Posted on 02/03/2006 11:13:18 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
With Disney's acquisition of Pixar, Pixar President Ed Catmull was named President of the new Pixar and Disney animation studios and Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter is the new Chief Creative Office of the animation studios, as well as Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering.
According to a poster at Animation Nation, Catmull and Lasseter "announced to Feature Animation employees [Tuesday] that the 'Toy Story 3' production will end effectively [Tuesday]. They said that sequels should only be made if there is a really great story that demands it, and should be the domain of those who created the original film."
An Associated Press article from Tuesday about the acquisition confirms the news:
One immediate sign of Lasseter's influence is that plans for Disney to make the long rumored sequel "Toy Story 3" on its own have been scrapped. If the film is made, it will be done by Lasseter and the other creators of the original film, the companies said.
Bradley Raymond was announced as the director of Toy Story 3, which was scheduled to open in 2008. In the film, Buzz Lightyear would have been recalled to Taiwan after a series of malfunctions. Learning of a productwide recall, all the toys in Andy's room, under Woody's leadership, were to head to Taiwan to save Buzz from doom.
This is important news beyond just this film. It shows the Disney buy of Pixar was more of a merger than a buyout. Pixar now runs Disney animation, and this is the first evidence of Pixar's commitment to quality being applied. The rumor mill says Lasseter (former Pixar head, now in charge of Disney animation) is reviewing all pending Disney animations for the chopping block.
We've all seen Disney's animation going downhill for over a decade, and this may just be what brings back the former quality.
Thank GOD. I hope this catches on.
That said, I'm still hoping for 'Incredibles II.'
To translate this from Hollywood-ese to English,it reads: "around here,from now on,sequels will only be made when we're assured that receipts will substantially exceed production/distribution/promotion costs..."
Absolutely. Walt Disney is spinning in his grave over these lousy sequels to great Disney classics.
Goodbye Pixar, it was nice knowing you. Have fun getting screwed by the idiots who are running Disney into the ground.
Sylvester Stallone must have been absent the day this was discussed in class.
Mark this day in the calendar, folks. This is a Hollywood first.
(/assuming you would tolerate this in your calendar)
That's what I thought until I found out that Pixar completely runs Disney's entire animation division now. Pixar's president Ed Catmull is now in charge of the Pixar and Disney animation studios (reporting only to Iger and Disney Studios head Cook), Pixar vice-pres Lasseter is the animation creative head, and several other executives moved over. Couple that with the fact that Jobs is now on the board and is the largest single holder of Disney shares, and Disney won't be able to easily beat-down Pixar. Also remember, Eisner, who ran Disney into the ground, is out.
This is almost like the reverse takeover Jobs pulled off when Apple bought Next.
I actually liked Rocky 2 and 3 was okay with Mr. T.
Other Sequal Stinkeroos:
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
The Sting 2
Jaws 2, 3, 4
Halloween 2-10
Friday the 13th (all of them)
Major League 2 & 3
Speed 2 (although Speed 1 pretty much sucked)
Rambo 2 & 3 (See Rocky 4 & 5 as well)
Cheap sequels are a big money maker for Disney, which is why they churn them out. Pixar cares about quality. For example, Toy Story 2 was supposed to be a cheap Disney sequel (they had all sequel rights to the Pixar movies), but Pixar decided to make a real movie out of it even though it didn't count towards their six movie contract with Disney.
It probably helps that Pixar is based in Emeryville in Northern California, well away from the Hollywood idiots. Let's hope that the Lasseter and Catmull don't spend too much time down there and get corrupted.
Turns out the sequel will be made! Hollywood has found the "great story" which will justify the creation of "Toy Story 3"!
Here's the plot: Woody decides that he is gay. Buzz Lightyear shows homophobic tendencies and becomes estranged from his friend. But then, Woody discovers that he is actually atttracted to Slinky Dog. Buzz has no problem with zoophilia, so everyone lives happily ever after. Oh, and Mister Potatohead struggles with a Meth problem.
Mister Potatohead becomes Mrs. Potatohead.
Yes. This Bambi II?
Bring back Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Pluto...the classic Walt cartoons.
No more of this PC garbage.
It seems like Disney's attitude has been all they had to do is slap the Disney label on their product and folks would still buy it.
Your analysis is exactly what I've come to think. Also, I've read that Lasseter and Roy Disney are great friends. Lasseter has also spoken out about the 3D (CGI) animation group that Disney was building after they closed down all of the 2D (cell) animation work in Florida and gutted the California team. Lasseter has said that he will assess that entire group, with some possibly being moved over to work with the Pixar folks, some being let go or some being assigned to a revamped 2D animation group. Lasseter is a big fan of traditional animation and wants to bring back that part of the Disney empire.
I even read one report that Lasseter is taking over creative duties for the parks, but that hasn't been confirmed anyplace official that I've seen yet.
All in all I think this is very good news.
Come on, Jaws 2 had it moments. It wasn't that bad. And Halloween 2 was a continuation of that same Halloween night. Which was an interesting idea. Karate Kid 2 & 3, now those were stinkers.
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