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Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios New Films!

July 18, 2017 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

This past weekend at the D23 EXPO in Anaheim, CA, numerous filmmakers from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios convened at D23 Expo 2017, revealing new details about their upcoming movie slates and introducing key voice talent, including Benjamin Bratt, Anthony Gonzalez, Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson, Huck Milner and Sarah Silverman.

And in an unforgettable moment, Auli‘i Cravalho (voice of “Moana”), Kristen Bell (voice of “Anna”), Kelly MacDonald (voice of “Merida”), Mandy Moore (voice of “Rapunzel”), Anika Noni Rose(voice of “Tiana”), Irene Bedard (voice of “Pocahontas”), Linda Larkin (voice of “Jasmine”), Paige O’Hara (voice of “Belle”) and Jodi Benson (voice of “Ariel”) came together on stage in a celebration fit for a princess.

John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, teamed up with the stars and filmmakers from both studios to present new details, footage, behind-the-scenes looks and images from a host of upcoming films. “I’m so excited about our upcoming movies; they are all hilarious, emotional, beautiful and make you think,” said Lasseter, who serves as executive producer on all animated titles. “It’s a great mix of incredibly creative and surprising new worlds and characters and stories we love returning to. Our filmmakers are putting so much heart into these films – I can’t wait for people to see them.”

Below are the films presented on behalf of both studios.

COCO (#PixarCoco)

Guests were treated to the first-ever public performance of “Remember Me” from Pixar Animation Studios’ upcoming feature film COCO. Anthony Gonzalez, who provides the voice of Miguel in the film, and Benjamin Bratt, who lends his voice to Ernesto de la Cruz, teamed up to perform the song written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Capping the animation presentation, the grand finale featured more than 160 performers who descended upon Hall D23 at the Anaheim Convention Center, including the Grammy-winning Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea and Ballet Folklorico de Los Angeles under the direction of Kareli Montoya, and the Grammy®-winning Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band.

“Our film embraces a broad landscape of music,” said director Lee Unkrich. “We were fortunate to have Kristen and Bobby create ‘Remember Me’—it’s the signature song made famous by Ernesto de la Cruz, and it embodies the key theme in our story: the importance of remembering loved ones both in life and beyond.”

Unkrich, co-director and screenwriter Adrian Molina and producer Darla K. Anderson shared details about the original story with the crowd. In theaters Nov. 22, 2017, COCO introduces Miguel, an aspiring musician whose family long ago banned music. Desperate to prove his talent and follow in the footsteps of his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, Miguel makes a fateful decision and finds himself in the Land of the Dead, where he meets his extended family and charming trickster Hector (voice of Gael García Bernal). Together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.

COCO features an original score from Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino (“Up,” “Rogue One”) and additional songs co-written by Germaine Franco (“Dope,” “Shovel Buddies”) and Molina. Also part of the team is musical consultant Camilo Lara of the music project Mexican Institute of Sound.

Here is the trailer for COCO:

OLAF’S FROZEN ADVENTURE (#OlafsFrozenAdventure)

Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna, introduced fans to the new FROZEN holiday featurette, OLAF’S FROZEN ADVENTURE. Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf, surprised the crowd with a live performance of the all-new original song “That Time of Year,” written by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson. The song is part of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ new 21-minute featurette, which hits the big-screen in front of Disney•Pixar’s COCO on Nov. 22, 2017.

Joining Bell and Gad in the featurette are Idina Menzel as the voice of Elsa, and Jonathan Groff as the voice of Kristoff.

The featurette is directed by the Emmy®-winning team Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton (“Prep & Landing”) and produced by Oscar® winner Roy Conli (“Big Hero 6”).

Here is the trailer for OLAF’S FROZEN ADVENTURE:

INCREDIBLES 2 (#Incredibles2)

John Lasseter, who’s looked forward to the return of everyone’s favorite family of superheroes since THE INCREDIBLES was still in production, was excited to share with fans a look at what the fashion world thinks of super-suit stylist Edna Mode—the petite-but-powerful character introduced in Pixar Animation Studio’s 2004 Oscar®-winning feature. Showcasing fashion phenoms from Heidi Klum and Kendall Jenner to Zac Posen and Rachel Zoe, the video can be viewed here:

INCREDIBLES 2 director Brad Bird—who lends his voice to Edna—joined Lasseter on stage to welcome to the festivities the voices of Mr. and Mrs. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter), Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (newcomer Huck Milner) and Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson). Bird revealed details of the upcoming caper, which puts the family into an expanded universe that includes new allies and a brand-new villain. “‘Incredibles 2’ is really a family film, it’s just that the family happens to have super powers,” said Bird. “They may have super speed or super strength, but they experience the same problems as any family.”

“Bob’s actually home with the kids this time and I’m the one out fighting crime,” added Hunter. She joked, “I’ve been working out 13 hours a day!”

Disney•Pixar’s INCREDIBLES 2 hits theaters everywhere on June 15th, 2018!

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: WRECK-IT RALPH 2 (#RalphBreaksTheInternet, #WreckItRalph2)

Directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston hit the stage at D23 Expo 2017, introducing Emmy®-winning actress and comedian Sarah Silverman, who returns as the voice of Vanellope von Schweetz.

Fans were the first to see the global debut of a scene from the film that pays hilarious homage to the Disney Princesses. Lasseter revealed that filmmakers had asked the original voice actresses behind the Princesses featured to reprise their roles for the sequence, and in a moment no Disney fan will forget, Auli‘i Cravalho (“Moana”), Kristen Bell (Anna in “Frozen”), Kelly MacDonald(Merida in “Brave”), Mandy Moore (Rapunzel in “Tangled”), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog”), Irene Bedard (“Pocahontas”), Linda Larkin (Jasmine in “Aladdin”), Paige O’Hara (Belle in “Beauty and the Beast”) and Jodi Benson (Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”) were welcomed on stage for the largest gathering of Disney Princesses in history.

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ follow-up to 2012’s WRECK IT RALPH leaves the arcade behind, venturing into the expansive universe of the internet—which may or may not survive Ralph’s not-so-light touch. Outcasts-turned-BFFs Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) and Vanellope von Schweetz are reuniting with Fix-It Felix (voice of Jack McBrayer) and Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch). Filmmakers revealed a new character, Yesss, an algorithm who plays an important role in Ralph and Vanellope’s journey within the internet. Golden Globe®-winning actress Taraji P. Henson(“Empire”) lends her voice to the character. “Yesss is a new character who owns the website Buzzaholic,” said Henson. “Yesss knows about everything cool and on trend. And she does spell her name with a triple ‘s.’ Yesss is very savvy, smart and sexy.”

Produced by Oscar® winner Clark Spencer, RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET: WRECK-IT RALPH 2 hits theaters on Nov. 21st, 2018!

UNTITLED DISNEYTOON STUDIOS FILM

John Lasseter kicked off the presentation by announcing Disneytoon Studios’ original new animated movie, “Untitled DTS Film.” Directed by Klay Hall and Bobs Gannaway, and produced by Ferrell Barron, the theatrical feature film explores the future of aviation—taking moviegoers to the edge of discovery in the air—and beyond. “Untitled DTS Film” opens in theaters on April 12th, 2019!

TOY STORY 4 (#ToyStory4)

John Lasseter invited Pixar’s Josh Cooley (“Riley’s First Date?” short) to the stage, revealing that Cooley has assumed full director responsibilities for TOY STORY 4. The pair brought with them a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the director’s life at the Northern California studio. Produced by Jonas Rivera (“Inside Out”), TOY STORY 4 is slated for release on June 21st, 2019!

FROZEN 2 (TITLE TBA)

Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, and produced by Peter Del Vecho, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ feature-length follow-up to 2013’s Oscar®-winning film FROZEN is slated for theaters on November 27th, 2019! Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff are reprising their roles in an all-new story. John Lasseter, Bell and Gad shared with FROZEN fans a behind-the-scenes video showcasing the filmmakers’ recent research trip to Norway, Finland and Iceland.

UNTITLED DAN SCANLON MOVIE

Director Dan Scanlon, who helmed Pixar’s “Monsters University,” joined Lasseter to share a few details about an all-new original feature film currently in production at Pixar Animation Studios. According to Scanlon, who lost his father at a very young age, the film is inspired by the question he’s always asked: who was my father? The story is set in a world with no humans—only elves, trolls and sprites—“anything that would be on the side of a van in the ’70s,” said the director. “In the film, we’re going to tell the story of two teenage elf brothers whose father died when they were too young to remember him. But thanks to the little magic still left in the world, the boys embark on a quest that will allow them a chance to spend one last magical day with their father.” Kori Rae (“Monsters University”) will produce.

Disney Pixar CARS 3 – Brand New Teaser Trailer

November 22, 2016 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

From this moment, everything will change. Check out the teaser trailer for Disney/Pixar’s CARS 3!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Like CARS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PixarCars/
Follow Disney/Pixar on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DisneyPixar

CARS 3 opens in theatres everywhere on June 16, 2017!

The Good Dinosaur – Advent Calendar & New Activity Sheets

December 1, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

New family activity sheets inspired by Disney/Pixar’s THE GOOD DINOSAUR (now playing in theatres everywhere!) including an Advent Calendar, an Origami Arlo and a Dino Snowflake are now available!

About the Movie

“The Good Dinosaur” asks the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar Animation Studios takes you on an epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo (voice of Raymond Ochoa) makes an unlikely human friend. While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of.

Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream (“Cars 2”), Disney•Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” opens in theaters on Nov. 25, 2015.

An Apatosaurus named Arlo and his unlikely human friend travel through a harsh and mysterious landscape, where Arlo learns to confront his fears, discovering what he is truly capable of.

Notes:

Peter Sohn made his directorial debut with the Pixar short film “Partly Cloudy.” He has worked in the art, story and animation departments, and also has voiced the characters of Emile from Academy Award®-winning “Ratatouille” and Scott “Squishy” Squibbles from “Monsters University.”
Denise Ream produced the Golden Globe®-nominated film “Cars 2” for Pixar Animation Studios, and served as associate producer for Disney•Pixar’s Academy Award®-winning film “Up.” She also has an extensive background in producing visual effects and animation for live action films.

Learn more about The Good Dinosaur

Like THE GOOD DINOSAUR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PixarTheGoodDinosaur
Follow THE GOOD DINOSAUR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegooddinosaur
Follow THE GOOD DINOSAUR on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegooddinosaur/
Follow THE GOOD DINOSAUR on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/disneystudios/the-good-dinosaur/
Visit Disney/Pixar on Tumblr: http://disneypixar.tumblr.com
Follow Disney/Pixar on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyPixar
Visit the official THE GOOD DINOSAUR website here: http://movies.disney.com/the-good-dinosaur

THE GOOD DINOSAUR is now playing in theatres everywhere!

Put Your Heart Into It – My Experience at The Good Dinosaur event

November 23, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

As most of you know I attended a special Disney. Pixar & Disney Junior event from September 29-October 2 in San Francisco to take part in a fun few days of exploring the movies, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur and Miles From Tomorrowland. It was an amazing few days and it is my pleasure to share some of my experiences with you!

On the second day there we spent all day at Pixar exploring the Good Dinosaur as well as going to the Pixar archive and then going to a special event at GOOGLE for the Disney Junior series, Miles from Tomorrowland. I was really excited to have the opportunity to learn more about The Good Dinosaur, the Pixar Archive and Miles from Tomorrowland.

In the afternoon of the second day we spent time with some of the main leaders of the movie The Good Dinosaur, learning about the process that they took to create the new movie. In each of these sessions we learned something new and over three different posts I will share some of my experiences within these sessions to give you some glimpse into what Pixar and their artists have done to create an amazing film.

Today I am sharing with you my thoughts on my conversations with The Good Dinosaur Story Supervisor, Kelsey Mann, and Screenwriter, Meg LaFauve and their presentation: PUT YOUR HEART INTO IT. In this presentation we learned about how how the story of The Good Dinosaur was developed and boarded, and also learned how to draw our own Arlo!

Kelsey Mann is photographed on September 25, 2013 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Kelsey Mann started by explaining that the room that we were in was the actual story room used for The Good Dinosaur. He told me that the seat that I was sitting in was the actual seat that Peter Sohn always sat in (talk about cool!)

Kelsey continued to tell us that it is the job of his team to take the writing of Meghan LaFauve and transform and draw it so that it could work on screen. We received a bit of a history lesson of how this was similar to the same process that Walt Disney used, albeit with a lot more technology mixed in.

While the artists use pen and paper, most also use special computers that help them easily draw, erase and manipulate the images that they are creating. The benefit of the computers is that it allows them to quickly draw on something that is very similar to paper, while being able to flip, flop and bring the image to scale very easily.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR - Screenwriter Meg LaFauve and Story Supervisor Kelsey Mann present at the Long Lead Press Days at Pixar Studios. Photo by: Marc Flores. ©2015 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

So how does the process work? Well, Kelsey Mann said that in The Good Dinosaur and all movies, Meghan LaFauve as the writer and Peter Sohn as the Director would first sit down to talk about what the movie will be. Part of Meghan’s job is to question Peter and pull out of him more about the vision for the movie. To do this she will find out what Peter cares about in regards to the movie as well as what is the world that Peter wants to create. Once this meeting occurs, Meghan will go and write a first draft of the script. While Meghan was the main writer on The Good Dinosaur, this is not always the case on all films. On some films there can be multiple writers. In the end in this writing process Meghan works to create a script true to the vision of Peter. Both Kelsey and Meghan mentioned that The Good Dinosaur was Peter’s film so their team is trying to dig out.

Once you have a script the team comes together to start drawing. As the team is together in the story room they will typically take one scene at a time and it is the job of one animator to pitch the room. Kelsey Mann made our presentation a ton of fun by pitching us a seen, one that we saw in the movie where Arlo and Spot run into a number of Prairie Dog like creatures. As he pitched us, he got into the pitch and really acted out the screen. Kelsey Mann mentioned that acting out the scene is part of what is called “bringing yourself to it.” Kelsey mentioned that to get at the A+ you have to be there, involved.

A The Good Dinosaur story review, including Kelsey Mann, Meg LeFauve, Erik Benson, Edgar Karapetyan and Director Peter Sohn, as seen on August 1, 2014 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

At the end of the session Kelsey walked us through the process of drawing Arlo for ourselves. I loved this and it was so much easier than I would have first imagined.

I learned so much in these two sessions and I hope that you did too!

Find out more about The Good Dinosaur

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Sanjay Patel Creates Sanjay’s Super Team, a Short Film That Has Tons of Heart!

November 19, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

I was really impressed to have the opportunity to listen and experience the short that is attached to The Good Dinosaur, Sanjay’s Super Team in a whole new way.

Sanjay Patel is the creator of this film and he has been at Pixar for 20 years. Over his time at Pixar he found that he loved what he was doing, but he also found himself starting to be drawn into his own heritage.

Outside of work on many films over the years he started a number of projects that allowed him to connect to his culture and the history and religious icons that he grew up with over the years. This was not an easy journey but from what Sanjay Patel said, it was necessary as he always felt disconnected to his own father and the culture and religion that he practiced on a daily basis.

As Sanjay Patel created the books it helped him tell the stories that he knew to others as well as allowed him to see his parents’ culture in his own way.

Sanjay Patel threw himself into learning more about this culture and stories like the Ramayana. He mentioned that he spent sometimes four hours a night over ten years learning about the myths.

Sanjay Patel was asked three times to bring his myths and stories to Pixar and three times he said no. Then he talked to his dad and his dad said “The studio supported you for 20 years. To not do what they are asking would be bad karma.” He said that is was Sanjay’s “sacred duty” to share the myths and stories with Pixar.

Thus, Sanjay Patel did, and had a first pitch with Jon Lasseter. During his pitch to Jon, he was told that it was important to “tell your truth”. The short that you will see in the theater went through quite a few renditions. One of the examples of this was explained to us when Sanjay brought forth a version of the super team cartoon that young Sanjay is watching in the short. Initially it was pitched to Jon Lasseter as a 2D cartoon similar to the old Superfriends. Jon Lasseter re-visioned this so that it would be more relevant to kids today and that made the scene that much better.

Sanjay Patel explained that each of the mythological characters that are depicted in the short were created in certain ways to help depict certain feelings within the film. Sanjay Patel also wanted to make sure to connect in the most well-known and noticeable Gods and Goddesses from Indian tradition to allow for people who were not familiar with Indian traditions a better taste of the culture.

Sanjay Patel put his heart and soul into the making of this short and in the end when you see it you will tell that it truly is a labor of love.

We were fortunate to see a short clip of a video that was taken at the end of the film when Pixar had Sanjay Patel’s father come to Pixar to see the finished project. Now you all should know that his father had never seen a Pixar movie in the past, nor had he seen a movie in America. The last movie that his father had seen was the Sound of Music 40 years ago. At the end of this moving clip you could tell that Sanjay Patel’s father was very proud of his son and about the film. Sanjay Patel himself mentioned that for “30 years he was ashamed to be their son and hated what they were doing” and it took until he found Asian Art that he was able to find his connection to his family. Every story and word that he read throughout his time preparing for this film helped him unlock his mom and dad and what they were doing while he was growing up.

One final thing I will mention is that at the very end of the short you will hear the father say something to his son in Hindi. I was very interested to know what this was so I approached Sanjay Patel after his talk and asked him. While it really did not matter what he said, as it did not take away from the short, Sanjay Patel said that what the father said to the son was something to the extent of “What’s this?” This made a lot more sense and it solidified the relationship between father and son in the end of the short for me, and once you see it, it will do the same for you, I’m sure of it.

This short really shows the passion and commitment that Pixar has to making films with heart. Once you see this, you will know what I mean.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the short after you see it for the first time. What was your experience? Did you like it? What did you like most?

About Sanjay’s Super Team

In “Sanjay‘s Super Team,” the new short film from Pixar Animation Studios, accomplished artist Sanjay Patel uses his own experience to tell the story of a young, first-generation Indian-American boy whose love for western pop culture comes into conflict with his father’s traditions. Sanjay is absorbed in the world of cartoons and comics, while his father tries to draw him into the traditions of his Hindu practice. Tedium and reluctance quickly turn into an awe-inspiring adventure as the boy embarks on a journey he never imagined, returning with a new perspective that they can both embrace.

Clip from the Short!

Find out more about The Good Dinosaur

THE GOOD DINOSAUR – Trailer

THE GOOD DINOSAUR opens in theatres everywhere on November 25th!

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Creating The Look & Feel of The Good Dinosaur – My Experience at The Good Dinosaur event

November 10, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Today I am sharing with you my thoughts on my conversations with The Good Dinosaur Director of Photography – Lighting, Sharon Calahan as she spoke to us about: CREATING THE VISUAL DESIGN OF THE GOOD DINOSAUR and using color scripts to the final picture progression as well as Sets Supervisor David Munier as he spoke to us about a VIEW FROM ABOVE where we learned about creating the expansive world in the film as well as hearing about how the team used actual USGS data of the northwest United States to create the sets. Finally I will share some insights on EFFCTIVE STORYTELLING with Effects Supervisor Jon Reisch where we learned how the Effects team created different environments using effects to support the storytelling within The Good Dinosaur.

Director of Photography Sharon Calahan is photographed on September 17, 2013 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Sharon Callahan took a lot of time talking to us about the process by which she and the entire team went through to develop the lighting and visual design behind The Good Dinosaur. She explained that first they did a lot of looking at other movies that really embodied what she and Peter Sohn wanted to create in the film itself. Some of the movies that she watched to assist with this included:

On top of this the team did a number of research trips to the Jackson Hole Wyoming valley area as well as to the Grand Tetons to gain a better perspective on the vastness of the wild as well as the wilds of a river.

Sharon talked about how curious the Director of the film, Peter Sohn was. As she put it, “He was the most curious person you could meet” when it came to their research trips. He took this curiosity and challenged his team to go beyond what had been done in the past.

Sharon took us step-by-step through theoir trip to the Idaho side of the Grand Tetons into the rural wilderness and shared what they saw and what they did and how this helped them create the look, feel and overall story itself within The Good Dinosaur.

A press day for The Good Dinosaur, including presentations by Director of Photography – Lighting Sharon Calahan, as seen on October 1, 2015 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

As Sharon was on her trips she would paint by hand. BY doing this she was able to develop quick sketches of light over distance and helped her create strong sounds, smells and sights of the different locations that she was visiting. This also allowed her to explore and try out the different possible settings for the world itself and how the environment and weather would impact the overall story and scenes themselves.

Sharon also explored emotion and color as well as trying to paint for herself the progressions in the story.

I never knew how much pre-planning went into the development of the setting of the story itself and Sharon’s stories truly showed me the depth of the examination that goes into this process.

David Munier had a challenging job in The Good Dinosaur. Peter Sohn had it in his mind that he wanted environmental cinematography throughout the film that offers the audience a expansive view of the world (Peter wanted 50-100 miles at all times). This expanse allows the audience to experience the vastness of the world around Arlo and lets them see that the environment is the Antagonist in many of the scenes within the movie. The problem is that their department had not done this before for long periods of a film. Usually it would instead me in one shot or a handful of shots and not the entire movie.

A press day for The Good Dinosaur, including presentations by Sets Supervisor David Munier, as seen on October 1, 2015 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

To help make this happen they fell upon a novel idea, using USGS date to build the world that they would use for Arlo. Peter wanted to use the Valley area around Jackson Hole, Wyoming as well as around the Grand Tetons as a start for the world. Because the USGS had height data of all of these areas, Pixar was able to download the data and incorporate this into the computer to then manipulate this and make the world real. Once they imported the data, and in the Good Dinosaur they used 64,000 square mile of actual North America data to create the world around Arlo.

What was amazing was how David Munier and his team could manipulate the data once it was imported. David Munier mentioned that once the data was imported he would sit down with Peter and allow Peter to put things where he wanted them. Once they had the bare bones structures of the world, David Munier’s team would then work to create the detail and the landscape which includes things like trees, grass, rock formations, etc.

David Munier and his team also had to work on a new technology, creating 3D clouds that could be manipulated. This had never been done before. Instead, in the past it was the FX department that would work on issues of cloud movement and the painting department would paint on static clouds.

In The Good Dinosaur, things have changed and they are using technology to create the clouds digitally. Now they can build clouds and cloud types for 3D clouds throughout the movie. They also can deal with the shading and lighting as it relates to the clouds that they are entering to the scene.

David Munier mentioned that he also used data from GOOGLE Earth to help them to pre-visualize the world. He also worked closely with Peter Sohn to make sure that some of the other details are dealt with. For example one of the questions that needed to be answered were things like how much wind was needed in each scene, as wind con convey emotion.

The new use of USGS data is something that David Munier thinks will change the way they are creating the environment that is seen in the movie that they are working on.

Jon Reisch on August 6, 2015 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Jon Reisch talked to us about how FX trul helps to create the story within The Good Dinosaur. He explained that the job of the FX Department is to heighten the mood, drama of the scene, rain, light, as well as the visual tension experienced in the scene and in the characters. Overall, it is the job of FX to add in the WOW factor within the film.

FX also works to solve equations of motion for every frame. Jon explained that it can take a lot of time and that people in FX are very patient though in what they are creating.

To be able to do what they do they have to have a very diverse group of people working in the FX department. You get people with strong backgrounds in areas such as computer science, but also visual artists too.

On The Good Dinosaur, Jon mentioned that they had 31 FX artists working on the film and this number was definitely needed as what they were being asked to do in The Good Dinosaur was grander than what they had done in the past.

You see, in The Good Dinosaur it was the FX department’s job to assist in showing the journey through nature and making that feel real for Arlo and for you as the viewer. FX in The Good DInosaur was used in 900 shots in the film which is 2X as many as usual.

Jon mentioned that water is the hardest work for FX as the viewer knows how water should look and as he mentioned “If you get it wrong, you know.” With that in mind the river in The Good Dinosaur created some challenges as there were 200 shots just of the river throughout the film. In one scene entitled “Swept Away”, the FX department spent approximately 8 months just on the river alone and another 8 months on the final shot work too.

All-in-all the movie itself was data-heavy and used 300 TB of data which was 10X more than was used on Monsters University. For the rivers in the scene “Swept Away” alone, there was 17TB of space used, so FX had to make sure that the Pixar Animation systems were updates!

I had no idea that so much went into the making of an animated film, but now that I do, I have such a larger resoect for everyone involved!

Find out more about The Good Dinosaur

THE GOOD DINOSAUR – Trailer

THE GOOD DINOSAUR opens in theatres everywhere on November 25th!

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The Good Dinosaur Pumpkin Stencil Just In Time For Halloween!

October 27, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Just in time for Halloween I wanted to share a very cool THE GOOD DINOSAUR pumpkin stencil!

I hope that you enjoy!

About the movie

Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream (“Cars 2”), Disney•Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” opens in theaters on Nov. 25, 2015.

An Apatosaurus named Arlo and his unlikely human friend travel through a harsh and mysterious landscape, where Arlo learns to confront his fears, discovering what he is truly capable of.

Notes:

Peter Sohn made his directorial debut with the Pixar short film “Partly Cloudy.” He has worked in the art, story and animation departments, and also has voiced the characters of Emile from Academy Award®-winning “Ratatouille” and Scott “Squishy” Squibbles from “Monsters University.”
Denise Ream produced the Golden Globe®-nominated film “Cars 2” for Pixar Animation Studios, and served as associate producer for Disney•Pixar’s Academy Award®-winning film “Up.” She also has an extensive background in producing visual effects and animation for live action films.

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Visit the official THE GOOD DINOSAUR website here: http://movies.disney.com/the-good-dinosaur

THE GOOD DINOSAUR – Trailer

THE GOOD DINOSAUR opens in theatres everywhere on November 25th!

Research Trips Made The Good Dinosaur a Reality

October 21, 2015 by dadofdivas 7 Comments

As most of you know I attended a special Disney. Pixar & Disney Junior event from September 29-October 2 in San Francisco to take part in a fun few days of exploring the movies, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur and Miles From Tomorrowland. It was an amazing few days and it is my pleasure to share some of my experiences with you!

On the first evening of the event we went to the Pixar Animation Studio for the first time to screen a part of The Good Dinosaur as well as to meet with some of the main creative team behind the film.

Today I am sharing with you some of my thoughts from the time I spent around the campfire at Pixar Animation Studios with Director Peter Sohn, Producer Denise Ream, Supervising Technical Director Sanjay Bakshi and Director of Photography – Lighting, Sharon Calahan.

What was amazing about this evening first was just being at Pixar. This was the first evening that we were on campus and we were in a building that not everyone gets to go in. As we walked into the building that we were in we were surrounded by some amazing artwork as well as familiar characters. By this time of night we were hungry as it was about 7PM PST or so, which for me was about 10PM, so I was a bit off my schedule, so seeing the amazing spread of food and knowing that we would be hearing from some amazing people was very cool.

As I was walking around the event, I first ran into Peter Sohn, the Director of The Good Dinosaur. I talked to Peter about why nature was so important in this movie. Peter Sohn mentioned that it was his goal to “Make nature feel like something real and something that breathes and was a character or something. Peter said that he was from New York City and that seeing something beautiful on the research trip could also mean that something dangerous was there too.”

I also asked Peter Sohn about his inspiration on becoming an animator and Peter said that Disney and Pixar were his “bible” and that growing up because his mother only spoke Korean he was brought to the movie theatre to translate for his mom. It was Disney movies though that were so well done that he never felt that he had to translate the films. It was because of these films that his passion for film and later of animation was started.

If people want to get into the field of animation, Peter Sohn mentioned that with animation you need to understand the idea of telling good stories and capturing something real. You also have to have a true love about animation to be able to create good animation. So much at Pixar, they allow the animators to pull from their everyday life. In the end it is about the love of art and animation. If you love it, it does not become work anymore.

As we moved into the formal presentation about the actual research trips that they took to be able to create the amazing journey that Arlo went on.

Peter Sohn introduced all of the panelists and we were trying to truly feel what it was like in some of the wilderness. Being from New York City, he had never spent time in these areas, but as he and his team went out to these areas they were able to get a feel for the terrain, the sights, sounds, smells and more of what it might be like for Arlo as he was on his journey. We were told about Sharon Callahan and how as a painter, she was waiting along these trips to help her to create the concept of painterly realism that you see on screen. The best example of this was in one scene when Arlo first is lost and he goes up on a huge cliff and looks around and as it pans 360 degrees you see the vastness of the world around him and understand how lost he is. The power in this though was that for me, when I saw it, I truly thought that what I was seeing could be true imagery and not animation, even though in reality that was what it was.

The Good Dinosaur took about 4-5 years from inception to final creation and within that time they took three research trips to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, The Grand Tetons and more. Each of these trips gave them the realism that created the lifelike tableau that they built on to create Arlo’s journey.

Throughout the trip to the Grand Tetons you get to hear about the two female guides that in Peter Sohn’s words were “bad-xxxxx” and could do anything and from the stories that were shared they truly were. We heard about them going to a ranch and staying with the people on the land, taking horses out into the wilderness and wanting to keep going and going, but eventually having to turn back. We heard about the river rapids trip and a story about a GoPro camera that they had with them to get perspective of the wildness of the river and how they lost it in the river, only to have a guide find it later in the river because he knew the river and how it worked.

All of these stories told a larger one, and that was that Peter Sohn was committed to making a movie that was authentic and true and to truly capturing the essence of nature itself within the movie and I, for one, think, from what I have seen of the movie, that he did an amazing job!

Disney•Pixar’s THE GOOD DINOSAUR opens November 25, 2015.

Find out more about The Good Dinosaur

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Exploring Pixar Animation Studios & the Pixar Archive at The Good Dinosaur Event!

October 14, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Today I am sharing with you my thoughts on the tour that I had at Pixar Animation Studios. As someone that has been a fan of Pixar movies and shorts for years I was so excited to be given the ability to enter the closed facility and get a glimpse behind the magic.

As mentioned Pixar is a facility that is not open to the public. You cannot just come up to the gate, walk in and ask for a tour, you have to be invited in. Because of the The Good Dinosaur I was able to go in and get a tour of the artwork of the movie and how they got to the final moments in the film itself. We were able to experience early versions of the movie, see character studies, tests with landscapes and much more.

I particularly loved seeing some of the early models that Pixar has a sculptor on staff who’s job is to bring the characters to life.

One side of the building that we toured was focused on The Good Dinosaur and the other was focused on Inside Out. Because we had just interviewed cast and Directors of the Inside Out movie the day before it was so exciting to see some of the early concepts for characters. Learning things like why the characters have the shapes that they have. For example, Joy is made from the look of a star; Fear, a nerve; Sadness, a teardrop; Anger, a box; Disgust, broccoli.

Also, on the Inside Out side you get to see some of the initial concepts about the lands within Riley’s mind. There was a whole wall that showed so many ideas that were used to come up to the final lands that were used in the movie.

While I could not take pictures on this tour, I was so impressed with the process of creating the film. I was able to see and experience just a small portion of the collaboration and brainstorming that come together to create something magical that connects with us on an emotional level.

Outside of this tour, I also walked around the campus itself and was so impressed with the collaborative feel that surrounds Pixar. There are so many places where people can come together to work. On top of this on the tour we learned that this was one of the reasons that the building as designed the way that it was by Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs wanted people to come together to work, learn, live and create together and he accomplished it. One other interesting fact I learned about the building was that it was on rollers because of earthquakes and it allows the building to move three feet in either direction if needed.

The main building also had a wonderful cafeteria and lunchtime was packed with people eating and conversing together. There was a gift shop as well as theatres and so much more. Outside of the main building there were sculptures of some of the most iconic features from some of the movies. You can even see the seagull from Finding Nemo on the roof of one of the buildings.

You also can see the commitment to employee health too. With a swimming pool, basketball and volleyball court, fitness center and more I saw people during lunch or even before work exercising, which was great to see.

We also had the chance to visit the Pixar Archives which was especially exciting. This was amazing as it is a place that had never allowed people in until recently. The building is very non-descript and away from the main Pixar Animation Studios (though they are moving closer in the next year). We were visiting this great facility to celebrate the anniversary of Toy Story that is happening this year.

Entering the facility I was impressed by the security. You have to go through a thorough scan before getting entrance and then you have to go up to an upper floor and into a temperature-controlled room that houses the materials. While we did not see everything, as you walk in and start to see some of the things on the shelves such as original models, artwork and more, you cannot stop but being impressed.

I could not take pictures in the facility unfortunately, but as we entered we did gather around a large viewing table to hear about the facility and start seeing some of the amazing materials. They explained that they have a very small staff (7-9 people) working with the approximately 5 Million pieces of material all placed in meticulously labeled boxes on shelves among shelves that we saw.

We were shown many original sketches and models from Toy Story that really showed the progression of the story and the characters. It was amazing to see Buzz before he became Buzz, and he would have been a very different character if he had been drawn in the different ways that we saw with a more jowly cherubic air. We also learned that originally Buzz was going to be called Lunar Larry – who knew! We also were also able to see the progression of Woody too, and in some of the early sketches Woody seemed much darker and even was shown being a bit malicious toward Buzz – talk about different!

What was interesting too was the progression of how the Archive was developed. We were informed that it did not happen until after Toy Story when Jonas Rivera asked the question of why they did not have one. From there the Archive was born. A lot of the historical collection was developed with the archivists asking people working on projects to donate items into donation bins. Now they have a very systematic approach to how they collect and what they collect, so the game is changing!

We learned so much on this visit and it is hard to put it all in words, but needless to say it was a once-in-a-lifetime visit that I will never forget.

I was very impressed with everything that I saw in both facilities, and I can only hope that others like you have the opportunities to visit this amazing place sometime in your own lifetime.

Find out more about The Good Dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur opens in theaters on November 25, 2015. Stay tuned for more on The Good Dinosaur because over the next month I will be sharing some great interviews with the filmmakers, animators and much more. In the meantime check out the following The Good Dinosaur clip!

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New Trailer, Poster & Images For Disney/Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur

October 7, 2015 by dadofdivas Leave a Comment

Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream (“Cars 2”), Disney•Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur” opens in theaters on Nov. 25, 2015.

An Apatosaurus named Arlo and his unlikely human friend travel through a harsh and mysterious landscape, where Arlo learns to confront his fears, discovering what he is truly capable of.

Notes:

Peter Sohn made his directorial debut with the Pixar short film “Partly Cloudy.” He has worked in the art, story and animation departments, and also has voiced the characters of Emile from Academy Award®-winning “Ratatouille” and Scott “Squishy” Squibbles from “Monsters University.”
Denise Ream produced the Golden Globe®-nominated film “Cars 2” for Pixar Animation Studios, and served as associate producer for Disney•Pixar’s Academy Award®-winning film “Up.” She also has an extensive background in producing visual effects and animation for live action films.

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Visit the official THE GOOD DINOSAUR website here: http://movies.disney.com/the-good-dinosaur

THE GOOD DINOSAUR opens in theatres everywhere on November 25th!

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