According to the director’s commentary on the Ratatouille Blu-ray disc, this dog (hidden in silhouette in the movie) is featured in the upcoming movie Up. The scene is near the beginning when Remy is running through an apartment - the one where he gets chased by a dog. Brad Bird mentions that it was a teaser for one of Pixar’s forthcoming films.
(via animated-news)
Bill Taylor, author of Mavericks at Work posts what he considers to be some of the secrets behind Pixar’s constant success.
His first is Pixar’s preference for long-term agreements over picture-to-picture deals:
a tightknit company of long-term collaborators who stick together, learn from one another, and strive to improve with every production. Andrew Stanton, who directed Wall-E, was a key figure behind Finding Nemo, which won two Oscars, generated worldwide box-office of $840 million, and became the best-selling DVD of all time. But Stanton didn’t follow the success of Nemo by offering himself to the highest bidder or demanding perks and special treatment. He went back to his job as an employee of the studio, to pitch in on other films and eventually begin work on his next major project.
He then goes on to give great praise to Pixar University and its availability to all employees, regardless of position. Dean Randy Nelson explains why:
“Why teach drawing to accountants? Because drawing class doesn’t just teach people to draw. It teaches them to be more observant. There’s no company on earth that wouldn’t benefit from having people become more observant.”
I still have yet to see Wall-E, but from what most of I’ve read I’m sure it will be phenomenal. There are some people I’ve talked to who say the film takes a nosedive once the humans enter the picture, but the majority of reviews I’ve read absolutely love it. In fact, in some places they’re already talking Best Picture nom. come Oscar time next year. I haven’t heard that about any other film this year so far - animation or live action.
From everything I’ve read and everything I know about working at other studios, Pixar represents a completely different way of approaching filmmaking. Ironically, it’s the closest to what I imagine it would’ve been like to work at the Disney studios in the 1930s and 40s. So it’s not so much revolutionary as it is just plain smart business. After nine consecutive number-one hits, they’re obviously doing something right.
As Bill puts it,
You can’t win big unless you change the game in your field.
(via SvN)
Remember the girl who recorded herself crying over the trailer for Wall-E?
Apparently Pixar was kind enough to not only give her a Crew Jacket for Christmas, but also to invite her to the wrap party in San Francisco last month. Before the screening, Andrew Stanton had this to say:
Six months ago, when the first trailer for Wall-E came out, we were only halfway done with the film, and we weren’t exactly sure how we were going to get it done. We were exhausted. And then, one day, a movie showed up on YouTube showing a girl watching the trailer for Wall-E. And every time she watched it, she would cry on cue. When we saw that, we knew we were on the right track.
The rest of her experiences seeing the film with those who made it can be read on her blog, here.
(via the disney blog)
This won’t last.
Apparently you can get it off of iTunes now (which is what I’ll be doing later tonight).
10 second review: animation is awesome, almost felt like it was hand-drawn at times! Overall fun to watch, but a little confusing at times—wasn’t sure what I was looking at. Entertaining nevertheless. Better than that one with the little girl with the coin or the jelly alien with the mixing board.
Credits are horrible though. I can’t read a single name!
(via fail blog)
Awesome. For some reason it reminds me of Roger Rabbit - and not in a bad way. It’s just that the lighting and the posing on the rabbit almost make it look like it was hand-drawn.
Can’t wait to see the whole thing!
Witness Disney animator Clay Kaytis (the guy behind the Animation Podcast) zoom and tumble around a CG hamster! He’s really bringing that character to life. Way to go, Clay!
The day we start to think about what the audience wants is the day we’re going to start making bad choices.
Amen.
Just heard about this today at work - a cool way to mount that Cintiq tablet to your 2D animation desk. The price seems reasonable considering the sturdy construction of the device. And it looks like you’d be able to easily switch between the two (or maybe not, considering the backlight placement).
This would’ve been perfect for me if I hadn’t thrown away my own monstrous 2D desk way back when I thought 2D was “dead.” Oh, and it would’ve been perfect if I actually had a Cintiq. But I know there are artists around here who love it and have complained about finding the perfect setup to work with the tablet. The TurnTablet looks like a good solution.
