It’s typical to find concept art all over a Pixarian’s wall, but it isn’t everyday when an unannounced character shows up hidden in a Pixar featurette.
That’s why the still above is so interesting. That’s Greg Dykstra, a character sculptor at Pixar showing his model for a young version of Carl during an Up featurette. Behind him (circled, click to view larger) you’ll notice a boy and a dinosaur.
Does anyone know what this could be? Bryko614, who noticed the concept art above while watching the Up B-Roll, took that question to Ronnie del Carmen. Via del Carmen’s Twitter: "@Bryko614 I do. But not telling. Nothing to do with anything Toy Story, tell you that." Understandable.
Hmm… Could it be concept for a feature? Definitely not Cars 2; sounds kind of farfetched for The Bear and the Bow or Newt. With this, I’ve come to a conclusion that it’s probably art for an upcoming short film.
Update: The Pixar Touch author David A. Price pointed this blog post out to me via e-mail although I did not have time to update. The post by animator Austin Madison features a group of Pixarians including Greg Dykstra at a dinosaur dig. Sounds like a research trip to me…
We’ll let you know if anything develops further like plot details or other announcements as they come. Your thoughts…?
Last modified: August 26, 2009
My guess is its for a short. Doesn’t seem to fit in with the announce releases. Or maybe a TV commercial?
Could it be “Dinosaur Bob” by (Meet the Robinsons) William Joyce?
Cool! Maybe their doing a dinosaur movie,heh heh,I’m going to the Zoo today and their showing a 3D Dinosaur movie there.
No, pixar doesn’t make book-to-movie films
i would guess that it is an early concept for russell and maybe what eventually became kevin
Ronnie del Carmen said it’s a secret, so it’s probaly short with Cars 2, newt, or The Bear and the Bow or a movie that comes out after newt
maybe Greg’s working on something of his own 😀
Wow, that’s certainly interesting. Anonymous #4, that’s actually plausible, but I think something like that would’ve been shown in The Art of Up. Also, since Up has already released, I doubt Ronnie del Carmen would be so secretive about it.
OR… it could just be some artwork he did. Something he wants to pitch someday, or even just for fun…
Maybe something to do with Dinoco? Another fantasy TV ad like in the first Cars?
I believe at one point in development it was dinosaurs that Muntz was looking for in UP. I suspect that’s what it was for.
No, it’s definitely a new IP.
Whether it’s a short or full-length feature, Del Carmen wouldn’t take the quiet approach bbased on old UP ideas….
My only concern is this affects future featurettes. I sincerely hope that isn’t the case.
Dykstra has a background in paleontology and still goes on paleontological digs. His office was filled with pictures of dinosaurs the last time I visited, and that was two years ago. I wouldn’t make to much of it.