Pixar: 25 Years of Animation Exhibit Begins 7/31

The Oakland Museum of California will debut the newly updated exhibit Pixar: 25 Years of Animation on Saturday, July 31st. The exhibit includes all the original Museum of Modern Art artwork plus newly displayed creations from Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3. More than 600 works of art will be on display.

More details including ticket information can be found on OMCA’s official site. In addition, they have a great Facebook page where they’ve been sharing behind the scenes pictures and more. There’s also a video news story on the debut over at the local ABC affiliate which includes a snippet with Pixarian Elyse Klaidman.

I hope to get down and see the exhibit this Fall. If you get chance to see it, please share your thoughts in the comments section.

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Toy Story 3 Approaches $750 Million Worldwide

Toy Story 3 continues to exceed expectations at the worldwide box office. With recent recent breaking openings in the UK and Spain, Lee Unkrich’s film has grossed over $351 million internationally and is currently the 36th highest grossing film worldwide in history. The film will open in Portugal and Switzerland today, with additional debuts still ahead in South Korea, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

In North America, the film is still quietly pulling in over $1 million dollars daily and has a chance to hit $400 million in domestic receipts (currently #11 all time). It’s a great to see a quality film do well both critically and finacially.

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Pixar Masterclass in Vancouver

Here’s a wonderful opportunity for aspiring animators and story artists. VanArts will be presenting a two day Masterclass with Pixar animator Andrew Gordon and Pixar story artist Matthew Luhn. The event will be held in Vancouver, B.C. on September 24th and 25th.  You will find all the details and registration information on the VanArts page. I”m hoping to attend, so stay tuned for more details about this exciting opportunity to learn from two esteemed Pixarians, who recently worked on Toy Story 3.

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Pixar Bytes: Interviews, Muppets, Little Big Planet Meets Toy Story & More!

Thanks for your patience on the lack of updates while I was on vacation. I’m back from beautiful Hawaii with some random bits to share with you today. Enjoy!

  • Little Big Planet 2, the sequel to the popular Sony PS3 game, will include a variety of new Toy Story costumes, the first announced so far is the Alien costume pictured above.
  • The Hollywood Reporter says that the “Pixar Brain Trust” has provided some help/guidance/suggestions for the new live action Muppets film that’s still in development. What better brain to “pick” than that of the “Pixar Brain Trust”?
  • In celebration of the recent UK release of Toy Story 3, some new interviews have surfaced. Producer Darla K. Anderson chats with Little White Lies about the dark side of Toy Story 3 and not pandering to kids.  She also does a Q & A with Den of Geek. Topics include sequels, Oscars and test screenings. Lastly, Darla has a brief visit with the UK’s Express which you can check out here.
  • Director Lee Unkrich answers questions from Time Out. They discuss any similarities with the Brave Little Toaster, voice talent and John Lasseter’s involvement with Toy Story 3.
  • Empire magazine has a huge collection of video interviews with Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Michael Keaton, Joan Cusack, Timothy Dalton, John Ratzenberger, Jodie Benson, Estelle Harris, Kristen Schall, Mike Venturini and Bobby Podesta.
  • A few Pixarian interviews to share as well: UK born and raised animator Jude Brownbill talks to This is Somerset and lead shading technical director Chris Burrows chats with the Post Crescent.
  • One last thing: Did you see this Pixar animation Toy Story 3 TV ad/congratulations to Spain for winning the World Cup? Pretty cool.

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Pixar Bytes: Dinosaurs, Rumors, 3D Conversions, Tron & More!

  • Slash Film has the first image from the 2011 Reign of Dinosaurs TV special on the Discovery Channel. As you recall, Pixar did some work on the film (but it’s not a Pixar production). Pixarian Ronnie del Carmen (Dug’s Special Mission) will be at Comic Con to discuss. More details to come.
  • Rumor: Movieline is reporting that Pixar is looking at Cars spinoff for direct to DVD entitled Planes. To be honest this sounds like an April Fools joke (in July) to me. I just can’t wrap my head around Pixar doing this in any capacity. Take this story with a huge grain of salt at this point…
  • In “we knew it was inevitable” news,Pixar’s 3D Supervisor Bob Whitehill mentions in this video interview with Hey u Guys! (from the Blogger Event in April) that they are looking at Ratatouille (and other Pixar films) for a 3D conversion. This really isn’t a surprise with the advent of the 3D explosion at theaters, along with the push for 3D at home. I think you know my opinion on 3D so far umm…next story.
  • Entertainment Weekly spills the beans on some re-shoots and story edits for Disney’s upcoming Tron Legacy. It seems that Pixar’s Brain Trust (namely Toy Story 3 scribe Michael Arndt and director Brad Bird) was shown an early cut and helped craft the script for the re-shoots. I’m excited for the Tron sequel/reboot and this sounds like good news to me.
  • Don’t miss this hour long uStream video interview with Pixarian Aaron Hartline.
  • Kyle Lambert made a very cool iPad finger painting for Toy Story 3. Check it out here.
  • Have you seen the Toy Story 3 Peugeot TV ad? This was worked on by many of the animators over at the studio. Check it out.

I’m on vacation in Hawaii for the next week, so news might be a bit slow getting posted. I will try and keep up to date via Twitter and will post any burning stories here when possible. Thanks!

Please share your thoughts on the rumors around the Cars spin-off Planes, more 3D conversions, Reign of Dinosaurs or any of the Pixar Bytes today.

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Kevin Smith on Toy Story 3: Schindler’s Toy Box

The very funny (and very profane) film director Kevin Smith has a very successful podcast called SModcast. His latest episode deals quite a bit with his reaction to Toy Story 3. Be warned that Kevin (and his co-host, producer Scott Mosier) go off on some pretty wild (and very profane) tangents around the Toy Story franchise.

Be Warned: There’s some funny stuff here, lots of spoilers and it’s not for kids or those who are easily offended. Their podcast is very off the cuff and they get a few things wrong (Sid, not Spike!). It’s worth a listen if you don’t take the franchise too seriously.

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Cars Toon: Monster Truck Mater – July 30th Premiere

The latest Cars Toon, Monster Truck Mater will make its debut on the Disney Channel on July 30th. The first still from the short is unveiled above. The short is directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Rob Gibbs (Tokyo Mater). It will feature the music of composer (and Devo lead singer) Mark Mothersbaugh.

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Toy Story 3 – #1 Pixar Film Ever in North America!

Congratulations! It’s official. Toy Story 3 passed Finding Nemo yesterday to become Pixar’s highest grossing film in North America. Lee Unkrich’s film has now grossed over $342 million in North America. It has an outside chance to reach $400 million, but here’s a list of other North American box office accomplishments for the film:

  • #16 all time (just behind Jurassic Park)
  • #1 film in 2010 (ahead of Alice in Wonderland and Iron Man 2)
  • #1 Rated G (ahead of Finding Nemo and The Lion King)
  • #2 Animated (behind Shrek 2)
  • #2 3D (behind Avatar)
  • #4 IMAX (feature length)

All eyes now turn overseas to see how it will do in worldwide box office. Currently it stands at #60. I’m not sure it can catch Up ($731 million) or Finding Nemo ($867 million), but only time will tell.

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Lee Unkrich Toy Story 3 World Tour

Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich has been all world promoting Pixar’s latest film. Stops so far include Japan, Mexico, Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal. I’ve included some pics from his trip to France along with some video footage from the French premiere. The best way to keep up is to follow Lee on Twitter where he’s sharing pictures (and his toy Big Baby that he’s taken along on his adventures) from his travels.

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Pixar Bytes: Toy Story 3 Tour, Succession Planning & More

  • A very cool Pixar video tour/interview conducted by The Guardian. There’s interviews with Bob Whitehill, Bobby Podesta, Mike Venturini and Lee Unkrich. 
  • The Economist looks at the long terms plans for Pixar when it comes to succession planning . They want to ensure that the studio lives on in its current state, long after Lasseter, Stanton, Docter, Bird, Unkrich and company are gone…
  • Toy Story 3 has now earned well over $300 million at the North American box office. It should pass Finding Nemo as the #1 grossing Pixar film (in North America) this weekend.
  • Tom Myers (Sound Designer/Sound Re-Recording Mixer), Michael Semanick (Sound Re-Recording Mixer) and Al Nelson (Sound Editor) talk about the sound and mixing of Day & Night and Toy Story 3 with Designing Sound.
  • John Morris (Andy) chats with the L.A. Times about getting cast in the original Toy Story and his own collection of toys.
  • Toy Story 3 Supervising Animators Bobby Podesta and Mike Venturini sit down with the UK’s Hey U Guys during their recent trip to the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
  • There’s a new Pixar site from an Aussie perspective. Check out Pixar News Australia!

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Unkrich Original Project? – Michael Arndt Screenwriting Interview

This amazing interview from Creative Screenwriting Magazine with Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt discusses the film in-depth, but also hints at an original movie that he and director Lee Unkrich were collaborating on before Toy Story 3 was greenlit. It sounds like Lee’s next project could already be deep in development (highlighted below in bold). I was able to transcribe the entire interview and there’s some juicy tidbits about making Toy Story 3 that I haven’t previously seen (Stantons 20-page treatment, the “grown up” sequence & more). It’s a great read, so please check it out and share your thoughts in the comments section.

In a strange twist of fate, Michael Arndt found himself in a position enviable to any writer. The New York-based screenwriter was in Los Angeles for the production of his first screenplay, the indie dramedy Little Miss Sunshine. Unsure of his next career move, Arndt received a call from his agent with the surprising news that Pixar principals wanted to meet him. “It was like being summoned to Mount Olympus,” he says.

It turns out that Pixar’s story department head, Mary Coleman, asked Sunshine producer Ron Yerxa if he knew any great up-and-coming writers. Yerxa gave Coleman Arndt’s script and she was blown away. The amazing thing about this story is that despite the fact that Little Miss Sunshine would eventually go on to become a big indie hit — and win Arndt an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay — at the time Arndt was interviewing with Pixar, Sunshine didn’t even have a distributor.

As it turns out, Arndt is a huge animation fan and even made a few animated shorts at New York University, where he studies film, but never thought he could make a living from animation. “It never seemed like a career possibility,” he says. “I used to go to animation festivals and see every new Pixar film, but feature animation always seemed like Timbuktu. I knew it existed, but I would never go there.”

Arndt was hired at Pixar to work with Lee Unkrich, co-director of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo, on an original idea of Unkrich’s. Arndt amidst that collaborating on Unkrich’s story at first concerned him. “Usually as a writer, you’re alternately stepping on the gas – creating stuff – and stepping on the brakes – editing and rewriting,’ Arndt explains. “But with Lee, I didn’t have the luxury of withholding scenes until I felt they were polished or perfect. I just had to crank out a scene and turn it in so he could react to it.”

Arndt admits he was worried that, when he got pages back from Unkrich, only the negative would be highlighted instead of the positive. “I had packed up and left New York and moved temporarily to San Francisco, all based on this good faith notion that this collaboration was going to work out,” Arndt remembers. “So I remember turning in my first bunch of pages and thinking, ‘Man, I hope this works,’ because you never know what kind of creative chemistry you’re going to have until you actually start working together.

When Unkrich returned the pages, Arndt was relieved. There were notes, but they were all improvements on what was already there. “That was a hugely liberating moment,” Arndt says. “I realized not only was I not going to have to be fighting this guy and arguing my point of view, but I could stop worrying about stepping on the brakes and being critical of my own work. I could start shot-gunning ideas as fast as possible and trust that Lee would sort out the wheat from the chaff. It ended up being a good relationship.”

While working on Unkrich’s film, Sunshine premiered at Sundance in January 2006, and while Arndt was there celebrating its success, he received more surprising news: Pixar had been bought by The Walt Disney Company and Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter, who directed the first two Toy Story films, would take on the same title at Walt Disney Animation Studios in addition to retaining his role at Pixar.

During the messy haggling between then-Disney head Michael Eisner and then-Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, it appeared the two sides could not reach an agreement, leaving Pixar to either sign with another studio or remain independent. One trump card Disney held, however, was rights to Pixar’s old films..and characters. When talks began to break down, Eisner put Toy Story 3 into preproduction without involving any of the first two films’ collaborators. It was a shot across the bow, to say the least.

When Eisner’s tenure at Disney ended in September 2005, he was replaced by Bob Iger, who reignited the talks with Pixar that led to the deal that merged the two companies. The then version of Toy Story 3 was shut down immediately and Pixar decided to make its own version in order to close the chapter of its signature series.

Given his new duties, Lasseter couldn’t take the reins himself, nor could Pixar luminaries Andrew Stanton and Peter Docter, who were busy with WALL-E and Up, respectively. Unkrich was asked by Pixar to put his work with Arndt aside and take on the role of director himself. Comfortable with their working relationship, he decided to bring Arndt along. “Again, this was before Little Miss Sunshine was even released, so I really felt like a kid from the sticks who is suddenly asked to be the lead-off batter for the Yankees,” Arndt jokes.

When Pixar decided to move forward with Toy Story 3, there were only rough ideas of what the content of the film could be. So Lasseter, Stanton, Docter and Unkrich – along with Up co-director Bob Peterson, story artist Jeff Pidgeon, and producer Darla K. Anderson – went on a weekend “story retreat” at the same Northern California cabin where the four of them and the late Joe Ranft broke the original Toy Story plot more than 10 years earlier. When they returned from the retreat, Stanton took a short break from WALL-E to draft a 20-page treatment that he then turned over to Arndt and Unkrich. But like most Pixar films, this early treatment doesn’t share a whole lot with the final product. “It had a rock-solid beginning and a rock-solid ending, which, as a writer, is all you really need to get going,” Arndt says. “But a lot changed between that first treatment and the final film.”

Over time, the changes that Arndt and the rest of the filmmaking team included a new inciting incident for the story, a new mid-point, new act breaks and a different third act – with the exception of the final scene. “That final scene was always the anchor of the whole movie,” Arndt explains. “We always knew it was solid gold. But we knew there was a good story in there somewhere. But going from the first treatment to the final film was not a matter of coloring between the lines. It was an agonizing, years-long struggle for everyone.”

Toy Story 3‘s plot centers around the threat that Andy — who is Woody, Buzz and the other toys’ owner — could decide to dispose of his beloved toys now that he is all grown up. For several days, Arndt struggled with an early sequence in the film that sets up this threat for the audience. He kept toying with scenes in which the concept of disposing of old toys is discussed by the film’s human characters but Arndt ultimately felt it was too expositional — until his train of thought was interrupted by a loud alarm that signaled a fire drill at Pixar.

As the studio employees filed onto the front lawn of the Emeryville location, Arndt found himself standing next to [Andrew] Stanton [one of Pixar's principals and writer-director of Wall-E and Finding Nemo, among other Pixar films]. “So, kind of as a way to make conversation,” Arndt recalls, I explained my problem and he immediately suggested that I set up the threat from the toys’ perspective.” Stanton thought if one disloyal toy was freaking out and said, “Screw it! Andy’s grown up and I’m getting out of here before I’m thrown away,” that the threat would have greater impact. That simple idea led to Sarge delivering those lines as he jumped out the window with his Army men. “That’s a visual way of setting up the idea and having it take the form of a dramatic argument between two characters — Sarge and Woody — rather than a limp line of exposition from one of the human characters, “Arndt says. “And that was a problem I had been struggling with on my own for about a week that got solved in 10 second because you’re all in this building and you just get those happy accidents once in a while — that and the fact that Andrew is a really irritatingly smart guy.”

Oddly, the early part of the film was where some of the hardest problems to solve resided. Arndt suffered mightily over a sequence the production team called “grown up,” which was a scene designed to catch the audience up on the 10 years that elapsed between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. “There’s just a tone of stuff you have to deal with right away,” Arndt says. “Character exposition, relationships, expectations for the future and various disagreements. It was just a nightmare trying to figure out what all that stuff is in the first place and then how to communicate it as quickly as possible.”

When he has problems solving a scene, Arndt uses a process similar to outlining. “If a scene is very complicated,” he explains, “I’ll make a list of everything that needs to happen in that scene and then try to establish the proper chronology. That way, everything happens in the right order.” To hear Arndt describe it, even at the end of the project, the scribe feels his problems within this highly expository scene were never completely solved. “I actually went back and counted more than 60 drafts of it, and it still feels like the least-great scene in the movie to me,” he laments. “That was my Waterloo. It does what it needs to do, but it doesn’t sing the way other scenes in the movie do.”

Eleven films in, Pixar is very careful to not repeat itself and that adage certainly held true for the third installment of its landmark franchise. But if one is being held to the fact that these characters are only toys, their problems would seem to be limited. Arndt recognized this obstacle immediately, particularly when it came to Woody, the central character of all three films. Arndt explains Woody’s personal development by comparing his emotional progress in the films with that of a child. “In Toy Story, Woody is learning to share the spotlight with Buzz,” he explains. “He’s like a child who gets a new sibling and has to realize he doesn’t always have to be the favorite. That tracks emotionally with someone who is 5 or 6 years old.

“In Toy Story 2,” Arndt continues, “Woody has to deal with and accept his mortality. That tracks with a child who is 8 to 10 years old.” With the plot devised for Toy Story 3, Woody needed to progress to a more mature sentiment — that of a teenager — in order for the film to have the correct impact. “Woody learns about the impermanence of things and the necessity for letting go and moving on,” Arndt says. “So there’s an arc to his development across the trilogy. Even though there are common elements in all three films, I do think we’re telling a different story in each of them, as well as one big over-arching story that spans the trilogy.”

Another difficulty the script of Toy Story 3 presented was servicing the ever-growing cast of characters and balancing the moments between both the trilogy mainstays and the new toys we are introduced to in this film. “This is the danger of having a group protagonist”, Arndt laments. “A lot of times, we had to make sure that everyone had something to do in a scene. You never want a character to just be luggage that’s being dragged from scene to scene.”

Arndt points out that the familiar characters are so well defined by this point that coming up with their natural reactions to each new situation was fun. But at the end of the day, some characters were just going to get more screen time than others. “When you have so many characters, you’re invariably making a trade between variety and depth,” he continues. “While I couldn’t give everyone their own arc or subplot – although we did cram a lot of B-lines into 90 minutes – you want to make sure that each character, at the every least, is true to himself.”

Arndt’s fondest memories of his Toy Story 3 stint involve his immersion into the so-called “Pixar process,” a collaborative effort between great filmmakers who make sure each of the studio’s release is up to part with its predecessors. Chief among these individuals is the Pixar “Brain Trust” — a group that includes [John] Lasseter, Stanton, [Pete] Docter, The Incredibles’ Brad Bird, Up’s Bob Peterson, animation director Brenda Chapman (whose Pixar debut The Bear and the Bow will be released in 2011) and Pixar sound designer-turned-director Gary Rydstrom, among others.

Every convening of the Brain Trust saw [Lee] Unkrich and Arndt presenting their film at various stages of completion; sometimes as an early draft of the script or later on as rough versions of animation with added dialogue called “reels.” Then notes were given, usually with amazing results. Arndt doesn’t mince words when describing his Brain Trust experiences, ” As a screenwriter, that’s just f***ing heaven on earth!”

“You have to remember,” he continues, “I spent 10 years sitting alone in Brooklyn working on my own scripts and getting dribs and drabs of feedback every couple of weeks. And suddenly, it’s like you’re crawling through the desert and one day you drill down and hit a geyser. Sitting in on those Brain Trust meetings have been some of the most exhilarating moments of my creative life.”

“I remember the first time I sat in on a Brain Trust meeting,” Arndt continues. “As soon as people started talking, it was like the Harlem Globetrotters in your living room.” The collective minds preset at such a meeting can certainly only improve an idea. The common protocol is for one member to throw out an idea while another follows up with a completion or addition to the original thought. Jokes are topped sometimes three times over. “The organic intelligence in that room is automatically higher than even the smartest person in the room,” Arndt says. “There are times when you feel like you’re in the presence of some super-intelligent story deity that has powers beyond that of any mere mortal.”

For an Oscar-winning screenwriter who could have pick of any project in town, Arndt’s outlook on screenwriting changed after seeing the unique collaboration offered by Pixar. “When you look at the final product, there’s just no way I could have written that screenplay on my own,” he says humbly. “It’s just too narratively complex and too dense with incident and humor. I worked really, really hard on Little Miss Sunshine – I went to the end of my abilities in writing that script. But purely formal terms, Toy Story 3 puts Little Miss Sunshine in the shade. And that comes from the fact that it’s a collaborative process.”

Arndt says that Pixar’s process harkens back to the old studio model, when companies had writers on staff. He also points out that even the great auteurs he admired in film school – Billy Wilder, Federico Fellini, Akira Kuroswa – had writers whom they regularly collaborated with on their scripts. “Pixar was very, very generous in giving me sole screenplay credit,” Arndt continues. “But what’s up on the screen is the product of a huge team effort. I was, very happily, just another member of the team.”

Also included in this collaboration is the story team led by Jason Katz, whom Arndt gives credit to for improving the screenplay tremendously. “They were constantly adding ideas and details into shaping the story,” Arndt says. “Everyone was given complete creative freedom to do whatever we felt was best for the story. Once you make that shift – once you check your auteur/genius/visionary self-image at the door – the problem of ego goes out the window.”

“People say that writing is re-writing,” he continues, “but that leaves out a crucial part of the equation: the feedback you get prior to your re-write. Pixar stories work because of the robustness of the story feedback system.” Arndt points to statements made by several key Pixar staffers who admit that, at some point in the process, every single film Pixar made was once the worst thing one might ever see. “It’s only by making the movie as a ‘reel’ seven or eight times, and failing repeatedly, and by applying the smartest and most ruthless criticism you can to the story over and over again, that the stories are able to take shape and come out feeling coherent and complete,” he says.

Arndt’s observations on his time at Pixar only confirm what many film pundits and fans have long suspected: Pixar’s films are such rousing successes because of the attention each individual at the studio dedicates to the screenplays. “Andrew Stanton’s rule of thumb is that it takes 10 man-years of labor to make a good screenplay,” Arndt explains. “Either two writers working five years or 10 guys working one year. For Toy Story 3, it was even more than that — probably the equivalent of 10 people working two or three years.”

“To me, this is what separates Pixar from almost everyone else,” Arndt concludes. “They realize how hard it is to come up with a great screenplay.”

Courtesy of Creative Screenwriting Magazine – Danny Munso

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Toy Story 3: Official Movie Magazine

The fine folks over at Disney Publishing sent me Toy Story 3: The Official Movie Magazine. It’s a very attractive 96 pages (aimed squarely at kids) with the following content:

  • Meet the New Characters – Get to know the new toys in town!
  • Toy Story Trivia Challenge – Test your knowledge from Toy Story and Toy Story 2
  • Toy Story Who’s Who – Catch Up with all your favorite characters
  • Toy Story 3 Behind The Scenes – Secret Facts from the new movie
  • Buzz Lightyear Poster
  • Toy Story 3 Graphic Novel – 56 page exclusive comic story of the film
  • Toy Story by the Numbers Part 1 – A lowdown on your favorite toys, by the numbers
  • Buzz Lightyear Mask – a do-it-yourself mask
  • Pencil Like Pixar – Learn to draw Woody, Buzz, Aliens and Lotso
  • Rex Poster
  • Toy Story by the Numbers – Part 2 – A lowdown on your favorite toys, by the numbers
  • Toy Story 3: The Videogame – Tips for all versions of the new game
  • And More!

The graphic novel is the real highlight here and is very well done. This covers the entire film and is obviously filled with spoilers. Toy Story 3: The Official Magazine can be found at most book stores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders and costs $9.99 in the U.S. and Canada.

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Total Film: 30 Best Pixar Voiceover Performances

In celebration of Toy Story 3, Total Film selects their 30 Best Pixar Voiceover Performances. Every film is represented, but Finding Nemo and the Toy Story Trilogy have the most actors honored. It’s an eclectic mix of big stars, character actors and Pixarians.

  • 30. John Morris (Andy) (Toy Story Trilogy)
  • 29. Barry Humphries (Bruce) (Finding Nemo)
  • 28. Sigourney Weaver (Ship Computer (WALL-E)
  • 27. Brad Garrett (Gusteau) (Ratatouille)
  • 26. Timothy Dalton (Mr. Pricklepants) (Toy Story 3)
  • 25. Stephen Root (Bubbles) (Finding Nemo)
  • 24. Paul Newman (Doc Hudson) (Cars)
  • 23. Jason Lee (Syndrome) (The Incredibles)
  • 22. Joan Cusack (Jessie) (Toy Story 2 & Toy Story 3)
  • 21. Patton Oswalt (Remy) (Ratatouille)
  • 20. Michael Keaton (Ken) (Toy Story 3)
  • 19. Albert Brooks (Marline) (Finding Nemo)
  • 18. Steve Buscemi (Randall) (Monsters, Inc.)
  • 17. Estelle Harris (Mrs. Potato Head) (Toy Story 2 & Toy Story 3)
  • 16. Joe Ranft (Heimlich) (A Bug’s Life)
  • 15. Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen) (Cars)
  • 14. Ed Asner (Carl) (Up)
  • 13. Wallace Shawn (Rex) (Toy Story Trilogy)
  • 12. Craig T. Nelson (Mr. Incredible) (The Incredibles)
  • 11. Andrew Stanton (Crush) (Finding Nemo)
  • 10. Jeff Pidgeon (Aliens) (Toy Story Trilogy)
  • 9. Ben Burtt (WALL-E) (WALL-E)
  • 8. Peter O’ Toole (Anton Ego) (Ratatouille)
  • 7. Billy Crystal & John Goodman (Sully & Mike) (Monsters, Inc.)
  • 6. Brad Bird (Edna Mode) (The Incredibles)
  • 5. Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head) (Toy Story Trilogy)
  • 4. Bob Peterson (Dug) (Up)
  • 3. John Ratzenberger (P.T. Flea) (A Bug’s Life)
  • 2.Tom Hanks & Tim Allen (Woody & Buzz) (Toy Story Trilogy)
  • 1. Ellen DeGeneres (Dory) (Finding Nemo)

What do you think of Total Film‘s list? Do you agree with most of their choices? Who is your #1? Who is missing? Share your thoughts.

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EW: Toy Story 3 – The Toys of Summer

Entertainment Weekly has a nice story on Toy Story 3 and how the film came to be. The story was published a few weeks back, but is now online. It includes many quotes from director Lee Unkrich, along with thoughts from Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.

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Pixar Bytes: Box Office Update, Miyazaki & TS3 Stills

  • Toy Story 3 was #1 at the box office for the 2nd weekend in a row. It earned $59.3 million and has now grossed $235 million in North America (and over $100 million internationally). I expect the film to easily pass Finding Nemo as Pixar’s biggest box office hit later this summer.
  • A five part look at animation legend and Pixar favorite Hayao Miyazaki is now available over at Flickering Myth. It’s written by Trevor Hogg and is definitely worth your time.
  • Lastly, here’s a few more stills from Toy Story 3. There are plenty of spoilers in these images, so if the film hasn’t opened in your city/country yet, you might want to avoid.

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Creativity in all areas at Pixar

In all the media explosion around Toy Story 3 in the last couple of weeks, this gem of an article slipped through the cracks. San Francisco Chronicle reporter Peter Hartlaub explores some of the unsung heroes at Pixar and how creativity really lives in all areas of Pixar headquarters. We meet a Production Assistant (Daniella Muller), a Facilities Manager (Craig Payne), the executive chef at the Luxo Cafe (Jennifer Johnston) and many more. There’s also quotes from the likes of John Lasseter and Toy Story 3 story supervisor Jason Katz. Lastly, you’ll find an amazing photo gallery with a collection of rare glimpses outside the atrium (like the picture above of animator Angus MacLane in his Lego inspired office). Don’t miss this very unique look behind the scenes at Pixar.

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Day & Night: The Quote

Many have asked about the speech or quote near the end of Day & Night. It’s the only dialogue in the short and that makes it even more powerful. According to director Teddy Newton, the quote is from Dr. Wayne Dyer and comes from a 1970′s lecture. Teddy further elaborated that many of the themes from the quote date back to a similar speech by Albert Einstein. Here’s the quote:

Fear of the unknown.

They are afraid of new ideas.

They are loaded with prejudices, not based upon anything in reality, but based on… if something is new, I reject it immediately because it’s frightening to me. What they do instead is just stay with the familiar.

You know, to me, the most beautiful things in all the universe, are the most mysterious.

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Exclusive: Toy Story 3 Video Interviews

Here’s a collection of Toy Story 3 video interviews that I took during our roundtable interviews on Blogger’s Day back in April. You’ll hear me ask questions, along with Martin and Thomas from Upcoming Pixar and Dave from Hey U Guys!.  Participants include Lee Unkrich (Director), Darla K. Anderson (Producer), Bobby Podesta (Supervising Animator), Mike Venturini (Supervisor), Bob Whitehill (Stereoscopic Supervisor) and Bob Pauley (Production Designer). I would recommend that you don’t watch these if you haven’t seen this movie).

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Cars 2: Lasseter Officially Behind the Wheel?

Jim Hill Media is reporting that John Lasseter is officially on board as the co-director for Cars 2. This backs up previous rumors that he had become increasingly more “hands on” with the feature film debut of Brad Lewis.  This is really not a huge story. Cars was John’s (very personal) project and much like Toy Story 2, the production either needs his help (or he’s wants to ensure that it lives up to his original vision). Stay tuned as further information comes to light.

In related news, IMAX has officially announced that Cars 2 will be coming in IMAX 3D when it’s released on June 24, 2011. Again, I doubt this comes as a big surprise to anyone. Most big event movies are going the way of 3D and IMAX. Can’t say it matters much to me unless the film was shot with IMAX cameras or conceived/shot with 3D cameras.

What do you think of the John Lasseter story? What do you think about IMAX and 3D in relation to Pixar films?

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Toy Story 3 Catch Up

By now, many of you have seen Toy Story 3, others are still waiting for it to open in their country. North American box office was huge over the weekend ($110 million) and on Monday ($15.6 million) setting new records for Pixar. Congrats to Lee Unkrich and the entire cast and crew on such a critical and commercial success. I purposely kept the post asking for your feedback up over the weekend and you responded. We had a record number of comments (nearly 100!), so please check out what everyone had to say or chime in on your thoughts. Now, let’s catch up on all the news.

  • Don’t miss the “Spanish Buzz” Toy Story 3 featurette above. It’s got the early animation test by Carlos Baena, interviews with Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson and more.
  • Lee Unkrich is slightly in shock as he talks about the box office success of the film with MTV.
  • Slash Film has started a great list of all the easter eggs from Toy Story 3.
  • Entertainment Weekly ranks the Pixar films in their order of preference (Toy Story is #1). Not to be outdone, VideoHound ranks their Top 10 as well (WALL-E is #1 on their list).
  • There’s a couple of great interviews with Toy Story 3 supervising animators Bobby Podesta and Mike Venturini from the Edinburgh Film Festival. You’ll want to read both pieces with the Scotland Herald and The List UK. They talk about Toy Story 3, tease a little bit about Brave and even mention (without mentioning) that Sean Penn was the original voice that they wanted for Crush in Finding Nemo. That makes total sense, but I thought that Andrew Stanton did a pretty darn good Spicoli!
  • The SoundWorks Collection posted an exclusive Toy Story 3 sound for film video profile on their website. It includes interviews with Lee Unkrich, Michael Semanick (Re-recording Mixer), Tom Myers (Sound Designer) and Stuart Bowling (Dolby).
  • Tom Myers also talks with Variety about the new Dolby 7.1 mix for Toy Story 3. Variety also has a brief interview with Toy Story 3 sets supervisor David Eisenmann. The Manila Bulletin talks with animator Gina Cruz Santos about Toy Story 3 (with a bit on Cheryl Burke who helped with the dance choreography). It’s nice to see some of the other important artists on the film getting their day in the sun.
  • More interviews have surfaced. Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt talks with The Washington Post. Entertainment Weekly conducts a Q & A with John Morris. The Chicago Tribune catches up with local talent Jeff Garlin and Joan Cusack. Heat Vision has a quick interview with John Lasseter about Toy Story 3 as well.
  • The Washington Post also provides Seven Best Tangential Reasons to see Toy Story 3. Pretty compelling and funny stuff.
  • The USA Today has a lengthy interview with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. I got a chuckle out of the banter between the two stars.
  • The Pixar Blog informs us that Teddy Newton’s Day & Night can be purchased from iTunes!
  • Lastly, there’s a new video with John Lasseter discussing the Mr. Potato Head for the Toy Story Collection.

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