October 2nd, 2007

Pixar's next movie: Wall-E

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 7:10 am

Categories: Movies, Pixar

Tags: Robot, Movie, Pixar Animation Studios Inc., Site, Kottke.org, Robots, Web Site Development, Emerging Technologies, Internet, Jason D. O'Grady

Pixar has posted a trailer for their next movie, Wall-E, which is slated to hit theaters in 27 June 2008. The teaser trailer was released at 8pm ET last night. Kottke.org asks “Does it make sense even if you don’t speak French?”

Yes, because the movie isn’t going to have any dialogue. Says director Andrew Stanton: “I’m basically making R2-D2: The Movie”.

Kottke also outs a viral Web site for the film BuynLarge.com:

Pixar has also launched a promotional web site for the film. The site was formerly just a placeholder but is now faux-corporate brochureware for Buy n Large, maker of the Wall-E robot. The site is full of ridiculous corporate-speak like “by visiting the Buy n Large web site you instantaneously relinquish all claims against the Buy n Large corporation and any of its vendors or strategic partners.” Check out the Nanc-E under Robotics/Robot Models for a chuckle.

According to IMDB the plot outline is: The year is 2700. WALL*E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for. Some trivia:

The teaser trailer contains part of Michael Kamen’s score for Brazil (1985). Michael Kamen was going to score another Pixar film, The Incredibles (2004), but died before he could.

Curiously, the official Wall-E Web site and the BuynLarge.com site don’t work in Flock (a Firefox derivative) but work fine in Firefox and (obviously) Safari.

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March 20th, 2007

Pixar options probe clears Jobs

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 5:53 am

Categories: Disney, Legal, Pixar, Steve Jobs, Stock Options

Tags:

Although Disney discovered options backdating at Pixar the company has cleared Steve Jobs of any wrongdoing. According to SiliconValley.com:

An internal investigation concluded that Pixar backdated stock options before Walt Disney acquired the film studio, but "no one currently associated with the Company engaged in any intentional or deliberate acts of misconduct," according to a statement issued by Disney's chairman Friday.

He's still not out of the woods yet however. Jobs has been under scrutiny for his role in granting Apple stock options since he admitted last year that he was aware the company was backdating stock options given to executives and employees and that he helped pick favorable dates.

March 11th, 2007

Jobs challenged to remove DRM from Pixar films

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:26 pm

Categories: DRM, Disney, Pixar, iTunes

Tags:

DefectiveByDesign.org (a "broad-based anti-DRM campaign that is targeting Big Media, unhelpful manufacturers and DRM distributors") has challenged Steve Jobs to put his money where his mouth is regarding his February 6th open letter "Thoughts on Music."

The group calls upon Apple to take three steps to demonstrate its commitment to ending DRM:

1. Drop DRM on iTunes for independent artists

2. Drop DRM on iTunes for Disney movies and video; and

3. Fund a campaign to repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's prohibition on bypassing digital rights management.

"Many independent artists and labels distribute their music through iTunes and many wish to do so without DRM, but you won't let them," said the letter. "You could show good faith immediately by dropping DRM for those artists and labels."

DefectiveByDesign notes that Jobs could reverse the current trend and distribute all Pixar films on iTunes sans DRM. Jobs states that removing DRM is "clearly the best alternative for consumers" and he is the head of Pixar and the largest individual Disney shareholder.

DefectiveByDesign is asking people to sign a letter to Steve Jobs asking him to back his pledge on DRM by April 1.

(via Information Week)

May 10th, 2006

The other side of the Disney/McDonald's breakup

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 5:27 am

Categories: Apple, Disney, Pixar

Tags:

After my piece yesterday about Jobs getting out of the Happy Meal business I heard from a source close to McDonald’s that tells a different toy story.

According to the source, McDonald’s has been waiting for the 10-year exclusive movie tie-in contract with Disney to expire for years. Apparently the company felt that the original deal with Disney was too one-sided and was never going to renew it.  

The exclusive contract with Disney did not allow McDonald’s to tie in with other blockbuster movies such as Star Wars and Shrek thus leaving such titles to their competitors - even when the films would prefer to tie in with McDonald’s (McD’s market share is larger than all of its competitors combined). Deals are about money and rarely anything else. The decision by Disney not to renew exclusively with McDonald’s likely came down to dollars and cents.

Disney’s decision not to renew its marketing pact with McDonald’s doesn’t prevent them from marketing their films through the fast food chain however. It’s expected that Disney/Pixar will still be tying in with McDonald’s for promotions on certain films, but it will only be on a title-by-title basis. What’s gone is the exclusive relationship. Also, because the exclusive relationship is gone Disney/Pixar is free to promote their films with Burger King, Wendy’s or Taco Bell. So don’t be surprised if you see their small plastic figurines again in a drive through near you.

So much for caring about childhood obesity, I guess.

May 9th, 2006

Jobs gets out of the Happy Meal business

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 5:00 am

Categories: Announcement, Disney, Pixar, Steve Jobs

Tags:

Apparently Steve Jobs doesn’t care too much for the food at McDonald’s or at minimum he wants to stop using it to promote Disney/Pixar films to kids.

According to a story in the L.A. Times, Disney is not renewing a 10-year agreement with McDonald’s to include plastic toys in its Happy Meals:

Disney is not renewing its cross-promotional pact with the fast-food giant, ending the arrangement with this summer’s release of "Cars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest."

The word is that Disney is trying to disassociate itself from high calorie and trans fat laden fast food peddled by fast food giants like McDonald’s. Times staff writer Rachel Abramowitz finds the timing the contract cancellation (reported to be worth US$1 billion to Disney) less than coincidental. It happened just as Steve Jobs becomes Disney’s largest shareholder after the acquisition of his Pixar Animation Studios.

During a conference call last year Jobs, who is a pescetarian (neither vegetarian nor vegan as is often reported), said "there is value" (in fast-food tie-ins) "but there are also some concerns, as our society becomes more conscious of some of the implications of fast food."

Health concerns haven’t stopped less obesity-conscious studios, though. DreamWorks Animation SKG has already jumped in to replace Disney in promotional tie-ins with McDonald’s for "Shrek 3" which is due out next year.

Maybe Shrek should consider a salad this go around.

January 23rd, 2006

Steve Jobs in mouse ears?

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 4:42 am

Categories: Disney, Pixar, Rumor, Steve Jobs

Tags:

There’s a ton of speculation swirling that Disney is set to announce a buyout of Pixar Animation Studios for somewhere in the range of US$7 Billion. The acquisition would make Steve Jobs the largest individual shareholder of Disney according to a story on AppleXNet.

The buyout very much parallels Apple’s purchase of NeXT ten years ago. Because so much of NeXT’s advanced technology essentially displaced Apple’s own struggling and dated codebase for the Mac OS to become Mac OS X, and Steve Jobs’ own idea of a trimmed and stylish product line replaced the beige box Power Mac (insert four-digit number here), many industry analysts joked that ‘NeXT had bought Apple for negative $400 million.’

According to a Reuters story published on ZDNet news it is not clear whether the board meeting will be held on Sunday or Monday or whether board members were prepared to vote on a proposed merger of Pixar with Disney.

According to Hoovers Disney owns the ABC television network, 10 broadcast TV stations, and more than 70 radio stations. It also has stakes in several cable channels such as ESPN (80%) and A&E Television Networks (37%).

If the merger happens you can expect a whole lot of Disney content to become available for sale from the iTunes music store.

December 4th, 2005

Feel the Pixar love in NYC

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 7:50 pm

Categories: News, Pixar

Tags:

You don’t have to travel to California or even to a movie theatre to get your fix of Pix. There’s a cool exhibition of Pixar art coming to New York’s Museum of Modern Art. MoMA New York is holding an exhibit of art from Pixar Animation Studios from December 14, 2005 to February 6, 2006.

In celebration of Pixar Animation Studios’ twentieth anniversary in 2006, and as part of its exhibition of Pixar animation art, MoMA presents a complete retrospective of the company’s theatrical shorts and features. In addition, Pixar and its partner, Walt Disney Pictures, have arranged for the donation of new 35mm prints of each title to the Museum’s permanent film collection, thus ensuring their continued preservation and exhibition as a theatrical art form. The series includes every Pixar feature film produced so far—Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles—as well as all the innovative short films, starting with the rarely seen The Adventures of André and Wally B, which preceded the founding of the company by two years.

In addition, MoMA NY is hosting a lecture by Pixar founder John Lasseter on Friday, December 16, 2005:

The Creative Process at Pixar: A Conversation with John Lasseter
Friday December 16, 6:30 p.m.
Titus Theater 1

John Lasseter, Executive Vice President, Creative, and a founding member of Pixar Animation Studios, discusses the creative process at Pixar. From the initial concept through development, story, art, and the entire production pipeline, the creative teams at Pixar never stop. Tickets ($10, $8 members, $5 students and seniors) can be purchased at the Information Desk in the main lobby of the Museum, and at the Film and Media Desk. Tickets are also available online at www.ticketweb.com.