Disney (and Pixar, of course) Link Roundup

With Up's release far behind us and Toy Story 3's release getting nearer but still far off, the Pixar news is beginning to shift in favor of new things. To prove my point, here is the big news; Jim Hill Media has discovered that the domain of monsters2.com has been recently picked up by Disney. This could only mean one thing: a Monsters, Inc. sequel! The site contains nothing right now, as does any other news regarding the previously-rumored sequel. But, as if that wasn't exciting enough, the Mouse has also purchased the following, very intriguing domains (each with several variations):

• WorldWarRobotTheMovie.com (and other variations)
• BeverlyHillsChihuahuaTwo.com
  
• OhSayCanYouPee.com
• MaryPoppinsOffer.com
• SnowWhiteLowPrice.com
• And, the weirdest... The TigerKing.com
  
  

Ponyo, the latest from genius Hayao Miyazaki, has its full-length trailer right here for you to see. It is a re-telling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Little Mermaid, although this tale is one of a goldfish who wishes to become human and finally gets his wish granted. Watch the trailer above. The film will be released later this month, courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures, and will feature the voice talents of Noah Cyrus, Frankie Jonas, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Betty White.

Here is a picture straight from Lee Unkrich's (director of Toy Story 3's) Twitpic page. It is pretty cool: a countdown of Toy Story 3's release.

That's about all the updates there are for now... Except one last thing I will leave you with. If you have any love or interest in early Disney ventures and things, you will find the story of Carl Stalling very interesting--I discovered it only a few days ago and was very surprised. Although he is famous for his wonderful arrangements and scores he wrote for Looney Tunes (where he wrote a score a week for 22 years), that isn't where the musical genius got started. He broke into showbiz when he befriended a young and bright-eyed Walt Disney who needed a composer for Plane Crazy and Gallopin' Gaucho. Stalling fit the bill and got the job. Disney and Carl then went on to discuss whether the animation or music should come first; this led to the breakthrough of Silly Symphonies where Stalling wrote the music before the animation took place. This seems very odd, but is very interesting when you think about it. Later on, in 1936, Stalling left with his friend from his Disney Days, Iwerks, to go work for Warner Bros. and Leon Schlesinger...

Funny story, eh?