Tag Archives: Disney

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Much of the evolution of Pixar Animation comes in the details. Textures have evolved in amazing ways since Pixar’s first short debuted, and the quality can be seen especially when you compare the first Toy Story to Toy Story 3. The intricacies of any given surface are truly amazing.

The same can be said with just how expressive the faces of Pixar’s characters have become. There’s so much more fluidity and room for subtlety. The eyes especially have evolved to display much more emotion so we don’t get that dead-eyed effect that we saw so often in the motion-capture animated work of Robert Zemeckis.

Seeing all of Pixar’s work in chronological order like this shows how far Pixar has come in a short amount of time, and it’s amazing to see how far they’ve gone in another 30 years.

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How Pixar creative genius John Lasseter became the next Walt Disney and built a $10 billion empire

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Business Insider has an article up about how Pixar creative genius John Lasseter became the next Walt Disney and built a $10 billion empire.

No studio can match the creativity, heart, and cleverness found in all Pixar films, and it seems those principles can be traced back to Lasseter

“You want the movies to touch people,” Lasseter said in an interview for Pixar’s 30th anniversary this year. “Make ’em funny, make ’em beautiful, make ’em scary, but in the end you want that heart of the movie to be so strong.”

Lasseter’s and Pixar’s success are linked. He cofounded the animation studio that has now made nearly $10 billion worldwide. He championed computer animation at a time when the technology was still quite infantile. He created and directed “Toy Story,” which started it all (more than 250 computer-animated films have been made since). He kept asking questions that resulted in better animation all around and better Pixar films.

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Piper – First Look – Official Disney Pixar

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In Piper, “a hungry sandpiper hatchling discovers that finding food without mom’s help isn’t so easy.” What I love about this short film is that it takes the best of Pixar’s character-based animation and blends it with the narrow depth of field, with the almost photo-real cinematography emulating macro photography.

Barillaro has been with Pixar for some time, acting as a supervising animator on Wall-E, Brave and The Incredibles. Piperis his directorial debut, and I hope we see more from him. I also hope that Disney Consumer Products Group doesn’t drop the ball again and not make some cute plushes based on this animated short, as I’m sure they’d sell well in Disney stores worldwide. Pixar and Disney’s animated shorts always seem to get the shaft from the merchandising departments.

The score for the short was composed by Adrian Belew, who is best known for his work as a guitarist and vocalist of the progressive rock group King Crimson. His songs have appeared in a bunch of movies and television shows, but this is his first attempt at composing an original score. This came about as Barillaro used Belew’s compositions as temp music while he was developing the short film. Finding Dory director/Pixar brain trust member Andrew Stanton knew the musician and made the introduction.

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Disney’s Moana Teaser Trailer

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Dwayne Johnson stars as demi-god Moana in Disney’s new animated film Moana, that is slated for a Thanksgiving release this year.

The official trailer of Walt Disney Studios’ latest animation film Moana is here and it features the voice of global superstar Dwayne Johnson in the role of Maui, a legendary demi-god. Moana is an animated 3D-musical-adventure-fantasy film based on South Pacific folklore. The film also features the voice of Auli’i Cravalho in the titular role of Moana. The film features computer-generated animation as well as traditional animation. Maui’s tattoos, in the film, as you will see in the trailer, are hand-drawn and traditionally animated. This is the second time that the Furious 7 actor will provide voice for an animated film. His earlier animated venture was the moderately successful Planet 51.

Moana is set to release on November 23 this year, during Thanksgiving.

 

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INK & PIXEL: MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

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Ink and Pixel has an interesting article up about Disney/Pixar’s Monster’s University with some nice development art.

From the site:

There’s no doubt in my mind that MONSTERS UNIVERSITY had the chips stacked against it from the moment of its conception. I say this because I remember the vehement reaction to the announcement of the film via social media – and just how much of a three-ring-circus that turned out to be. I think that part of the reason for the anti-MONSTERS U sentiment is that after the roaring success of 2010’s TOY STORY 3, Pixar experienced its first true misfire with the release of CARS 2 in June of 2011. As a sequel to the 2006 original, CARS 2 seemed to cast a spell of disenchantment over critics and audience members alike with its uninspired plot and cast of lackluster character leads. Oh sure, the film still made a fair bit of coin with a worldwide return of $559,852,396 in box office receipts, but fans’ once-resilient faith in the Pixar brand had been shaken none the less.

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Josh Sobel

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Josh Sobel Owner at Josh Sobel Rigs + Freelance Character TD at Psyop

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Not too much crazy. Worked maintenance (painting walls, mostly) and was a cashier in a cafe briefly.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I’m the most proud of the animated Disney short, Feast. It was my first simulation project and also probably the most distinct and artistically-driven.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
Until I was 12 I lived on Long Island and after that I went to high school in Fort Lauderdale. I fell into both art and technology while there and CG animation seemed Continue reading