In listening to the Pixar quarterly analyst meeting, I came away with the distinct impression that Steve Jobs was willing to wait until the next CEO of Disney was announced. Jobs said he expected a game of musical chairs would occur in the film industry and it didn’t make sense to finalize a deal until… Read More »The Pixar Mating Season
The Incredibles, a review
Theatrical Release: November 5, 2004 / Running Time: 115 Minutes / Rating: PG
Pixar has been batting 1000 with their animated feature films until now. Without being formulaic, the creative minds in Emeryville have managed to hit upon the recipe for fantastic success with each new release. The Incredibles is the least formulaic feature yet and likely to be the most successful.
Not content to stand on their successes of the past, Pixar brought in the team from the new classic animated film, The Iron Giant. Director Brad Bird and his team of storytellers and artists admittedly had little to no experience with computer generated animation, Pixar’s specialty. This meant they had no idea of the limits of the media and were able to push the boundaries of CG animation to new and exciting places.
[Ovitz] said he wasn’t allowed to pursue deals that would have expanded Disney’s music or books businesses or attract top creative talent to the company. He [Eisner] even nixed deals to buy a stake in the Yahoo Inc. Web portal and settle a dispute with Jeffrey Katzenberg, who went on to found Dreamworks SKG after… Read More »Ovitz: Eisner is the real bad guy here.
I’m still a huge fan of the Neo-Golden Age musical films (The Little Mermaid up through, oh, Mulan — I don’t include Tarzan in the group, because it marked the end of the era, being the first in the series to completely lack character songs) (and while I like some of the later endeavors —… Read More »Disney Trends Away from Stage Musicals on Film
One of the mouse house divisions that just keeps chugging along unnoticed and unremarkable is having their best season ever. Buena Vista Music Group currently has the No. 1 and No. 2 albums in the country. Buena Vista’s top acts are both coming off potent debut albums: Actress-turned-pop thrush Duff’s 2003 debut “Metamorphosis” has sold… Read More »Disney Music a Success?
The Walt Disney Company inducted twelve new members into the equivilant of the Disney Hall of Fame, the Disney Legends.
The highlight of the show was the incredible roster of guest artists. They included a special appearance of Dick Van Dyke singing selections from Mary Poppins, Mary Costa (the original voice of Sleeping Beauty, who narrated a special arrangement of “Bambi”), Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel), Judy Kuhn (voice of Pocahontas), Paige O’Hara (voice of… Read More »Bowl me over
One of the many things that Disney does right is the Disney Magic Music Days program. The program is a chance for children to perform at a Disney themepark, get a discount on admission and sometimes lodging, and learn a little about what it means to be a paid performer. Disneyland and Disney World participate.… Read More »Disney Magic Music Days