On Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dan Scanlon, who played an integral role on the first Cars, as he worked on the screenplay and storyboarding process for the film. While he served as co-director of the Mater and the Ghostlight short, he has been given a bit more responsibility, as he confirmed to us that he would be directing Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters, Inc.
We wanted to wait to share the exciting news with you until we he had cleared it with Pixar. We were given the go-ahead and if you follow The Pixar Times on Twitter, you saw the simultaneous announcement with our friends at Upcoming Pixar and Pixar Talk.
Now why is bringing Scanlon, who has never before directed a feature film for the studio, in to direct the film an exciting endeavor? Monsters, Inc. was directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, and they brought their vision to the screen. Dan Scanlon is now being given a chance to share his vision, and as someone whose work we have not seen in abundance, he has the potential to bring audiences a faithful yet new look at the Monsters world.
While the film is not set to debut until late in the fall of 2012, word is that the studio is buzzing at the new direction that a prequel route has afforded them. With Cars 2 still to come and Brave to follow before Monsters University hits theaters, it may be a little bit until we saw a flurry of new details for the film, as Pixar and Disney will be focusing on the films that are closest to being released.
Monsters University (which is likely going to be the full title of the film), rides into North American theaters on November 2, 2012, exactly 11 years after the release of the original film.
