Pixar's New Animated Short - Enrico Casarosa's 'La Luna'

Disney has officially released the first still image along with a new teaser "poster"  for the new Pixar short film titled La Luna. Below you'll see the two first looks from La Luna, directed by Pixar's Head of Story Enrico Casarosa, an Italian artist who started work as a storyboard artist at Blue Sky, before going on to work on Cars and Ratatouille at Pixar, working his way up to now directing his own short. La Luna is the timeless fable of a young boy who is coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. 

See the first images below!

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'Toy Story 3' Oscar Campaign Ads!

Despite the efforts of literally only a few of reviewers, Toy Story 3 has become the most universally praised film of the year. With a 99% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, it seems like you'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't love the heartfelt goodbye to Andy's Toys. While Toy Story 3 is almost a surefire winner for Best Animated Film at the Academy Awards, Pixar is shooting for the moon this time. Several Oscar campaign ads have surfaced showing that Pixar wants the sequel follow in the footsteps of Beauty and the Beast and Up to become another animated film nominated for Best Picture. But this time they actually want to win!

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New Concept Art: Disney’s Tangled and more

Last month, Walt Disney Animation Studios released a new teaser trailer for their new film Tangled. Over the past few weeks, the studio has been releasing new concept art from the upcoming animated fairytale adaptation. Check it out, after the jump.

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Video: 8 Minutes of Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

 

Walt Disney Pictures has released 8 minutes from Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, which hits Blu-ray and DVD on September 21. The clip shows Tinker Bell meeting a human for the first time – an 8-year old girl named Lizzy. The title, a follow-up to the successful 2008 release Tinker Bell and 2009's Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, is described as follows:

 

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Disney Moves Up The Princess and the Frog

Walt Disney Pictures has moved up the release of Ron Clements and John Musker's traditionally-animated musical The Princess and the Frog. Originally scheduled for a Christmas Day bow, the film will now open in New York and Los Angeles on November 25th before expanding nationwide on December 11th.

In its old date, "Princess" would have gone up against 20th Century Fox's holiday family tentpole Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.
The only other film scheduled to debut on December 11th is Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones.

The Princess and the Frog is voiced by Anika Noni Rose, John Goodman, Keith David, Jim Cummings and Jenifer Lewis.

The Teaser for Jerry Bruckheimer's G-Force

Walt Disney Pictures has revealed the new teaser trailer for the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced 3D adventure comedy G-Force on the company's official website.

Opening July 24, 2009, G-Force is about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws. Tapped for the G-Force are guinea pigs Darwin (voice of Sam Rockwell), the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs; Blaster (voice of Tracy Morgan), an outrageous weapons expert with tons of attitude and a love for all things extreme; and Juarez (voice of Penelope Cruz), a sexy martial arts pro; plus the literal fly-on-the-wall reconnaissance expert, Mooch, and a star-nosed mole, Speckles (voice of Nicolas Cage), the computer and information specialist.

New Up Photo

The new issue of Empire Magazine also has a new photo from Pixar’s Up. The photo shows 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen and the chubby eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer neighbor Russell. Aside from the mysterious far away locale visible in the background, not much is new. Head on over the Empire for the full resolution photo. Up hits theaters in Digital Disney 3-D on May 29th 2009.

First 'Up' clip online

A short clip from Up (the first non-trailer footage we've seen) can now be enjoyed at Disney.com/Up. But it's hidden: You've got to click on Carl's house to watch it.

The clip is an extended version of the "Hi, Mr. Fredricksen... Please let me in!" scene included in the first theatrical trailer.

Watch the short clip for Pixar's Up:

From Disney-Pixar comes Up, a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell.

Pixar's Up is directed Pete Docter, who also directed Monsters, Inc previously in addition to writing the stories for Toy Story and Toy Story 2. The film is co-directed and written by Bob Peterson, who wrote Finding Nemo previously. Disney is planning to debut up in theaters everywhere on May 29th, 2009 next summer. For more information on Up, head over to our first look at the characters and the story.

WALL-E in running for 8 Annie Awards

The International Animated Film Society announced yesterday the nominations for the 36th annual Annie Awards (2008) and unsurprisingly WALL-E and Pixar did very well.

WALL-E is nominated in the following categories:

• Best Animated Feature
• Directing in an Animated Feature Production (Andrew Stanton)
• Animated Effects (Enrique Vila)
• Character Animation in a Feature Production (Victor Navone)
• Production Design in an Animated Feature Production (Ralph Eggleston)
• Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production (Ronnie Del Carmen)
• Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production (Ben Burtt)
• Best Animated Video Game (Heavy Iron Studios/THQ)

When it came to shorts, Presto received one nomination for Best Animated Short Subject, while BURN-E recieved none.

Disney's Bolt recieved five noms, including Best Animated Feature and a voice acting one for Mark Walton for his excellent preformance as Rhino. John Lasseter will also be recieving a Winsor McCay award, which recognisises "career contributions to the art of animation".

The awards will be presented on January 30, 2009 and are considered to be "animation's highest honor".

Beauty and the Beast 3D in 2010

The Mouse House is adding "Beauty and the Beast" to its already packed dance card of 3-D pics it will unspool over the next two years.

Disney is re-rendering "Beast" using its Disney Digital 3-D technology, and will release the film in 2010. A specific release date has yet been set.

Pic's original team of filmmakers, including producer Don Hahn and co-directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale will oversee the process, along with Sara Duran-Singer, senior VP of worldwide post production at Walt Disney Feature Animation.

The re-rendering is expected to take about nine months to complete.

"By going back to the original animation files, which have been carefully archived for 17 years, and using the separate background, effects and character animation elements, we're able to come up with a fun and unique 3-D experience for existing and new fans of the film," Hahn said.

Studio's release sked already includes 10 other films bowing in 2009 and 2010 -- more than any other studio. It's bowing the 3-D version of "Bolt" this weekend.

Next year's slate includes the "Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Movie," Pixar's "Up," Jerry Bruckheimer's "G-Force," and Robert Zemeckis' "Disney's A Christmas Carol."

In 2010, the sked includes Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," "Toy Story 3," "Rapunzel," and "Step Up 3."

Disney is also re-rendering "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in the 3-D format to bow in 2009 and 2010.

WALL-E in running for People's Choice Award

WALL-E is one of three movies nominated for Favorite Family Movie at this year's People's Choice Awards, where regular folk vote for their favorite films of the year.

Voting started today and runs through December 7 (ends at precisely 11:59 PM ET).

The awards show will be held next January 7 and will be seen on CBS in the United States.

WALL-E submitted in Oscar animation category

WALL-E was officially announced today as one of fourteen animated films submitted to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 81st Oscars, to be telecast on Sunday, February 22, 2009.

Disney's Bolt (stay tuned here for special coverage, coming soon) was also submitted, in hopes of getting a nomination.

Disney is, of course, pitching WALL-E in the most prestigious Oscar category —Best Picture— smartly ignoring any potential risk of vote-splitting between the two categories.

New Teaser for Pxar's UP

For audiences that have never been introduced to Pixar's next adventure, or the character that it's all about, it's a great little introduction. Unfortunately we still don't know know much about where it'll go next (once he lands where he's going), but I still can't wait to find out. The character of Carl Fredricksen is being voiced by Ed Asner and is inspired by Disney legends Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. I'm so excited to finally be back in the swing of things with the next big Pixar movie, because I love everything they do and can never patiently wait for more.

Watch the teaser trailer for Pixar's Up:

Pixar's Up is directed Pete Docter, who also directed Monsters, Inc previously in addition to writing the stories for Toy Story and Toy Story 2. The film is co-directed and written by Bob Peterson, who wrote Finding Nemo previously. Disney is planning to debut up in theaters everywhere on May 29th, 2009 next summer. For more information on Up, head over to our first look at the characters and the story.

Final trailer for Bolt

Watch the final trailer for Bolt:

You can also watch the final Bolt trailer in High Definition on MySpace

Bolt is directed by Disney regulars Chris Williams (story writer of Mulan and The Emperor's New Groove) and Byron Howard (supervising animator on Brother Bear and Chicken Little). The screenplay was co-written by Chris Williams and Dan Fogelman, who wrote screenplays for both Cars and Fred Claus. Disney's Bolt arrives in theaters everywhere this Thanksgiving, on November 26th.

Quick Weekend B.O.

The top two films at the box office this weekend couldn't be more different -- which might help explain why both had such strong starts. The third film in the Disney Channel's wholesome, wildly popular High School Musical franchise, and the first to hit theaters, had a $42 million debut, and will go on to be at least as wildly profitable as its predecessors. $30.5 million for Saw V is basically in line with its three immediate predecessors, all of which had first weekends between $31 and $33 million. The films' final grosses have been steadily declining since the second film, however, with the most recent entry dropping like a rock and managing only $63 million total. We'll see if that trend continues. I'd say, though, that this debut guarantees a sixth Saw for next Halloween. As Eric wrote yesterday, it is now the most lucrative horror franchise in film history.

The only other new wide release this weekend was Pride & Glory, which New Line more or less dumped. It did a predictably weak $6.3 million, good enough for fifth place.

Oliver Stone's W. took a big hit, as the people who needed to see it apparently saw it last weekend. It dropped nearly 50%, with a $25-28 million finish looking likely. Max Payne held up even worse after last week's strong debut. Meanwhile, two films from the early fall doldrums continue to emerge as success stories: Eagle Eye and Beverly Hills Chihuahua are both still hanging around, and both looking to reach $100 million before all is said and done.

In 20th place, Clint Eastwood's Changeling made a strong limited bow: half a million on fifteen screens, for $33,000 per screen. It goes wide next week. A bit further down, the annual rerelease of Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D couldn't do much business, ending up with $372,000 on almost 300 screens.

The full estimates after the jump.

1 - High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Disney) - $42.00 ($11,593) - $42.00
2 - Saw V (Lionsgate) - $30.50 ($9,967) - $30.50
3 - Max Payne (Fox) - $7.6 ($2,248) - $29.66
4 - Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Disney) - $6.91 ($2,168) - $78.14
5 - Pride & Glory (New Line) - $6.33 ($2,447) - $6.33
6 - The Secret Life of Bees (Fox Searchlight) - $5.93 ($3,641) - $19.21
7 - W. (Lionsgate) - $5.33 ($2,600) - $18.75
8 - Eagle Eye (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $5.14 ($2,008) - $87.99
9 - Body of Lies (Warner Bros.) - $4.07 ($1,891) - $30.89
10 - Quarantine (Screen Gems) - $2.55 ($1,145) - $28.77

Hat tip: Box Office Mojo

Zac Efron Boarding the Black Pearl?

The latest rumor hitting the high seas -- MTV UK reports that Zac Efron has signed on to star in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, for the prime sum of 6 million pounds -- a deal that would also glue him to another HSM sequel. But rumor control is already in the works. MTV, stateside, reports that this all came from The National Enquirer, and that there's no truth to the story. They talked to Efron, who says the rumors aren't true, although he'd definitely be interested. Gee, ya think?

Whoever cooked up this rumor at least thought it out -- Zac might not be interested in more HSM, but I bet he'd agree to more for the chance to star in a huge Disney feature that reaches beyond the teen girls and allows him to act alongside Depp. And from the studio's side, Sparrow's last male rival couldn't hold a torch to Johnny, so I wouldn't be surprised if Disney did it again.

Orlando Bloom might have been one heck of a Legolas, but I just hated him in Pirates. His charisma, or lack thereof, was no match for Depp, and to give Johnny another star that can't give him a run for his money ... that would be a shame. This franchise's best bet: focus on Sparrow with a few co-stars who can rival Depp's charisma and chemistry. Any suggestions?

Live Action Mulan

Xinhua Media Entertainment has announced a $30 million live-action adaptation of Mulan, based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan (the same legend that was adapted into a 1998 Disney animated film). First written about in a 6th century poem, Hua Mulan was a woman who disguised herself as a man to take her elderly father’s place in an all-male army. It is unknown id the poem was based on an actual person or is just an allegory. The Hollywood-China co-production will begin shooting in China this spring.

$30 million is a big chunk of change for a Chinese production. I’m guessing that Xinhua’s Mulan will be a more traditional period costume drama. And I understand that this is an adaptation of the original legend, and not the Disney film that popularized the legend, but is anyone really that interested to see this story retold in live-action? I know I would never be interested in seeing a live-action Snow White. And the only reason Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland seems appealing is his unique sense of style. And even that is a hybrid production. But then again, I also hated the idea of del Toro directing Tarzan.

source: Hollywood Reporter

First look at Alice in Wonderland

For those who didn't know, Tim Burton is directing a twisted remake of Disney's Alice in Wonderland, first announced in November last year. In addition to the news earlier this week that Johnny Depp would be playing the Mad Hatter in the film, INF Daily (via SlashFilm) has snapped the first few photos of young actress Mia Wasikowska on set in England. She is playing Burton's version of Alice and definitely looks like she fits the role. This film isn't set to hit theaters until sometime in 2010, but it's off to a strong start with a great cast and exciting first look photos like this. These may not be much to go off of, but I've got a good feeling these (and the Depp news) will jump start the early buzz on this movie.

Thanks again to INF Daily for posting these. The photos come from a set in Cornwall, England, where the film was shooting on a massive ship. You can see a lot more photos over on their site.

The script for Alice in Wonderland (which will be presented in 3D), obviously based on Lewis Carroll's classic novel, was penned by Disney writer Linda Woolverton (of Beauty and the Beast, Homeward Bound, and Lion King) and is being directed by Tim Burton himself. It's expected to be a visually stunning film that will combine performance-capture imagery, the kind you see in Beowulf, with live-action footage. My guess is that the oddball characters from the fairy tale, like the caterpillar and the rabbit and the Queen of Hearts, will be done in CG, while (obviously) Alice and the Mad Hatter will all be real actors. Even though I'm not a big fan of the story, this definitely looks good so far! Will this new Alice in Wonderland be the next Disney classic?

Disney, Depp return to 'Caribbean'

For the sake of sanity, we're compiling all of the Johnny Depp stories that have come out of Disney Studios' presentation at the Kodak Theatre earlier today including the previously unreported announcement that Depp would be returning as Captain Jack Sparrow for Pirates of the Caribbean 4, but first, he'll be reteaming with director Tim Burton to play the Mad Hatter in the motion-capture animated Alice in Wonderland and playing Tonto in The Lone Ranger. Obviously, Disney and Johnny Depp's next few years will be closely linked with these three projects in development.

Below, you can find the two previous reports posted earlier today with links to the original stories for anyone who wants to continue commenting there:

During Disney's preview today in Hollywood, the studio questioned who could possibly play the titular character in its upcoming feature The Lone Ranger.

With that, Disney rolled out the USC marching band to come down and play the Ranger's theme song. This was followed by an appearance by Depp himself who took to the stage in full Captain Jack Sparrow attire...wearing The Lone Ranger's mask.

What do you think of this?

Disney's The Princess and the Frog Teaser

Disney has unveiled a short but sweet teaser trailer for their upcoming hand-animated feature The Princess and the Frog. As wonderful as this short teaser looks, the movie won't hit theaters until December of 2009, so we've got a while to wait. Not only does the animation look fantastic yet again, but the song is incredibly catchy too. And did they just poke fun at the Louie the Lightning Bug?! Or I think maybe the lightning bug character is part of the whole thing anyway. Either way, this looks truly wonderful, despite being 17 months away from release. This is really like watching a teaser for James Cameron's Avatar and being told we have to wait another 12 months to see anything else! Why do you torment us Disney?



A musical set in the legendary birthplace of jazz - New Orleans - The Princess and the Frog will introduce the newest Disney princess, Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), a young African-American girl living amid the charming elegance and grandeur of the fabled French Quarter. From the heart of Louisiana's mystical bayous and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, enchantment and discovery with a soulful singing crocodile, voodoo spells and Cajun charm at every turn.

The Princess and the Frog is co-directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, whom previously worked together to bring us the Disney classics Aladdin, Hercules, and Treasure Planet. The script for the film was also written by Clements and Musker as well as other Disney regulars. Disney's The Princess and the Frog is currently set for release on Christmas Day, December 25th, 2009.

Source: FirstShowing.net