Upcoming Pixar Blog

Late last week it was announced that WALL•E is still winning awards even about a year after release; the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film to be exact!

Collider recently caught up with WALL•E animator and BURN•E director Angus MacLane after the awards. He had a lot of cool things to say, from his experience on WALL•E to what he’s doing today on Toy Story 3. Watch the entire video interview below, full of Pixar tidbits:



Enjoy!

Also: Catch Angus MacLane on his Twitter or Flickr photostream!

The Seattle P-I‘s The Big Blog has a fun feature called Geek of the Week profiling local techies. This week’s geek? Wayne Wooten, software engineer at Pixar’s Seattle facility.

Yup, just like there’s a studio coming soon to Vancouver, BC, Canada there are also RenderMan offices in Seattle, Washington. This is where the main operations for the flagship Pixar software and other big tech are executed. But this piece isn’t about Pixar in Seattle…

Wayne Wooten is the man in the article’s spotlight, the “Animation Scientist” is quite interesting actually! Wait ‘til you read how Wooten answered questions like “iPhone or Blackberry?”, “Star Wars or Star Trek?” and even “When did you first know you were a geek?” Notably, his main influence is Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull mainly because of the technology he pioneered and implemented into his dream of making animated films.

It’s a great read about an inspiring employee who works at the branch of Pixar we don’t hear much about. Enjoy the full Q&A here.

So far we’ve gotten comics based on Pixar classics like The Incredibles, Cars, Toy Story and Finding Nemo.

Now the next series in the Disney•Pixar/BOOM! Studios line-up is prepping for launch, Monsters, Inc.! Here’s the synopsis for Monsters, Inc.: Laugh Factory #1 from BOOM!‘s official website: 

"Sulley, Mike and Boo are back, and they are sure to generate plenty of chuckles for the Monsters, Inc. laugh factory! When acts of sabotage begin to damage Monsters, Inc. equipment, all the evidence points to…Mike?! Can Mike convince Sulley to help him find the true culprit?"

We’re guessing by the cover art for issue #2 that the plot features an escaped Henry J. Waternoose and he might have something do with this new crisis! Anyhow, Monsters, Inc. comics are being written by Paul Benjamin and drawn by Amy Mebberson. You can pre-order issue #1 here.

Don’t forget there’s lots more Disney•Pixar/BOOM! comics to find on their official website.

(Thanks, Matt)

Pete Docter is supporting a local cause which can potentially save countless people’s lives around the world.

How will he do this? To benefit the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the director of Up has prepared a sketch of the movie’s star Carl Fredricksen! The drawing is on Pixar letterhead using marker, signed and dated June 9, 2009. You can own this piece by bidding for it on eBay. Right now this framed original is going for $380, all going directly towards the SF AIDS Foundation.

Also of note, a group of Pixar employees will be present at SFAF’s event, the San Francisco AIDS Walk. You can help the cause by donating here.

Are you willing to buy this one of a kind sketch? Why or why not?

Before his days as a Pixar director, Brad Bird worked on The Simpsons. So it’s appropriate that the voice of Bart would conduct a Q&A with the acclaimed director!

Nancy Cartwright chatted with the man she met more than twenty years ago during the early days of the animated sitcom for this Animation World Magazine interview. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from Brad Bird, presumably because he’s been busy getting everything together for his upcoming Warner Bros./Disney project titled 1906, so it’s even more exciting to see a brand new article in his own words.

Lead by Cartwright’s informed questions, expect much talk about the multiple Academy Award winning director’s days working on The Simpsons, his further work with Steven Spielberg, his first feature film at Warner Bros. and of course his current home at Pixar! Bird even goes into the production of his first animated short film (completed around age 14) and how his mom tricked him into finishing it which in turn got him hired at Disney. Many fans may know these stories already, but hearing them from the Bird man himself makes it just that much cooler.

He does quickly go over the upcoming 1906 saying it’s "an epic love story/mystery with quite a bit of action and comedy…" Nothing we haven’t heard before, but still very exciting! Read the full article here.

(Thanks, Dan)

This is likely going to be the last in the series of "Up Weekday Box Office" (not to be confused with Box Office Buzz) for the movie’s run.

Notice I said likely… I could change my mind because the way Up is doing on weekends and weekdays is phenomenal! Let’s examine: Two week ago on Monday Up made $3.6 million, the next Monday it dropped just over -20% to $2.7 million and this Monday is the same case! Those minimal drops are remarkable, demonstrating "legs" that haven’t been this "long" since Finding Nemo! That’s saying a lot considering Pixar is known for long runs at the box office.

So while I decide if this feature will stay afloat for another week or not, why don’t we check out how Pete Docter’s latest film is doing, updated daily:

Monday: $2,160,831
Tuesday: $2,571,769
Wednesday: $1,584,709

Cumulative: $256,551,863

Notes and Predictions: As Up keeps climbing the ladder of success, more and more records are being broken. For example, Up is now #45 in the top grossers of all time, it should land at #40 by next week. This means it’ll likely pass Monsters, Inc. by Wednesday and The Incredibles by Friday making it the 2nd highest grossing Pixar movie ever! Again, we’ll see how the other upcoming sequels affect Up which is still the #1 movie of 2009. Transformers has been making big bucks but hasn’t really broken into Up’s revenue, so all we can do is wait and support the film…

International: Let’s not forget about the worldwide market! I’m betting Up could be like Ratatouille, having double the domestic take internationally! But for now it’s not the biggest worldwide campaign because it’s opening slowly in major territories. Cumulative foreign box office is at $35,364,786 with worldwide totals at a strong $287,760,171!

So, let us know, should "Up Weekday Box Office" posts stay or go?

(via Box Office Mojo)

Welcome to another edition of Woody’s News Round-Up, stories we want to pass along that didn’t quite make it to an individual post:

Ed Catmull to be Honored by VES: The Visual Effects Society announced today that they will be presenting the George Méliès Award to Pixar President and co-founder Ed Catmull! The prize’s description defines Catmull very well since he pretty much "pioneered… the art and/or science of the [CGI] visual effects industry." He will be accepting the honor during the VES Awards on February 28th, 2010.
[Source: THR | via: The Pixar Touch Blog]

Up in FoxTrot: The popular Sunday comic strip, FoxTrot by Bill Amend, featured a certain Pixar movie that’s been making waves at the box-office. When one of the kids watches Up in theatres, he’s inspired. But what exactly does he do with that inspiration? Click here to see a large version of the hilarious strip.
[Thanks, Hannahmation from the Pixar Planet Forums]

Toy Story 3 Grows Up: The word "mature" brings up different thoughts in different people; some think of it as inappropriate for younger audiences, others as smarter and wiser, and some think of it as a term for violent content. Whatever your perception of the word, this is what BURN•E director and acclaimed animator Angus MacLane had to say to Cinematical about Toy Story 3: "…each of the films represents where the filmmakers were at the time… we’re approaching [TS3] 10 years later… we’ve grown up with these toys, and we have a reverence for them, but we also have different things as a priority." Working off of those quotes, Total Film has also explored some odd possibilities for this "grown-up" plot, I’m sure it’s a joke, of course.

Notice Something?: Look at the title of this article, doesn’t that date look familiar? Well, it should because it’s the second anniversary of Ratatouille! Go make yourself something nice to eat in honor of Chef Remy! Notice something else, it’s the one month anniversary of Up. With reviews and revenue like that, Pixar must be celebrating BIG!

Update — Doug Sweetland Invited to the Academy: Acclaimed director of Presto, Doug Sweetland, was recently invited into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Sweetland will be part of the animation branch of the Academy and will be able to vote on the Oscars. Also of note Peter Gabriel, performer of WALL•E’s original song Down to Earth, has also been invited to join. Learn more about the other 134 inductees in the official press release.

Did anything in Woody’s News Round-Up catch your eye, tell us in the comments section!

DK Publishing is planning to release the definitive Pixar Encyclopedia… Pixarpedia!

I’m surprised no major publisher has thought of this before, I’ve wanted a book like this for a very long time. It seems Pixarpedia is packed with facts about everything from the studio, to the characters (shorts and features), to inside-jokes. If it turns out like I think it should, this could be another must have for any Pixar fan and a great reference like Disney A to Z!

As you can see from the cover, Pixarpedia will be an Up to date publication. The 300 page hardcover is set for August 17th, 2009 in the US (Amazon), September 1st in the UK (DK) and September 28th in Australia (Penguin). SRP for this brand new publication is $40.00 but you can pre-order for much less at the previous links. Don’t forget about the other exciting new release, The Pixar Treasures from Chronicle Books also coming later this year.

Will you be buying this brand new collectors item? Why or why not?

(Thanks, Rachel)

With all of Up’s success, Carl decided he’d take a little Walt Disney World vacation.

The house has landed at Downtown Disney where it can be seen by any tourist in the Orlando area who drops by. It is, of course, inflatable just like last year’s WALL•E. That giant version of our favorite little robot ended up at Pixar, so who knows, maybe Carl’s house will too! Check out Jeff Lange’s / Mouse Steps’ video below:



Enjoy!

(via LiftHill)

If you thought Up was done breaking records, you were way wrong!

Pixar’s 10th feature just broke through a huge barrier: the $250 million mark! That means it has surpassed Cars, Toy Story 2 and Star Trek this weekend. "Star Trek?" you say. Yes, that means that Up is not only the highest grossing 3D movie ever but also the highest grossing movie of 2009 in the US! Even more impressive, it’s only been 4 weeks into release!

What a milestone! Unfortunately, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is right on its heels, grossing $200 million in just 5 days. The good thing is that we know it’s not all about the money (up there with 97% on Rotten Tomatoes) and 250+ million is more than enough to keep the Mouse happy with John Lasseter and company. That is, considering it’s the 8th highest grossing animated movie and 7th highest grossing CGI movie ever…

Now let’s come into perspective with the highly successful Pixar instead of competitors which have hits here and bombs there. Right now Up is hovering around the number 4 spot in the studio’s canon. Better yet, it’s about $10 million away from the #2 spot which is claimed by The Incredibles.

Even though Up kept going strong, it did get hit harder than usual by the big robot sequel. Here’s the breakdown: Friday and Sunday both brought in an estimated $4 million with a $5 million Saturday bringing in an estimated $13 million weekend. If the week keeps up how I think it will, Up should surpass Monsters, Inc. by next Friday.

What’s that I hear? Oh, of course, it’s the sound of celebration and maybe a few regretful sighs from the analysts. Congratulations, Pixar!

Update: Actuals are in! This weekend’s total is $250,234,554 comprised of $3.9 mil. on Friday, $5.0 mil on Saturday and $4.0 mil. on Sunday.

(via Box Office Mojo)