Walt Disney and Pixar Studios pulled the curtain back on three upcoming films at CinemaCon 2012. We got release dates, directors and producer teams as well as one-sentence descriptions from Disney. Without knowing anything more, we give our ideas as far as what we can expect based on who’s involved and the established track record of the wonderful world of Pixar. We know that they’ll be all-ages films, we know they’ll be full of heart, imagination, and complete characters. Parents of infants and toddlers, take note: get ready to be inundated with dinosaurs, aztecs, and the inner workings of… the brain?
The Good Dinosaur
U.S. Release Date: May 30, 2014
Directed by Bob Peterson (Up/Finding Nemo)
Produced by John Walker (The Incredibles)
Official description: What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?
BuzzFocus Take: Dinosaurs. Pixar has taken us to the deep blue sea, the monsters inside our closets, and toy boxes for several generations, but they’ve yet to depict prehistoric reptiles and birds to this level. Expect imaginations to run wild–from the appearance of the dinosaurs, to the way they move, and how they interact with each other. As usual, it will be based on facts that we know, but there’s so much that is unknown and can be interpreted and that leaves plenty of room to bring new ideas to the table. Expect lots of attention to the landscape of what the world was before the continents shifted, hot climates and vegetation, and just what are these creatures going to sound like? Will there be humans? Well, that will be interesting since we date man coming long after the Ice Age but with the variable of the asteroid avoiding the Earth, then we may see a dinosaur-only story but Pixar has always found stories with heart that come from places and voices we’ve yet to hear from. One thing we probably won’t see is the “end of the world” right? Think about the areas that Land Before Time and Dreamworks’ Ice Age travelled and go far away from that. We’re hoping for lots of dinos squaring off in epic battles. Dinosaurs have historically looked and sounded phenomenal in movie theaters so this will be a fun experience regardless of the direction it takes. Peterson also worked on Monsters Inc. and that was as far as one could think of when they first announced making a film about monsters. We shouldn’t expect anything less in this Pixar world of dinosaurs.
Untitled Pixar Film that Takes You Inside the Mind
U.S. Release Date: June 19, 2015
Directed by Pete Docter (Up, Wall•E) and Ronnie del Carmen (Up)
Produced by Jonas Rivera (Up)
Official description:The inventive new film will take you to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind.
Are we looking at an animated version of Inner Space? Another Osmosis Jones? Or are we going to get personifications of conceptual functions of the mind like an all-ages Herman’s Head? Maybe we’ll get something completely different. We’re big fans of Docter and del Carmen, especially on the work that they did with Up as well as the unique experience of watching Wall•E. We’ll be interested to see just what kind of direction they’re going to take because they have this knack for opening these whole new worlds to us like the tepui mountains in Up, or a world inhabited with one-function robots as something that’s other-worldly. As far as a concept that can be animated, we think a lot could be done with the human biology and creating worlds within the cortex, cerebellum, basal ganglia, thalamus areas of the brain as well as the functions defined in the different lobes of the brain. Or it could be something completely abstract and less defined. This film out of the three, tickles the imagination the most.
Untitled Pixar Film about Dia de Los Muertos
U.S. Release Date: To Be Determined (But the soonest May 5th falls on a weekend is on a Thursday 2016)
Directed by Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3)
Produced by Darla K. Anderson (Cars, A Bug’s Life)
Official description:A wholly original Pixar Animation Studios film that delves into the vibrant holiday of Día de los Muertos.
BuzzFocus Take:Here’s another Pixar cultural exploration like what Brave is doing for Scotland on June 22, and Ratatouille did for France and foodies in 2007. We would expect humans to be featured, but an all-ages take on the afterlife, ghosts, spirits and maybe reincarnation. The holiday is typically a day of remembrance and celebration of those family and friends who have passed. It is a modern Mexican holiday, but dates back hundreds of years to the Aztecs, which is a possible starting point and ultimate setting for the film. Several other culture in Asia and Europe have similar-type holidays so even though this could have a Mexican/Central American flavor to it, the Day of the Dead is a concept that’s universal. That connection or that effort to stay connected with the dead will likely be a major theme. Based on the subject matter and its cultural ties, this could be hit or miss. As long as they don’t have a rat cooking food, then there’s a good shot it will be a solid Pixar performer.
Which of these Pixar projects excites you the most? Share your thoughts below and place your vote in our poll.
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