I did see the dinosaurs, but I was trying to see if any of them were either Rex or Trixie! I can’t believe it didn’t cross my mind that those were some of The Good Dinosaurs! Maybe if we had gotten a trailer, that would have been at the back of my mind…
Hm, [spoil]dinosaurs being the superior species?[/spoil] Sounds kinda amusing, actually. And maybe the ‘good’ in the title implies that [spoil]not all dinosaurs are nice to other species, haha.[/spoil]
I’m not sure about it all right now though. But the fact that it’s Pixar making a movie about dinosaurs is probably enough to get me to the cinema!
Maybe this will be like Planet of the Apes! Not really, but reading the last couple posts, that’s what I thought of.
^Heehee, that’s kind of a cute idea!
I’m really scared people will use this movie as evidence for that ridiculous Pixar Apocalypse garbage.
Hmm. I think I’ve seen this all before.
^ I don’t know what that is, but it’s kinda freaking me out. 
It was a tv show called Dinosaurs. It was around during the 90s and it was pretty funny.
Hey! I watched that, but I was too young to remember what it was about.
^^^^
Reading comments like that makes me feel old. I still remember when it first came on, and watching in on TGIF every Friday night.
Today is the day! D23 starts today, so get ready for tons of announcements about The Good Dinosaur. This post will be for updating the announcements throughout the day.
What do you all think of Bob Peterson and John Walker’s supposed replacement? Sources say it’s not confirmed yet, but John Lasseter clearly said in the D23 video “Director Pete Sohn and Producer Denise Ream”. So I’m wondering: Will you guys be giving Pixar (and The Good Dinosaur, and the aforementioned people for that matter) the benefit of the doubt and wait to see what actually happens? Or are any of you just tired of the replacement business and believe The Good Dinosaur may very well be a Pixar disappointment? Or do you have a totally different opinion altogether?
Personally, I’m not worried as long as they keep releasing films like they always have been. As you can tell, I’m in the minority (online, that is) by not thinking that the last three Pixar films were disappointments. They were different, maybe unintentionally too different for some, and I guess that angered/underwhelmed many fans(?).
Eh. I’m sure good ol’ Walt received similar flack back in his days.
I’ve shared my thoughts regarding Bob Peterson and Pixar on other websites, but I’m curious to see how the responses now will compare to what people say a year or two years from now. I’m wondering how rational or perhaps not they may turn out to be by next year or so.
I really wanted Peterson to direct his own film, and yes, I’m tired of the constant director replacement.
That said, it doesn’t change the potentiality of the film to be good or bad, so…
It is officially confirmed that Bob Peterson is no longer the director. But there is some very comforting news, at least to me. Here are a few excerpts and a link.
latimes.com/entertainment/mo … 9321.story
“All directors get really deep in their films. Sometimes you just need a different perspective to get the idea out. Sometimes directors … are so deeply embedded in their ideas it actually takes someone else to finish it up. I would go so far as to argue that a lot of live-action films would be better off with that same process.” - Ed Catmull
“We’ve been around long enough to know it will never be smooth. But getting this process smooth is not our goal; our goal is to make the movie great.” - Ed Catmull
“Bob is still working at the studio, and we hope he will stay here for the rest of his natural life,” - Jim Morris
So Bob Peterson is supposedly starting a new project at Pixar with the intention of him to direct it. I still do want to see him have the spotlight one day. So this disproves any theory that the heads at Pixar are not understanding, and that maybe Bob doesn’t get so hurt as much as some other directors might.
At D23, they announced co-director Peter Sohn (“Partly Cloudy”) as the new director and Denise Ream (Up - associate, Cars 2) as the new producer. Apparently, John Walker moved over to help produce Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland. In addition, I don’t know if Peter Sohn gets a director title as Mark Andrews did, or co-director title as Steve Purcell did (both the case with Brave). However, what is known is that John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, and Mark Andrews are all over-seeing different sections of the movie, and I guess it’s still set to come out on May 30, 2014. I’m anxious and excited. I’m a little worried, but not for the film so much as everything being okay between each of the filmmakers.
I’ve decided, even though no one ever has to do this, I’ll put this into consideration after watching the films because I feel they deserve it. Still have the high hopes. I pray for all at Pixar that everything will be alright. Here’s to them, I think it will be. I only wish there was something I could do to help. I guess all I can do is be loyal. Pixar, this is for all of you:
You guys will be fine (P.S. I love all of your films!).
Yeah, I saw that LA Times article earlier today. I am interested in seeing if he and Sohn will both be credited as main directors, as was the case when Andrews replaced Brenda Chapman on Brave, or as co-director, which is what happened with Jan Pinkava on Ratatouille and Brad Lewis on Cars 2.
Copypaste from FB:
Pixar, I am disappoint.
I wrote several posts on my tumblr blog about Pixar being dependent on its old guard and not trusting new blood. Not gonna bore y’all with my ranting, but yeah, this is becoming a pretty regular occurence.
If they can’t trust a member of their old guard’s creative decision, how else a rookie’s?
It’s becoming a bit of an oligarchy, if you ask me. Dreamworks is the most inclusive, look at how many different directors they’ve got. Nobody even made a houha when Kung Fu Panda 2 got a female director, but Chapman was such a big deal for Pixar for some reason.
Not saying other studios are reluctant to change. Blue Sky is pretty much run by Saldanha and Wedge, and Ghibli is a one-man show.
But I was really looking forward to seeing Petersen’s directorial debut and I hope this doesn’t turn into another Chapman/Romano fiasco.
Oh darn it, I really wanted to see Bob Peterson take the spot light for once. Hopefully, he’ll do great on whatever his next project is (and hopefully that won’t get taken from him). I have to wonder what he would think of the final product. Heck, do we even know how Peterson feels about it?
These directorial changes are nerving, considering this is the fourth time it happened. On one hand, I felt Mark Andrews work on Brave was mostly detrimental to the final product in itself in regards to Brenda Chapman’s original take on it. But on the other hand, if Brad Bird managed to tweak Ratatouille into something wonderful on its own. In addition, if a newcomer director like Dan Scanlon managed to bring me pleasant surprise, then I won’t fret… yet.
There goes my joke that Roz (Bob Peterson) and Squishy Squibbles (Peter Sohn) made a movie together.
I wish Peterson and Pixar the best of luck.
UPDATE: Bob Peterson’s twitter page: twitter.com/bob__peterson
He even jokes that the departing-from-Disney “Paperman” director John Kahrs is stealing his thunder
And on an off-topic note, Bob Peterson posted a picture of himself giving his pet tumbleweed a walk.
Bill, I am also wondering how they will handle that director title situation. And thanks for the update, Carol!
I feel the need to post this, because I want to try and shed some new light on the matter. I’ll try to have as little bias towards John Lasseter and crew as possible while still explaining what I believe is the truth. The problem is, it’s probably not going to work, but oh well. At least I could say I tried. Sorry it’s so long, it’s only because I have many thoughts…
To those upset with Pixar right now, with all due respect, may I ask: If you were creatively in charge of three studios and directed five very successful films, wouldn’t you and your colleagues want to make sure that your fellow directors were doing as good of a job as you were? Wouldn’t you want to ensure they involved little to no ego in the project aside from a personal connection to the story? That doesn’t mean that Bob Peterson had an ego in the project, I’m 110% positive he had no ego in it. It might mean, however, that he was so in love with the idea that perhaps it wasn’t progressing as quickly as it needed to. The Brain Trust likely saw that there was so much potential that wasn’t coming out, and consider that it’s taken this long to finally pull him off. That means they gave him lots of time.
Here’s the thing, though. Bob Peterson didn’t get bent out of shape about it. He reassured everyone that he was fine. He made a joke as Carol said, and is working on his next project which Pixar intends for him to direct. Having learned from this past experience, he likely has a better idea of what to do now. And you never know. The Brain Trust could be saying “Man, maybe we should have been helped him more.” Then John might say, “Boy, maybe I should have helped Bob more” (and he’s producing 3-4 films a year). “I’ve gotta own up, step in and save this project. Lee, Mark? The Good Dinosaur needs a lot of work and it’s due in ten months. Will you help me and Pete Sohn fix the story?”. “Yeah, sure John! Of course!” they say. And don’t forget what Brad Bird says: “Film is forever, pain is temporary!”, and he’s totally right.
So about Pixar (John) replacing people. He’s not telling them that they’re not good enough or asking them to leave, but that the story needs work. He says that the films become a lot harder to make with each new film, so naturally, Pixar has to adapt to those changes. It’s not about Pixar not letting in new talent. As I read in my Pixar book, John wanted others to direct. He really wanted Pete and Andrew to direct new films because he saw how good they were. He even brought out outside talent with Brad to direct some films. He even went as far as to replace himself with Lee to direct Toy Story 3 (and later Klay Hall and Bobs Gannaway with the Planes franchise). He could have saved it like he did with Cars 2 (which, contrary to online belief, I think is brilliant), but he didn’t. So it’s not that he and Pixar don’t allow new talent. What they are experiencing right now, I believe, is called growing pains. They need to make sure that the new talent is up to the level at which they have proven themselves (remember Walt Disney?), and perhaps they’re learning that it may take longer than they thought.
Here’s more: Pixar didn’t fire Brenda Chapman from what I know. I gather she did have a close attachment to it (which, of course, is fine) that may have turned into a bit of an ego after resisting changes. She was then replaced and then she chose to leave. Not to mention, Pixar still credits her as director. Not co-director, director. And Mark Andrews is also new talent and actually very fitting for the case of Brave. Not only is he in to sword-fighting and medieval times, he actually walked in Fergus’ shoes with a wife, a daughter, and three sons if I remember correctly. Not to mention, just watching him in an interview, you can tell his strong sense of dedication and story structure with these movies.
Not to mention, did Pixar have Pete Docter replace Dan Scanlon just because he was a new guy? No, just like Lee Unrkich, they let him proceed because his vision was working. All one can prove is that they…didn’t like the movie. Not only that, some have admitted, “I had high expectations for it, so I’m very disappointed!” Alright, but did you also have as high expectations for the films before it, or did you not because you didn’t know what to expect? (I respond in my head). Again, I’m sorry; I mean no disrespect, and I’m not targeting any one member, or calling anyone a hater, but I’m just wondering if these things are being considered…
I understand, you may still be upset. All I’m saying is, please try to give Pixar credit where credit is due, if you’re not already. Essentially, I’m asking if perhaps you would be willing to adapt to the growing pains as Pixar is. And especially for any of the dedicated Pixar employees who could possibly browse these forums, I think they would appreciate that of us, if you want to.
I am…concerned mainly about hearing this as I too was interested in seeing how Bob Peterson would do. Publicly, at least on Twitter he remains good natured about it, tho if you look at his profile he took off any mention of working at Pixar. I hope things are amicable and he doesnt decide to leave
Good points raised, LQstudiesPixar! I learnt quite a few things from that post alone, and have a better idea of the situation now. While it irks me that Pixar is having these knee-jerk reactions (well, months-long indecisiveness at the least), as long as everyone’s cool about it and there’s no bad blood (like Lou Romano’s infamous Disney rant), I think everything will be okay.
Anyway, Carol’s update reveals that he left the project in good faith, which makes me feel a bit better. Although I’m still curious as to why he removed his mention of working at Pixar.
Unless any of us are Pixarians, we’re all on the outside looking in. So none of us might have a 100 per cent vision of what is going on and what politics are at play. Nevertheless, I think we have to have faith, while still maintaining that level of objectivity. Unless one is an ardent fan, in which case by all means, give in to the studio entirely and never question its methods (and I won’t have anything against that, it’s merely one’s opinion).
Also, it can swing both ways. I absolutely despised Cars 2 before its release, yet it ended up as one of my favourite Pixar sequels. On the other hand, I was hugely sceptical of Brave when Brenda was removed and my fears were not unfounded when it came out with its confusing moral (I was so jaded, I have yet to write a review on it, although from a technical standpoint, it’s a very beautiful film).
Also, thanks for the update Carol! I’m not hanging out on Twitter as much as I used to, but it’s good to know that Bob’s cool about it.