and one of the best films) of the year. [Read more...]
At the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy bestowed Randy Newman with an award for ‘Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Media’ for his work on the Toy Story 3 soundtrack. In the Toy Story films, the accomplished composer has created a collection of music that is almost as instantly recognizable as the characters within the movies. Randy Newman’s win for Toy Story 3 is a nice recognition of all of his great work on the film trilogy. [Read more...]
Checkmate by Chris Chua
As today is the 25th Anniversary of Pixar Animation Studios, we wanted to run a special edition of PixArt to celebrate. Now, we are absolutely thrilled to present a piece by Chris Chua, an animator at Pixar. Since he joined the storied studio a few years ago, Chris has worked on films WALL-E and Up. Last week, we got a look at a turntable video for Cars 2 character, Carla Veloso, which Chris animated.
We asked Chris a few questions about his evolution into an animator, his time at Pixar, and his influences. Read on to go on a journey through the mind of a great Pixar animator! [Read more...]
