Coming out later this week on November 2, The Art of Pixar isa complete collection of Pixar's colorscripts.
I got my hands on a copy, and, lemme tell you, this book will knock your socks off. The colorscript is a true artform in itself, and this book showcases just how detailed and important they can really be. The book, compiled and written by the oh-so-talented Amid Amidi includes colorscripts from every Pixar film thus far, in their entirety, from Luxo Jr. to Cars 2 and La Luna.
Only a fraction of the pages have text on them, but those that do are rich with information and descriptions about the process that Pixar has refined to a fine science.
I highly recommend the book. While it won't have as wide appeal as the typical "Art of" book, it is a very unique look into a process not many know about. It is just beautiful.
Check it out on Amazon here. -- Also, Amazon has recently created an entry for a brand new Toy Story 'art of' book,' listed for release in late 2o12. The description reads:
"[The book] recounts the origin and growth of one of the most significant and successful franchises in Hollywood history. Readers... will discover interviews... artwork... and untold details of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that the filmmakers experienced while creating such unforgettable characters."
The book, titled simply The Toy Story Films: An Animated Journey, is being written by the 'Art of TS3' author, animation historian Charles Solomon.
Google's doodle today, seen above, is a tribute to the late and great Mary Blair. The incredibly talented artist behind It's a Small World, with contributions to classics like Cinderella,Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland, was born 100 years ago today.
She has been deemed a Disney legend in more ways than one, massively shaping the style many Disney films and theme park attractions have taken. Her unique touch is hard to miss, and is nothing short of spectacular. Just get your hands on a copy of this or this or this, and be astounded by the manner in which she treats shape and color and contrast and artistic minimalism. It is unlike any artist before her or since.
Today we remember Mary, her wonderful film contributions, her gorgeous murals (now lost to less successful renovations), and the creative spirit she brought to the Disney we all know and love.
With Cars 2 coming out tomorrow, everyone's already setting their sights on the next Pixar flick, Brave.
At the top of the post you'll find the first official still from the film, released by Pixar in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. Expect a hi-res version soon.
Queen Elinor
Lord Macintosh
The Wise Woman
Princess Merida
More exciting then that pic, though, is the above concept art, offering a look at some characters we've yet to see. Very cool! What a wonderful style.
Also, the official Brave site has gone live at Disney.com/Brave. Not much content yet, but worth a look.
Brave comes out exactly one year from yesterday, on July 22, 2012.
Planet-Pulp is a new art gallery blog by Jayson Weidel for showcasing awesome fan art. Each month they have a different theme for artists, and this month's theme is Pixar, in honor of the studio's 25th anniversary.
After the jump you will find the ones I liked the best. Or, look at the whole collection here.
Aren't those great?! Too bad they aren't selling prints . . . Or maybe it's a good thing, 'cause I'd be flat broke if they were.
Keep checking Planet-Pulp for awesome, themed fan art. Next month's theme is Saturday Morning TV and the month of May is Star Wars!
EW has just released some exclusive concept art from Pixar's upcoming film Brave. The art is spectacular, and features great landscapes of Scotland, as well as some new looks at what the main character, Merida, might look like.
Also announced in the article is the fact that, although Brenda Chapman was taken off the project as director and replaced by Mark Andrews, they are both going to be credited as director upon the film's release.
The short article on EW does a wonderful job summarizing the project, and, at the same time, getting me really excited for June of next year...
Expect to see a lot more news leaking about Brave once we get Cars 2 out of the way this June.
Briefly: According to Amazon.com, later this year, Chronicle Books will be publishing a book entitled The Art of Pixar: 25th Anniversary: The Complete Color Scripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation. It is by everyone's favorite animation guru/Cartoon Brew writer Amid Amidi, who also wrote The Art of Pixar Short Films several years ago. A while back, he was set to write The Art of Toy Story 3, but then announced that he wouldn't be anymore; many believed he had a falling out with Pixar, but now it appears that the exact opposite is true.
It looks like the 320-page hardcover book will land just in time for Christmas, around early November. . . And I can't wait to get my hands on it! 320 pages of Pixar at my fingertips... Oh boy!
Since Disney, etc.'sposting has been on a temporary hiatus as of late, this shall be a massive link round-up summarizing all of the important Disney, Pixar, entertainment, and "everything in-between" news from the last few weeks. Enjoy....
At the top of this post, you will find some wonderful mash-up art from DeviantArt user iamclu, courtesy of HeyUGuys. It is just awesome, ain't it?...
Rumors that a Toy Story short will be attached to Cars 2 have been all but confirmed. After it was leaked that the next short will include Ken and Barbie going to Hawaii, Mike at The Pixar Blogdid some very thorough investigating and discovered an Amazon.com product page for a picture book based on the short. Here's the synopsis:
Bonnie is off to Hawaii, and Barbie and Ken are excited to go along on their first tropical vacation! But when they're accidentally left behind, it's up to Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the toys to create a Hawaiian paradise right in Bonnie's room.
Based on the latest animated short featuring the toys from Disney/Pixar Toy Story, this full-color storybook includes punch-out postcards that girls and boys ages 3-7 will love sending to their friends!
Read all about the short and its synopsis at The Pixar Blog here or Amazon here.
Above you will find a video tribute, The Beauty of Pixar, by Leandro Copperfield, who says that "Pixar's films have always been important in my life." It is a very well-edited video, and will remind you just how great Pixar is.
As we get further and further into this Awards season, more news of the Oscars are being leaked and announced. Recently, Variety has reported that Disney will not enter Randy Newman's Toy Story 3 scoreinto the running for Best Original Score. Instead, they will focus their efforts on promoting his tune We Belong Together for Best Original Song. It really is a great song, and helps to lighten the mood of the film while it plays during the closing credits. Not only that, but it is a great song on its own. It definitely deserves one o' them little gold guys. Also, I think it is a smart move for Disney not to enter Newman's score--there are tons of great scores this year, and I doubt the Academy would vote for a score that is simply (yet expertly) an extension of two already-existing scores.
You may have heard of Disney's brilliant "For Your Consideration" ad campaign for where they are comparing stills from Toy Story 3 to past Best Picture winners including The Sting, Lord of the Rings, The Sound of Music, Platoon, Shakespeare in Love, and Slumdog Millionaire, among others. They are very funny, and I hope they manage to snag Pixar the Best Picture nom and, with some luck, the award itself. Go to the Disney Awards site here to see the newly-released series of advertisements, as well as an additional (and boldly hilarious) one here.
Current accolades for Toy Story 3 include: being at the top of Moviefone's list of the best films from 2010, being at the top of Rotten Tomatoes' list of the best films from 2010, being on Quentin Tarantino's list of the best films of 2010 as well as Edgar Wright's top 5 list, a Golden Globe nom for Best Animated Feature, being one of the films honored on AFI's list of the top ten films of 2010, and being at the top of Time Magazine's list of the best films from last year. With all of that under its belt, how can you say that it won'twin that Best Picture Oscar? I think it will. It just has to...
While we're on the topic of Pixar, it's worth noting that the U.S. Postal Service has announced that later this year, a collection of commemorative Pixar stamps will be released. They'll be in sheets of twenty, include the above five designs, and instead of having a set value, they'll be valid for every first-class letter forever. Expect to see them on August 19 later this year.
Above, you will find a behind-the-scenes video for the upcoming animated film Rango. The short video, which features Johnny Depp, is very interesting, showing how director Gore Verbinski coached the voice actors while also incorporating their movements into a type of mo-cap/animation hybrid. It's really quite interesting...
The headline How Disney Designed The Military's Electromagnetic Launch System says enough about this article. A bizarre, surprising, and thoroughly engaging read... Check it out here.
In an interview with Collider, David Fincher let loose the information that his upcoming remake/adaptation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea will be in 3D. Although I hate 3D with a fiery passion, I am very, very excited to see a version of Jules Vernes classic story told with modern effects by one of my favorite directors. Read the full interview here.
Tron: Legacy was visually-stunning, but was quite under-whelming. The story was weak, the acting was dry (although I appreciated seeing Jeff Bridges returning to a Dude-type philosophy on the big screen), and the overall feel of the movie just didn't do justice to its original counterpart. I couldn't even follow the Light Cycle scene well enough to enjoy it! I certainly agree with RT's 49%. However, it is doing decently at the box office, having made over $130 million so far. They still need $40 million more to make their money back, but I'm sure that they will...
Let's conclude this New Year's link round-up with a bang. Watch the above video of the "Fountains and Fireworks" show that was shown at Disney's California Adventure a couple of nights ago...
And that's all there is to post about for now! You are now completely up-to-date on all Disney, Pixar, entertainment, and everything in-between news. I hope you enjoyed it, and be sure to keep checking your favorite blog for all of the best news...
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.
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...
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." 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.
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.
Here is a gallery of Pixar 'Pop Art' that I created using Photoshop. They are reminiscent of the works of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. I like 'em, and thought you might, too.
(Also, they make great desktop and iPhone wallpapers--click to embiggen!)
I hope you liked my gallery. More Pixar (and Disney) Pop Art coming soon...
Hi. My name is Adam and I love to write and to read. I shoot and go to a lot of movies. I am an avid collector of Disneyland souvenirs, Pixar stuff, celebrity photographs, and everything else.
