Upcoming Pixar Blog

By entering Disney’s Great Escapes Giveaway, you could find yourself in some truly remarkable situations!

Three grand prizes are up for grabs, two of which are tremendous trips and one which is sure to keep you busy at home. They’re all so good that I’m not entirely sure which one I’d rather win:

• An invitation for you and three guests to the premiere of Cars 2!

• A family cruise aboard the brand new Disney Dream!

• The Home Theatre Toy Box which includes a 3D TV, a Blu-ray player, the Pixar Blu-ray library and Thinkway Toy Story Collection toys!

To enter, follow this link. Register with Disney Movie Rewards to become elligible. The best of luck goes out to you guys!

In your opinion, which of the prizes above sounds the most appealing?

Cars Toons co-director, Rob Gibbs, spoke exclusively to Upcoming Pixar about his experiences on the series.

If you’re a fan of the shorts, you’re probably really excited for this Friday’s premiere of Monster Truck Mater. But before you catch the latest installment in the series, check out the inspiration behind the project, in-jokes to look out for and even some upcoming scenarios that Mater will end up in.

——-

Upcoming Pixar: How did Cars Toons come about; what inspired the shorts?
Rob Gibbs: They started out as a series of short ideas, to "keep the characters alive", that would air on TV to fill the gap between Cars and Cars 2. They were to run about 30 seconds each. But the more interesting ideas were the ones that involved bigger stories and more characters.

John Lasseter felt that there was no reason to do these shorts unless they expanded the World of Cars and explored new characters and new environments. One of our animators, Bobby Podesta, had the idea of Mater telling Tall Tales about his supposed past. Thus the beginning of Cars Toons.

UP: Which of the ‘Tall Tales’ was your favorite to work on; why?
RG: I have many favorites for different reasons. [Unidentified Flying Mater] is a short in which Mater meets his alien counter part, a buck toothed UFO, and it’s a story of friendship. I found the idea very charming. It wasn’t until a couple of our story folks had the idea of doing a reverse alien abduction and then it became a story of Mater rescuing his new best friend, and it all unfolded. The score, done by Mark Mothersbaugh, is really sweet.

In contrast, Monster Truck Mater is an adrenaline rush backed by rock music. It was fun to explore different types of Monster Trucks that Mater would "wrestle" and find different ways for him to defeat them. Another short that will air later this year, Heavy Metal Mater, is awesome.

— ‘Monster Truck Mater’ plays later this month. —

UP: What can we expect from the latest installment?
RG: Mater starts out as an amateur wrestler on Tuesday night and fights his way up, becoming The World Champion. Each of his matches escalate to the biggest opponent he’s ever had to face with plenty of gags in between.

UP: Are there any in-jokes that we should be looking out for?
RG: In Monster Truck Mater, there aren’t a lot of "in" jokes, but many of the graphics are very clever. All the "ice cream" graphics on the side of the Ice Screamer are really fun. The name of the hospital that Dr. Feel Bad goes flying into is St. Vintage (as in vintage car). It’s the same hospital room that we saw in Rescue Squad Mater. There are fan belts hanging on the wall with the BnL logo [from WALL•E] on them. The biggest "in jokes" were how closely we tried to emulate the enthusiasm of the world of Monster Trucks and Pro Wrestling.

UP: What were the highlights of this production?
RG: We did our research. We went to a Monster Truck Rally and a night of Pro Wrestling. It was amazing to see how enthusiastic the fans are at both events.

The artists and technical directors got up close to the monster trucks and studied the whole under structure and the wear on the tires. They were very detail oriented. Working with our [production designer], Tony Christov, and watching the designs of the characters unfold was really fun. Every Friday night I would watch a little wrestling on TV, not really a highlight, but very informative.

The highlight of all the productions has been to watch the stories unfold in editorial (Torbin Bullock, editor) and seeing the art go from drawings to 3D models (supervised by David Munier) and then into final lighting (lead by Erik Smitt) I’m blown away at how beautiful they all turned out. Being able to work next to John Lasseter on all the shorts was a huge highlight.

UP: Can you share some of the upcoming scenarios that Mater (and Lightning) will wind up in?
RG: Mater will rise to the top of the Rock and Roll scene, become the first Tow Truck on the moon and solve a crime as a Private Eye in an homage to film noir.

UP: Are you like any of the characters in Cars?
RG: Well, when it comes to naivety, I suppose I relate to Mater. He’s not stupid, just a little naive. As far as the Toons go, I can relate to Lightning McQueen. He often becomes an unwilling participant in a crazy scenario.

UP: Is there a connection between the shorts and the upcoming sequel?
RG: When it comes to putting our characters in new environments and situations, the Cars Toons have helped pave the way. There is no direct connection between the two. However, Mater may tell a story or two. The idea for Cars 2 was always to introduce a new idea and new characters but I think exploring what Mater is capable of has had some influence on the sequel.

UP: In one sentence, why should audiences get revved up for Cars 2?
RG: It’s action packed and we get to see our characters outside of Radiator Springs.

UP: What would Mater say if he came across Upcoming Pixar?
RG: Dad Gum!

——-

Thanks goes out to Rob Gibbs for such a thorough and informative interview. Monster Truck Mater airs July 30th, 2010 at 9:30 PM E/P on Disney Channel.

Your thoughts?

Toy Story 3 is holding up spectacularly well, so much so that it felt like I was reading earlier estimates.

In its sixth weekend at the domestic box-office, Pixar’s 11th managed to keep the #5 spot. The film experienced a change of only 25% from the prior weekend, earning about $9 million dollars. This puts Toy Story 3 at an estimated:

$379,529,000

Domestic: It’s official — Toy Story 3 has legs! After dropping almost 50% each weekend, such a small shift was a total surprise. Friday and Sunday brought in a little under $3 million dollars with a Saturday estimate of $3.5 million.

International: This weekend, Toy Story 3 grabbed the #1 spot internationally with an estimated $62 million dollars. The film’s foreign total has now reached $351 million dollars according to The Hollywood Reporter, setting its worldwide total well over $700 million!

Your predictions?

(Numbers via Box Office Mojo)

With Comic-Con in full swing, it’s easy to forget Pixar’s expansive presence at another big-time convention.

SIGGRAPH 2010 is right around the corner, and the studio’s RenderMan booth (seen to the right) is looking phenomenal! If you’ll be in attendance, stop by from July 27th through the 29th to get some free swag.

Remember the preview image from our exclusive interview with RenderMan’s Chris Ford? Well, the collectible teapot has finally been revealed! This year’s model resembles a Toy Story favorite — and here’s the tin it comes in.

But it’s not all about the free stuff. Make sure to stop by Pixar’s website for RenderMan’s speaker schedule. More information on the annual conference (held in Los Angeles this year) can be found on the official website.

Note: All images have been provided by RenderMan’s go-to guy, Peter Moxom. 

Will you be attending SIGGRAPH 2010?

Everyone wants a little help from Pixar these days!

In fact, The Hollywood Reporter hears that key talent behind Disney’s upcoming ‘Muppets’ project was recently spotted up in Emeryville. Although Pixarians won’t bring Kermit and co. to life, they may be ‘pupeteering’ the film in the right direction. 

Stars and executives flew in to the Northern California studio for a table read of The Muppet’s latest script. Much like last week’s Tron: Legacy reports, one can assume that Pixar’s Brain Trust was there to strengthen the story. Sounds like Walt Disney Pictures is using its resources wisely…

On another note, this opportunity might have just been a dream come true for Pete Docter. The Up and Monsters, Inc. director has repeatedly stated in interviews that he’s a huge fan of The Muppets.

Your thoughts?

It’s unmistakable: Toy Story 3 has become a huge success! But now that an entire month has passed since release, day to day tracking isn’t as exciting as it used to be.

On that note, this will be the last Weekday Report to cover Pixar’s 11th. We won’t leave you hanging, though. Box Office Buzz continues next weekend as regularly scheduled. Check back for daily updates:

Monday: $1,891,284
Tuesday: $2,064,125
Wednesday: $1,761,406
Thursday: $1,816,846

Today’s Cumulative Domestic Gross: $370,499,039

Notes and Predictions: Toy Story 3 still has a ton of showtimes throughout the day at my local theatre — even after a month in release! I have a feeling we’ll see Toy Story 3 quietly rise even higher than anyone expected…

Your predictions?

(Numbers via Box Office Mojo)

Toy Story 3 finally had its UK opening today! Celebrate with this special edition of Woody’s New Round-up!

TS3 Duo on BBC: Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson recently stopped by BBC Breakfast to promote Toy Story 3. The director/producer duo made some great points about moving on, limits in filmmaking and Pixar’s philosophy. Watch an excerpt from their TV interview here.

Jude Brownbill Talks Pixar/UK Hometown: In anticipation for the studio’s latest release, ‘This is Somerset‘ profiles UK born Pixarian, Jude Brownbill. The article recounts her journey from Cheddar (famous for the cheese) to Pixar.

The Clothes of TS3: Pixar is known for sweating the details. I mean, have you seen the stitches on Woody? Lee Unkrich sat down with Clothes on Film to discuss just that: the costumes of Toy Story 3. There’s quite a story behind the wardrobe; enjoy the interview here.

UK readers: Have you seen Toy Story 3 yet? What did you think?

After a month in release, Toy Story 3 successfully maintains its competitive edge at the box office!

Pixar’s 11th landed the #5 spot with an estimate of $11 million dollars. Now that the film has crossed most of its imaginable benchmarks, we can go straight to its current total:

$362,709,000

This Weekend: Phenomenal new release, Inception, was able to capture the top spot this weekend as Despicable Me dropped almost 50% from its debut. In the meantime, Sorcerer’s Apprentice (new release) struggled to surpass Eclipse.

As for Toy Story 3 — Buzz and Woody had virtually identical Friday and Sunday estimates, with $3.4 million dollars each day. Saturday took the cake, as usual, with an estimated $4.6 million.

International: Last week, Toy Story 3 managed to rake in $36.2 million at the foreign box office. Japan’s opening weekend contributed $11 million, making it the biggest US ‘toon release in the country. The film can now claim $221.9 million in international gross and $584 million worldwide.

Remember to check back for weekend actuals!

Your predictions?

(Numbers via Box Office Mojo)

Question: What’s a sure fire way of generating traffic to your movie website?

Answer: Write a story about Pixar.

I guess we would know. After all, this entire site is devoted to Pixar fandom and the servers haven’t been able to keep up with the amount of visits lately. We thank you for your time/apologize for that.

But this phenomenon certainly isn’t exclusive to the internet. Discovery Channel was able to get quite a lot of hype for their TV special, Reign of the Dinosaurs, with misleading reports about Pixar’s (non) involvement — until they had to correct themselves.

My point is simple — rumors about Pixar come and go. Sometimes they turn out to be true, and other times they just fizzle away into the internet’s abyss. Like… nevermind. This brings us to the main event.

Before you begin to think that I was completely oblivious to the ‘Planes" reports making the rounds lately, I’d like to set things straight. I realize that posting about the subject just fuels the flames of the rumor, but I honestly have no reason to believe that Pixar is making a direct-to-video spin-off of Cars. The original source, Movieline, only claims to have "heard" (from who? Lasseter; the studio; an anonymous Pixarian?) about such a project.

As Pixar Talk noted, all of this sounds like a bad April Fool’s joke. It’s almost like one of our annual Upcoming Pixar pranks has begun to run wild.

Now, you might be asking, "How are you so sure that Planes isn’t a real project?" I’m not here to claim that it is or isn’t — I don’t actually know for sure. All I’m saying is, don’t be alarmed. This kind of thing happens all the time…

Update: Just as I privately suspected, the Animation Guild blog reports that Planes is being produced at DisneyToon Studios — not Pixar. Think Buzz Lightyear of Star Command; no story details have been revealed.

Your thoughts?

"Point!" …and click.
Dug has found a new online home.

The Short Films section on Pixar’s website was recently updated to include a full profile on Dug’s Special Mission. As expected, you’ll find a plot summary and some insight into production.

"Dug is easily the most loveable character in the movie. He must be up to something and I want to see what that is." comments director Ronnie del Carmen.

Speaking of the Up story supervisor, lucky Comic-Con attendees can hear his presentation next Friday. See our Comic-Con 2010 post for more details.

I would go on a rant about the Pixar website like I usually do but, "Squirrel!"

Your thoughts?