Into the Drawer

Here's a short video that Lee Unkrich released yesterday. It is him, officially, completing Toy Story 3 by placing the Blu-ray into his drawer.

"Done."

Also check out an interesting, two-part interview with Unkrich over at Upcoming Pixar here and here.

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First Look at 'Tick Tock Tale'

Above you will find the very first look at Disney's upcoming short Tick Tock Tale. This is the first I've heard of the short, and it looks interesting. Although the plot is, I'm guessing, almost identical to Pixar's Red's Dream, the score and animation and character acting is enjoyable and every well-done.

My guess is that this short is going to show before all showings of Tangled. But I could be wrong, since it is possible that The Ballad of Nessie could already have filled that spot.

More on this as I find it....

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A Big News Day: Great 'TS3' Concept Art, Galifianakis meets Muppets, and Indiana Jones in 3D

With so much news coming out of Hollywood today, I decided to post a bunch of links instead of 10 different, shorter posts. I hope you don't mind.


This first bit of news is my favorite: Cinematical has posted a large gallery of exclusive, never-before-seen Toy Story 3 concept art. It was given to them to promote the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release (which I can hardly wait for! It's this Tuesday...), and is really great artwork. I wish I could draw like they do at Pixar... Anyways, see two pieces of the concept art above, and the rest of it here.


Above you will find a "first look" at the upcoming Dr. Seuss adaptation, The Lorax. Danny DeVito will be starring as the title character (Yes! I love Danny's work.), and will be joined by Ed Helms, Zac Efron, and Betty White. It is being made by the same people who brought you the recent adaptation of Horton Hears a Who!, so, unfortunately, don't expect much from this production...


In an interview with the lucky folks over at Hero Complex, Christopher Nolan divulged some very intriguing information... He has revealed the title for the next installment of his incredible Batman saga will The Dark Knight Rises, and that the villain will not be The Riddler, as was previously believed by, oh, everybody. He has also thrown Mr. Freeze and a reprise of The Joker out for the count. I think he should have Danny DeVito reprise his role as The Penguin. That would be awesome. Nolan also discussed the fact that he does not want to shoot the film in 3D, but in the IMAX format. Thank goodness for that.


This piece of news might tie with the concept art for my most favorite: Zach Galifianakis will be in the new (currently untitled) Muppet movie!! I cannot believe it. My favorite actor is going to be featured in a reboot of one of my favorite things, the Muppets. Maybe I died and went to heaven? It's entirely possible--this news is just that exciting.

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Some other, slightly less noteworthy odds and ends:

Sir Elton John and Lady Gaga will team up for the song "Hello Hello" which will be featured in the upcoming Touchstone film Gnomeo and Juliet. I love E.J. Such great music.

The Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson, will be shot in New Zealand.

Unlucky for those of us who actually appreciate quality films, Mr. James Cameron has announced that he will be creating Avatar 2 and 3 as his next two films. Fantastic (add sarcastic tone)...

LucasFilm will be re-releasing its Indiana Jones franchise in 3D. Just as I felt with the Star Wars re-release, this is a good and bad thing. At least now I'll have an excuse to wear a fedora and bullwhip to the movie theater...

Piven to play the villain in Spy Kids 4.

Boba Fett's invoice. Just because. (Oh, and it's awesome.)

Off-Hollywood: An artisanal pencil sharpener: "I'm going to have this nice, authentic, considered reaction with your pencil," Rees said. "I just want to treat it with respect. And get it really freaking sharp."

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Well that's all of the news I found for you today. I hope you learned something new and had some fun while wasting some time. I still can't believe that Zach Galifianakis is going to be in the next Muppet movie... Anyways, have a nice day, and be sure to keep checking back at Disney, etc. for all of your news regarding Disney, Pixar, Entertainment, and everything in-between.

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Billy Joel joins 'Rock Band 3' out of spite

Billy Joel is one of my favorite musical artists. Only the Good Die Young, Piano Man, Vienna...he's written so many classics. In fact, if I was on a desert island and could only listen to one artist for the rest of my life, I very well might choose Billy Joel.

It is for that reason that I am ecstatic about his presence on the new Rock Band 3 game, being released this Tuesday, October 26. He won't be featured on the actual game disc, but his music will be available in the Rock Band online music store. And I'll be first in the virtual line to buy each and every song.

I'm especially excited about this because I'll be able to use my full-sized MIDI keyboard to play along with Mr. Joel, and be able to learn his guitar riffs on their exciting new pro guitar.

Better than the news of Billy Joel being on Rock Band, however, are his reasons behind the decision.

In the past, Billy has rejected Harmonix and has wanted nothing to do with musical video games. That all changed after a joke during a recent episode of The Office. In the episode, members of the office play a fictitious game, Rock Band: Billy Joel. In his review of the episode for Entertainment Weekly, Darren Franich, in reference to the Billy Joel edition of Rock Band wrote: "God forbid that should ever happen!"

After reading that, Billy Joel told USA Today that he "called my people and said, 'Get me on that Rock Band game.' Then I wrote the critic, saying that every time I get a check, I'll give him a little nod."

You've gotta love Billy Joel. If that isn't some of the cleverest spite I've ever heard of, then I don't know what spite is...

Read the full tale from Mr. Joel himself over at USA Today.

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'Cars 2' News!! (Lasseter directing + new logo + concept art)

The title says it all, folks. There's plenty of new news regarding Pixar's next feature, Cars 2.

First of all, contrary to what was previously believed, John Lasseter will be the director of Cars 2. Up until now, we all thought that Brad Lewis (producer of Ratatouille) was set to direct. Instead, he'll be serving as co-director, still not a position to scoff at by any means. It is possible that Lewis was going to direct at one time, but the heavily-rumored development problems probably led to Lasseter taking on a bigger leadership role. Lasseter hasn't found time to direct a feature since the original Cars, most likely due to his busy schedule as the chief creative officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, and principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering. He is one lucky, busy man...

Up's associate producer, Denise Ream will be producing.

The next bit of news is the above embedded video. Released by the marketing folks at Disney, it has been christened a teaser trailer/logo reveal. No surprises here; it doesn't even showcase any new footage from the film. Although Luxo, Jr. firing a laser was super cool.

Super duper cool.

I still don't know what to make of Cars 2. The first Cars is definitely at the bottom of my Pixar list--don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful, great film. But I don't think that it is of the same caliber as Monsters, Inc. or Toy Story or any of the other Pixar films. I know that Lasseter will focus on story and he knows what he's doing, but I'll remain skeptical until the film's release next year...

Finally, check out some glorious concept art (like the image at the top of this post) here, courtesy of Empire.

Cars 2 will be released in 3D on June 24th of next year.

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Marvel to Disney transfer complete (Or is it?)

It was just announced that Paramount has transferred the worldwide rights to two of its Marvel properties, The Avengers and the Iron Man franchise, to Walt Disney Studios for at least $115 million.

When the Mouse bought Marvel a while back, I was wondering how this was going to work out, and I'm still curious. Now it's obvious that Disney will get the lion's share of the box office, including their cherished merchandising and theme park rights. However, who is going to be paying the millions of dollars it takes to produce the films? Marvel Studios (a.k.a. Disney)? Jon Favreau's production studio? Did Disney pay $115 million to get the movies after they were in the can and have no say in what happens during production? It's all very confusing.

It's also worth mentioning that Paramount still owns the rights to Thor and Captain America, Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man, and other Marvel properties have been sprinkled throughout Hollywood over the years. This means that Disney won't get to distribute these films, but will still retain their merchandising, etc.

Don't feel too sorry for Paramount, though, because they still have tons of tentpole franchises they've yet to milk completely dry: Mission: Impossible, Jackass, Transformers, Star Trek, Paranormal Activity, and G.I. Joe.

It may all be very difficult to understand, but the bottom line is that Disney will be distributing The Avengers in 2012, and Iron Man 3 in 2013, which means they'll be basking in the glory of billions at the box office. I'm glad that they're making all of this Marvel-ownership business slightly less confusing, but it is also starting to look like Disney will soon have a monopoly on the entertainment industry...

Oh well. As long as they keep giving Pixar their creative autonomy and don't destroy Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, I'll stay a happy camper.

For a more detailed account of the deal and a little clearing up as far as studio logistics go, check out Variety.

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'Epic Mickey' Featurette: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Every Disney buff knows the story of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the forgotten Disney character that predates even Mickey Mouse. What you may not know, however, is that he has a pivotal role in the upcoming video game Epic Mickey, bringing about a kind of "sibling rivalry" with Mickey.

To learn all about one of my favorite characters, Oswald, and to see just how he will be portrayed in the upcoming Warren Spector video game, watch the above video. Great stuff. I am so glad that, after almost 80 years on the shelf, Oswald is finally getting work again.

He deserves it.

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Why You Cried During 'Toy Story 3'

Briefly: TIME has recently published an article entitled Why Adults Cry So Easily in Animated Kids Movies. While the term "kid" is certainly not needed when referring to the films, it is still an interesting topic to try and dissect.

And who better to try and answer this big question than Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich? In the article, Mr. Unkrich states that "Live action movies are someone else's story. With animation, audiences can't think that. Their guards are down."

This is a peculiar thing to think about, but seems more true the more I think about it...

Story, story, story!

Read the full article here.

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For Your Consideration: 'Toy Story 3'

The Walt Disney Company has decided that they will promote Toy Story 3 as a challenger for the Best Picture Oscar at the this year's Academy Awards, reports the New York Times. As awards season nears, expect to see tons of 'For Your Consideration' ads as Disney pushes the Best Picture nom "with all its might."

Only two animated films have ever been nominated for the Oscars' top prize: Beauty and the Beast, and last year's Up, neither of which won.

I will guarantee all of my readers right now that Toy Story 3 will be one of the ten films nominated for Best Picture, and it actually has a decent shot at winning. It is by far the most critically-acclaimed film of the year, and doesn't have much competition, besides Fincher's The Social Network.

Stay tuned for more TS3 and Oscar news...

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Willis: 'Die Hard 5' is on the way

Good news: In the above video, Mr. Bruce Willis claims that the Die Hard 5 screenplay is almost finished, and that filming should take place in 2011. I loved Live Free or Die Hard, and personally can't wait to see more of John McClane's Mythbusters-worthy stunts and fight sequences.

As far as mindless action flicks go, it's hard (if not impossible) to beat Bruce Willis as the New York Cop with nothing to lose.

Stay tuned for more concrete news on the next Die Hard installment...

Source: Ain't It Cool News

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