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  • Blog Post: Stars & D23 members come out for the LA premiere of "John Carter"

    Given that " John Carter " is mostly set on the red planet, it's only appropriate that the stars who attended Wednesday night's premiere of this Andrew Stanton film ... Photo by Shelly Valladolid ... walked down the red carpet at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live . Walt Disney Pictures really...
  • Blog Post: Toon Tuesday: The Wow Factor

    I’ve often been asked this goofy question. “How would you run an animation studio if you were in charge?” Questions like this come from young people who assume I have answers. The truth is, I’m not in that position, and I don’t expect to be. However, I once ran my own business...
  • Blog Post: Toon Tuesday: Funky Warehouse Syndrome

    Some years ago, I watched helplessly as Walt Disney's animation department was moved out of their old building on the Burbank lot. You see, the new management needed room to expand, and animators took up space. So clearly somebody had to go. The Animation Building on Disney's Burbank Lot. You can wait...
  • Blog Post: "I can go to Disney and be a director, or I can stay here and make history"

    "It was 20 years ago today ..." Well, it was tomorrow actually. August 2, 1988 to be precise. That was the date when an incomplete version of " Tin Toy " first screened at SIGGRAPH and truly wowed the crowd in Atlanta. Given the overwhelmingly positive response that this John Lasseter film received ...
  • Blog Post: Monday Mouse Watch : Get ready for WDW's monstrous new coaster

    Judging by the long lines at " Toy Story Mania " as well as the brisk business that "Hey Howdy Hey!" & the gift shop across the way have been doing, it would appear that Pixar Place has already proven to be a very popular addition to Disney's Hollywood Studios . The only problem with the studio theme...
  • Blog Post: Animation fans prematurely shoot off their mouths about "Bolt"

    How many of you know the story of the blind men and the elephant ? I bring up this ancient Indian fable because ... Well ... I have to admit that I was highly amused by what happened last Wednesday. When the on-line animation community went completely bananas over those "Bolt" pre-release images . Copyright...
  • Blog Post: "To Infinity and Beyond!" is an entertaining look back at Pixar's first two decades

    There's this genuinely eerie passage in Karen Paik 's " To Infinity and Beyond! The Story of Pixar Animation Studios " ( Chronicle Books , November 2007), which talks about how a single book basically changed the course of John Lasseter 's life. In ninth grade, Lasseter was searching the art section...
  • Blog Post: Instead of a Why For this week, how about a Where For ?

    Natalie Dressed writes in to say: Thanks for plugging ASIFA-Hollywood 's upcoming screening of " Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure ." That was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. And if I actually lived out in LA, I would definitely have made the trip over to the American Film Institute...
  • Blog Post: A special "Toon Much of a Good Thing" edition of Why For

    First up, Danny writes in to ask: Jim, Any reason that you know of why Pixar started skimping on their DVD packages? Up to and including " The Incredibles ," no company did the medium justice better than Pixar. But the discs for " Cars " and " Rataouille " (which I have an advanced copy of) are pathetic...
  • Blog Post: Toon Tuesday : The Failure Factor

    A couple weeks ago, we had a visit from John Lasseter and two hundred of his wizards from Pixar Animation Studios . The Pixar team was getting a special tour of both the Burbank and Glendale facilities of the Walt Disney Company. It was good to see so many old friends & colleagues again. And I couldn...