In June 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the Vancouver set of Tron Legacy (you can watch our set visit preview video blog here). Over the course of the next couple days I’ll be posting a few of the transcripts of the roundtable interviews that we conducted on the set with the cast and crew, with a lot more to come in a few months. Yesterday we posted our interview with Jeff Bridges, who reprises his role as Kevin Flynn in the Tron sequel.
Today we have the transcript from our roundtable set interview with Steven Lisberger, the writer/director/creator of the original Tron, who is on board for Tron Legacy as a producer, writer, and actor (he has a small cameo in the film, in the scene seen above).
Read More »
Earlier today I had the opportunity to watch an early unfinished cut of Lee Unkrich’s Toy Story 3 and Teddy Newton’s Pixar short film Day & Night. Due to the uncompleted nature of the feature film, we’ve been asked not to give a full formal review. Instead I’ve recorded a short spoiler-free video blog with Steve from Collider, embedded after the jump. I’ve also put some thoughts in type, after the jump.
Read More »
Before I hit you with a paragraph of jargon and numbers, let me tell you that you can just skip right ahead to below the break and find out what on earth all this tech talk has to do with Pixar (and get to the second Pixar story too, for that matter).
Right. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. Your best sound experiences in cinemas today probably involve a Dolby 5.1 sound set up. This means you have 6 separate channels of sound. Left, Centre, Right, Left Surround and Right Surround make up the 5, and the .1 comes from a subwoofer or “low frequency effects” channel. From the summer, however, Dolby are rolling out their new theatrical 7.1 system. The two extra channels added here will be Back Left Surround and Back Right Surround.
This system has been developed by Dolby, apparently in collaboration with Disney Pixar who will debut 7.1 with Toy Story 3 in “select cinemas”.
Read More »
Briefly: Today is a Toy Story 3 day in a couple of ways. While Peter just saw the film at ShoWest, we’ve got a new character poster to show off. Not quite equivalent things, are they? The new character is Sparks, and he’s basically the robot of every boy’s dreams…in the late ’50s, at least.
The marketing copy for Sparks goes like this:
Sparks will fly – literally – during electrifying playtimes with your new robot friend Sparks! This retro-inspired toy has flashing red LED eyes and a blaster cavity that actually spits out real sparks when he’s rolled along on his sturdy rubber wheels. Sparks also sports telescoping arms with working pincers, and an elevator action that raises his entire body to new heights. Sparking action completely child-safe. Requires two AA batteries (not included).
Hit the jump for a full look at the poster and a little video of the character model. And what did Peter think of the film? “Toy Story 3 was great, last 30 minutes were pure brilliance,” he said. Read More »
Loud and proud Muppets fan Jason Segel has not only written the fluffy ones’ upcoming movie, but as The Hollywood Reporter unsurprisingly reveal in their Heat Vision blog, he’s signed on to play the lead role. According to their piece, the plot is under wraps but… er… I’ve read two different drafts of the screenplay, so it isn’t that secret.
Segel’s role is as human Gary, a chap whose best friend is the puppet bear Walter. Together they go on a journey with Gary’s girlfriend Mary to defeat the evil Tex Richman, a man who doesn’t find the Muppets funny and thinks he can smell oil beneath their studio.
There are plenty of celebrity cameos written into the script (please, Sean Penn, say yes) and a great showcase piece each for most of my favorite Muppets. Honestly, I can’t wait for this one. You’re living the dream, Segel, and you’ve turned my eyes green.
In June 2009, I had the opportunity to visit the Vancouver set of Tron Legacy (you can watch our set visit preview video blog here). Over the course of the next few days I’ll be posting a few of the transcripts of the roundtable interviews that we conducted on the set with the cast and crew, with a lot more to come in a few months. After the jump you can read our roundtable interview with Jeff Bridges, who reprises his role as Kevin Flynn in the Tron sequel.
Read More »
The day after the world learned of Michael Jackson’s death, I found myself in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada revisiting my 1980’s childhood. Its not what it sounds like. I was on the set of a sequel to a film I had first seen 27 years prior. If you had told me as a kid that I would someday have a chance to enter the world of Tron, I wouldn’t have believed you.
But standing in a giant lounge called the “End of Line” club, consisting of glass floors and black and white lights, I watched Jeff Bridges reprise his role as Kevin Flynn. And while it wasn’t filmed on the top floor of the highest building in the evolved world inside the computer, you certainly wouldn’t know it walking around the giant and elaborate set. And that was a surprise — a big surprise.
Read More »
A Goofy Movie begins with Max Goof on his way to the last day of school, and if all goes right his life will change. Turning cartoon into real life, this animated to live-action short adaptation was created for under $100 over the course of six months with a borrowed camera, over 90 supportive friends and family, and Final Cut Studio.
Read More »
Last week, Walt Disney Pictures released the first photo, a promo title treatment, for Pixar’s next short film, Day & Night, directed by Teddy Newton. The photo, seen above, featured two characters, one filled with day, the other filled with night. At the time we speculated that the short might be a 2D animated film, and not the computer animated short film we’re use to from Pixar. And now people within Pixar are calling it “unlike anything Pixar has produced before.” What does that mean? Is it 2D or 3D? Details after the jump.
Read More »
Very unexpected news from the Disney camp today: the studio has just issued a press release saying that, after production finishes on Mars Needs Moms, the Robert Zemeckis studio ImageMovers Digital will be closed in 2011. Read More »
