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Toy Story 3 Scrapped
Snap E Tom writes "The Independent Online is reporting that Toy Story 3 has been scrapped. This is a strong clue that the Pixar guys are firmly in control at Disney. The ground-breaking films were being milked into almost as many movies as The Sims has expansion packs. John Lasseter, Pixar's creative head, was strongly against the idea of third and forth movies, while the old Disney regime pushed forward with it. Now with Pixar and Steve Jobs on the board, Lasseter has taken the necessary steps to prevent the franchise from being diluted."
Well - Disney animation, at least.
John Lasseter and Ed Catmull truly understand how to make good, original films -- and with Jobs riding shotgun upstairs as the biggest shareholder, they can actually get things done. This decision is proof that they are firmly in control. I think Lasseter, Catmull, and the terrific artists over in Burnbank are going to create some great films - and I'm sure some of them will be 2D as well (Brad Bird - here's your chance)
There's some great quotes from Disney artists about the managements change over at Cartoon Brew ( http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ ) Here's one from Floyd Norman (story artist who started at Disney in the 50's and has worked at many other places as well)
Not too many guys can say they've worked for both Walt Disney and John Lasseter, so I can offer a unique perspective.
Different cultures at Disney and Pixar? Naw, it's the same culture. Eisner's managers simply choked all the creative life out of Disney. The Disney culture is finally returning to Disney. Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs and John Lasseter will be returning it shortly. This is good news for all of us who love animation, and the Disney legacy in particular.
Toy Story 2 was all Pixar...this wasn't Disney. No Pixar movie so far was Disney. They may have distributed it, but they were all written, produced and directed by Pixar.
Since John Lasseter co-wrote and co-directed Toy Story 2, it was hardly the "Pixar didn't want a part of it" deal. And arguably it was even better than the first one. Now, Toy Story 3 was different altogether. That WAS going to be only Disney doing it, not Pixar. That was going to just be to cash in on the characters etc etc.
For the most part, sequels really suck...only on very rare occasions are they good. So let's hope the new people taking over Disney Animation will come up with original ideas instead of recycling things over and over and over.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
in Disney's acquisiton of Pixar, John Lasseter is the more significant...
Don't forget Ed Catmull, who will be President of the Disney animation studio. Catmull has a PhD in computer science and is one of the founding fathers of computer graphics. In other words - he's one of us.
The geeks have taken over.
David Stainton, who was running Disney Feature Animation, came up via DisneyToons. He's out, apparently.
Incidentally, if you want to track what's going on in the animation industry, read The Animation Guild newsletter, The Pegboard, published by Local 839, IATSE. 85% of the film and TV industry is unionized, and they're working on organizing the video game industry.
When "Steamboat Willie" enters the public domain you get two things only:
1 The right to reproduce and distribute the cartoon, which is meaningful only if you have access to a master print, unprotected copy or restoration. "Steamboat Willie" was released in 1928 on nitrate stock with Cinephone sound-on-disk. Good luck on that one.
Good look financing a project that will compete with Disney's own compilation DVDs, which can be purchased anywhere starting at $12.
2 The right to produce derivatives based on the characters and story of "Steamboat Willie" and only "Steamboat Willie." That doesn't give you much. You want the riverboat comedy and adventure, you go to Buster Keaton and Mark Twain as your primary sources. It's the introduction of synchronized sound that makes "Willie" important. The character designs are trademarked.