John Lasseter was once the king of American animation – the genius storyteller and director who led Pixar to huge box office wins, Oscar success and massive popular acclaim with movies such as ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Cars’ and being anointed as the creative boss at both the Emeryville studio and Walt Disney Feature Animation.
He was ousted from his position, though, after revelations about toxic and misogynistic behavior. Yet that situation didn’t seem to worry Skydance Animation, which hired him as its chief in 2019. And now he’s one of the main producers behind new Apple TV+ ‘toon movie ‘Luck’.
The real driving force here, though, is director Peggy Holmes, who works from a script by Kiel Murray, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.
‘Luck’ is the story of Sam Greenfield (Eva Noblezada), who is convinced she’s the unluckiest person on the planet. She’s always late, things go wrong constantly around her and she never seems to catch a break.
Then she discovers a mysterious, mystical lucky penny, which turns everything around for her… until she flushes it down a toilet. That leads to her meeting a talking black cat named Bob (Simon Pegg) who in turn accidentally gives her access to the Land of Luck, where on top everything runs smoothly and goes right, but bad luck is banished to the bottom.
(L to R) The Dragon (voiced by Jane Fonda), Bob (voiced by Simon Pegg) and Sam Greenfield (voiced by Eva Noblezada) in “Luck,” premiering globally on Apple TV+ on August 5, 2022.
“The tiniest amount of bad luck can shut down our entire operation,” cautions the CEO of Good Luck, a dragon who has the voice of Jane Fonda.
Humans are strictly not allowed, so Sam’s presence of course causes all sorts of chaos. She’s looking to bring some luck back to her world, but when she severs the connection between good and bad luck… bad things happen.
Now Sam and Bob must put things right, with the help of cheery leprechaun Gerry (Colin O’Donoghue), strict leprechaun leader The Captain (Whoopi Goldberg) and eccentric unicorn Jeff (Flula Borg), who has a thing for exercise routines.
The likes of Lil Rel Howery, Maurice Irvin and Adelynn Spoon (plus former Pixar good luck voice charm John Ratzenberger) also star here.
‘Luck’ itself has not always had the best, well, luck, as it lost the services of Emma Thompson back in 2019, who resigned from the cast in protest of Lasseter’s hiring at Skydance, where the movie was in production. “It feels very odd to me that you and your company would consider hiring someone with Mr. Lasseter’s pattern of misconduct given the present climate in which people with the kind of power that you have can reasonably be expected to step up to the plate,” Thompson wrote in a letter published in the Los Angeles Times.
Apple will of course be hoping for some luck, though it doesn’t have to worry about box office, since it’ll be debuting via Apple TV+ on August 5th.
(L to R) Bob (voiced by Simon Pegg) and Sam Greenfield (voiced by Eva Noblezada) in ‘Luck,’ premiering globally on Apple TV+ on August 5, 2022.
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Pixar has deleted a fake blooper scene from “Toy Story 2” with a sexual misconduct joke from new home entertainment releases, likely as a result of the #MeToo movement.
When new editions of the “Toy Story” movies came out last month, in anticipation of “Toy Story 4,”ReReleaseNews.com noticed that the scene in question was missing.
The fake blooper — which ran during the end credits of “Toy Story 2” — features Stinky Pete the Prospector (voiced by Kelsey Grammar) ogling two Barbie Dolls. “So you two are absolutely identical? You know I’m sure I can get you a part in ‘Toy Story 3,’” he leers.
When Stinky Pete notices the camera is capturing the conversation, he straightens up, tells the Barbies to leave, and makes excuses about giving out acting tips.
Disney and Pixar clearly felt the joke was in poor taste in light of the #MeToo movement, as well as its own troubled history with sexual misconduct. “Toy Story 2” director and Pixar Animation co-founder John Lasseter left the studio last year after allegations of sexual harassment.
Emma Thompson has released a letter she wrote to Skydance executives explaining why she was quitting the animated movie project “Luck” over the hiring of John Lasseter as the company’s head of animation.
Lasseter left Disney’s Pixar following allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct from female employees.
Thompson had already begun recording voice work for the animated feature from director Alessandro Carloni, which centers around a dispute between two different organizations: one representing good luck, and one representing bad.
But Lasseter’s hiring at Skydance was not something Thompson could countenance in light of her support of the #MeToo movement.
Here’s the full text of her letter:
As you know, I have pulled out of the production of “Luck” — to be directed by the very wonderful Alessandro Carloni. It feels very odd to me that you and your company would consider hiring someone with Mr. Lasseter’s pattern of misconduct given the present climate in which people with the kind of power that you have can reasonably be expected to step up to the plate.
I realise that the situation — involving as it does many human beings — is complicated. However these are the questions I would like to ask:
– If a man has been touching women inappropriately for decades, why would a woman want to work for him if the only reason he’s not touching them inappropriately now is that it says in his contract that he must behave “professionally”?
– If a man has made women at his companies feel undervalued and disrespected for decades, why should the women at his new company think that any respect he shows them is anything other than an act that he’s required to perform by his coach, his therapist and his employment agreement? The message seems to be, “I am learning to feel respect for women so please be patient while I work on it. It’s not easy.”
– Much has been said about giving John Lasseter a “second chance.” But he is presumably being paid millions of dollars to receive that second chance. How much money are the employees at Skydance being paid to GIVE him that second chance?
– If John Lasseter started his own company, then every employee would have been given the opportunity to choose whether or not to give him a second chance. But any Skydance employees who don’t want to give him a second chance have to stay and be uncomfortable or lose their jobs. Shouldn’t it be John Lasseter who has to lose HIS job if the employees don’t want to give him a second chance?
– Skydance has revealed that no women received settlements from Pixar or Disney as a result of being harassed by John Lasseter. But given all the abuse that’s been heaped on women who have come forward to make accusations against powerful men, do we really think that no settlements means that there was no harassment or no hostile work environment? Are we supposed to feel comforted that women who feel that their careers were derailed by working for Lasseter DIDN’T receive money?
I hope these queries make the level of my discomfort understandable. I regret having to step away because I love Alessandro so much and think he is an incredibly creative director. But I can only do what feels right during these difficult times of transition and collective consciousness raising.
I am well aware that centuries of entitlement to women’s bodies whether they like it or not is not going to change overnight. Or in a year. But I am also aware that if people who have spoken out — like me — do not take this sort of a stand then things are very unlikely to change at anything like the pace required to protect my daughter’s generation.
After parting ways with Pixar and Disney Animation following allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct, John Lasseter recently found a new gig as the head of animation at competing studio Skydance. Unfortunately, though, Lasseter’s hire hasn’t exactly been a welcome development — and has reportedly cost the company one of the stars of an upcoming film.
According to a new story from The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar winner Emma Thompson had already begun recording voiceover work for “Luck,” an animated feature that centers around a dispute between two different organizations: one representing good luck, and one representing bad. Though her casting had not yet been announced, THR says that Thompson was set to play the head of the good luck division.
But that will no longer be the case. THR reports that the actress “has quietly left the project because of concerns about working with Lasseter.”
Lasseter came under fire back in 2017 after several Pixar employees complained about a pattern of behavior that included alleged unwanted touching, hugging, and kissing and making inappropriate comments about women’s physical appearance. The exec admitted to some “missteps” in a company-wide memo, and announced he would take a leave of absence from the studio, which culminated in him exiting the company entirely at the end of 2018.
He wasn’t out of work long, however, with Skydance announcing his hiring back in January. At the time, the studio defended its decision, saying that Lasseter “has acknowledged and apologized for his mistakes and, during the past year away from the workplace, has endeavored to address and reform them.”
We wonder if the company will change its mind — and more stars will follow in Thompson’s footsteps.
John Lasseter, who was a founding creative principle at Pixar and who headed the creative side of the Walt Disney Company following Disney’s acquisition of the Emeryville, California-based animation studio, has already found a new gig after being ousted from Disney: he will head animation at production studio Skydance. The announcement was made by Skydance CEO David Ellison. Lasseter will be based out of Los Angeles and report directly to Ellison.
“John is a singular creative and executive talent whose impact on the animation industry cannot be overstated,” Ellison said in a statement. “He was responsible for leading animation into the digital age, while telling incomparable stories that continue to inspire and entertain audiences around the globe.”
While at Pixar, Lasseter ushered in a new era of computer-generated animation, imbibing heartfelt tales with cutting-edge technology. (He directed “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life” and “Cars.”) When the company was finally absorbed by Disney, he rehabbed that studio’s animation department, which at the time was badly mismanaged and creatively lost. Not only did he return traditional hand-drawn animation to the company with films like 2011’s “Winnie the Pooh” and “The Princess and the Frog,” but he also encouraged experimentation and envelope-pushing storytelling. Nearly every animated project out of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney ToonStudios and Pixar carried his stamp. He also oversaw Walt Disney Imagineering (if you have ever wondered why there’s a whole “Cars”-themed land at Disney California Adventure) and served as a kind of huggable mascot for the entire creative side of the Disney Company.
Unfortunately, his titanic creative achievements have been undone by an ongoing scandal that started last year when he admitted to nebulously worded “missteps” and took a removed role from the company, eventually leaving at the end of 2018. It’s unclear what Lasseter actually did and how much Disney knew about it, but it was enough for the company to sever ties with one of its most creative and profitable executives. (Lasseter was also a key figure in an elaborate wage-fixing conspiracy that wound up costing Disney over $100 million in court.)
In the statement, Ellison alluded to Lasseter’s checkered past, saying that the decision to hire him was “not taken lightly.” Ellison added: “John has acknowledged and apologized for his mistakes and, during the past year away from the workplace, has endeavored to address and reform them.”
What will be interesting is to see how this is actually implemented. Skydance hasn’t had any animated projects thus far, instead helping to produce big tentpole fare like “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” and “Star Trek Beyond.” Skydance’s chief creative partner has been Paramount, a studio that has tried and failed repeatedly to establish itself as an animation heavy-hitter, and it’ll be interesting to see if Lasseter has an effect on that in some way.
Twenty years ago, one of the strangest cinematic showdowns occurred, between Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life” and Dreamworks’ “Antz.”
Both movies star computer-generated insects and both battled for box office supremacy. And while these days, both movies are hardly remembered aside from the unfortunate fact that they both star widely-accused sex offenders (yikes), the behind-the-scenes tumult that surrounded their production and release remains as fascinating as ever. “A Bug’s Life” and “Antz” weren’t just conspicuously similar animated features, they were mastheads in a violent battle between warring corporate entities.
Let’s start at the beginning. In 1995, “Toy Story” was released to a rapturous response. Not only was it a technological breakthrough, serving as history’s very first fully computer animated feature, but it was also an emotionally resonant and artistically sound creative accomplishment, too. A year before the film hit theaters, a then-nascent Pixar started developing its second feature, then called, simply, “Bugs.” But in the years since “Toy Story’s” celebrated release, Jeffrey Katzenberg, a top Disney executive who was chiefly responsible for bringing Pixar to Disney, defected, ultimately forming DreamWorks SKG with pals Steven Spielberg and David Geffen.
By the time “Toy Story” was in post-production on the Universal lot, DreamWorks had already set up shop nearby, and “Toy Story” director John Lasseter had stopped by the new office to talk about their follow-up project (“Bugs”) and get some friendly creative input from his former boss. A Business Week article from 1998 noted that, “Lasseter left the meeting with no sense of concern.”
Hindsight, though, illuminates a lot.
In Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” biography, Lasseter said, “I should have been wary. Jeffrey kept asking questions about when it would be released.” And the when of it was incredibly important.
Lasseter had told Katzenberg that Disney and Pixar hoped to have “Bugs” (finally “A Bug’s Life”) ready by the fall of 1998. That was the same timeframe that Katzenberg had earmarked for DreamWorks’ first animated epic, a splashy biblical tale called “The Prince of Egypt” that featured a starry vocal cast (among them: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock, and Jeff Goldblum) and creative principles all mined from Disney (lyricist Stephen Schwartz, composer Hans Zimmer, and co-director Brenda Chapman). Katzenberg wanted “The Prince of Egypt” to be a sensation and was noticeably concerned about going up against Pixar’s sophomore feature, so he quietly put a second, computer-animated project into development: “Antz,” with the animation being handled by Pacific Data Images, a studio closely associated with Pixar.
DreamWorks
Supposedly, it was PDI chief Carl Rosendahl who broke the news to Lasseter about the development of “Antz.” Rosendahl laid it all out for Lasseter: DreamWorks had agreed to purchase 40% of the struggling PDI, but only if the studio could deliver “Antz” before “Bug’s Life.” (“Antz” was originally scheduled for the spring of 1999, but it was then moved to October 2, 1998.)
In terms of the official story, Lasseter claims to have read about the film’s development in the trades.
David Price’s book, “The Pixar Touch,” recounts that Katzenberg gave PDI “rich financial incentives” to make sure they could beat Pixar to the punch. In the Business Week article, Lasseter said that he called Katzenberg and said: “Jeffrey, how could you?” Lasseter went on: “[Katzenberg] started talking about all this paranoid stuff about conspiracies — that Disney was out to get him…. He said he had to do something. That’s when I realized, it wasn’t about me. We were just cannon fodder in his fight with Disney.” (This was during the time that Katzenberg had engaged in a costly legal battle with Michael Eisner over profit sharing — the court would ultimately rule in Katzenberg’s favor.)
Shortly thereafter, Katzenberg offered a deal: He would cancel production on “Antz” if Disney would move “A Bug’s Life” away from “The Prince of Egypt.” Lasseter, somehow, was even angrier, storming into Pixar CEO Steve Jobs’ office. In the Business Week article, Jobs said that he told Lasseter, “There’s a word in the dictionary for this, it’s called extortion.”
Katzenberg then called Jobs. Jobs didn’t budge. Katzenberg later denied that those phone calls had taken place.
In 1998, Lasseter said that the dust-up caused by the competing productions had “completely changed the community.” After all, they were so friendly with PDI that the two studios would co-host parties at the industry trade show SIGGRAPH. But now they were locked in a battle orchestrated by competing corporations and the men with very big egos behind those corporations.
Pixar
Still, it stung Lasseter personally. “The whole idea was to draw us into a bugs vs. bugs war, so they’d get compared to us,” Lasseter told Business Week. According to “The Pixar Touch,” Lasseter had referred to “Antz,” with its muted color scheme and more rudimentary animation, as the “shlock version” of “A Bug’s Life.” At the time of the film’s release, Jobs told the Los Angeles Times that, “The bad guys rarely win.”
Sure, “Antz” beat “A Bug’s Life” to the box office and brought in a respectable $90 million domestic and $81 million foreign, which is even more impressive when you consider that it inadvertently wound up being the first animated feature from DreamWorks (and PDI). But when “A Bug’s Life” flew into theaters a few weeks later, it racked up $163 million domestic and another $200 million, it handily squashed “Antz.” If DreamWorks and PDI were the bad guys in the scenario, as Jobs had suggested, they certainly didn’t win.
Yet what Katzenberg knew — and when he knew it — remains the biggest mystery. According to the Jobs biography, Katzenberg reached back out after the smash success of 2001’s “Shrek.” That film, which largely lampooned Disney, was an undeniable sensation, even if large swathes of it were stolen from a Disney animator at the time (that’s a whole ‘nother story). It was after “Shrek’s” success that Katzenberg told Jobs, again, that he had no idea about “A Bug’s Life” while working at Disney and that if he had known about it, he would have made more money thanks to his lawsuit and the associated profit participation owed him, than actually producing “Antz.”
Jobs didn’t buy it and Lasseter remained incensed.
In fact, when DreamWorks Animation was up for sale a few years ago, Disney could have easily bought the studio and folded those characters into its already-bursting portfolio. But it was Lasseter who stopped any deal from going forward. He was still stung by “Antz.”
The stop-motion marvel, directed by the great Henry Selick, remains the crown jewel of Burton’s stop-motion output (and he didn’t even direct it), full of the kind of darkly humorous personality and rococo visual grandeur that we’ve come to expect from the director of “Batman,” “Beetlejuice,” and “Edward Scissorhands.” And while since it’s become a staple of not one but two holidays, it’s easy to take its masterfulness for granted.
But here are nine things you probably didn’t know about “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” which will probably make it even more special (again). The following is best enjoyed with either a cup of eggnog or a giant mound of Halloween candy. It’s up to you.
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1. Tim Burton Originally Developed the Idea While Working As an Animator for Disney
It’s very hard to imagine Tim Burton toiling away at Walt Disney Animation, in the pre-comeback days of the early 1980s. But that’s exactly what he did, providing largely unused concept art and animation for forgettable fare like “The Fox and the Hound” and “The Black Cauldron.” (He also contributed, even more bafflingly, to “TRON.”)
Not that all of his work was middling. His time at Disney also allowed him to experiment — it’s where he made “Vincent,” a charming stop-motion short film narrated by Vincent Price, a Japanese-themed fairy tale that aired on the Disney Channel and a half-hour live-action short called “Frankenweenie.”
During his time at Disney, he also wrote a three-page poem called “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and worked with frequent collaborator Rick Heinrichs on concept art and storyboards. He also sought insight from fellow Disney animator Henry Selick, who would eventually direct the feature version. In 1982, Disney decided to develop the story into either a short film (like “Vincent”) or a holiday special (in a 1993 interview with the LA Times, Burton suggested that Vincent Price would provide narration). But in 1984, Burton was fired from Disney (admittedly, his singular style didn’t really fit in amongst all the cheery animated fables) and — for many years — the project was largely forgotten.
2. It Unexpectedly Rose from the Grave
The project had stayed on Burton’s mind, even after leaving Disney and becoming one of the most successful and sought-after filmmakers in the world. In 1990, he found out that Disney still owned the rights, so he contacted them. Co-producer Kathleen Gavin, in a documentary released around the same time as the movie, said: “When Tim Burton went back to Disney a couple of years ago and said, ‘You have a project of mine I’m still interested in doing,’ they dug out not only his treatment, but they dug out a lot of his artwork.” In the video, you can see a distinctly Tim Burton sketch of Jack, with the words “It was Zero, Jack’s ethereal friend, the best friend he had / But Jack didn’t even notice him, which made Zero very sad,” written in cursive behind Jack’s slumped figure.
Disney wanted Burton, but he was already committed to other projects; Burton wanted the creative freedom to do what he wanted.
The answer to both problems was the involvement of Selick, Burton’s old animator chum from Disney, who was brought on by Heinrichs (“I’m from the same planet, if not the same neighborhood, as Tim,” Selick says in the promotional making-of doc). Selick set up an animation studio (Skellington Productions) in San Francisco and stocked a 40,000-square-foot studio space with 120 specialized animators, artists and technicians. (According to Gavin, the team moved in July of 1991 and they had to be in production by October 1.)
“It was important to me to stay away from Los Angeles,” Selick told the Los Angeles Times in 1993. “I think that if Disney and even Tim had too much access to us, they would have gotten too nervous and gummed up the works.”
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3. It Took a L-O-N-G Time to Make
According to Disney, they “assembled 13 of the most brilliant animators” for “The Nightmare Before Christmas” which, if you hadn’t noticed, isn’t that many animators. Disney’s official numbers are that, over a three-year period, they filled 19 soundstages with 230 sets, and “hundreds” of individual puppet characters (there are 60 characters in the movie but duplicates of most were needed). Supervising animator Eric Leighton explained in that same promotional doc that, “We’re shooting at 24 frames-per-second, which means that we have to pose the character 24 times for every second of completed film.”
The sets were constructed so that the animators wouldn’t have to reach more than two feet to adjust a puppet, and if they did have to reach further, special trap doors were built into the set. (Many of the scenes required 20-30 specialized lights to create the exaggerated, German expressionist look.)
And that’s not counting all of the work that went into the film before they even started animating, which included storyboarding the entire movie several times (Joe Ranft, a legendary Pixar contributor who died tragically in a car accident before the release of “Cars,” was the head of story.)
4. There Really Wasn’t a Script
“We didn’t really have a script, but there was a storyline that Tim had much earlier,” Danny Elfman said at the time. “We were running out of time, so I said, ‘I’ll just write some of the songs based on what we’d talked about.’ He’d come over and listen and then I’d say, ‘Let’s just talk about the next section of the movie.’ And as soon as he left, I’d write the next song. He had pictures of all these characters, so I had a really good visual stimulus to get going.”
So, yes, they had all of Burton’s original drawings, the poem, and some songs. And while the final screenplay is credited to Caroline Thompson, there was additional work by Michael McDowell, a horror novelist and “Beetlejuice” screenwriter, who helped initially move Burton’s poem into movie-form.
Since the script was finished after the songs, the animators initially worked on the musical numbers, starting with the first song, “This Is Halloween.” Selick has stated that they really didn’t know what they were doing initially, and that sequences that they animated earlier look cruder than ones they did at the end of production. This is definitely true of the “This Is Halloween” sequence, which is visually stunning but also a little rough around the edges.
Interestingly, ahead of the film’s release, Elfman cited that “Nightmare Before Christmas” was “the greatest collaboration I’d ever been involved with,” even though disagreements on the film led to a very public falling out with Burton. Elfman, who provides Jack with his singing voice, had also laid down vocal tracks for his speaking role, too. Selick and Burton found his dialogue delivery unsatisfactory and replaced him with “Fright Night” actor Chris Sarandon. (Elfman also does the speaking voice for Barrel, one of Oogie Boogie’s henchmen.)
But Elfman, who had grown quite attached to Jack, felt slighted, which led to him parting ways with Burton. “Ed Wood,” released by Disney the following year, would be the first Burton movie to not be scored by Elfman. They wouldn’t work together again until 1996.
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5. At One Point, There Was More to Oogie Boogie
One of the movie’s best, grossest gags is the reveal of Oogie Boogie’s true self — a mass of wiggling worms.
This was one of the most difficult sequences in the entire film, consisting of four incredibly detailed shots that each took a full month to create and animate (see #3). But there was even more to this sequence originally. Early storyboards revealed “a surprisingly different storyline that ultimately wasn’t pursued” (according to Selick on the Blu-ray special features), one in which, when Oogie Boogie is split open, Dr. Finklestein is revealed inside. “Yes, Jack Skellington, it’s me!” Finklestein crows. “Me! The man who created Sally from bits of flesh and scraps of cloth! As Oogie Boogie, I wanted to teach her a lesson she’d never forget!” (Yeah, this doesn’t make a lot of sense.)
There was one additional surprise as a trap door on Boogie’s roulette table opens up to reveal the doctor’s hunch-backed assistant Igor. Even in rough form, it’s clear that the sequence didn’t really work and was wisely cut. Bye bye, Boogie.
6. Pixar Helped Out
If you have watched the credits for “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as much as I have, you’ll notice that a small team from Pixar is given a credit. It’s still, all these years later, unclear as to what exactly Pixar contributed to the film. (Selick and Pixar godhead John Lasseter went to Cal Arts together and Lasseter worked alongside Burton at Disney Animation.)
Most likely, it had to do with some post-production coloring, as Pixar had recently developed and introduced the CAPS system to Walt Disney Feature Animation, which replaced the traditional ink-and-paint model (a staple since Walt’s time) with a new digital coloring system. There were other minor CGI fixes/augmentation that the studio could have provided, since at the time they were a similar independent animation outfit located in the greater San Francisco area. Pixar and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” would continue to be connected for years to come (see #8).
7. It’s Technically Not a Disney Movie
During the lead-up to “The Nightmare Before Christmas’” release, then-head of Disney Michael Eisner got a look at early footage from the film and deemed it too dark and scary. (He also requested a moment when Tim Burton’s severed head is being passed around like a hockey puck be deleted from the movie; it was replaced by a Jack-o-lantern in the final film.) He would still allow for the “What’s This?” sequence to be included in Disney animated home videos from around that time (it was the full sequence, uninterrupted) but he also wanted some distance placed between the Disney brand and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
So, as it was, the Disney name was removed from the film and it was replaced with a card for the Touchstone Pictures shingle that would note that the film was slightly more adult and sophisticated. In an interview with IGN in 2006, Selick said that the company worried that it would “too dark and scary for kids.” He continued: “Their biggest fear, and why it was kind of a stepchild project, was they were afraid of their core audience hating the movie and not coming.”
And, to be honest, there was some merit to this apprehension. The film wasn’t a breakaway box office success, instead growing in stature over the years, to the point that it is now a yearly seasonal overlay to the Haunted Mansion and countless pieces of merchandise are sold each and every year. When the film was released, though, all of the toys (housed in nifty, coffin-shaped boxes) sat unsold at Disney Stores around the country.
Interestingly, if you watch the film today, either on Blu-ray or digitally, the iconic Disney castle greets you when the movie begins. It is no longer a stowed-away Touchstone Picture; it’s now, firmly, a Disney classic.
8. Without It, There Would Be No ‘Toy Story’
It’s hard to explain how, exactly, “Nightmare Before Christmas” paved the way for Pixar’s “Toy Story,” a film that would end up revolutionizing the entire film industry and serving as the bedrock for another Disney animation renaissance. But maybe John Lasseter can explain.
In a 2011 interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said: “Disney kept trying to hire me back after each of the short films I had made. I kept saying, ‘Let me make a film for you up here [at Pixar].” They always said, ‘No, a Disney animated film will always be made at Disney.’ They had no interest in doing an outside project.” Lasseter continued: “What changed their mind was Tim Burton. Tim and I went to college together, and he had developed a feature idea called ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas.’ He went on to become a successful live-action director and was trying to buy ‘Nightmare’ back from Disney. And they said, ‘Why don’t you just make it for us?’ That opened the door for Disney to think of these niche animated films that could be done. They said, ‘Okay, we’re willing to talk with you. We’ve got puppet animation going [with Tim Burton] and now we’ll be willing to develop the computer animation.’ They said to come back when we had an idea. So we started thinking…”
And, of course, their thinking led to “Toy Story,” another project that started as a holiday special before morphing into a bona fide feature film.
To make an interesting history even more interesting was the announcement in 2010 that Selick would set up a brand new stop-motion studio at Pixar. The new outfit, called Cinderbiter Productions, was already hard at work on a feature called “ShadeMaker” and, according to the press release, would serve as “a new stop motion company whose mandate is to make great, scary films for young ‘uns with a small, tight-knit crew who watch each other’s backs.”
Unfortunately, in 2012 the studio was shut down after Disney and Pixar management found the development of the current film to be unsatisfactory. After spending more than $50 million on the film itself, the company announced a write-down north of $100 million, given the amount of employees and real estate the new shingle occupied. Gone was Selick’s relationship with Lasseter, along with a potentially lucrative deal with Disney (after completing work on “ShadeMaker,” he was set to direct a live action/animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s deeply brilliant “The Graveyard Book”). Sigh.
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9. Jack Had Cameos in Selick’s Subsequent Films
This is more of the Easter Egg-y variety, but Jack Skellington would appear in two of Selick’s other films.
In 1996, he would reteam with Disney and Burton for the considerably drabber “James and the Giant Peach” adaptation. While a largely joyless affair (those live action sequences are terrible), there is a bright spot when Jack and his insect pals visit a sunken pirate ship manned by a pirate-y Jack Skellington. (Richard Dreyfuss’ Mr. Centipede even refers to the character, in his broken New Yawk accent, as “Skellington.”)
Additionally, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance by the Pumpkin King in Selick’s animated feature for Laika, “Coraline.” There’s a moment when Coraline is in the kitchen and the Other Mother is making her food; the Other Mother cracks open an egg and, in the yolk, is the face of Jack. It’s very subtle and tiny and hard to spot, most likely because they were navigating some very choppy legal waters with the insertion, but he’s still there, epitomizing the Halloween spirit in a very literal Easter egg.
Pete Docter and Jennifer Lee aren’t technically “new” to the Disney team, but they just got promoted to replace John Lasseter.
Pete Docter is the new Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Animation Studios, with Jennifer Lee as Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Docter directed Pixar’s “Up” and “Inside Out,” and Lee co-wrote “Wreck-It Ralph” and co-directed “Frozen.”
So clearly they are promoting talent from in-house for what will hopefully be a smooth transition. It was recently announced that John Lasseter is stepping down from his role as chief creative officer of both Pixar and Disney Animation, effective December 31.
In case you haven’t heard John Lasseter is leaving Disney. Here’s whose gonna do his job: https://t.co/JezkOznN9L
Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn issued a statement on the news (via THR):
“Jennifer Lee and Pete Docter are two of the most gifted filmmakers and storytellers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Pete, the genius creative force behind Up, Inside Out and Monsters, Inc., has been an integral part of Pixar almost since the beginning and is a huge part of its industry-leading success. Jenn, in bringing her bold vision to the boundary-breaking Frozen, has helped infuse Disney Animation with a new and exciting perspective. Each of them embodies the unique spirit, culture and values of these renowned animation studios, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have them to lead us into the future.”
“I am deeply grateful to everyone at Walt Disney Animation Studios and The Walt Disney Company for this opportunity. Animation is the most collaborative art form in the world, and it is with the partnership of my fellow filmmakers, artists and innovators that we look ahead to the future. My hope is to support the incredible talent we have, find new voices and work together to tell original stories. The great films of Disney Animation — the films I loved as a kid and my daughter has grown up loving — are magical, timeless and full of heart, and it is our goal to create films that carry on and grow this 95-year legacy for future generations.”
Here’s a statement from Pete Docter:
“I am excited and humbled to be asked to take on this role. It is not something I take lightly; making films at Pixar has been my chronic obsession since I started here 28 years ago. I am fortunate to work alongside some of the most talented people on the planet, and together we will keep pushing animation in new directions, using the latest technology to tell stories we hope will surprise and delight audiences around the world.”
Congrats to the new team! “Incredibles 2” is going great guns for Pixar the moment, breaking tons of records in its first weekend. Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph 2” opens in theaters November 21. “Frozen 2” opens November 27, 2019.
After admitting to “missteps” in his behavior on the job, Pixar co-founder John Lasseter took a six-month leave of absence. At the end of the year, that absence will become permanent.
The Walt Disney Co. announced today that Lasseter is officially exiting his position as chief creative officer of both Pixar and Disney Animation, effective December 31. Until then, he will have a consulting role with the company.
No replacement has been named, but directors Pete Docter (“Inside Out”) and Jennifer Lee (“Frozen”) are expected to take on more duties at Pixar and Disney Animation, according to THR.
In his official statement, Bob Iger, Disney chairman and CEO praised John’s “remarkable tenure” and ” for “assembling a team of great storytellers and innovators with the vision and talent to set the standard in animation for generations to come.”
Lasseter, 61, also issued a statement about his exit:
“The last six months have provided an opportunity to reflect on my life, career and personal priorities. While I remain dedicated to the art of animation and inspired by the creative talent at Pixar and Disney, I have decided the end of this year is the right time to begin focusing on new creative challenges. I am extremely proud of what two of the most important and prolific animation studios have achieved under my leadership and I’m grateful for all the opportunities to follow my creative passion at Disney.”
After various staffers came forward late last year about unwelcome hugs and other attention from Lasseter that made them feel uncomfortable, he agreed to take a leave of absence “to start taking better care of myself, to recharge and be inspired, and ultimately return with the insight and perspective I need to be the leader you deserve.”
In his statement at that time, he apologized “to anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of an unwanted hug or any other gesture they felt crossed the line in any way, shape, or form.”
Lasseter directed “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” and has produced or executive-produced Pixar project and he executive produces every Walt Disney Animation feature.
He has won two Oscars, one for the Animated Short ” Tin Toy” and a Special Achievement Award for “Toy Story.” He has overseen nine films that went on to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, the most recent being 2016’s “Zootopia.”
Jones and her writing partner Will McCormack were hired to write “Toy Story 4,” but left the Pixar project. In The Hollywood Reporter’s piece on John Lasseter’s six-month sabbatical, THR added a section claiming Jones left “Toy Story 4” early after Lasseter made an unwanted advance. That was from one of THR’s unnamed sources, though, not Jones or McCormack, who didn’t respond to THR’s “repeated” requests for comment.
Well now Jones is commenting. And she’s refuting that part of the report. Jones found her name splashed across headlines connected to Lasseter’s other “unwanted” allegations, but she says it’s “untrue.”
Here’s what Jones and McCormack said in a statement issued Tuesday to the New York Times:
“The breakneck speed at which journalists have been naming the next perpetrator renders some reporting irresponsible. We did not leave Pixar because of unwanted advances. That is untrue. We parted ways because of creative and, more importantly, philosophical differences. There is so much talent at Pixar, and we remain enormous fans of their films. However, it is also a culture where women and people of color do not have an equal creative voice. We encourage Pixar to be leaders in bolstering, hiring, and promoting more diverse and female storytellers and leaders. We hope we can encourage all those who have felt like their voices could not be heard in the past to feel empowered.”
In October 2016 it was announced that Pixar was swapping the release dates for “Toy Story 4” and “The Incredibles 2.” “Incredibles 2,” which just shared its first trailer, opens June 15, 2018. “Toy Story 4” was pushed to June 21, 2019.
Lasseter was originally attached to direct “Toy Story 4,” with Jones and McCormack writing a script from a story he co-wrote. Later, Josh Cooley was added as co-director. Then, during the 2017 D23 Expo, Lasseter said he would step down as director due to other commitments, with Cooley staying as solo director. Now Lasseter is taking a six-month sabbatical, after alleged “missteps” in his behavior with staff members.
Meet the new bosses!
After admitting to “missteps” in his behavior on the job, Pixar co-founder 