If you didn’t buy 2013 as being a year of total change for Pixar Animation Studios before, it would be extraordinarily difficult to deny it after the latest bit of bad news out of Emeryville. And, as is now typical, it all revolves around The Good Dinosaur, which holds the title as the most unfortunately beleaguered future release from any major film studio, all things considered. Was it only a few months ago when the film was unveiled at the D23 Expo, including some of its top-billed voice cast? Since early August, things have changed rapidly for The Good Dinosaur. First, its director, Bob Peterson, was shifted off the project. (As of this writing, no replacement has been announced; there’s a group of creatives working on the film’s production, but it’s closer to a brain trust.) Then, the release date was shifted from May of 2014 to November of 2015, making 2014 the first year in nearly a decade without a new Pixar film. Now, the company has laid off roughly 5% of its work force, in conjunction with that 18-month delay.
Pixar Lays Off Undisclosed Number Of Employees After ‘The Good Dinosaur’ Delay
After Pixar announced that The Good Dinosaur would be delayed, there was a question as to where the studio would move those employees who would have been working on the film. The animation process for a Pixar feature film takes approximately one year, so with the film not arriving in theaters until November 2015, there is almost an entire year before the bulk of the animation portion of production begins. We have our answer now, as the animation studio has stated that an undisclosed number of employees are being laid off.
Pixar Canada Shut Down Today
Pixar has been growing over the years, with one of its biggest increases represented by the opening of a branch in Vancouver, Canada in 2010. Pixar Canada was created to work on shorts and television specials utilizing established franchises such as Toy Story and Cars. The studio worked on the animation and technical aspects of several shorts such as PartySaurus Rex and Small Fry. Shockingly, though, news has emerged that the branch was officially closed down today. Read on for more details after the break.
‘Toy Story’ Short ‘Partysaurus Rex’ Premieres Monday On The Disney Channel
Often, we have to wait a number of months after theater premieres before we have the opportunity to see Pixar films on the small screen. While the feature films make their way from theaters to Blu-rays and DVDs to premium movie channels before finally playing on TV sets around the country, Pixar shorts are a different story. The latest Toy Story Toon, entitled Partysaurus Rex, has been playing with Finding Nemo 3D for the last month. It will now be providing a larger audience with the ability to laugh at its hysterical storyline, as it will premiere Monday night on the Disney Channel.
Take A Tour Through Pixar Canada
Pixar Canada has been operating for over a year now, but other than a launch video for the studio, we have not heard or seen much from Pixar’s sister branch. The smaller Vancouver studio is currently spearheading shorts for the company’s franchises, such as Cars and Toy Story. With their first completed project, Air Mater, having recently seen release on the Cars 2 Blu-ray and DVD box sets, many photos from the interior of the office space have hit the web. Check out some of the photos here! [Read more…]
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:
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