It’s that annual weekend where Disney fans like me go crazy: this year’s D23 sounded like a blast. The Pixar panels sounded right up my street – the Inside The Evolution of Pixar’s characters sounded particularly amazing. As with any big budget studio animation, it takes a huge team to get bring these stories to life. So much care goes into making those animations that it’s always a pleasure when you get a sneaky peak behind the scenes into the actual craft of the work.
D23 also revealed the ever-growing expansion of the Marvel Universe (I enjoy the films, but when will they stop? NEVER is the answer clearly); new park news (two words: TRON RIDE); sequels and remakes (we just don’t need a Toy Story 4, number 3 was just so final! However I love The Incredibles so I could be fine with that sequel. Don’t get me started on all of the live action remakes.) ; and some brand new (huzzah!) work in the pipeline which sounded like it could be great. I’m most excited about:
- Untitled Dan Scanlon Film
Not much was given away about this film but according to Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, it will be partly taken from director Dan Scanlon’s childhood, who lost his father when he was a small child and wondered what his father would be like.
“The story is set in a world with no humans—only elves, trolls, and sprites—“anything that would be on the side of a van in the ’70s,” said the director. “In the film, we’re going to tell the story of two teenage elf brothers whose father died when they were too young to remember him. But thanks to the little magic still left in the world, the boys embark on a quest that will allow them a chance to spend one last magical day with their father.”
Pixar have a magic touch when it comes to injecting some real humanity and feeling into their films (see Inside Out and the end of Toy Story 3. I start crying at WALLE in the first 10 minutes) whilst tackling tricky and difficult emotional concepts in a non-patronising way for the kids in the audience. Could be promising. Mental note = must take tissues when I watch it.
- Untitled DisneyToon Studios Film
Again, not much to go on but according to Lasseter this film “explores the future of aviation”. Fun time ahead.
- Coco
Admittedly, when I first saw the trailer to this I did like most people think it looked very similar the The Book Of Life – but the main character’s dream of being a musician really appeals to me. I’m hoping that it means the film was have a excellent soundtrack.
- Big Hero 6: The Series
Big Hero 6 is one of my favourite Disney Pixar films of more recent years, plus I adore Baymax which is evident in my photo below (any excuse to get this out and I’m there. I met Baymax at World Disney World in 2016 and I don’t think I could look any happier). What excites me the most about this is the confirmed use of 2D animation – I’m very interested to see how a film which started off in 3D will translate into a 2D format. I’m quite often moaning to people about how I miss Disney’s use of 2D animation on the big screen so let’s see how this idea works on the small.
Top image copywright: D23
Animation celebration 