Moviefone Editorial

Tag: john-lasseter

  • Pixar Boss John Lasseter Apologizes for ‘Missteps’ & Announces ‘Six-Month Sabbatical’

    US-ENTERTAINMENT-COCOWow. Eh tu, John Lasseter?

    The head of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, brands known for family friendly quality, is taking a leave of absence right as the new film “Coco” hits theaters. Lasseter wrote a memo to staff today, taking ownership for “missteps” connected to sexual harassment allegations made by his own employees.

    As he wrote, “It’s been brought to my attention that I have made some of you feel disrespected or uncomfortable. That was never my intent. […] I especially want to apologize 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. “

    He doesn’t plan to leave permanently, writing, “My hope is that a six-month sabbatical will give me the opportunity 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.”

    Sources are coming out to add some context to what’s going on, with one Pixar employee telling The Hollywood Reporter Lasseter was known for “grabbing, kissing, making comments about physical attributes.” Apparently he was so known for being physical, women some women used a move they called “the Lasseter” to stop him from putting his hands on their legs. According to Deadline, women also used the “head turn” when Lasseter moved in for an unwelcome kiss, so it went to their cheeks instead. “He was like a creepy, geeky uncle who was inappropriate,” one woman told Deadline.

    Here’s Lasseter’s full memo, via Deadline:

    “I have always wanted our animation studios to be places where creators can explore their vision with the support and collaboration of other gifted animators and storytellers. This kind of creative culture takes constant vigilance to maintain. It’s built on trust and respect, and it becomes fragile if any members of the team don’t feel valued. As a leader, it’s my responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen; and I now believe I have been falling short in this regard.

    I’ve recently had a number of difficult conversations that have been very painful for me. It’s never easy to face your missteps, but it’s the only way to learn from them. As a result, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the leader I am today compared to the mentor, advocate and champion I want to be. It’s been brought to my attention that I have made some of you feel disrespected or uncomfortable. That was never my intent. Collectively, you mean the world to me, and I deeply apologize if I have let you down. I especially want to apologize 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. No matter how benign my intent, everyone has the right to set their own boundaries and have them respected.

    In my conversations with Disney, we are united in our commitment to always treat any concerns you have with the seriousness they deserve, and to address them in an appropriate manner. We also share a desire to reinforce the vibrant, respectful culture that has been the foundation of our studios’ success since the beginning. And we agree the first step in that direction is for me to take some time away to reflect on how to move forward from here. As hard as it is for me to step away from a job I am so passionate about and a team I hold in the highest regard, not just as artists but as people, I know it’s the best thing for all of us right now. My hope is that a six-month sabbatical will give me the opportunity 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.

    I’m immensely proud of this team, and I know you will continue to wow the world in my absence. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and look forward to working together again in the new year.

    John”

    “Coco” opens in theaters November 22.

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  • New ‘The Incredibles 2’ Concept Art and Details Revealed

    Disney fans are more than ready for “The Incredibles 2,” especially after a clip wowed viewers at D23.

    Pixar boss John Lasseter told IGN the sequel directly follows Disney Pixar’s 2004 hit:

    “It starts right as the first one finishes, so it just carries on. It starts with the Underminer and a big old set piece. You know that at the end of the first movie when he comes up and you see the family dressed as superheroes, well that’s where start this movie.

    One of the unique things about ‘The Incredibles’ is it’s really a story of a family set in the world of superheroes. This one carries on that theme. It’s awesome, the idea we came up with — simple as that. … We love to really look at our own lives and look at what’s going on, and find themes that we know will resonate with the audience.”

    Disney shared concept art at D23:


    They also shared a clip that hasn’t been released to the public yet, but Moviefone was there in the appreciative audience:

    Here are more updates from the panel:

    ComicBook.com shared more details from director Brad Bird:

    “There’s an issue with the family’s house. So, the family has to get a new house. As you can see, it’s kind of a cross between a dram house and a super lair — a secret agents hosue or something. Water flows throughout the whole building and its made almost entirely of sharp corners which is not ideal for a baby. The whole world of ‘Incredibles 2’ is gonna be greatly expanded upon. We’ll be seeing a lot more of Elastagirl.”

    Fans will get to see it all play out on June 15, 2018. Follow @moviefone for more live tweets from D23.

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  • ‘Cars 3’ Director Brian Fee on Going From Story Artist to Filmmaker

    It’s no secret that Pixar bigwig John Lasseter loves cars, and it’s this love of cars that birthed the first “Cars” film (which he directed) and the sequel (which, after a period of development with another filmmaker, Lasseter ultimately took over and directed). So it’s really saying something that he was able to let go of his baby, handing the keys to “Cars 3” over to Brian Fee, a relatively unknown story artist within the much larger Pixar framework. Fee had been a part of the first two “Cars” films but this was something altogether different; he’d have to wrangle hundreds of artists and animators and take the franchise back to its roots after the sequel threatened to derail the series. That’s a lot for any filmmaker, much less a first-timer.

    But if that sounds like a stressful proposition, you wouldn’t be able to tell by talking with Fee. I got to sit down with the director at the Sonoma Raceway, a beautiful track in northern California (and a perfect backdrop to talk about all things cars) and he told me about his history with the franchise, the third act to Lightning McQueen’s story, and how Ron Howard’s “Rush” inspired the look of the film.Moviefone: Can you talk about your history with this franchise?

    Brian Fee: I started on “Cars” as a story assistant. And what that meant was that I helped the real story artists get their work done. Because we were all drawing on paper, so I helped them finish their drawings. They would draw the important stuff and I would do the background, which just had to be traced over from drawing to drawing. It was busy work, really. But it was to help them get their work done. The story supervisor at the time, the late Joe Ranft, I wanted to stay at the company and asked him, “How do I stay here?” And he said, “Make yourself indispensable.” It was the best advice I ever got. Because it was all about doing the very best you can and don’t show it to anybody until it’s the best it can be.

    I gave myself a very high bar and that helped me become an actual story artist. So, one day I got the big boy pants and they let me be a story artist. I learned on the job, learned from everybody I could, and worked on “Cars 2” with John Lasseter. By that time I was considered more of a veteran story artist. It’s weird to be the young green kid and wake up one day and realize that I’m a veteran now. But I think a lot of people have that experience. So I worked with John on “Cars 2” and then worked with him in development of “Cars 3.” I was working on ideas and things and that’s when I was called into John’s office, unexpectedly. That’s when John told me, not asked, that I was directing “Cars 3.” Ed Catmull was there and he was the one who said, “We realize we’re not asking you. We know that.”

    What was your reaction?

    I was extremely honored they considered me for this; it was an honor they thought I was ready for this. And I was so excited because these characters were like family to me and I was excited to tell their story. At the same time I was terrified because I hadn’t directed anything before and I had a lot to learn in a very short amount of time.

    What was the biggest surprise when making the movie?

    I wouldn’t say there was a surprise, but the hardest thing was the story. I came from story but that is still the hardest thing. Everything else was less difficult because I can trust everyone. Everyone is an expert. I’m dealing with the best people in the business. So it’s my job to inspire them to do great work and once they do that work I judge it against one thing: Is this helping us tell our story and is it not helping us tell our story? And if it’s helping us tell our story, great! If it’s not helping us tell our story yet why is that? What can we do? And try again.

    I know the studio is now mimicking real lenses in the computer when it comes to photography. What was your approach to the visuals and what lenses did you use?

    Having never done anything in live-action, I didn’t know the first thing about lenses, so, luckily, my DP knew everything about lenses. So all I had to do was describe the look. So he could take care of all the technical stuff. We could just get in there and play with the look. And he [DP Jeremy Lasky] brings a lot to the table. A lot of the scenes are incredible because of his fantastic work. We talked early on about not wanting any of the races to feel overly conservative. And by that I mean any of the angles. It’s just like, let’s find the right times to push these angles on the characters to emphasize the grittiness of a real race. It’s a very extreme thing — the speeds and everything that happens down there. I wanted to take what was already done and push it a little bit more.

    Were you referencing anything, either live-action or animation, when it came to the racing?

    We looked at a lot of stuff. I really liked that movie “Rush” and how they shot that. So there was some really great racing things in there. But we had to be really careful because our cars are characters. So anytime you go below the nose, because you think low angles are really dramatic, but once it goes below the nose you lose the eyes. So there were some limitations and tradeoffs. It became: Is this shot about them being a car or a character? So it was always a balancing act.

    You’ve talked about how this is the third act of Lightning McQueen’s story. How would you chart his adventure?

    In “Cars,” he was the latest greatest; he was the new kid on the scene. He was the hotshot rookie. In “Cars 2,” he’s maintaining. In “Cars 2,” you can easily say you have a little bit of an older McQueen and he’s at the top of his game and at the top of his celebrity. So how do you have that character fall from grace? And age is the most obvious thing. We talked to Jeff Gordon and he said that, when he was young, he would go really hard but you would wear out your car. And the older he got, the more experience he got and he realized he didn’t have to wear out his car. And the young guys would pass him. He’d say, “He might have passed me but he’s wearing out his tires and using all of his gas. In 10 laps, I’ll pass him.” And 10 laps later, he’d pass them.

    So the problem was, when those young people passed him and 10 laps later he didn’t pass them, that’s when he realized he’d lost some of the charge he had. That happens with every athlete. We started looking at — you can’t do everything forever. But if that’s all you know and that’s your self-worth, how do you deal with the fact that you’ll never be what you once were?

    These movies obviously go through a thousand iterations. What was the story on the very first version of this movie?

    Very first version? There were hints of a mentorship between Lightning and Doc. There was a Cruz character. It was a boy, not a girl. It took place in California, not the south. And Cruz was a farmer. Think Route 99. There was a scene where the sign got tipped upside down. That was the beginning. McQueen was going through more of a midlife crisis. There was a mistaken identity and McQueen didn’t look like himself. But that was bizarre territory and we quickly moved away from that.

    Obviously, John Lasseter is going to have to retire at some point, just like McQueen. Did he contribute anything story-wise?

    He contributed a lot, story-wise. For him, on a personal level, I think the mentorship sank in more. Later in the process, his son won a student Academy Award. And John felt the pride of watching his son receive the award. The pride matched or even surpassed his own experiences of receiving awards. That had a profound effect on him. And I’ve looked at John as a mentor from day one, even as a story assistant, I was watching how John did it. Because he’s a master at it.

    “Cars 3” opens June 16th.

  • How ‘Cars 3′ Will Reclaim the Series’ Legacy

    In terms of Pixar films, the first “Cars” ranks up there alongside “A Bug’s Life” as one of the studio’s most underrated films. And since that film was released in 2006, it’s become one of the most popular brands for Disney, generating millions of dollars in merchandise sales and inspiring a line of short films, spin-offs, and a sprawling, technologically mind-bending land at the Disney California Adventure park in Anaheim. At this point it’s hard to remember when “Cars” was a movie and not a franchise (lord knows the disconnected 2011 sequel, with a plot that remains totally baffling, didn’t help anything), which is what makes “Cars 3” such an exciting proposition.

    A few weeks ago, I went up to Pixar and watched about half of the movie, all told, and was utterly charmed with what I saw. Based on what I saw, “Cars 3” is a true return-to-form for the series and does a lot to remind you just how special the original film was.At the beginning of “Cars 3,” Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is still top dog, but his age is starting to show. He is involved in a catastrophic crash (one that is teased in the first trailer) and is constantly being bested by Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), a high-tech racecar with all the bells and whistles. When his sponsorship is taken over by a sick businessman named Sterling (Nathan Fillion), McQueen thinks that they’re going to put him back on the track. But instead, Sterling wants to position McQueen as a legacy sponsor of a host of products. Lightning strikes a deal with his new boss: Let him race one more time, and if he loses, he’ll retire and spend his golden years shilling products. (The fact that Lightning is essentially being reduced to a logo is pretty interesting and way more meta than you’d expect.) Sterling assigns a young trainer, Cruz (Cristela Alonzo), to help Lighting get ready for the race, and, together, they travel across the country seeking inspiration and advice.

    It’s pretty cute.

    And the connection to the first film is pretty awesome. If you saw “Cars 2,” you know that it refashioned the original’s slow-down-and-enjoy-the-simplicities-of-life narrative as a high-octane spy adventure. It was audacious, for sure, and remains one of the most beautiful-looking Pixar movies ever, but it lost the sweetness of the original and traded that film’s laid back, Miyazaki-indebted charm for something frenzied and frantic and somewhat overwhelming. Also, it made goofball tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) the central focus instead of Lightning. It was … bizarre.

    And if the footage I saw up at Pixar is any indication, the third film almost completely ignores the events of the second film. There’s no mention of the European and Asian races depicted in that film, none of the characters have returned, and Mater is barely in it. Seriously, the hillbilly tow truck probably said 10 words in the almost hour’s worth of footage I saw. And this film is primarily set in Radiator Springs, the Route 66 oasis introduced in the first film. (Sadly, the sunny epilogue of the first film, which saw tourists and visitors return to the sleepy hamlet, isn’t a part of “Cars 3.”) So, if you never saw “Cars 2,” don’t worry. It’s probably better (and less confusing) if you didn’t.As Lightning McQueen ambles through the American southwest, a part of the country that historically birthed NASCAR races (it started with bootleggers racing their souped-up getaway cars), he clashes with Cruz, who just wants to help, and ends up searching for the trainers that made his mentor, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman, via the help of audio outtakes from the first film), the dynamo he was. It’s all about going back to reclaim the fundamentals. And like the film’s jab at the abundance of merchandise spun off from these films, it’s a very knowing, winking look at the franchise. Instead of going above and beyond and introducing all sorts of spy movies shenanigans, it’s about peeling all of that stuff away and focusing on what made the original film so charming and engaging.

    Technologically and visually though, this is hardly a step back. The footage we saw was amazing-looking; there was a tactile quality to the images that made everything feel lived-in and real. It’s like they took the photo-realistic breakthroughs of “The Good Dinosaur” and applied it to something more outwardly cartoony. The result is the “Cars” world we know and love but given a heightened sense of detail and depth. Instead of the glistening metropolises of the previous film, “Cars 3” is all about naturalism. There’s also a sequence where Lightning and Cruz are racing along the beach that is just breathtaking. Another sequence has Lighting entering a demolition derby incognito, his trademark logo covered up with globs of mud. You never think about the technology while watching these scenes, about the physics engines whirring away to make sure everything looks just right, but you do know that it looks beautiful and the added layers of detail, atmosphere, and texture go a long way in firmly placing you in that world.

    And maybe that’s the biggest takeaway from the footage we saw — how good it feels to be back in the “Cars” world. That’s huge. The first film, as sweet as it is, isn’t seen as a high mark in the Pixar canon — and the sequel didn’t do it any favors. But “Cars 3” seems like a fine return to form and possibly even better than the original. The story seems like the perfect blend of the old and the new — both nostalgic and forward-thinking — and the animation style is the same, with returning characters updated with a fresh coat of computer-generated paint.

    Quite frankly, I can’t wait to see the rest of the movie and watch McQueen reclaim his former glory. It’s a great metaphor for the “Cars” franchise, really. See you in Radiator Springs.

    “Cars 3” opens on June 16th.

  • ‘Zootopia’ May Be the ‘Most Easter Egg-Packed Movie Ever Made by Disney’

    Disney's ZOOTOPIAThis weekend, “Zootopia” joins the illustrious Disney legacy of people-less, all-animal animated movies, like “Robin Hood” and “The Lion King.” Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore bring us a new take on the genre by creating a world not unlike our own, filled only with anthropomorphic animals, some of whom call the big, sprawling city of Zootopia their home. The movie tackles a number of social and emotional issues, while, at the same time, breaking new ground in computer animation.

    We sat down with directors Moore and Howard to talk about the early days of “Zootopia” and the long road to becoming (potentially) one of the most important (and impactful) Disney movies to date.ZOOTOPIA directors byron howard and rich mooreIn early concept art, “Zootopia” seemed to have a very different look and story. Can you talk about how the movie went from space bunny adventure to animal metropolis film noir?

    Byron Howard: One of the ideas was about animals in space hunting space animals. The other idea was the “The Island of Doctor Meow” that had a Roger Corman B-movie feel about a mad scientist who had a savage serum. So you see little bits of these ideas sort of floating around back then. All these ideas had anthropomorphic animals in them cause I loved “Robin Hood” growing up. John Lasseter was also a fan of that genre of Disney classic cartoons. He said, “I will fully support any movie that features animals running around in tiny clothing.” He got on board and loved the idea of doing it. He really did charge us with making it different from any other animals movie before. He said, “Don’t think about story, just go off and do research.”

    We did about seven or eight months of research. We talked to animal experts and sociologists. Experts about how cities get built and formed and then he sent us down here to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and we talked to experts down here who helped us figure out animals personalities. And then finally he said, “Go to Kenya.”

    Kenya is amazing. He sent about 14 of us, including a lot of our leadership in different departments of the film, to Kenya. And they were all looking for something different. The animators were looking for movement and how animals’ fur behaves in light, and we came back completely changed and making the film way more in-depth than when we first left. It really did change our viewpoint on what we were going to do.

    Computer-generated animation has come a long, long way. In older movies, hair was more like a blob on a character’s head. Now you can see the breakthroughs Disney’s made, from the hair in “Tangled” to the fur in “Zootopia.” It’s outstanding.

    Rich Moore: Our technology took a huge step forward on the movie “Big Hero 6,” because they came up with this new software with a rendering system and lighting system called Hyperion. That makes it possible now to just render out an incredible amount of information per frame on our films. We now have the ability to kind of light scenes more organically, from where light sources come from. The process is sped up so much faster now, and when we’re reviewing animation we’re able to see it looking more like the finished frame.A WORLD FOR BIG AND SMALL — Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Zootopia" features a vast world where humans never existed. With advanced transportation systems that accommodate mammals of all shapes and sizes, the modern mammal metropolis was built by animals for animals. Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, and produced by Clark Spencer, "Zootopia" opens in U.S. theaters on March 4, 2016. ©2016 Disney. All Rights Reserved.Speaking of “Big Hero 6,” that reminds me of how Disney’s movies have been doing a great job of teaching audiences important moral lessons. That movie dealt with loss, and “Zootopia” feels current in exploring the need for empathy as a theme for the characters living in this big city. Is that something you looked to bring forward?

    Howard: That’s a very smart question. You’re actually the first one to articulate the question about empathy, which is a central part of what Judy is, I think in building who Judy [Hopps] (Ginnifer Goodwin) is as a character. I go back to the original “Superman” movie, with Christopher Reeve. What I really love about that film wasn’t that he was a superhero it was that he was compassionate. That’s what I think made that film work for me when I saw it when I was 10.

    I saw this person who cared and wanted to make a difference in the world, who had these feelings and this desire to make people happy, and I think that’s where Judy comes from, too; the fact that she sort of has this great Frank Capra-esque core but is still a flawed character that has something to learn, to mature. She does and she becomes a more whole character through this very challenging relationship that she has with this very smart fox. They’re both incredibly smart characters. And the fact that she wants to do good in the world but he keeps knocking down her sort of sunny disposition in saying, “Look, it’s not that easy. Things aren’t like that.” The fact that they actually bond over when he was a kid, he wanted the same things. That gave us very strong threads to pull on in the story, and I think that’s why people really are connecting with her. I think everyone wants to make a difference throughout the world but we find it’s sometimes more challenging than we anticipate.

    Moore: I think that the key was letting Judy make a mistake. Letting her not be perfect, not a sterling kind of Eagle Scout of a character that never makes a mistake. The fact that if Judy, who is this pure of heart, can have such a blind spot in her life, then it can happen to anyone out of naivety. We knew that once he had Judy as a main character, we knew that we were going with the theme, it was very important to us that she not just be a cartoon character that’s just a champion for everything good, but that our main character, though enlightened and progressive and thinking that she is kind of above the way that her parents think, is susceptible to these things, too.MR. BIG — The most fearsome crime boss in Tundratown, Mr. Big commands respect—and when he feels disrespected, bad things happen. A small mammal with a big personality, Mr. Big is voiced by Maurice La Marche. Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Zootopia" opens in U.S. theaters on March 4, 2016. ©2016 Disney. All Rights Reserved.Lastly, I know you guys have fun with the Easter eggs. What do you suggest audiences keep an eye out for in “Zootopia”?

    Howard: This is perhaps the most Easter egg-packed movie ever made by Disney.

    Moore: Hidden Mickey-ed movie. If you like sign gags, there’s tons of them all throughout. As soon as you get into the city of “Zootopia,” there are sign gags. If you like silly puns, there’s some and there’s groaners. If you like Disney references, I think it may be the first time, maybe “Aladdin” had a few with the Genie, but we went for it because we wanted it to feel like our world. In their world, they have their version of Disney movies. Let’s show ’em.

    Howard: Here’s one that no one knows yet. Our character designer is a big fan of Patrick Swayze‘s “Road House,” and one of the villains wears a t-shirt that is a homage to the bar in “Road House.”

    Disney’s “Zootopia” hits theaters Friday.

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  • ‘Toy Story’: 20 Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About Pixar’s First Movie

    These days, when a Pixar movie is as close to a sure thing as films get, it’s hard to remember what a risky venture the first one was. After all, when “Toy Story” arrived 20 years ago this week (on November 22, 1995) as the first feature-length computer-animated movie, it was hailed as an instant classic and was a huge hit, launching Pixar as a reliable entertainment brand and creating a new industry of digital filmmakers.

    Still, “Toy Story” almost never got off the ground. Here’s the behind-the-scenes story you don’t know, about the daunting obstacles that Woody and Buzz and the rest of Andy’s toys had to overcome in order to travel to infinity and beyond.1. Future Pixar chief and “Toy Story” co-writer/director John Lasseter (pictured) was a junior animator at Disney in 1982 when he saw the studio’s groundbreaking “Tron” and first recognized the potential of computer animation. When he suggested to Disney brass that the studio make a computer-animated feature, they fired him.

    2. Lasseter soon found himself at Pixar, then a computer graphics company owned by Steve Jobs and best known for its hardware. In 1988, to show off what Pixar’s machines could do, Lasseter directed a short all-CGI cartoon called “Tin Toy.” The film won an Oscar, starting Lasseter back on the path toward making a full-length computer-animated film — and toward negotiating with his old employers to distribute it.

    3. Before “Toy Story,” Disney had a relationship with Pixar as a user of its computer-assisted production system (“CAPS”), which Disney animators used on the wedding sequence in “The Little Mermaid” and the ballroom sequence during the title number in “Beauty and the Beast.” Critics singled out that scene with praise, helping persuade Disney to expand its collaboration with Pixar.

    4. Lasseter’s Cal Arts classmate Tim Burton — another former Disney animator — returned to the Disney fold with the release of “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Made by animators independent of Disney, working at a studio in San Francisco, “Nightmare” was the first animated feature made by outsiders to bear the Disney brand. The success of that 1993 stop-motion film was the final straw that convinced Disney that it could make a feature with the independent Bay Area team at Pixar, Lasseter has said.

    5. Still, the Pixar team ran into frequent opposition with Disney because they wanted to make a movie that was not at all a typical Disney cartoon. They didn’t want a fairy tale, they didn’t want a musical, and they didn’t want a story where the side characters were more colorful than the protagonists. They wanted to tell the kind of story that had never been told in a cartoon before: a mismatched-buddy comedy, à la “48 Hrs.” or “Midnight Run.”
    6. The original Woody (pictured) got his name because he was a ventriloquist dummy. He was also creepy and tyrannical. Over time, he evolved into a pull-string cowboy doll with the reassuring voice of Tom Hanks, but the animators kept the name, now as a tribute to Western character actor Woody Strode.

    7. The initial idea for “Toy Story” was to pair the cynical Woody dummy with Tinny, the wide-eyed soldier from “Tin Toy.” The premise of toys that came to life seemed well suited to Pixar’s capabilities, since, in the early days of CGI, the easiest things to render were plasticky, artificial surfaces like those that characterize toys.

    8. The filmmakers deemed Tinny too old-fashioned and updated him to a more modern soldier toy, and finally settled on an astronaut.

    9. Buzz Lightyear was originally named Tempest, after the Atari game that obsessed the animators. The name “Buzz,” of course, came from astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

    10. While Tom Hanks was always the filmmakers’ first choice for Woody, they initially sought Billy Crystal. (He would eventually play the lead in Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” and “Monsters University.”) They also considered Bill Murray and Jim Carrey before going with Tim Allen, then starring in the hit sitcom “Home Improvement” on Disney-owned ABC.
    11. Future “Buffy” and “Avengers” guru Joss Whedon (above) was a script doctor on the film. He came up with the beloved line, “You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity.”

    12. Lasseter’s wife, Nancy, was the inspiration for Bo Peep.

    13. Not yet famous for his kick-ass female characters, Whedon wanted to make Barbie a heroic presence late in the script, but Mattel declined to license her image to the filmmakers. Years later, of course, Barbie and Ken became major characters in “Toy Story 3.”

    14. On November 19, 1993, almost two years to the day before the film’s release, Pixar took a rough cut of animated storyboards and screened it before Disney executives. The disastrous result was known in Pixar lore as “Black Friday.” The characters were ornery, their chemistry was awkward, and the story didn’t work. Disney threatened to pull the plug on the project, but the animators begged for three months to give the script a complete overhaul. When they returned, Disney approved the new script, and the filmmakers were off and running.

    15. Pixar initially thought it would be able to render the film with a team of eight animators and 53 computers. It ended up using 33 animators and 300 computers. Each machine was named for an animal and would emit the animal’s signature cry when it completed a frame of the film.
    16. To figure out how the green plastic army men would move, the animators nailed planks to their own shoes and spent a day trying to walk with their feet attached to a board.

    17. The film was initially budgeted at $17 million (compared to $45 million for Disney’s 1994 hand-drawn feature “The Lion King”), but the cost soon ballooned to $30 million.

    18. In North America, “Toy Story” earned $192 million at the box office. Overseas, it took in another $170 million. The three movies to date in the franchise have sold $1.9 billion worth of tickets worldwide.

    19. “Toy Story” became the first animated film nominated for an Original Screenplay Oscar. Randy Newman earned two Oscar nods, one for his instrumental score and one for his song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” The movie didn’t win any competitive Oscars, but Lasseter did get a special achievement Academy Award, “for the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film.”

    20. Hanks improvised so much during the voice recording sessions that the Pixar team saved the outtakes he generated in 1994 and used them as dialogue in the sequels, including the forthcoming “Toy Story 4,” due in 2018.
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  • Key ‘Toy Story 4’ Plot Detail Revealed

    An intriguing piece of the “Toy Story 4” puzzle was just revealed during Disney’s D23 Expo. John Lasseter confirmed that the movie will follow a romance for Tom Hanks’ Woody, adding to CNBC:

    It’s a love story with Woody and — and this is news — Bo Peep.”

    Bo Peep, eh? That has some fans asking, “What about Jessie?” But maybe we’ll see Jessie with Buzz. (This could easily veer into soap opera territory, but since the movie is ostensibly for kids, hopefully not.)

    According to Lasseter, “At Pixar and at Disney, we only make sequels if we come up with a story that’s as good or better than the original. That’s our rule. We don’t do things just to print money.” Pixar has a remarkable track record, not just for success but also for quality, so we’re cautiously optimistic for “Toy Story 4,” even though we would’ve been OK to see the story end on the strong note of the last movie, which came out in 2010. It’s rare for a franchise to produce three great movies, so if they believe they have an equally great fourth in them, we’re here for it.

    “Toy Story 4” has a release date of June 16, 2017.

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