Pixar is focused on producing original films next year, with Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur both slated to arrive in theaters in 2015. That does not mean that the studio has forgotten about its fan favorite characters. Woody and Buzz, along with the rest of the Toy Story gang have made the jump to the small screen, with a holiday special airing on ABC later this year. The next feature film from Pixar that is a follow-up, though, is Finding Dory, a sequel to Finding Nemo. It is scheduled to arrive in 2016, and although we do not have many details about its story, we now know that it will feature a small reunion for two actors from The Wire. [Read more…]
The Challenge In Letting Go Of ‘John Carter’
The concept of an infinite number of universes parallel to our own has some vague scientific backing behind it, but is mostly just fun to consider without presuming there’s any real logic involved. If you buy into the theory, then there’s a parallel universe where Dewey did defeat Truman in 1948, where the Buffalo Bills didn’t lose the Super Bowl in 1990 against the New York Giants due to a wide-right field goal, and so on. Thus, there might even be a parallel universe where every aspect of our current one is the same except for one thing: here, John Carter was a success at the box office, not an eternal punchline. It’s been over 2 years since John Carter was released in theaters after decades of development, and it left theaters almost as quickly. Although it was not the most painful flop in recent memory (any movie that grosses nearly $300 million worldwide deserves a tiny bit of credit), and although it has a dedicated subset of fans, John Carter is almost akin to a modern-day Ishtar: a movie known for its financial failure to a wide audience, even if that’s not equal to its creative quality.
The Pixar Perspective on The Pixar Moment in ‘Finding Nemo’
Of the various behind-the-scenes stories that have now become apocryphal to the Pixar legend, it’s hard to beat the one associated with Finding Nemo. In the final few years of his time at the top of the Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner was convinced that Pixar’s winning streak both at the box office and with critics was about to end with this animated feature, the first led by director Andrew Stanton. Eisner couldn’t possibly fathom, he told shareholders, how this movie about a clownfish desperately scouring the ocean for his missing (and only) son with a forgetful blue Tang at his side could ever hit it big with audiences worldwide. When he made these comments in 2001, he did so based on a work-in-progress screening that was, in three respects, vastly different from the final product: Marlin was voiced by William H. Macy, instead of Albert Brooks; the angelfish Gill was, in spite of being the leader of the fish in P. Sherman’s aquarium, lying about his sordid past; and Stanton chose to dole out a series of flashbacks explaining what happened to Nemo’s mother, Coral, instead of beginning the film this way.
The Pixar Perspective on Breaking Into Live-Action
As unlikely as it may have seemed a few years ago, or even a few months ago if you were stubbornly holding out against the truth, there will be a sequel to the 2003 Pixar classic Finding Nemo, opening in 2015. Of course, more than 30 months from its release, we know very little about Finding Dory, aside from that title, its release date, the involvement of Albert Brooks and—in a more pronounced fashion—Ellen DeGeneres, and little else. But that title can, if nothing else, allow us to assume we have a general notion of what the film will entail: instead of the harried, neurotic Marlin searching the ocean for his son Nemo, he’ll have to do so for the unlikely friend he picked up on that first journey, Dory. These are the facts—at least based on Disney’s recent press release—but those meager crumbs have inspired a great deal of worrisome Internet fervor in the last couple weeks.
Director Andrew Stanton Dispels ‘John Carter’ Myths
Given the amount of negativity surrounding Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton’s first live-action film, John Carter, you would think that many are not only expecting it to fail, but want it to. Stanton recently returned to Twitter and has been very active, taking time out of his surely-insane schedule to answer questions posed to him by followers. He has cleared up a few rumors about the film that have been floating around the web for months. After the jump, read what he had to say about the film’s oft-written about budget problems and more. [Read more…]
John Carter Website Launches, Teaser Attached To Harry Potter
Disney has launched the official website for their live-action feature directed by Andrew Stanton, John Carter (formerly John Carter of Mars). The site is light on goodies at this point, solely featuring a short film synopsis, a brief listing of the cast and crew, as well as a download link for the hi-res teaser poster that was released a few weeks ago. Read on for a look at the official site! [Read more…]
Disney: John Carter Teaser Poster, Concept Art Released
Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton is venturing into live-action with the upcoming Disney production, John Carter (formerly titled John Carter of Mars) and while it is not a Pixar film, we will be covering the sci-fi film since we figured that many fans of Pixar films are anxiously awaiting to see Stanton’s vision once again. After all, WALL-E was Pixar’s foray into a science-fiction inspired story, and it was easily one of the studio’s most original pieces of work. Considering the man who brought us that unique perspective is the one in charge of John Carter, and looking at the fantastic concept art for the film that has been released, this certainly has the potential to be a great film. [Read more…]
