D23 Expo 2013: What’s Next for Disney Animation?
At this weekend’s D23 Expo, Disney animation head John Lasseter showed off an impressive slate of upcoming films.
Continue ReadingAt this weekend’s D23 Expo, Disney animation head John Lasseter showed off an impressive slate of upcoming films.
Continue ReadingDisney XD transforms into Disney Fandom for three nights, starting July 30, 2013.
Continue ReadingExcerpts from an interview with Peter Sohn, a long-time worker at Pixar and the voice of the character ‘Squishy’ in the new film Monsters University.
Continue ReadingA spoiler-free review of, and useful answers to likely questions from parents about, the new Disney/Pixar film Monsters University.
Continue ReadingMonsters University may be a Pixar first – a prequel – but it captures the same magic of the delightful monster world crafted in Monsters, Inc.
Continue ReadingIf you’ve ever walked through a big city in a heavy rain, the first words that came to your mind at the time were probably “messy” and “dirty.” After seeing The Blue Umbrella, the short film that precedes the new Disney/Pixar movie Monsters University, you might just find yourself thinking “beautiful,” or even “magical,” the next time it happens to you.
Continue ReadingIt’s really, really hard not to be jealous of Dan Scanlon. He’s been working at Pixar since joining as a storyboard artist back in 2001 — the year Monsters, Inc. came out — and has now directed his first full-length feature film for the company. Of course, as envious a job as his is, it wouldn’t be a job if it weren’t difficult. On my visit to Pixar last month, Scanlon told me and a bunch of other bloggers about the process of making the film.
Continue ReadingAny good geek knows that the answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything is 42, but were you aware just how often that number has crept up in pop culture? From apartment numbers to Hurley numbers, dates to car registrations, the number 42 is everywhere when you start looking hard enough. Here are 42 examples of the number turning up in pop culture.
Continue ReadingKori Rae, the producer of the upcoming Disney/Pixar film Monsters University, was just about what you’d expect from someone working at Pixar: highly creative, excited about her work, and seemingly well aware that her job makes her the envy of many, many people. She was very willing to sit down and open up to a group of bloggers, and had some interesting insights to offer on the creative process and how to keep yourself moving forward even when things aren’t going your way.
Continue ReadingJust about a month ago I had the rare privilege of not only visiting Pixar’s headquarters, but also learning a lot about the process they use to produce the astonishingly-high quality movies they have built a reputation on. This was done in the context of Monsters University, the next Disney/Pixar film to be released and the prequel to the 2001 movie Monsters, Inc..
Continue ReadingThere are some invitations you don’t wait to accept, and the one I got from Marshall at Disney inviting me to visit Pixar’s headquarters and get an inside look at Monsters University was one of those for me.
Continue ReadingDisney/Pixar has announced that the 2003 Pixar blockbuster animated film Finding Nemo will finally get a sequel, called Finding Dory.
Continue ReadingI’ve been wanting to learn the ins and outs of scaring small children ever since I saw the documentary film Monsters, Inc. that Pixar produced 12 years ago. It’s time I revealed my hidden third eye to the world and …
Continue ReadingI had a chance to go hands-on with the toys from the first Playset expansion for Disney Infinity. Here’s our close-up assessment of Lightning McQueen, Holley Shiftwell, Francesco Bernoulli and Mater in Disney Infinity style.
Continue ReadingThe brilliant Disney/Pixar creative director turns 56 today!
Continue ReadingPixar’s upcoming prequel to Monsters, Inc. goes back to Mike and Sully’s college days at Monsters University, and they’ve put together a great website that looks remarkably like your typical college website, complete with MU merchandise store (including a 4-armed …
Continue ReadingDisney-Pixar continues their ongoing program of reissuing their catalog in the popular 3D format with Monsters, Inc., which opens on December 19. Like Finding Nemo, the 3D version of the 2001 film has been completely re-rendered in higher definition, and …
Continue ReadingSometimes it can be hard to see the messages a movie teaches, especially if they’re unintentional. The best way to see a movie’s messages, the bad ones in particular, is to be a parent watching the movie with your kids. …
Continue ReadingHarry Baker, 2012 World Slam Champion, puts some helpful rhymes together about identity, technology and being a man. Perfect for the up and coming GeekDads of the future.
Continue ReadingThe Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm this week, is a pretty big deal in the GeekDad world, and many of us had an opinion to voice about it. Rather than publish a slew of different articles, we’ve collected our comments here. …
Continue ReadingDisney/Pixar is out with a wonderful new short, set in the Toy Story universe, and starring everyone’s favorite insecure dinosaur toy (voiced by the ever-awesome Wallace Shawn). The short is being run in front of the Finding Nemo 3D …
Continue ReadingAn in home family video-review of Brave: The Video Game. We spent time with a family new to gaming to see what they made of the new Disney game with Kinect controls. By the end of the day even our …
Continue ReadingThe Toy Story films are undoubtedly the greatest animated trilogy ever. Revealing the secret lives of Buzz, Woody, and the rest of Andy’s toys after the lights turn out or doors closed, the movies rekindled our own childhoods in remembrance …
Continue ReadingFans of Disney-Pixar’s feature films know that the filmmakers will sneak little hidden items (called “Easter Eggs”) into each film, usually references to previous films. Disney-Pixar’s epic action adventure Brave features a few such gems, two of which are revealed …
Continue ReadingBrave is lazy gender making of the worst sort.
Continue ReadingJim MacQuarrie visit the grand opening of Cars Land and the new Buena Vista Street at the California Adventure theme park that houses both of those attractions
Continue ReadingDuring these weeks leading up to the release of Brave, we GeekMoms have been happily discussing our favorite Pixar films, our favorite characters, and our favorite storylines. Also, we’ve been sharing memories of our first Pixar films and our first experiences with taking our kids to Pixar films on the big screen. At the end of Pixar week, we ask why we love Pixar so much.
Continue ReadingYesterday a Geeky Dad (and Scottish descent) friend of mine was kind enough to send me pictures of The Highland Games Tournament attraction at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT, which is open through July 8th to celebrate the release of Disney•Pixar’s Brave.
Continue ReadingMark Andrews has worked in animation and live-action as a storyboard artist, story supervisor, writer, and even as a voice actor. With Brave, he makes his debut as a feature film director.
Continue ReadingI gave up on trying to take notes in the dark fairly early on as I watched Brave, but one of the few I did manage was, “a princess donea stuff her gob.” Why was that noteworthy? Because they left it in.
It would have been all too tempting for Disney to step in and take the dialect out of Brave. Instead, Pixar encouraged the voice actors to make suggestions. There are a lot of vocabulary words that would be totally unfamiliar to the average American child, and there’s even a character that speaks in an incomprehensibly thick Doric accent. Rather than translate him – or anyone – the characters react and move on. That is as it should be.
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