Over the last twenty five years, Pixar has created fifteen different shorts, with two more on the horizon. Not only that, they have created twelve of the most critically acclaimed and widely loved movies over the past sixteen years. What better way to celebrate the twenty fifth birthday of Pixar than to take the stage at D23 Expo and present the next two movies they are making right now: ‘Brave‘ and ‘Monsters University’. And what a presentation it was!
As the ‘Brave’ Panel began, the director of the film, Mark Andrews and Producer Katherine Sarafian, both asked us not to talk about the specifics of the footage so that fans could enjoy it and be surprised when they see it. So while I won’t be going into specifics, I can say that the footage we were shown was absolutely breathtaking, even in an unfinished state. I was very impressed with the footage, because this is something that Pixar has never done before. The film is a fairytale of sorts, set in medieval Scotland, with their first female lead in the form Princess Merida. It’s also their first period piece, which they said had been hard for the animators, because they had to make sure every little piece of moss that was there was different and had its own story. We saw quite a bit of rough footage, but what I have to say is the tone of the movie is so fun and different for Pixar. You can tell they’re trying to so hard to make sure that this stands out from all their other movies. It really has a sweeping epic feel as well. The footage was funny, intense, and full of action, and I could tell this is going to be a very special film. I really can’t wait until June 22, 2012 to see it. That’s so long from now, but it’ll be worth the wait.
We were then shown a lot of concept art from Pixar’s new prequel, ‘Monsters University’. The film follows Mike and Sulley through college, where they’ve been rivals since kindergarten. Director Dan Scanlon took the stage and talked a bit about how the characters had to be a bit redesigned since they’re younger and in college. Sulley’s hair is now shaggier and less taken care of, whereas Mike now has a retainer. He told us that the Pixar animators have been traveling the country looking at different college campuses to make sure the look of the college is realistic, but sort of distorted since it’s set in the ‘Monsters, Inc.’ world. He also told us we would see the return of many familiar characters such as Randal, and some of the scarers from the first as well, as well as many new characters. Billy Crystal then took the stage and talked a bit about the movie. He said the script is really, really incredible and very funny. He said it’s been fun trying to get back in a college mindset since it’s been so long since he’s been there. This really looks to be one of Pixar’s best follow ups to date, but it’s still over two years away. We won’t be seeing it until June 2013, so we still have quite a while until we see any footage from it. I can’t wait until we do.
Pixar really brought their A game to D23, and really got me excited for what’s in store for the future of the company. They once again proved to be some of the best storytellers and one of the best production companies in the business. I really can’t wait to see these movies.
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