The Good Dinosaur concept art

Pixar Turns Back Time with The Good Dinosaur Trailer

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What would have happened if dinosaurs never went extinct? That's the question Pixar wants to answer with their upcoming film, The Good Dinosaur. Of course, like all things Pixar, the film has a fun side to go along with more serious themes, which are on display in this first trailer.

Directed by Peter Sohn (who originally co-directed the film with Bob Peterson before the latter was removed from production due to story problems back in August 2013), The Good Dinosaur is about a young apatosaurus that befriends a caveboy after being separated from the rest of his family. Together, they traverse the wilderness and its various threats.

The film is Sohn's directorial debut, and would have been Peterson's directorial follow-up to Up; don't worry, Peterson is still with Pixar and is currently working on another unnamed film. The Good Dinosaur was originally scheduled for a May 2014 release, but was delayed due to the aforementioned story problems, causing Pixar to lay off 60+ employees. The film's new direction also caused many re-writes and re-casting, with actors like Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader, and Judy Greer removed and/or replaced.

The Good Dinosaur will be crashing into theaters on November 25th.


Pixar's Inside Out

[Review] Inside Out

Inside Out is another movie this summer to be breaking box-office records, having achieved the biggest ever opening weekend for an original movie despite coming second to the behemoth that is Jurassic World. Considering Hollywood's laser-focus on sequels and franchises, that's something to be celebrated. That it's a return to original material for Pixar, whose phenomenal run of form has taken something of a dip in recent years with the likes of Cars 2 and Monsters University (some would include 2013's Brave, though I enjoyed that one), will also be welcomed by fans.

My personal affection for the studio varies, having found several of their movies to be outstanding (Ratatouille, Up, Toy Story 3, The Incredibles), others (both sets of Cars and Monsters movies) no better than the much-maligned output of animation rival Dreamworks, and in one case, borderline cynical (Wall-E) in its advertising to a young audience. Given the rave reviews Inside Out has been receiving, I was looking forward to rediscovering a re-energised Pixar at the top of its game. Unfortunately, Inside Out continues the recent trend of the studio struggling to find new things to say.

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Inside Out
Director: Pete Docter
Rating: PG

Release Date: June 19, 2015

The movie is a metaphorical journey through the emotional turmoil of Riley, a young girl on the verge of adolescence who moves away with her parents from a comfortable life in Minnesota to the uncertainty and challenges of a new start in San Francisco, where her father has taken a non-specified job. The emotions in Riley's head are anthropomorphised in the form of Joy (voiced by an ebullient Amy Poehler), Sadness, Disgust, Fear and Anger. It's an interesting enough idea, but one very much of a kind with Pixar's affinity for characters existing outside the perception of the human world and their commonly explored themes of growing up and moving on after difficult periods in life.

The problems begin at the very start - and no, I'm not talking about the animated short, Lava, which precedes the movie, although it too is disappointingly corny despite an appealingly oddball premise - with Joy opening the movie with a prolonged, exposition-heavy monologue explaining how memories work, the difference between standard memories and core memories, how they're organised, the role played by the five emotions in doing so... it's lumbering and overcomplicated, and possibly unnecessary. The visuals (of Riley being born, experiencing her first two emotions) tell an effective enough little story that the fundamental ideas are seeded without the need for oppressive wordiness. Considering the studio's history with exquisitely crafted silent storytelling, it's an uncharacteristic failing.

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Unfortunately, it's one which Inside Out repeats over and over again, introducing a never-ending stream of concepts to be explained in-depth despite rarely being any more useful than one in a long line of contrived obstacles between getting the lost Joy and Sadness back to Riley's emotional headquarters (solid pun), all while overcomplicating and straining the credibility of her extensive inner world. It's a strange case of the broad strokes of that world feeling oversimplified and discordant, while the minutiae is overexplained to the point of clogging up the narrative engine. Among Riley's many internal mechanisms are long term memories stored in mazes, personality traits represented as islands, a production studio for dreams, a train of thought carrying interchangeable facts and opinions (zing) between various locations, a spatially-distorted area for abstract thought... there's an internal logic of sorts piecing it together, but it feels too scattershot and segmented to work in the moment, hence the endless explanations. It's not the richness of the ideas that's the problem, but the movie's inability to visualise or clarify them succinctly.

With so much exposition to get through, character development also draws short shrift. It doesn't initially matter that Riley is something of an everygirl, lacking strong identifying characteristics beyond an affinity for hockey, but until the very end of the movie, Joy is unchangingly defined by her eponymous emotional imperative, while Sadness' purpose is merely put in a slightly different and somewhat self-evident context. The remaining three emotions, left governing Riley's mental state in the interim, barely register despite solid voicework from the cast. The events of Riley's outer existence may be of decidedly secondary importance to what is motivating them, but enough time is spent in the human world that the copy + paste nature of her generic life becomes more and more of a drag as things progress in the entirely predictable direction.

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The movie pulls together at the end, finding a slightly more poignant theme in its final moments than the 'sadness is important too!' idea which dominates 90% of proceedings and treated as if some grand revelation, despite being covered in greater depth in an episode of South Park a while back, not to mention Doctor Who. Amy Poehler's charming voicework is invaluable in pulling the movie through a middle section which has no particular relevance to the thematic outcome of the climax, and a small number of memorable jokes (particularly one about an earworm-y gum jingle) distract from the stark absence of laughs elsewhere. Phyllis Smith also does terrific things with Sadness, a very difficult character, making an engaging double act between her unwavering pessimism and Joy's absolute optimism.

Ultimately, even the movie's biggest strengths feel like they're retreading ground that Pixar has already extensively covered. A character, not featured in any advertising and therefore not to be spoiled here, turns up with the sole purpose of meeting a sad end, and it's hard to believe anyone who hasn't seen a movie before won't immediately see his fate coming or the contrived machinations required to get him there. The movie's two funniest jokes come during the end-credits, one involving cats and the other dogs, recalling director Pete Docter's vastly superior previous effort for the studio, Up!, whose structure and themes Inside Out attempts to replicate but with much of the grace and silliness (an inconsequential but amusing trip through abstract thought comes closest) lost in translation. There are some interesting moves in play, most notably the absence of any sort of villain, but for the reams of exposition which turn so much of the central narrative into a slog, the movie fails to give those details any meaningful substance in Riley's emotional development, while her human existence feels rote at best. Mixed feelings for all of us, then.


Jim Murphy, director of Pixar's Lava

[SXSW Interview] Jim Murphy (Lava)

[This interview was originally published during our SXSW 2015 coverage. It’s being re-posted to coincide with Inside Out's theatrical release.]

Video by Elijah Alvarado

Pixar is renowned for their ability to tell captivating stories that can not only appeal to a large audience, but do so by tapping into very real emotions. Lava, the new short by first-time director Jim Murphy, tells the story of a volcano who yearns for someone to love as millions of years pass. In this short clip from our interview with Murphy during SXSW, he discusses the inspiration behind Lava and even performs a part of the Lava song, as well. Prepare to have the song stuck in your head for days!

Lava will premiere in front of Inside Out when it comes to theaters June 19th.


Disney Frozen

Disney Movies Anywhere Launched As Disney's First Movie Streaming Service

Disney, while a huge industry in itself, has a huge market for most of its productions. Creating many works that families can trust to watch as a whole, the characters and plot lines of every story becomes a huge potential for money and legacy years after each release. A company invested in expanding whenever possible, Disney launched today that a new streaming service called Disney Movies Anywhere will be available for consumers to stream their favorite Disney films with an app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apple TV will also be providing the cloud-based service access, but consumers can log in to the website on a computer or laptop as well.

Disney's streaming option has been speculated for the past few years with many wondering if they would join with UltraViolet, another popular digital streaming service. However, they decided to go their own route and team up with iTunes as the main destination for film purchases. They're the only major studio that won't be affiliated with UltraViolet, and their separation as well as Apple's from the digital movie service is being blamed for the slow-rising popularity. However, with iTunes consumers will have the ability to select from about 420 films produced by Disney, Pixar, and Marvel with the appeal of a "buy once watch anywhere" approach. Content previously purchased on the web as well as digital copies can be accessed from accounts as well. The hope by both Disney Movies Anywhere and UltraViolet is that digital movie purchases will become more appealing to all.

It seems that the bait trying to lure consumers into the Disney digital kingdom will be the ability to purchase Disney's latest blockbuster Frozen three weeks before its release on DVD and Blu-Ray. Another push for consumers to join will be a free digital copy of the Disney-Pixar classic The IncrediblesDisney, while creative all on levels, seems to approach everything they do as an enterprise, and this is only going to increase their market value more than it's already worth.

[via Variety]


Pixar Rumored To Create Star Wars Film

If there's one filmmaking company that thrives off of franchise, it would be Disney. With the recent acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, there have been a multitude of rumors going around as to what will become of the legendary series. Rumors of TV shows, new comic books written by Marvel, and spin-off movies for certain characters have been leaked here and there, but none of them seem to top the combination of these two highly profitable franchises.

When it comes to details about the film, there is very little to be known at the moment. Pixar's plate is currently full for the next few years: Inside OutThe Good Dinosaur, and Finding Dory are all lined up for 2016. The company is notorious for taking their time with each production, so it could be years before a movie like this is even released.

It would be completely logical for the two successful franchises to team up and create a movie; however, there has yet to be an official statement from Disney, Lucasfilm, or Pixar, leaving the statements nothing more than rumors. Meanwhile, the immense amount of fans will remain biting their nails until a confirmation is released.

[via Latino Review]


Pixar Canada has been shut down

A bit of sad news has come out of Vancouver as it's been revealed that Pixar Canada has been shut down. The spin-off studio has been behind the series of Cars shorts and Tales from Radiator Springs from earlier this year. However, the best short to come from the studio was Partysaurus Rex, a Toy Story spin-off that featured Rex befriending and partying with bathtub toys.

The closure is due to Pixar wanting to focus their resources on the main branch in Emeryville, CA. Well wishes go out to those who abruptly lost their jobs. You can read Pixar's full statement on the closure below.

The team at Pixar Canada has produced a wonderful slate of short films since opening in 2010, including Air Mater, Small Fry and Partysaurus Rex. As the dynamics of the animation industry continue to change rapidly, we continue to fine-tune our studio and its production processes. We have made the determination to refocus our creative and business efforts and resources under one roof.  Pixar Canada will cease operations immediately.

[via /Film]