New 'Pirates' posters and featurette

Briefly: In this post, you will find two just-released posters for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, as well as an interesting featurette on the film.

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On Stranger Tides will be released in just a matter of months, on May 20.

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New 'Pirates' Trailer

Above you will find a brand new trailer for the fourth installment of Bruckheimer's Pirates franchise.

First, let's discuss the trailer itself. More specifically, the elephant in this post--that little intro to the trailer. It was odd. Really odd. But I'll excuse it just because I love the character of Jack Sparrow. In fact, I'm sure that the only reason the peculiar intro was there was to showcase Depp's character even more. But, as I said, I'll ignore its strangeness just because I love the character so much...

Now, the film in general. I am not entirely sure what to make of On Stranger Tides just yet. Being a piratical history enthusiast as well as a lover of Disney and cinema, I am very excited that this new Pirates film will have the historical aspect of Blackbeard in it. I have studied the biography of Blackbeard, as well as other pirates, and am very excited to see how they will treat him as both a brand new character and a historical entity--Ian McShane seems to make a great Blackbeard, and I can't wait to further see how he portrays him.

However, the plot doesn't seem incredibly strong. Similar to my issues with Cars 2, this film seems rather gimmicky and void of true, deep emotion. Granted the only Pirates film with any "heart" was Curse of the Black Pearl, I still wanted to see the screenwriters try a little harder to make the audience fall back in love with Sparrow and new supporting characters. It doesn't seem like there will be much room for this in such an adventure-heavy, emotionless film. However, the lack of emotion will leave much more room for crazy adventures and stunts and hilarity from Jack Sparrow.

Having said that, I'm excited to see Blackbeard, excited for Jack Sparrow, and I'm a complete sucker for pirate adventures. It isn't fair for me to judge the movie before I've seen it, and I'll still be first in line for the midnight showing come May 20, 2011.

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Link Roundup: 3D Pirates, 'Mission: Incredible,' and More

There has been a recent flood of Disney- and Pixar-related news, so I've decided to do a brief post composed of links to send you off to consume all of the latest and greatest news from the world of Disney.

First, Blue Sky Disney is reporting that the new Pirates film, On Stranger Tides, will be filmed and released in 3D. This is not very surprising, since almost all tentpole films for the near future are being released in 3D. I'm not a big fan, but that's what seems to be happening...


Next, Blue Sky is providing further speculation regarding Brad Bird's live-action directorial debut on the next installment of Mission: Impossible. I can only hope that he's right; I would love to see Bird take on a big budget, live-action film.


While we're on the Pixar side of things, the summer issue of D23 will feature three different Toy Story 3 covers, with Buzz, Woody, or Jessie. The magazine will also "take readers to the sets and story rooms where Toy Story 3 was created".


Finally, watch this clip from Toy Story 3. It is an extended scene from the trailer of when Barbie meets Ken.

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'Pirates 4' Gets an Official Release Date

Disney has just officially announced that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will be released in theaters on May 20, 2011. They made the announcement on their Facebook page. Currently, nobody is attached to the film. Not Johnny Depp. Not Gore Verbinski. Nobody. I'm pretty sure that Depp will star in the film, although, after Cook's departure, you never know what might happen. I'd also like to point out that a year and a half is an incredibly short amount of time to write, shoot, edit, and promote such a gigantic film. I don't know how they're going to do it.

No more information is known, but I'll keep you updated.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

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Dick Cook no longer at Disney

Dick Cook was the head of Walt Disney Studios just a few days ago. He worked for Disney for 38 years, and has now been either fired or has stepped down from his post. Some names for his replacement have been floating around, and these are Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, and John Lasseter, head of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, as well as the creative part of Imagineering. I don't know anything about Kevin, but I don't know how I'd feel about Lasseter filling in for Cook. I think that Lasseter should stick to what he's good at, which is the creative stuff--not the stuff where you have to wear a suit. Anyways, Dick Cook, from what I've heard and seen, was a great guy with lots of connections. There was no apparent reason for him to leave. Here's his official statement:

"STATEMENT FROM RICHARD W. COOK, CHAIRMAN, THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

I am stepping down from my role as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, effective immediately.

I have loved every minute of my 38 years that I have worked at Disney…from the beginning as a ride operator on Disneyland’s steam train and monorail to my position as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. To wrap up my Disney experience in a neatly bundled statement is close to impossible. But what I will say is, during my time at the Studio, we have achieved many industry and Company milestones. Our talent roster is simply the best in the business. I believe our slate of upcoming motion pictures is the best in our history. But most of all, I love the people, my colleagues, my teammates, who are the most talented, dedicated and loyal folks in the world. I know that I leave the Studio in their exceptional hands.

I have been contemplating this for some time now and feel it’s the right time for me to move on to new adventures…and in the words of one of my baseball heroes, Yogi Berra, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

And here's Bob Iger's (Disney's CEO) official statement:

"STATEMENT FROM ROBERT A. IGER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Throughout his distinguished 38-year Disney career, Dick Cook’s outstanding creative instincts and incomparable showmanship have truly enriched this company and significantly impacted Disney’s great legacy,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger. “We thank Dick for his tremendous passion for Disney, and his many accomplishments and contributions to The Walt Disney Studios, including a very promising upcoming film slate. On behalf of everyone at Disney, we wish him the best with all the future has to offer."

Cook's leaving Disney has stirred up a lot of conversation in Hollywood. He was well-liked by everybody, and nobody is quite sure why he had to leave. One of his buddies, in particular, was Johnny Depp. Here's some excerpts from a recent phone interview with the LA Times:

"(I'm) shocked and very sad, it seems like the whole town is shocked, I didn't see this coming. There was no reason to see this coming."

"(He's) the sweetest man on the planet and such a gent."

"He is the utmost gentleman, so he made the call himself. He said, 'I'd like you to hear it from me before you hear it from someone else or read it,' He said today was my last day. He didn't give me a reason."

"He's instantly trustworthy. And you generally don't meet people at the studios you trust, he's a rare beast."

And Depp also commented that he is less enthused about the upcoming Pirates 4 film:

"There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment, it was all born in that office."

Also, Depp thinks he'll work with Cook in the future, just not at Disney:

"He will be somewhere and I will always look forward to working with him. I consider Dick a friend inside an insane system. He's someone I understand and I think he understands me."

But he's not the only one who's upset with Cook's leaving. Scott Rudin, whose production company has a deal with Disney, has said:

"I'm completely shocked - as is literally everybody I've spoken to,"

Spielberg is also devastated that Dick Cook's not with Disney anymore. Dick was one of the main reasons that Spielberg decided to go with Disney on the new DreamWorks distribution deal. "Steven worships Dick Cook," a DreamWorks insider has said.


Also, Lasseter has supposedly been on friendly terms with Cook since the Pixar deal. He must not be too happy about these recent developments, either.

As you can tell, Cook was a trusted guy. A true friend, and an honest man in an ocean of phonies. Iger certainly has some big shoes to fill if he wants to find someone as loved, hard-working, and loyal as Dick Cook.

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Day One of D23 and Other News

With the D23 Expo underway, as well as the Disney Studio always wheelin' and dealin', I've got a lot of news for you. Right here, right now:

• This first piece of news is Disney-related, but not D23-related. Guillermo Del Toro, one of my favorite writer/directors of such films as Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, has opened up an animation studio. This studio is known as "Disney's Double Dare You!". That's right: Disney's. One of Hollywood's best obscure/creepy filmmakers has opened an animation company within the walls of Disney Studios. The studio will be under the watch of Dick Cook and (hooray!) John Lasseter. Del Toro is very busy with his current slate of upcoming films, but will direct for DDDY (Disney's Double Dare You!) in the future. The current project at DDDY is Trollhunters, written (but not directed) by Guillermo who is also producing. So what should we expect from this new studio? Will the films be truly creepy, or just Coraline creepy? Will they appeal to kids, or to adults? I don't know...

• The Associated Press is reporting that 'Pirates 4' is officially official. It has a real title: "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," and Johnny Depp is, of course, its star. The film will be released in 2011. I can't wait! Although I am not a huge fan of the 2nd and 3rd 'Pirate' films, I do love the character of Jack Sparrow.

• The D23 Expo is going on right now! To see what happened on day one, I'd recommend you check out the following links:

1. WDWNewsToday; Some stuff from the CarsLand room, and, mostly, the Disney Legends ceremony.
2. Disney and More: The really great-looking Imagineering Legends session.
3. Cinematical has an article about Tron at the D23 Expo, as well as a huge gallery of pictures from it.
4. The LA Times documents both days of the expo thus far, but mainly the stars that showed up, which include John Travolta, Johnny Depp, and Tim Burton. (The OC Register has a similar article.)
5. Jim Hill discusses an upcoming D23 presentation which will showcase what The Muppets ( I sure do love those little guys) will be up to in the next couple of years.

There is even more Disney news out there. Upcoming Pixar is reporting that Cars 2 is going to be a "Hitchcockian Spy Thriller." Their source is Mr. Lasseter who is quoted to have said:

Mater, who we know from the series of cartoon shorts Mater’s Tall Tales (more on that in our blog in a minute) is prone to exaggeration, gets involved in a "Hitchcockian" case of mistaken identity, saves the life of a British secret agent called Finn McMissile (who looks a heck of a lot like an Aston Martin) and becomes embroiled in a huge spy thriller. Only no-one believes him.

And, finally, here is the newest trailer for the upcoming Disney film, The Princess and the Frog. This movie keeps looking better and better:



That's all the news for now, but stay posted since we still have more Expo news headin' your way.

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