We have another quick Woody’s round-up of Pixar news for you this week to tide you over until the Elemental updates start to flood in!
“The Art Of Elemental” cover revealed
The art book for Elemental is arriving on May 25th, just a few weeks before the film’s June 16th release date. These “Art Of” books are always a joy to look at, featuring beautiful concept art and character designs. The cover was recently revealed and it’s so charming! The city and art style is giving us Monstropolis vibes.
Pete Docter on Lightyear , sequels, and diversity in storytelling
Pete Docter, who just received the Winsor McCay award at the 50th Annie Awards, recently spoke to The Wrap about his work as Chief Creative Officer at Pixar. You’ll find that many news sites have picked up on the dramatic negatives from the interview: i.e. why did Lightyear not perform well at the box office? A question which Docter gives a reasonable answer to, although 2022 was always going to be a weird year for the box office, especially with Disney+ in the picture too.
But what I found more interesting from this interview was his thoughts on diversity in storytellling, and his sneaky little hints at what Inside Out 2 might entail (lots of emotion, it sounds like!). And he even talks about how Aphton Corbin, director of Twenty Something, is working on something. The whole interview is a hugely positive and fun read!
Obviously animation moves in slow motion, so it’s taken a long time to turn trajectory, but to bring more diverse voices to director positions, to leadership, creative leadership. And yet, hold on to the wide audience appeal. We do feel like there is a real universality in specificity. By that I mean, the more specific you are about a person, their origin, where they came from, what their story is, somehow the more universally it applies to everybody.
Pete Docter, The Wrap
Domee Shi talks Turning Red and new projects
Director Domee Shi has also just had a really excellent interview published on Letterboxd, where she talks about women in animation, how Turning Red is doing out in the world, and her new role as vice president of creative at Pixar. Here’s her description of her job at Pixar at the moment, hinting at her future feature film.
So my responsibilities are kind of split between [being] in development again on a new feature film that I’m going to direct, but at the same time, I’m helping out other shows and first-time directors navigate the labyrinth of making a movie and trying to be there as a champion for them, but also a shoulder to cry on, a mentor.
Domee Shi, Letterboxd
Tags: round-ups Last modified: September 10, 2023
