Disney Unveils Animation Slate

[Rumpelstiltskin]

A strange coincidence. Disney's first animated fantasy feature was The Black Cauldron, which was number 25 in the canon. Their first fantasy feature since then, The King of the Elves, is number 50, 25 films later.

[blackcauldron85]

Starting later this year with the release of Disney’s Bolt, all Disney and Pixar animated features will be presented in state-of-the-art Disney Digital 3-D.

Except for the traditionally-animated films, right?!? Right?!? There will be more of those after “The Princess and the Frog”, right?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Pixar’s first fairy tale

That excites me!

the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios

And what is Disney? Chopped liver?!? Ugh. I have Pixar issues. I need to move on. *

Meanwhile, WALL*E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most incredible comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

That just made me have an extended “awwww”!!! I’m really excited for “Wall-E”. It looks really cute.

For super-dog Bolt (voiced by John Travolta)

I didn’t realize that John Travolta was voicing Bolt- I figured that Bolt would be a younger dog, based on the picture we all saw a couple months ago. I’m not disappointed at all, just shocked a little.

a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens

Wasn’t the cat supposed to be named Mr. Mittens, even though it’s a girl cat? I thought that that was clever, and I hope that they didn’t remove that element. Although I definitely miss Chris Sanders on this project, I’m very, very much looking forward to this film!!! I didn’t know that Miley will be in it- that’s exciting!

Lasseter with his acclaimed team of technical wizards

Note the lack of Disney-praise and the plethora of Pixar-praise. *

The Princess and the Frog marks Disney’s return to the timeless art form of traditional animation. The film teams Ron Clements and John Musker, creators of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin,

YAY!!!...

with Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman

Ugh. Nothing against Mr. Newman, but A Clements/Musker fairy tale NEEDS Alan Menken. It just doesn’t seem right not to include him in this project.

Oh my! A Ken doll will join the Toy Story gang?!!?! I'm gonna fall in love...well, already am doing so! I can't wait to see him! LOL

Where did you read that? I’m reading the press release and do not see that…?!?

“Newt” sounds AWESOME!!! It really does.

and the storytelling wizards of Pixar

again. Praise Disney, for crying out loud!!! *

I’m looking forward to the “Tinker Bell” films, I am, but

The fourth, as-yet-untold story of Tinker Bell and her fairy friends will take place in winter, completing the cycle of the seasons.

they’re just making a fourth film because they have to, not because they have a story to tell. Unless they’re just waiting to surprise us with the most awesome storyline ever, they don’t even have a story to tell. I’m surprised Mr. Lasseter is allowing this, since he has always said that he wouldn’t make a sequel to a film unless there is a story to tell first.

Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe.

YAY, “Cars 2”!!! “Cars” is my favorite Pixar film, so I’m pumped for the second one! I wonder if Luigi & Guido will be able to go to Italy? I’d love to see that!!!

“King of the Elves” sounds really, really neat!

*** Okay, I read the intro after I read everything else…here’s one piece of praise for Disney:

Bolt (Disney) from the talented new directing team of Chris Williams and Byron Howard, due in theatres on November 26th

That’s more like it, thank you. Oh, and another (well, another-ish):

acclaimed veteran Disney directors John Musker and Ron Clements

"The King of the Elves" sounds neat, but I guess this means "Joe Jump" has been canceled/delayed?

I completely forgot about “Joe Jump”. I wonder if one of these movies was renamed from “Joe Jump”? Or maybe it’ll be live-action and animation mixed together?!? Or Disney is keeping things from us…or it could’ve been canceled…hmmmm….

For me, Miley Cyrus too does somewhat cheapen Bolt. I seriously doubt she was cast because her vocals precisely matched the director's intentions for Penny, hence bringing out an otherwise lost artistic perspective. Yeah ... it's for publicity.

I pretty much agree. I’m a Miley fan, though, so I am excited, but, at the same time, Disney probably did just put her in because she is so popular. But, maybe she did have to audition just like everyone else, and maybe Disney picked her above the other people who tried out because she did a great job (and the fact that she’s extremely popular at the moment)…?

AHHHHHH!!!!! Julian, THANK YOU for posting those logos- Animated News has them, but they’re small- I wonder if Newt will stay looking the way he does in the logo, or if he’ll be changed by the time the movie comes out?!? He’s cute!

JULIAN!!!! You are awesome- THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for posting the Aint It Cool News link- I’m in heaven reading about “King of the Elves”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sigh* YAY!

Wow, I'm surprised at all this flood of information suddenly coming out now.

I am, too, since I thought John Lasseter wanted upcoming projects kept on the downlow. Maybe he figured that word is bound to get out anyway…?

Old Fish Tale, thanks for posting the link to the stills!!!!!

I'm really excited for all of these, but I'm most excited for "Bolt", "The Princess and the Frog" and "Rapunzel". And "King of the Elves". And "Cars 2".

[Sotiris]

OMG! Old Fish Tale thank you so much for the link1 Did you see that guys, Tiana's character design has changed! She has a more flat forehead, she has a bigger bun which mean longer hair (yay!), her hair from straight have become curly. Also the desighof her dress has changed and it's more purpuly-shiny than the first one! She is alsowearing a golden neckless which she didn't before.

[Princessmarlo]

Wow so one out of all those movies is going to be tradiotionally animated, just the Princess and the Frog right? That is a bit disappointing, I am excited they have released a lot of information but some tradtional animation would definetly have been much much more exciting. As much as I was excited by 3-d animation I feel we just have far to much of it.

[supertalies]

That's funny!

[JDCB1986]

Notice how The Bear And The Bow is smaller than the other newly mentioned theatrical releases... Only the re-releases and direct to DVD/bluray titles are that size...

Possible that it could be direct to DVD/bluray... (I don't see Pixar releasing 3 huge movies within a 18 month period.) Maybe they've got something other than wide theatrical release for TBATB

But then again... Since they already have the models for Cars 2... It will probably be a lot quicker of a production... So maybe they will release all 3 theatrically.

Guess we will have to wait and see...

Newt sounds cute...

I'm bummed they are making Cars 2... By far the worst Pixar/Disney film to date in my opinion. If they HAD to make a sequel they should have went with... hmm I don't know... Just not Cars lol

[UmbrellaFish]

Great stuff! Too much to post now, but great!

[akhenaten]

sotiris where's the picture of ur avatar from? its beautiful.

[Prudence]

Will Bolt be animated and if so, in what form

Bolt will be animated, in CGI of course. I thought it was common knowledge by now. After the teaser pics and all...

I never looked at the teaser pictures.

Ahkenaten, the image is of Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

[Jules]

Ahkenaten, the image is of Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.

Yes, but from where did he get it? It's a previously unreleased picture ... we should be making a fuss about it.

[magicalwands]

In the end, Miley Cyrus' voice is not going to ruin a movie. Don't let one element of a film make you turn a blind eye to the rest of its merits.

And don't let Wall-E which looks a lot like Johnny 5 distract you when you watch that film.


I wouldn't worry about any of these films just yet. Think back before Ratatouille, how stupid did it sound that Pixar is going to make a film about a rat who wants to become a chef? Then Ratatouille came out last summer and it was amazing! We were letting our imagination and paranoia get the best of us. So here we are again, reading plot summaries that sound absolutely horrendous but I am positive these films will be epic!

[Sotiris]

@akhenaten, Prudence & JC: It's not official, it's fanmade. I found it on deviant art. Here's the pic in original size. It's really well made, right? You can't really tell if it's official or not...

[UmbrellaFish]

Darn, it's creepy how real that looks.

[Disney's Divinity]

It's well-done, but I seriously hope Tiana's actual design is different from that. It's not very detailed or even nice to look at. The tiara's about the only good thing to it. Also, there's too much resemblance to Cinderella, despite being blue instead of silver.

As for the logos, The Princess and the Frog's logo looks great! The Bear and the Bow does as well. Hopefully, Up, Rapunzel and King of Elves will all be revised. Up is too simplistic, Rapunzel is too similar to Enchanted and King of Elves doesn't seem professionally done at all. I'm not too disappointed that there'll be sequels, considering Pixar's work isn't as deteriorated by sequels as the "classic" Disney is.

[REINIER]

I must say that aside from the Tink franschise I am in general pleased
However, I see no mention of a further 2-d project after the Princess and the Frog. We all know that 2-d takes at least 4 years developing but still, instead of waiting for boxoffice numbers I would like to see a bold move by at least planning several other 2-d projects.

Also, I see no mentioning of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and the coproduced stop-motion Frankenweenie!

The Bear and the Bow is bound to be good with such great vocal performances, also it's good to see what pixar might do with a fairytale-like picture!

I hope they will stick to this schedule in terms of release and not suddenly change anything

[Simba3]

Wow! I've been MIA for the past couple of days, so this thread is like information overload! Some of the stuff on that list is exciting and some I couldn't care less.

I'm pretty excited about all of the Pixar films, with the exception of "Cars 2" (which the though of, still makes me want to vomit a little).

I'm not too crazy about the idea of Andy getting ready to go off to college in "Toy Story 3" but I am confident it will turn out good.

I thin "Up" and "Newt" both sound like good movie concepts and I am anxious to hear a little bit more about them.

The film I am most excited about, and I assume most of us here are as well, is "The Princess and the Frog". I think the logo looks great, as well as the animation for Tiana. I am also glad to see that John Goodman is in the cast, because I think he's great!

And lastly, I'm a bit confused about "The Bear and the Bow". Can someone tell me if this movie is going to be done in Traditional 2D animation, or will it be CGI? I couldn't find that anyhwere, but perhaps it didn't say?

[Disney's Divinity]

Next to each film, it says if it is to be 3D or not. Because The Bear and the Bow is Pixar, it'll definitely be CGI. In fact, I think The Princess and the Frog is the only 2D film on the list (King of the Elves is to be 3D as well, unfortunately).

[Disneykid]

And lastly, I'm a bit confused about "The Bear and the Bow". Can someone tell me if this movie is going to be done in Traditional 2D animation, or will it be CGI? I couldn't find that anyhwere, but perhaps it didn't say?

It's a Pixar film being shown in Disney Digital 3-D, so even though it doesn't outright say it, I'm pretty sure it'll be CGI.

It's interesting how The Princess and the Frog seems to be the only Disney Animation Studios Film done traditionally for a while. John Lasseter has said that WDAS would be neither hand-drawn nor CG-exclusive, that the medium used would be up to each respective filmmaker. Then Jim Hill (yeah, I know) posted an article about how Lasseter was going to have WDAS films hand-drawn after Rapunzel so that there wouldn't be any sort of rivalry between them and Pixar. Obviously that article was a load of bull since we're getting King of the Elves in CG.

[Simba3]

Oh ok, I must have misread. I thought that "The Bear and the Bow" was a Walt Disney Amination Studios project. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Blackbird]

Fantastic news!
I really have the feeling that things are going better since John Lasseter is in charge. Great movies are coming up!