The second trailer of Cars froml Pixar is available. Chris was telling me about it the other day and I just got sround to checking it out! Pixar tends to kind of piss me off most of the times. You never really have a clue about any of thier movies until a month before they come out! I guess it is the case with any movie, but damn it! I WANT TO KNOW ! hehe Anyway the movie does look KILLER! and I really can’t wait for another Pixar classic! Chris was also telling me about the website! Check it out!
Disney Presents a Pixar film ‘Cars’ :: The Official Movie Site
Another look inside the Headquarters of Pixar!!!
A Rare Look Inside Pixar Studios
Melena Ryzik gets a rare behind-the-scenes look at the Pixar Studios complex in California.
The origianl post had a dead link, so I replaced it with this cool find. 🙂
Pixar 3-D Development Library Online! — Awesome!
If you’re a 3-D artist or long to be, you must check this out. This is a library of Pixar’s Technical Memos and other research documents from 1982 to present. The top article on “Interactive Depth of Field” was enough for me to cancel my appointments for the rest of the day and explore the rest of this content. Enjoy!rnrnAll You Chris, All U!
Pixar’s Magic Man – John Lasseter
John Lasseter and his merry band of animators have a way with blockbusters. The master storyteller explains how he does it – and how he plans to sprinkle some of that Pixar dust at Disney.
NEW YORK (FORTUNE) – Here’s the scene: It’s 3 P.M., Wednesday, Jan. 25, in Sound Stage 7 on the studio lot of Walt Disney Co. in Burbank. Five hundred cartoon people – artists, producers, voice artists, etc. – are jammed into the warehouse-like building, murmuring and fidgeting in anticipation.
Just yesterday, Disney (Research) CEO Bob Iger and Pixar chairman Steve Jobs announced a surprise $7.4 billion deal in which Pixar Animation Studios, which brought the world the Toy Story movies, “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles,” would become a wholly-owned part of Disney.
The deal is surprising because Pixar’s longtime distribution pact with Disney fell apart in acrimony and is due to expire after the release in June of “Cars,” a kaleidoscopic celebration of racing, Route 66, and life in the slow lane. But in an amazing plot twist, not only is Pixar becoming part of Disney, but the upstart studio is also taking over the creative direction of Disney’s own flailing animation operations – the people in this very room! For Iger, the deal is a bet-the-house gamble to save Disney animation from creative oblivion. It’s as if Nemo swallowed the whale.
When Dick Cook, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, introduces Pixar’s John Lasseter, the man who will soon be their boss, the crowd bursts into cheers and applause that goes on and on. The 49-year-old Lasseter is dressed in his trademark blue jeans, sneakers, and cacophonous Hawaiian-print shirt, and all he can do is blush and beam. “It was almost like a homecoming,” recalls Cook, who first met Lasseter when the two had summer jobs as ride operators at Disneyland in the late 1970s.
For Lasseter, who once got fired by Disney, it was sweet vindication. And it marked another amazing chapter in his storybook life, which resembles nothing so much as a Pixar plot line: Protagonist follows his heart, perseveres, gets the happy ending. His peers will tell you Lasseter’s an animation genius up there with Walt Disney himself. Here, the master storyteller tells his own tale.
Pixar @ MOMA / 35th Birthday
MoMA.org | Exhibitions | 2005 | Pixar
This year for my birthday, I decided to venture into the city with Jos and lil Nicky to the Museum Of Modern Art! They had an exhibit on the 20th Anniversary of Pixar, showcasing the art and animation of my favorite movie company! It was really good! They had a 10 minute wide screen projection video showing all of the movies environments on a cork board. The movie then zoomed in and all of the worlds that the characters in the various movies lived. there were no spoken words, just music and it was real effective. I took a few shots, but was told I couldn’t take any photos 🙁 Go on the museums web site and take the audio tour, its really cool! I bought a cool book showing all the art a cool postcard set and a cool Incredibles poster for my new New York office 🙂 The best part of the exhibit was seeing all the new cars and sets for their new movie Cars. The rest of the museum was cool as well. I actually recognized many pieces and will go back again someday 🙂
Disney Buys Pixar For a Cool 7.4 Billion
Man, I read the news yesterday and I think I am still shocked! I guess it is pretty cool. I instantly saw people shouting out that Pixar movies are gonna now suck! Only time will tell! Here is the news:
Disney eats Pixar – BREAKING NEWS – Cinematical: “Disney eats Pixar – BREAKING NEWS
Posted Jan 24th 2006 7:15PM by Karina Longworth
Filed under: Animation, Deals, Disney
Various outlets are reporting that Disney has confirmed that it will buy Pixar. As part of the deal, Disney will shell out the nice round number of $9.85 billion to hand over control of their existing animation division to Pixar’s Ed Catmull and John Lasseter. In addition to taking over Disney Animation, Lasseter will also become the principal creative director of the Imagineering group ? which presumably means we can look forward to The Incredibles House at Disneyland sometime in 2012. Apple/Pixar mastermind Steve Jobs, who owns 50 percent of Pixar shares, will take a stake in Disney worth about $3.7 billion. He’ll also join the Disney board.
Though the deal is not exactly a surprise, it still qualifies as another bold move from new Disney chairman Robert Iger, who will seemingly stop at nothing to distance himself from his ousted predecessor, new CNBC personality Michael Eisner. Disney stock rose a whopping 1 cent this afternoon after the announcement.”
Disney pulls in Pixar
7.4B deal makes Steve Jobs top shareholder
BY PHYLLIS FURMAN – DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER
Disney is looking to turn its takeover of animation film studio Pixar, whose big hits include ‘Toy Story,’ into a box office bonanza while looking to Steve Jobs for boost in digital dealings.
Disney’s pulled off an “Incredible” deal.
“The Lion King” and “Nemo” will be under one roof now following Disney’s $7.4 billion all-stock deal to acquire animation powerhouse Pixar.
Pixar chief Steve Jobs, will become Disney’s biggest individual shareholder and will get a seat on the company’s board. The Apple Computer chief who sparked a revolution in media and entertainment with the iPod, is expected to use his muscle to pump up Disney as it continues to explore digital deals.
John Lasseter, the creative force behind Pixar’s hit-making machine, has been named chief creative officer of the Disney Pixar animation studios. Pixar’s president, Ed Catmull, was named president of the cartoon-making studio.
By acquiring Pixar, Disney chief Bob Iger is looking to vault Disney from animation laggard to box office champ. While Disney long ago forfeited its animation crown thanks to bombs like “Treasure Planet,” Pixar has ruled for more than a decade with computer animated megahits like “Toy Story,” “The Incredibles,” and “Finding Nemo.”
A current co-production and distribution deal between the two was set to expire this summer after the release of “Cars,” and Jobs was threatening to walk.
“Nothing has created as much value (for Disney) as great animation,” Iger told analysts in conference call yesterday. “Pixar has created some of the most memorable, high-quality films of this genre.”
Jobs praised Disney’s distribution assets, including its theme parks. “This looked to be the most exciting path to Pixar’s future,” he said on the call.
Disney will issue 2.3 Disney shares for each Pixar share. Disney closed yesterday at $25.99, up 47 cents. Pixar closed Tuesday at $57.57, down 70 cents. The $7.4 billion Disney is paying includes about $1 billion of Pixar cash.
The price was somewhat higher than Wall Street had expected. “It’s a full price,” said Peter Goldman, portfolio manager at Chicago Asset Management, which owns Disney shares.
Goldman and others questioned whether Disney was buying at a time when computer animation might be peaking. But he added, “I’m more enthusiastic about Disney with Pixar than I was without it.”
Others wondered how Pixar’s independent culture would fit with Disney’s buttoned-up approach. Pixar will remain at its Emeryville, Calif.-based headquarters.
“Disney is bureaucratic. People roller-blade down the halls of Pixar,” said Marla Backer, an analyst at Research Associates. “I don’t think Pixar needs Disney looking over its shoulders.”
New Disney-Pixar Deal Likely
IGN: New Disney-Pixar Deal Likely: “New Disney-Pixar Deal Likely
Jobs wants to stay at the House of Mouse.
by IGN FilmForce
November 9, 2005 – Nearly two years after Pixar topper Steve Jobs first announced that the CG animation studio was parting ways with Walt Disney Pictures, the entities appear poised to kiss and make up. During a recent third-quarter earnings conference call, Jobs was hopeful about renewing relations with the House of Mouse.
‘We are in deep discussions with Disney,’ he said, noting that that they’d like to have a new distribution deal in place as soon as possible. ‘It’s worth the few extra months of effort if there is a chance of continuing our relationship with Disney and our discussions right now are very productive,’ said Jobs.
That’s a completely different tune than the Pixar CEO was singing back in early 2004 when then-Disney honcho Michael Eisner refused to meet the terms demanded by Jobs for a new Pixar distribution agreement. Pixar reportedly wanted 100% of the box office take on future films, a modest distribution fee and the lion’s share of ancillary revenue. Eisner balked.
Things have warmed between the companies since Eisner’s departure and serious talks restarted after his successor Robert Iger was put in place.
The box office success of Chicken Little may give Disney a little better footing, proving that they’re not completely hosed without Pixar’s brand of computer-animated movie magic. But Pixar isn’t in a bad way either, the studio’s earnings rose 22 percent last quarter on robust home video sales of prior releases like Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.”
THANK GOD hehe
History
Pixar is led by Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple Computer) as its chairman and CEO. The company started as a division of Lucasfilm. It was purchased by Jobs for US$10 million in 1986, establishing itself as an independent company. Given the company’s later successes, Lucasfilm’s sale was described by the magazine Total Film in 2004 as the 6th “dumbest decision in movie history”.
Jobs co-founded the newly independent company with Dr. Edwin E. Catmull, who still remains a member of the executive team. John Lasseter —a two-time Academy Award-winning director and animator— oversees all of the company’s projects as Executive Vice President of the Creative Department. Other notable members of the executive team are Sarah McArthur (Executive Vice President of Production), Simon Bax (Executive Vice President and chief financial officer), and Lois Scali (Executive Vice President and General Counsel).
Pixar’s initial focus was as a high-end hardware company- They produced a visual processing computer, which primarily sold to government agencies and the medical community. The machine required a computer built by Sun Microsystems to operate. While the machine never sold well, John Lasseter began creating short animations to show at SIGGRAPH to demonstrate the power of the system. These animations, such as Luxo Jr. impressed audiences at the show because they demonstrated not simply a raw rendering, but personality.
As poor sales of Pixar’s computers threatened to put the company out of business, Lasseter’s animation department began selling commercials to outside companies. After substantial cuts to most of the computer department, Pixar began it’s current life by making a $26,000,000 deal with Disney, to produce Toy Story.
Disney & Pixar
All of Pixar’s major features thus far have been made in collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures; Pixar handles all of the production aspects whereas Disney handles all distribution aspects. In 1997, after the release of their initial film, Toy Story, both companies signed a 10-year, 5-picture deal, in which the two companies split production costs and profits — with Disney receiving 12.5% of the revenues and the rights to the films. The arrangement has been very profitable for both companies, as Pixar films have been far more successful than Disney’s own animated films. Pixar’s five feature films have grossed more than $2.5 billion, making it, picture for picture, the most successful movie house of all time. However, Disney’s CEO, Michael Eisner, and Jobs did not get along. Because of personal and business disagreements, the relationship will end in 2006 with the movie Cars being the last joint venture between the two companies.
The two companies attempted to reach a new agreement in early 2004. For the new deal, Pixar only wanted to pay Disney a distribution fee with no other profit sharing or rights to the properties. This was unacceptable to Disney, but Pixar refused any concessions. Pixar is currently looking for a new company to distribute its films, and many other firms are eager suitors. Disney retains the rights to the earlier films and can make sequels to them. It has begun production of Toy Story 3, without Pixar’s involvement.
Feature films
Toy Story (1995)
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Toy Story 2 (1999) (Originally slated as a direct-to-video film, Disney concluded this film did not count towards the ‘5 picture’ contract when it was released in theatres)
Monsters Inc. (2001)
Finding Nemo (2003, Academy Award winner 2004)
The Incredibles (2004)
Cars (scheduled for release in 2006)
Ratatouille (scheduled for release in 2006)
Ray Gun (rumored) (possible release in 2007)
Short films (“Shorts”)
The Adventures of André and Wally B. (1984, Lucasfilm, prior to creation of Pixar)
Luxo Jr. (1986, became the source of today’s Pixar logo)
Red’s Dream (1987)
Tin Toy (1988, Academy Award winner 1988))
Knick knack (1989)
Geri’s Game (1997, Academy Award winner 1997))
For the Birds (2000, Academy Award winner 2001)
Mike’s New Car, (2002, based on characters in Monsters, Inc.)
Boundin’ (2004)
Meet the Robinsons
Why do I torture myself? Just when one wait is over, I discover another new one 🙂 I just stumbled apon Disney’s next new movie, Meet The Robinsons! Looks Killer!
– Disney has given the world its first look at their new animated feature Meet the Robinsons. The picture above shows the animated cast of the film, based on William Joyce’s beloved 1990 book A Day with Wilbur Robinson. In the tale, Wilbur is a boy genius who creates a fantastic Jack Kirby-esque machine which ends up unlocking time, allowing Wilbur to visit with a future whose survival depends on him.
Cinematical: “Meet the Robinsons”
The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling!
… and its about time! I have waited for the latest Disney movie for what seems like 2 years! They had bumped this movie back and delayed it so many times I am glad to finally see it hear! I hope to see it over the weekend. It go some so so reviews, so we will see how it does. This is Disney’s first REAL computer animated movie without Pixar, so the pressure is on! I believe Dinosaur was also computer animated, but it didn’t do so hot 🙂
Variety.com – Reviews – Chicken Little