Walt Disney are going to be busy. Very busy it seems. At the CinemaCon convention last night in Las Vegas, they unveiled plans for three new Pixar Animation Studios movies and a confirmation that The Muppets will get a sequel.
First up – The Muppets. James Bobin will return to direct the sequel penned by himself and Nicholas Stoller. There’s no word on a release date or if Jason Segel will be involved in any significant capacity (or for that matter Brett Mackenzie’s excellent song-smithing).
The Good Dinosaur – Directed by Bob Peterson (who co-directed Up) and Peter Sohn, it’s apparently what would happen if “if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?” The science nerd in me will be taking copious “evolutionary theory” notes for this one. It will be released in the U.S. on May 30, 2014.
Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind – “Pixar takes audiences on incredible journeys into extraordinary worlds: from the darkest depths of the ocean to the top of the tepui mountains in South America; from the fictional metropolis of Monstropolis to a futuristic fantasy of outer space. From director Pete Docter (“Up,” “Monsters, Inc.”) and producer Jonas Rivera (“Up”), 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.” It’s down for a June 19th 2015 release.
Untitled Pixar Movie About Dia De Los Muertos — “From director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson, the filmmaking team behind the Academy Award-winning Toy Story 3, comes a wholly original Pixar Animation Studios film that delves into the vibrant holiday of Día de los Muertos. No release date yet.” That’s the most exciting news for me – Lee Unkrich’s Toy Story 3 set the bar for animation two years ago so it’ll be great to see where he goes from there.
Read my interview with Lee Unkrich here, and with producer Darla K. Anderson here.
