Kate has a lot on her mind. There’s the ethics problem of buying furniture on the cheap at estate sales and marking it up at her trendy Manhattan store. And how much markup can she get away with? There’s the materialism problem of not wanting her teenage daughter to want the expensive things that Kate wants. There’s the marriage problem of sharing a partnership in parenting, business and life with her husband Alex but sensing doubt nibbling at the foundations. And, there’s Kate’s free-floating 21st century malaise — the problem of how to live well and be a good person when poverty, homelessness, and sadness are always right outside the door. Plus, there’s the neighbors: cranky, elderly Andra and the two granddaughters who look after her.
John Lasseter announces the slate of Disney and Pixar films at an NYU conference yesterday. The schedule confirms some previous rumoured films, including the sequel to Cars as well as some exciting DVD releases, 3-D re-releases and new flicks for all the family!
Details of the slate are below:
BOLT (November 26th, 2008)
Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is the canine star of a TV show in which he plays a pooch with super powers. When he’s accidentally shipped to New York, he has to make his way back home to Hollywood. Problem is he thinks his TV powers are real and his only aids in his journey are unwanted housecat Mittens and TV-obsessed hamster Rhino. Miley Cyrus also lends her voice. This film was originally being directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stitch), but he’s since been replaced by Chris Williams and Byron Howard over creative differences.
TINKER BELL (October 28th, 2008)
Disney’s favourite fairy gets a straight-to-DVD, and Blu-ray, movie. Brittany Murphy has previously been announced as providing her voice (Yes, she now speaks), but her name was not mentioned in the announcement and their are stories that her voice may not be used.
UP (May 29, 2009 in US; July 17, 2009 in UK/Ireland)
Pixar’s big film for 2009, directed by Pete Docter (Monsters Inc) and Bob Peterson, concerns a 78-year-old man who abandons his quiet life and embarks on a series of adventures with an 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer that take them to exotic and bizarre locales.
TOY STORY in 3-D (October 2, 2009)
Pixar’s first get another dimension
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Christmas 2009)
Walt Disney returns to traditional animation for the first time since Home on the Range. Ron Clements and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) seem the perfect pair to bring about its new life, with this twist on The Frog Prince that takes place in New Orleans. Anika Noni Rose, the first African American Disney princess, provides the lead voice.
TINKER BELL NORTH OF NEVER LAND – working title (2009)
Another DVD adventure for the winged oen
TOY STORY 2 in 3-D (February 12, 2010)
See Toy Story in 3-D entry, but with added sequeliness
TOY STORY 3 (June 18, 2010)
Disney didn’t announce any details on the third film in the adventures of Woody and Buzz, which is simultaneously released in 3-D. But a Wall Street Journal article previously announced that this will deal with the toys coping as a nearly grown-up Andy plans to go to college.
RAPUNZEL (Christmas 2010)
The directing debut of master animator Glen Keane (responsible for brilliant work on Tarzan and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, among others). This is a take on the story of the girl with the very long hair and employs a CG look that has the appearance of being an old master painting. Co-directed by Dean Wellins.
TINKER BELL A MIDSUMMER STORM – working title (2010)
Again with the fairy.
NEWT (Summer 2011)
This is a previously unannounced Pixar effort, so we’ll just tell you what the press release says: “What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can’t stand each other? That’s the problem facing Newt and Brooke, heroes of ”newt,” the Pixar film by seven-time Academy Award® winner for sound Gary Rydstrom, and director of Pixar’s Oscar nominated short, “Lifted.” Newt and Brooke embark on a perilous, unpredictable adventure and discover that finding a mate never goes as planned, even when you only have one choice. Love, it turns out, is not a science.” Sounds colourful and like an interesting twist on Pixar’s traditional buddy comedy set-up.
THE BEAR AND THE BOW (Christmas 2011)
This one takes place in a “mythic Scotland” where a young royal decides that she’d rather be an archer than sit around a castle. She makes a choice that unintentionally unleashes peril on her father’s kingdom and her mother’s life and her puts her up against the forces of nature, magic and an ancient curse. Voice talent includes Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson. Brenda Chapman, a writer on Cars and Beauty and the Beast, makes her directing debut and becomes Pixar’s first female director.
CARS 2 (Summer 2012)
Lightning McQueen and Mater return in a sequel to the hit movie, to be directed by Ratatouille producer Brad Lewis. No details on plot, but the press release suggests that the plot will travel the world. No word either on which other characters might return. Cars wouldn’t have been the Pixar project most people would expect to get a sequel, since it was the least well reviewed of the studios work. We’d never suggest that Pixar would be driven by profits over good story, because we genuinely consider them much better than that, but Cars was one of the studio’s most profitable movies based on the enormous merchandise sales.
KING OF THE ELVES (Christmas 2012)
Philip K. Dick’s only fantasy story is the basis of this story of a man in the Mississippi delta who tries to help a group of elves and winds up being named their king. He becomes embroiled in an attempt to escape a fearsome troll and finds big meaning for his life through the lives of these little people. Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker direct. No word on whether this is traditional animation or CG, but it’s not a Pixar project.