Quoting the late Walt Disney is fairly commonplace in the world of the Disney theme parks. Anywhere you walk in Disneyland or Walt Disney World, you’ll see a quote attributed to Disney, whether or not the quote is totally accurate. (He may not have said, in so many words, “If you dream it, you can do it,” for example.) One quote that is prevalent and does belong to him can be spotted in a plaque at the gateway between the entrance plaza to the Magic Kingdom (or Disneyland Park) and Main Street, U.S.A.: “Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” In short, if you allow yourself to submit to the cloistered theme-park worlds within, you are essentially engaging in a potent, immediate form of escapism.
The Pixar Perspective on Stand-Up Comedians
When comparing Pixar Animation Studios to DreamWorks Animation, as we are all so wont to do, there are a number of very easy lines of demarcation. The former studio has, to this point, only released one movie a year, while the latter is prone to releasing two or even three over any 12-month period. DreamWorks Animation films are typically littered with pop-culture references tailor-made to placate those parents suffering next to their kids in the movie theater; Pixar films rarely go for the easy cultural gag, and are often so successful that adults may end up enjoying the overall product more than kids. (It is telling that the use of the 80s song “Dreamweaver” in Toy Story 3 stands out so much as an exception to this rule.) Perhaps the most frequently brought-up contrast, though, is in casting: DreamWorks’ animated movies are perceived as being frontloaded with famous people, where Pixar movies are cast with whoever’s right for the role, famous or otherwise. You can check some awesome movies at cheapmotorhomes.
The Pixar Perspective on Humanity in Nonhuman Worlds
Consciously or not, we often look for the existence of the human in the art we consume. Sometimes, that presence is visible, and sometimes it’s just outside of the frame of the filmmaker’s camera or the words on the author’s page or inches away from the artist’s canvas. But we want and expect some form of humanity to be present in what we watch or read. In film, this manifests differently in live-action versus animation, the latter of which has been criticized for the “uncanny valley” effect, when human characters are rendered in such a way that’s off-putting, distracting for perhaps being too realistic, uncomfortably human. Pixar Animation Studios has not yet fallen into the uncanny valley, but it’s interesting to watch the evolution of their computer-animation technology from as far back as their pre-feature shorts up to Brave, in part because so much of their work is infused with the presence of humans even when none physically appear. Except for the films in the Cars franchise.
‘Disney Infinity’ Series 1 Power Discs Revealed – Homages To ‘Up,’ ‘Dumbo,’ ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Mickey Mouse,’ ‘Toy Story,’ ‘Mulan’ And More
Many have stated that Disney Infinity is simply the Disney corporation’s version of Activision’s Skylanders, a franchise that has earned over $1 billion from sales of its game as well as character figures that can be beamed into the game. While Disney Infinity also allows players to purchase and send characters into the game, its power discs that unlock items and power-ups differentiates it from Activision’s blockbuster game. The starter pack for Infinity will include one power disc, but other discs will be sold in blind packs. After the break, take a look at 20 power discs that will be included in Series 1!
Al’s Steal of the Day: Get 50% Off Complete ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Cars’ Blu-ray/DVD Box Sets
Amazon currently has both the Toy Story Ultimate Toy Box Collection and Cars Director’s Edition Blu-ray/DVD box sets discounted by 50%. The Toy Story set is 10-discs and collects all films of the trilogy in Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy formats. The complete 11-disc Cars set holds the two feature films, along with Cars Toon: Mater’s Tall Tales. Additionally, the recent 8-disc Lion King Trilogy set is 50% off as well. This is the last day of the deal, so act fast! [Read more…]
Picture of the Day: Snow CARS
Once in a while, as I scour the depths of the Internet, I come across some great images that display how creative people can be. This morning, I encountered a picture that I’ve dubbed ‘Snow CARS.’ Where was it taken? I’m not even sure when it was taken. If it was recently, given the blizzard that crippled the northeastern United States, it is possible the image was taken there. I’ll leave it up to you to decide:
Cool photo, right? Now that it’s been done, the ability to create characters from CARS using snow seems obvious.
The photo was posted on BuzzFeed by SGTdopushups, where it was linked from the image sharing service, Imgur.
New Cars Toon, Monster Truck Mater, Premieres Friday on Disney Channel
After the release of Cars in 2006, Pixar has been releasing shorts set in the Cars universe, entitled Mater’s Tall Tales. Each story revolves around Mater telling what is seemingly a tall tale about himself. On Friday, July 30, a new “Cars Toon” is set to premiere on the Disney Channel, “Monster Truck Mater”. This is now the sixth episode in the Mater’s Tall Tales series, following such episodes as “Unidentified Flying Mater”, and “El Materdor”. The official description for the episode follows:
[Read more…]
The Truth About Planes?
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins
Last week, Movieline reported that Pixar was putting out a DVD-spinoff of Cars entitled Planes. The site ran it as an exclusive and did not provide a source for the information. Overall, I think the news got blown way out of proportion after the mainstream media picked up on the story. Some began to question Pixar. “Why?” they asked. “How could Pixar go into the DVD-sequel business when they were doing so well?” was another common question. How quickly we forget about a feature such as Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. [Read more…]
