If you're tired of the recent rash of Pixar sequels (because, really, who hasn't been longing to find out about Mike and Sully's monstrous college adventures?), then you're very much in luck. Not only is next summer's "Brave" an all new property, part loving homage to Celtic myhtology, part feminist parable (we hope), but in the next few years we also have a new film about man's coexistence with dinosaurs (directed by Bob Peterson) and, even more tantalizingly, a film directed by "Up"'s Pete Docter and set inside the human mind. Pixar/Disney bigwig John Lasseter was recently on "Charlie Rose" (via Slashfilm) and spilled a few more details about the secretive project.
Right after the project was announced at D23, we announced that Michael Arndt (of "Toy Story 3" and "Little Miss Sunshine" fame) would be writing the screenplay and that it would be about the formation of ideas. (This concept is clashing with a similarly themed short over at Fox's animated branch Blue Sky Studios). While on "Charlie Rose," Lasseter said of the project, "Pete Docter, from 'Monsters, Inc.' and 'Up,' is doing a new film that takes place inside of a girl’s mind and it is about her emotions as characters, and that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen."
This is pretty exciting, since it means that, after "Brave," Pixar is going to have another female character at the center of one of its feature films (and considering how wonderful the young girl in "Little Miss Sunshine" was, it's a nice fit for Arndt who wrote that screenplay) and the idea of separate characters for each emotion is pretty fantastic. At some point, and this might not exactly come across in the final product, the monsters in Spike Jonze's troubled "Where the Wild Things Are," were supposed to symbolize Max's different emotions. We imagine things will be considerably wilder in this Pixar film.
The "unlike anything you've ever seen" comment lines up nicely with what we've been hearing about the film, which is that it is mind-blowingly ambitious, even by admittedly lofty Pixar standards. As Slashfilm points out, there are currently two dates on the Pixar calendar that need filling: November 27th, 2013 and May 30th, 2014. We're guessing that with the complexity and ambition of the Docter film (there is an insane amount of R&D being done on it), it'll need that later release date. Watch the rest of the Lasseter interview (a portion of it is below) for some truly great stuff, not just about Pixar but about Steve Jobs, the history of animation, and why Lasseter will always work in the medium (instead of switching over to live action). Great stuff, John. You're almost forgiven for "Cars 2." Almost.
Totally, completely, agree with Padre's comment.
Pixar should really hire more women, and the entertainment industry in general needs to quit this "Pixar is god" mentality. I always suspected Pixar to be sexist starting with the two-dimensional love interest in Monsters Inc, continuing with the brain dead/threatening female characters in finding nemo. I lost interest in Pixar completely when they killed off the only girl in UP.
I don't need to wait two years. I already know the story. Two nerdy masculine "emotions" work together in a factory, which is the girl's brain. At some point in the film, one of them will say something like: " Man! Work is tough! Girls are so complicated! Why can't we be in a boy's head, where at least things are stable??"
Pixar is sexist.
Inside one's mind? If only Pixar can be half of Satoshi Kon
"At some point, and this might not exactly come across in the final product, the monsters in Spike Jonze's troubled "Where the Wild Things Are," were supposed to symbolize Max's different emotions."
Uhm, if that didn't come across when you watched it, you weren't paying attention.
Are any female writers going to contribute anything, or is it a sausage fest of men imaging the female mind? I hate that Pixar has roused my suspicion of them now, and my non-existent feminist ire. If they can't see what is wrong with the idea of an all male conception of the female mind , then really, I have no words. I hope female critics skin them alive. Better yet, I hope I'm wrong and there really is significant female contributions to this film. A not just as a muse "I based it on my daughter/wife" bullshit. If you are going INTO A FEMALE'S MIND, you damn well better have significant female input from the minds of females. OMG PIXAR, YOU ARE TURNING ME INTO A FULL BLOWN FEMINIST! I HATE YOU!
Ha, he also describes the new monsters that Mike & Sully meet at college at "unlike anything you've ever seen" so maybe he's just a fan of that phrase?