Romantic fireflies, flying dogs, talking toys and cars, fairies and princesses, and a 'tooned-up Miley Cyrus invaded New York Tuesday.
Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter, aided by directors and producers, addressed international Disney execs and business partners about their movie slate through 2012, proving that its animators will get no sleep over the next four years.
There were many revelations during the three-hour presentation. Tinker Bell is getting her own franchise. Cyrus will costar in this fall's Bolt, which also features James Lipton as a haughty TV director. ("For our international friends, if you don't know who Miley Cyrus is, ask someone's daughter," quipped Lasseter.) Toy Story and Cars will return and in 3-D. Starting with Up, Pixar's first 3-D movie, all Pixar titles and most Disney animated features will be in 3-D.
Finally, in keeping with tradition, the voice of Pixar's "lucky charm" John Ratzenberger will continue to be in every new Pixar release. Everyone at the studio knows his name, for sure.
Supporting talent included Larry the Cable Guy, Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) and Randy Newman, who performed with his New Orleans jazz band to a semistanding ovation, despite one flub. "This is the first mistake in 400 performances!" he amiably declared.
The Newt presentation ruled the day. "This film brings together, I think for the first time, romantic comedy and endangered species," cracked director Gary Rydstrom. "Newt's love life comes down to waiting for the last female to be captured and brought to him, and who can't relate to that?"
Here's the 411 on the forthcoming Disney-Pixar slate:- Wall*E (June 27, 2008)—The quirky sci-fi epic is a love story between two robots from opposite sides of the galaxy. In a fun reversal, Alien star Sigourney Weaver offers a motherly computer ship voice.
- Tinker Bell (Oct. 28, 2008)—This DisneyToons straight-to-DVD series chronicles the origin of Peter Pan's right hand fairy and introduces four gal-pals (Rosetta, Silvermist, Fawn and Iridessa). Original sequels: North of Neverland (November 2009), A Midsummer Storm (November 2010), and A Winter Story (November 2011).
- Bolt (Nov. 26, 2008)—A Hollywood movie dog (John Travolta) thinks his cinematic superpowers are real until an accidental delivery to NYC teaches him a harsh lesson in reality. Separated from his teen costar (Miley Cyrus), he embarks on a series of cross-country adventures with street-wise cat Mittens and TV-addicted hamster Rhino.
- Up (May 29)—Pixar's 10th animated feature film stars Ed Asner as a cranky, elderly traveler who, in honor of his late wife's childhood dream, floats their house on balloons to a South American locale where she wished to live. He is accompanied by an 8 year-old Wilderness Explorer. The filmmakers called Up, "a coming of old age story".
- The Princess and the Frog (Christmas 2009)—Disney's first African-American princess (Anika Noni Rose, who performed one of the movie's numbers) kisses a frog but becomes one herself, surviving in the bayou near New Orleans with her princely love while seeking to reverse the curse. Disney's newest animated musical features classic, hand-drawn animation.
- Toy Story 3 (June 18, 2010)—The latest installment begins with grown-up Andy heading off to college. The high-powered cast returns, while Barbie's beau Ken makes his big-screen debut. The film will get a 3-D release, as will Toy Story (Oct. 2, 2009) and Toy Story 2 (Feb. 12, 2010).
- Rapunzel (Christmas 2010)—Directors Glen Keane and Dean Wellins are taking on the task of the digital 3-D production of this famous tale, which is Disney's "first computer generated, classic fairy tale".
- Newt (Summer 2011)—The last remaining male blue-footed newt waits in laboratory captivity for the last remaining female to be captured so they can mate. Life could be worse. Sort of.
- The Bear and the Bow (Christmas 2011)—Pixar's first female director, Brenda Chapman, is creating the company's first fairy tale with this story of a Scottish royal clan with rebellious princess Merida (Reese Witherspoon), who seeks to become a great archer and unintentionally endangers her father's kingdom.
- Cars 2 (Summer 2012)—They're back, and they're going international. That's literally all we know. At least we learned that Larry the Cable Guy likes to feed pieces of bread to starving models during Fashion Week.
- King of the Elves (Christmas 2012)—Directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker (Brother Bear) unveiled vibrant conceptual art for this release, adapted from a Philip K. Dick short story. The film ponders what happen like if elves were real and made one of us their king; in this case, a lonely gas-station attendant.