Pixar Unveil Their Next Three Features at D23
As Disney’s D23 expo in California continues to lavish us with surprising and exclusive news, John Lasseter quite literally bounded onto the stage to reveal what Pixar would be bringing to the table. In his presentation he revealed the next 3 Pixar movies to be hitting our screens over the next couple of years. Clips and artwork were shown to the lucky D23 audience from The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out and the highly anticipated Finding Nemo sequel; Finding Dory. Along with this, introductions and presentations were given by the film’s Directors and Producers including Andrew Stanton and Pete Doctor.
The Good Dinosaur (May 2014)
The Good Dinosaur
Explaining that each Pixar movie starts with the question “What if?”, John Lasseter rolled the introductory film. The clip showed an asteroid heading for earth, but at the last minute missing it all together, begging the question ‘what if the dinosaurs didn’t become extinct?’ In Pixar’s new world, dinosaurs evolve to become advanced farmers of all things, with every dino adapting to become a different farming tool: Stegosauruses take on the role of threshers, and the Triceratops become large bulldozers.
The film is set in an alternate world, created and directed by Bob Peterson. The plot revolves around main character Arlo (a huge Apotosaurus voiced by Lucas Neff) discovering the first ever human, a little boy named Spot. A varied cast was also announced, including John Lithgow and Frances McDormand as Arlo’s parents, and Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader and Judy Greer as his brothers and sisters.
Another big teaser was that the short to precede would be a welcome return to the college students from Monsters University. Mike, Sulley and the rest of the Oozma gang will be back to party in a short called Party Central
Inside Out (June 2015)
Inside Out
Directed by Pete Doctor, of Monsters Inc. and Up fame, Inside Out is perhaps the least known future Pixar film, and was described by John as “one of the the most unique films (he’s) ever been associated with”. The story is set inside the mind of 11 year old Riley, who’s trying hard to cope with a move from Minnesota to San Francisco.
Set in the mind of this little girl, the plot follows her emotions; Anger, Fear, Sadness, Disgust and Joy (played by Lewis Black, Bill Hader, Phyliss Smith, Mindy Kailing and Amy Poehler in that order). Each emotion looks through the ‘Consciousness Screen’, attempting to decide which events should be stored as short term memories. When Sadness and Joy are sent off to look for missing ‘Core Memories’, Anger, Fear and Disgust are left to fend for themselves, turning Riley into the archetypical stroppy teenager. Different worlds were also showcased within the teaser film, such as the literal Train of Thought, the Dream Production Factory and the Disneyland-esque ImaginationLand.
Finding Dory (November 2015)
Finding Dory
The presentation concluded with the announcement of the much anticipated Finding Dory. Directed by original director Andrew Stanton, it is set a year after the first film, Finding Nemo, and flips the plot around. This time it’s Marlon and Nemo finding Dory who is in turn finding her real family.
In the aftermath of a traumatic event, Dory’s homing instinct is kicked into gear and she goes on a journey to discover her family. This family turns out to be a lot bigger than she ever thought it would be. Big surprises are in store, including a huge beluga whale named Bailey (played by Ty Burrell). Other stars include a returning role for Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, who announced the film on her show in April, and Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy who play her long lost parents. In terms of footage nothing was given away so watch this space.
With casts now announced for each film and plot lines established, a lot more artwork and hopefully animation should be released in the near future. Bill Hader has made a surprise entry into the cast of voice actors, appearing in two of the three films that were unveiled. He was also strongly hinted at for an appearance in Finding Dory, even dressing up as a sea cucumber on stage and begging to Andrew Stanton for a part. Fortunately this was quickly stopped by none other than John Ratzenberger who was introduced as Pixar’s lucky charm, making it near to certain of his famed appearance in the new films.
It looks as though Pixar has some great films up it’s sleeves to wow us with over the coming years. Which ones are you most looking forward to?