Ratatouille has won the Oscar for best feature length animated movie and Peter & the Wolf has won for best animated short.
Congrats to the winners!
Update 2/29/08: Peter & the Wolf will make its U.S. television premiere on Thirteen/WNET’s GREAT PERFORMANCES series on Wednesday, March 26 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).
In the mean time, check out some behind-the-scenes footage.
The Walt Disney Studios is taking the latest advances in digital 3-D technology “to infinity and beyond” with plans to debut new Disney Digital 3-D versions of Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story” on October 2nd, 2009, and “Toy Story 2” on February 12th, 2010, it was announced by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.
Both of these beloved animated features are being newly converted to 3-D in advance of the June 18th, 2010 release of Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story 3,” which is being produced as a 3-D motion picture. Veteran Pixar filmmaker Lee Unkrich (co-director “Toy Story 2”) is directing.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Lasseter (director of the first two “Toy Story” films and chief creative officer for Disney and Pixar Animation Studios) will personally oversee the creative side of the 3-D conversions for “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” with his acclaimed team of technical wizards handling all the necessary steps in the conversion process.
Commenting on the announcement, Cook said, “We are committed to bringing moviegoers the best and most exciting 3-D movie experience, and we think they’re going to love seeing Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and all the wonderful ‘Toy Story’ cast of characters in an eye popping and dazzling way. John Lasseter and the animation team are putting all their passion and hard work into making this the greatest 3-D experience yet, and we’re excited to share their efforts with audiences everywhere.”
Lasseter added, “The ‘Toy Story’ films and characters will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we’re so excited to be bringing this landmark film back for audiences to enjoy in a whole new way thanks to the latest in 3-D technology. I am sure that this is going to be nothing short of fantastic and people are going to be blown away by the experience. With ‘Toy Story 3’ shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought it would be great to let audiences experience the first two films all over again and in a brand new way. 3-D offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation and we will continue to use this new technology to tell our stories in the best possible way.”
Disney has released the first image of their upcoming 2D film, The Princess and the Frog.
The film will tell the story of Maddy, Disney’s first Black princess, and mark’s Disney’s return to the musical genre.
The Princess and the Frog arrives in theaters in late 2009.
As you may or may not know (you would if you read The Animation Blog everyday), Toy Story 3 is currently in development and scheduled for a June, 2009 release.
Many wondered if Tom Hanks and Tim Allen would return to voice Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Rest easy, now that Tom Hanks has confirmed that he will be back.
“I’ll do anything they want me to do, they’re like mad scientists,” said Tom Hanks during an interview with Jonathan Ross on his Friday night show.
No official confirmation from Tim Allen has been issued but we can pretty much assume that he will return. It wouldn’t be Toy Story 3 without him.
Via InTheNews
“The fact is, we’re very, very excited about the future,” John Lasseter, creative director of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. “The whole notion that the audience didn’t want to watch hand-drawn animation any more was ridiculous. It would be like saying the audience didn’t want to watch something made with a particular camera. Give me a break!”
“It’s storytelling. No one goes to a movie to see a particular technology. They go to see story and characters. They go to be entertained. What it was is that 2D became the scapegoat for bad storytelling.”
Disney will return to its 2D roots with The Princess and the Frog, a fairy tale about a young girl, Princess Tiana, who lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the jazz age. Princess Tiana will be Disney’s first African-American princess, joining the princesses we all know such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.
Toy Story 2 has finally been added to the iTunes store, thus completing the collection of Pixar movies. The movie will set you back $14.99 with a file size of 1.03 GB. For those who don’t want to download it and would prefer a DVD, you can find it at any retailer for $19.99.
You obviously know that I agree with that fact, but it isn’t as easy as you would think to get the nomination. While Pixar pretty much has the animation Oscar in the bag already, it isn’t the case with Best Picture. If they choose to attempt to get the nomination for Best Picture then they might lose votes in the Animation category. The NYTimes has a very detailed article on the situation.
I for one think Ratatouille not only deserves the nomination, but also the win. It is, after all, the best reviewed movie of the year.
So what do you think? Leave a comment!
Jim Hill Media has posted an article that highlights some early Ratatouille art that is featured in the book, “The Art of Ratatouille.”
“It is one of the more intriguing aspects of the production history of Pixar’s latest, “Ratatouille.” The fact that this animated feature started off with one director, Jan Pinkava, and then wound up being completed by yet another director, Brad Bird. So why exactly did that happen? More importantly, what would Jan Pinkava’s version of “Ratatouille” have been like?”
Find out by clicking here.
We all know that Ratatouille is Pixar’s latest movie but what about next year and the year after that? We’ve got you covered!
For 2008, Pixar has WALL-E lined up, directed by Andrew Stanton (writer/director of Finding Nemo). The story goes something like this: “The year is 2700. WALL• E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for.â€
In 2009 we’ll be treated to Up, about a 70-year old man who befriends a clueless young Wilderness Ranger. He travels the globe, fights beasts and villains and eats dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon. Up will be directed by Pete Docter (Writer/Director: Monsters, Inc., Writer: Toy Story 1 and 2) and co-director Bob Peterson (Writer: Finding Nemo).
And last but certainly not least, Toy Story 3 will finally make its debut… in 2010. It will be directed by Lee Unkrich (co-driector of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo). They’re keeping the plot to this one secret for now, but whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll all love it.
To infinity and beyond!
Source: slashfilm
The Opry House marks the first time an animated film featured the song “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor”.
It would later be heard in Rhapsody in Rivets, The Cat Concerto and Rhapsody Rabbit.
Directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.
Produced by Walt Disney.
Music by Carl Stalling.
Animated by Ub Iwerks.
Millions cried today when Disney announced that Toy Story 3 won’t be released until 2010. Three long years of waiting to see what Woody and Buzz are up to. At least we’ll have other upcoming Pixar films such as Ratatouille, Wall-E to ease the pain of waiting.
Disney also confirmed that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen will be back for the starring roles. If you’ve been keeping up with the Toy Story 3 news, you might remember that both Tom and Tim had said they would not voice the characters if Pixar wasn’t involved. Disney, at one point, had started work on Toy Story 3 without Pixar. Now that Disney owns Pixar, the rightful studio has taken over development.
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