Unkrich on 'Win, Lose, or Draw'

Well, the director of Toy Story 3, Mr. Lee Unkrich, has kept his promise to post an embarrassing video of himself after reaching 100k followers on Twitter. The video, embedded above, features Mr. Unkrich on an old 80s game show, Win, Lose, or Draw.

Unkrich prefaced the video with these three facts:

1. I was 20 years old
2. I was plump
3. I was coerced into buying that sweater by the show’s producers

Very nice.

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'TS3' auctions to support Japan

Briefly: Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich is having another set of charity auctions on eBay, this time to help the earthquake victims of Japan. There are only two items this time around, as opposed to the smorgasbord of items he offered for Haitian relief.

The items include an awesome, limited edition print (pictured to the left) from the film's story artist Adrian Molina and the complete TS3 soundtrack on a two-disc set, exclusive to Pixar employees.

The bid amounts are really getting up there, but if you love Pixar and want to support a good cause, get bidding!

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Unkrich in TIME's 'Influential People' Poll

Any of you who thought that TS3's award season had run dry are gravely mistaken. Everyone's favorite Toy Story 3 director, Lee Unkrich, has been nominated for yet another award: TIME Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People of 2011!

Fellow nominees include Lady Gaga, Mark Zuckerberg, and Barack Obama. Currently, Mr. Unkrich is 32nd out of 203 nominees, beating out Kanye West, Christian Bale, Oprah, George Clooney, and Christopher Nolan, as well as 171 other high profile celebrities, government officials, etc.

Help a Pixarian make the list of TIME's Top 100 Most Influential People of the Year by voting for Lee here.

See the current results of the poll here.

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The 83rd Annual Academy Awards

The biggest night in Hollywood has just about wrapped up (at least it has for you and I--I'm sure the night has just begun for all of the big stars out there), and I have to say there were absolutely no surprises this year. The King's Speech was the big winner, with four awards for Best Actor, Screenplay, Directing, and Picture--it certainly deserved these awards. It was a phenomenal cinematic piece.

And, of course, Toy Story 3 won for Best Animated Feature (see pics of the Animated Feature Symposium from a few days ago at TPB here) and Randy Newman won for Best Original Song, "We Belong Together." Oh, and he had, by far, the best acceptance speech of the night. Although I am ecstatic he won this award, what was up with his "live performance"? The tempo was way sped up, Randy's voice was drowned out, and none of the instrumentation but the piano was live. That aspect of the awards were a bit of a let-down.

In fact, the whole ceremony felt very detached and weird; they kept trying to find a theme with their little vignettes about past Oscar shows, but nothing really clicked. Not only that, but all of the jokes were, quite frankly, just lame. And Anne Hathaway was plain annoying. The whole time . . . I approve of the winners (although I still think Toy Story 3 should have won Best Picture, and Day & Night for Animated Short), but the show itself could have been much better.

Congrats to the crew at Pixar, the guys behind The King's Speech, and all of the other winners.

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'TS3' Award Updates

Everyone's favorite animated film of last year has been raking in the awards. Last night it won, to nobody's surprise, the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. Pixar has swept the category every year since its creation half a decade ago.

In his acceptance speech, Lee thanked everyone at Disney and Pixar, John Lasseter, Randy Newman, and the whole cast of "an animated movie that beats with a human heart." His speech was certainly the most genuine (and funny) of the evening. Watch it in its entirety here.

In addition to this honor, Toy Story 3 has been nominated for three Orange British Academy Film Awards by BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The nominations include Animated Film, Adapted Screenplay, and Special Visual Effects. The awards will be presented in a few weeks on February 13 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

Also, Toy Story 3 has won a Critics' Choice Award and the Golden Tomato from the king of all film review websites, Rotten Tomatoes.

All of these honors bestowed upon Toy Story 3 are excellent and well-deserved. However, they will be small bananas compared to the Oscar for Best Picture that I am certain Toy Story 3 is going to win.

Certain!

(I hope . . .)

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JHM: TS3's Producer and her Journey to Success

Briefly: Recently published on Jim Hill Media is a very interesting article on how Darla K. Anderson, producer of A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Cars, and Toy Story 3, got her start in show business and landed the dream job of a lifetime.

It all started with her luckily running into a bigwig from Hollywood, some menial tasks at random production houses, and the eventual discovery of a little studio called Pixar. She was initially hired (after 18 months of holding out for Pixar to actually start hiring) as the head of the commercial division at the struggling studio while they also began production on Toy Story. After proving her worth in the commercial division, she was given the job of producing A Bug's Life, which, as she states in the article, "was the film that proved that Pixar wasn't a one hit wonder."

The article goes on to discuss her role with Toy Story 3, and more about her and Pixar Animation Studios in general. It is a very interesting read, especially for people trying to break out into the movie business (like yours truly). Read all about Darla's wonderful story of luck and persistence here.

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'Toy Story 3' Link Round-up: Featurettes, Storyboards, the Screenplay, Interviews, and more!

The Toy Story 3 Blu-ray has been officially released, and I'm planning to watch the complete trilogy back-to-back-to-back this weekend. It's gonna be awesome.

Anyways, to coincide with the release of the Blu-ray and DVD, Disney has released a few things online for our viewing pleasure.

The first is this set of previews, letting you in on what you'll get to see within the Bonus Features section of the Blu-ray.

Next up is a set of storyboards from the "Thrown Away" sequence in Toy Story 3. They are huge images, and slightly cleaner than I'd have expected storyboard drawings to be. Still, they get the action across effectively, and obviously did their job well:






NPR's Fresh Air conducted a wonderful interview with Lee Unkrich and Michael Arndt here. It's definitely worth a listen--if you wondered why you cried at the end of the movie (twice), this will satisfy your curiosity. They talk about everything from advances in technology, to the infamous story retreats, to how Lee thinks of his animators as his actors. Give it a listen if you've got the time. You'll enjoy it. I promise.

Also check out Ned Beatty's (voice of Lotso) recent interview with Hollywood.com here.

I also thought I'd mention this article published in the LA Times yesterday. It predicted a victory for the Conservatives at this year's midterm elections, based purely on the popularity of Toy Story 3. While I think that this theory is completely absurd, it's an entertaining op-ed piece.

Finally, Walt Disney Animation Studios has released the complete Toy Story 3 screenplay, written by Michael Arndt, for your reading enjoyment here. It is located on their "Awards" site, which also indicates the other categories that they hope Toy Story 3 will be nominated for. These include Best Original Song for Randy Newman, Best Director for Lee Unkrich, and Best Picture for Darla K. Anderson. See the complete list of potential nominations here.

I'm calling it right now: Toy Story 3 will be the first animated movie to ever win Best Picture at the Oscars. Maybe I'm just being blindly optimistic, but that's how I see it playing out. It really is the most critically-acclaimed and the highest-grossing film of the year. It deserves Best Picture.

I loved Toy Story 3, and am now the proud owner of the complete trilogy on Blu-ray. I'm planning on watching every Toy Story, as well as every special feature, this Friday night. And I can hardly wait.

Next stop: Awards Season!

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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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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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My Pixar Pop Art

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...

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The Toys Give Pixar its Best Opening Ever

The pros estimate that Toy Story 3's final earnings of this weekend were a whopping $109 million! This is a land slide victory that puts the film high above Pixar's #2 opening, The Incredibles, at a measly $70.5 million. Of course, this means that Toy Story 3, like every other Pixar film to date, was #1 for its opening weekend.

In addition to this accomplishment, TS3 also had the second best opening weekend for any animated film, behind only Shrek the Third which earned $121.6 million.

Excellent job, Pixar! You've done it! You should all be very proud of yourselves, especially you, Mr. Lee Unkrich.

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Best. Toy Story. Ever.

In 1988, John Lasseter wrote and directed the Pixar short Tin Toy. It was a very crude short film that won an Oscar, as well as the admiration of the animation and filmmaking world. Quickly after the then-revolutionary short was released, Pixar was commissioned by Disney to produce a feature film. Ed Catmull recommended a one-hour TV special to the Mouse instead of a film, but Disney quickly replied that: "If you can make a one-hour special, you can make an hour-and-a-half long picture."

Lasseter was still the big-wig creative at Pixar then (and, some might debate that he still is), and he loved the idea of toys coming to life. So, Pixar set out to turn the short Tin Toy into the world's first CG-animated movie. From this notion, Toy Story was born.

It's been over two decades since Tin Toy debuted, and here we are still enjoying Pixar's anthropomorphic toys. And, let me tell you, we are really enjoying them.

Toy Story 3 is the best film of the Toy Story trilogy. I know that it may be considered bad etiquette to begin a review so blatantly with my straight opinion, but, it's the truth. Toy Story 3 was that good. But, without further ado, if you want to know why it was so good, here's my review (Spoiler Alert!):

Plot Synopsis

Toy Story explodes onto the screen in an epic scene jam-packed with train crashes, explosions, chases, and the familiar "Death by Monkeys" and "forcefield dog." Woody and Mr. Potato Head (er, One-Eyed Bart) have a thrilling fight on top of a speeding train. The tracks running over a bridge explode, and Woody plunges into oblivion. But who is there to save him? Buzz Lightyear of course! The scene continues, getting more and more ridiculous and funny. Then after the over-the-top action sequence that might as well have come out of a Michael Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer picture, we find out that the whole scene is taking place in Andy's imagination. Cue the classic Randy Newman tune "You've Got a Friend in Me" as we get treated to more footage filmed by Andy's Mom of him playing lovingly with his toys.

But, everybody grows up. Once Mr. Newman is done singing and the VHS-quality video fades out, we find out that Andy has grown up and is moving off to college. His mom makes him decide what to do with his old toys, and gives him three options: donate them, put them out for the garbage man, or store them in the attic. Andy decides on the latter for all of his toys except Woody, who's going off to college with him. But after some confusion and excitement, the toys, including Woody, are all sent off to the Sunnyside Daycare Center.

Upon arriving at the new, strange place, Lotso the Strawberry-Scented Bear greets the toys with a big grin and lots of hugs. All of the center's toys are friendly, and the place seems almost heavenly for a toy. Andy's toys are excited that they will finally be played with after so many years. Woody, however, insists that they all have to do their jobs: "be there for Andy when he needs us, no matter what."

Despite his best efforts, Woody has to make his way back to Andy's alone. After an exhilarating scene involving a lot of toy-acrobatics and kite-flying, however, he is found and brought home by a little girl named Bonnie, and is lovingly played with again, just like Andy used to play with him. The other toys in Bonnie's room are very funny, especially the hedgehog Mr. Pricklepants (pictured above), who is a very well-versed thespian.

Meanwhile, the other toys learn that the daycare is not all that it's cracked up to be. They get put in the "Caterpillar Room," which is for the toddlers. And, trust me, being played with by toddlers from a toy's perspective is horrifying, as Buzz, Rex, Hamm, Jessie, and the others quickly find out in a rather darkly humorous scene.

Once the daycare closes and the toys decide they'd much rather be in the pleasant "Butterfly Room" for the older kids, Buzz escapes from the Caterpillar Room to seek out the cheerful leader, Lotso. What he finds, however, is that all of the toys at Sunnyside are being held captive.

Lotso finds Buzz's manual and resets him, turning him into one of the strawberry-scented villain's many henchman. The other toys are all put in cages and given a very stern speech from the new Buzz about "the box"--a scene that is humorously lifted from the classic film Cool Hand Luke. (Click here to see the scene I'm talking about--it's the first minute or so.)

Bonnie's Mom works at Sunnyside, so many of her toys move freely between her house and the daycare (that is, if they can avoid detection). Therefore, Woody quickly finds out what Sunnyside really is: a place of darkness and despair. He gets told the tragic story of Lotso by Chuckles, a depressed clown voiced by Pixar's own Bud Luckey. Lotso, Chuckles, and the Big Baby were all Daisy's favorite toys. One day, Daisy took them to the park but forgot them there. After the trio of toys had waited for weeks and weeks and traveled far to find her again, they discovered that she had replaced them with new toys. "Something snapped inside Lotso that day." They then found Sunnyside, and Lotso slowly gained power, eventually becoming the dictator of the daycare center.

The majority of the rest of the movie is an elaborate, The Great Escape-esque escape sequence that consists of a lot of humor and a bunch of action. The escape ends with Woody, Buzz, Hamm, Rex, the Potato Heads, Slink, Jessie, and Bullseye slowly slipping into the dump's enormous incinerator. Jessie turns to Buzz and asks "What do we do now?" Buzz slowly looks up and takes her hand in his. The rest of the gang follows suit and all join hands, forming a circle of friends as they all slip slowly to their imminent doom. This scene is so intensely emotional, that I get teary-eyed just thinking about it.

After the audience has used up all of their Kleenex however, they're gonna need to find some more. Pixar has constructed an emotional one-two punch for the last twenty minutes of Toy Story 3. After the gang escapes the dump and makes it back to Andy's, Woody decides that the best place for them to be is at Bonnie's house; a toy should have a proper owner that knows about playtime. Thus, the final scene is almost equally-emotional, consisting of a seventeen-year-old Andy sitting in the grass, giving all of his toys to the young Bonnie. He fondly introduces each toy, then plays with them for one last time. He drives off to college, leaving Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toys we all love to a brand new owner who will love the toys just as much as Andy did, to infinity and beyond.

(End Spoiler Alert!)

Toy Story 3 is a superb film. It combines classic lines for us die hard fans, comedy, romance, action, Hollywood's best animation, and a wonderful score to create something that I still can't believe I saw.

The Story

Storytelling is at the heart of what Pixar does, and should be at the heart of every film. That's why their films just work: they focus on story over everything else. Story is king. And, let me tell you, story is definitely the king of Toy Story 3. From the outset, you are thrown on an emotional journey that you never thought you could have with a bunch of talking toys. How is it that Pixar can tell us all so much about the human heart through simple pixels assembled into some toys? I don't have an answer for you, but I don't think that I want an answer. I'd prefer not to know. But whatever it is, I hope they never change it. Toy Story 3's practically flawless story is such an intensely emotional roller coaster that it is really difficult to convey through words in this single post. You really do have to go out and see it for yourself. You won't be disappointed--I promise.

The Animation

Pixar is the world's best animation studio. While they didn't earn this title by devoting all of their energy to developing new animation techniques, it certainly hasn't stopped them from doing so. Toy Story 3 is gorgeously animated with brand new, well-designed characters, visually-stunning backgrounds and action scenes, and such clarity and flawlessness that it's so obvious how much the technology has advanced since the first Toy Story. I know I said the same thing about Up, but you could take any given frame from Toy Story 3 and have it stand alone as its own true piece of art. The characters and objects really are animated that well.

The Score

I don't have much to say about the score, except for the fact that it successfully heightened every emotion of the movie, which is exactly what a score should do. Randy Newman has done it again! I especially enjoyed the Latin music-inspired score when Buzz was reset to Spanish mode, as well as the new song "We Belong Together." Oh, and the awesome Gipsy Kings cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me" is already my ringtone. It's great. Check out the whole soundtrack at Amazon here.

Conclusion

I grew up with Woody and Buzz and the other toys. I feel like I know each and every one of them like they were my best friends. That may sound geeky, or even creepy, but it's true. That's how powerful films can be if you have creative people like those at Pixar helming them. Many were doubtful that a third film could live up to the first two Toy Stories, but 3's loyalty to the themes of friendship and the fact that everybody grows up gives the movie so much heart that you are forced to look at it as the perfect ending to the world's greatest trilogy of films.

If you loved the first two Toy Story films (and, really, who couldn't?), you will laugh harder, cry harder, and be even more entertained in this final installation when you see the last of Rex, Hamm, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Slink, Buzz, and Sheriff Woody.

I (easily) give Toy Story 3 a 10 out of 10.

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Quench Your Toy Story Thirst: Lots of Interviews, Articles, Videos, and More [UPDATED!]

This is it, folks. Toy Story 3 is right around the corner; we have just one more week until we get to see Pixar's eleventh feature in all of its glory.

If you think that the wait is going to be impossible, I have good news for you: this is a super-duper mega post packed to the brim with interviews, videos, featurettes, advertisements, and more, all about Toy Story 3. This thing will take you about a week to get through, then, without you even realizing where the time went, it will be time for you to see the third installment of Pixar's most lovable franchise.

So, without further ado, here's a slew of Toy Story 3 stuff to indulge yourself with:

Two Video Interviews with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen:

There are some great quotes in those interviews. Especially when Tom talks about how emotional he and Tim got during Jessie's song in Toy Story 2. It just shows how powerful Pixar's unique attention to story can be.

TrailerAddict has released 3 new clips from Toy Story 3:

The New York Times has a very interesting article about how director Lee Unkrich and production designer Bob Pauley designed all of the new characters that we'll see in Toy Story 3. Unkrich describes how his "primary goal was to not screw it up. I really wanted to stay true to the world and the characters."

In an article on AMC's Filmcritic.com, Michael Keaton discusses (in great and humorous detail) his TS3 character, Ken.

And, finally, Google and Disney teamed up to bring you the following advertisement. I love these Google commercials, and the fact that it's Toy Story makes it 10 times better. Very clever and cool. It will show before most, if not all, showings of Toy Story 3:

UPDATE: Here are two featurettes entitled Old Friends, New Places and New Faces, respectively. Cast and crew discuss various aspects of making Pixar's next feature. Enjoy:

Wasn't that great?! That took your mind off of the excruciating wait for at least an hour, plus, it was really interesting! I hope you enjoyed the super-mega Toy Story 3 post. Stay tuned for more TS3 news as June 18 gets ever closer.

Only 6 more days...

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20 New 'Toy Story' Stills

Toy Story 3 is only two weeks away. Two weeks. I can hardly wait, and I know that if you're reading this post, you're very anxious to see the sure-to-be-hit this June 18, as well.

Well, in typical marketing style, Pixar has released 20 new still images from Toy Story 3. Nothing too new about them--mostly just high res versions of stills that can be seen in the trailer. Still, it's something to stare at and pass the time during these next two weeks...

Click to enlarge.

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