Illumination’s Despicable Me is a wholly enjoyable foray into the same family friendly animation sandbox that Pixar usually plays in. It’s a testament to both Carell’s voice-acting and the gifted work of the art team that Despicable casts off the moniker of rip-off and begins to ascend to the status of equal. It never quite gets there, trading in its frantic, comic set-pieces for some unsuccessful sentiment a bit too soon, but this will do nicely as a fine debut for the fledgling animation studio. 

Carell is voicing the evil super-villain Gru, who yearns more for the status of world’s greatest baddie than he does for any real gleeful destruction.  Toiling for years in relative obscurity (in the basement of his mom’s house no less), always one step away from taking the crown, he’s finally got a plan, hatched with the help of his senile and hilarious inventor, Dr. Nefario and an army of yellow glove-people known only as ‘minions’. Using a shrink ray, Gru plans to steal the moon itself, ambitious even for one so satirically carved from the Bond-esque mold of megalomania. Unfortunately for Gru, the dorky but scheming Vector—his primary competition–steals the weapon and with it all of the ‘old guy’s’ thunder.

Up until this point, the film is soaring along as a kind of milder version of the old Mad Magazine comic strip, Spy Vs. Spy, replacing the more violent bits with a wonderfully playful wit. Julie Andrews voices Gru’s mother, and some of her lines, although hurtful in the context of the story (yes, it has a story!), are both acerbic and hilarious. The artists make Gru a kind of stilt-legged penguin, like the deranged parody of a Batman villain, and the soft-edged, colorful animation technique brings him to a fluid life that works for the bursting personality Carell has prepared for him. Jason Segal skirts the edge of annoyance as Vector, but he’s throwing himself into this so completely, that by the close, he had really grown on me. Extra points for Russell Brand’s Q-like inventor, who’s hitting the comedy button better and more often than Brand’s live-action persona did in the more adult Get Him To The Greek.

Not only borrowing the vibrant and crisp visual palette of a Pixar film, Despicable Me also attempts to duplicate the story depth and emotional heart that many associate with that other studio. For the most part, they succeed, giving Gru more complexity than we could expect or even conceive of, given the basic premise. What doesn’t work so well are the three young orphan girls that enter the story at mid-point. For narrative purposes, this happens because Gru needs some unsuspecting innocents to infiltrate Vector’s home and steal back the shrink ray. Their manifest cuteness and the resulting impact it has on Gru’s soul happens because the movie needs to get away with having a super-villain as the central character in a family film.

The catalyst for Gru’s eventual and obvious conversion, including an in-road to deal with his monster mommy issues, the three young girls are carbon copies of precocious children that would pop up in a lesser animated picture. They don’t capsize the movie, and they give Carrell’s zaniness an opportunity to reflect a gentler, more somber side, but their presence forces Despicable Me down a less despicable path, and as it turns out, less despicable means more boring.

 Illumination nearly hits it out of the park on their first try, and they might have managed a great, nimble comedy surrounding sinister deeds and whiz-bang technology. Instead they try to force a bright concept into a dimmer screenplay than it deserves. The result is akin to almost stealing the moon; you didn’t get away with it, but it is the moon after all, and it’s a grand thing to even attempt.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Despite being well into production, The Pixar Blog is reporting that Newt has been canceled.

Newt was the story of the last two blue-footed newts on earth, Newt and Brooke, who are forced to mate in order to save their species for extinction.

The film was to be Gary Rydstrom’s feature debut, after having directed Lifted, the short that was attached to Ratatouille. At first, I wasn’t too keen on the story, but once Ain’t It Cool News got some more details back in April 2008, the film became the upcoming Pixar film I was most looking forward to:

“Newt, our lead, has been in captivity since he was a tadpole. He’s lonely. His only friend is a lifeless sock puppet. He can see the mating ritual chart from his cage and practices day in and day out, getting ready for scientists to capture him a girlfriend. “And who can’t relate to that?” asks Rydstrom.

Brooke is the name of the last female Blue-Footed Newt. She is in the wild and has no idea she’s the last female of her species. She escapes all sorts of dangers in her day-to-day life, including being evasive of these crazy biologists who are always chasing her. Rydstrom describes her evasive capabilities as making her an “amphibious Errol Flynn”.

One day they catch her and bring her back to the lab and present her to Newt. They have “the world’s worst first date” before through circumstance they both end up in the wild. Newt is worthless out here, but Brooke gets him through the trials. They meet a character named Eddie, a giant Hellbender Salamander, who is a ladies’ man and passes along his incredibly shallow ideas of love to Newt. Predictably, they  don’t work. “Newt is a movie about how finding a mate never goes as you expect even, make that especially, if you only have one choice.”

Also mentioned was a 9-step mating ritual that Newt tries desperately to learn, but can’t see the final step because Mr. Coffee in the way.

Dave Smith, an archivist at the Walt Disney Company, has confirmed that “Newt is canceled.” This is very unfortunate news in and of itself. The movie was shaping up to be another unique, charming feature from Pixar. What’s worse, however, is why it was canceled. Now, there could very well have been problems with the production, but it seems like Newt was taken out of the pipeline to make room for Cars 2 (Summer 2011), Brave (Summer 2012, formerly The Bear and the Bow), and Monsters, Inc. 2 (November 2012).

Originally, Newt was scheduled for a Summer 2011 release, but was pushed back to 2012, at which point the Cars sequel took its place. I’m guessing that the film was running behind schedule, for whatever reason, and, with two movies scheduled for 2012, simply could not fit into Pixar’s upcoming slate. That being said, I still am really disappointed that Pixar would dump an original story down the drain in order to develop several sequels. It’s unfortunate, but I guess that’s how business is done, and Pixar is no exception.

Now, we may still see this film eventually, but definitely not in the next couple of years.

Toy Story 3 is not set to be released until June 18, but word-of-mouth is already building up for the upcoming Pixar sequel. Earlier this month, a work-in-progress version of the film was shown at ShoWest and was met with strong feedback. I did not see it, but I’ve heard only great things about it.

Now, Pixar announced that a “Special Edition Cliffhanger” version of the film will tour college campuses in the coming month. Students at over 60 schools around the country will be treated to the first 65 minutes of the movie for FREE. All you need to do is sign up at Pixar’s Facebook page and show up with a valid college ID.

University of Maryland students will be able to see the film at 7:30 PM on April 28.

This is a fantastic marketing campaign, but I doubt many studios will follow in Pixar’s footsteps.

Having a case of the winter blues?  Here’s a sure-fire cure. Dinsey has has just debuted the full length trailer for Pixar’s Toy Story 3, which hits theaters this June 18th. It’s been over ten years since the last entry but this one looks to be as much fun as any of the others.

This third and final trailer gives us a closer look at the story and, best of all, the new toys that the gang meets when they find themselves donated to a daycare. Heading up this new menagerie (look closely for the stuffed Totorro in the background) are Lots-o’-huggin’ Bear, voiced by the great Ned Beatty (Deliverance) and Ken Doll, whose metrosexual accessorizing meets conspiratorial plotting when Woody and co. drop into his turf. In another terrific casting turn, Michael Keaton supplies Ken’s voice.

Pixar has yet to deliver a bad product, and with their crown jewel franchise, I wouldn’t expect them to start now. Toy Story 2 still stands as my personal favorite of the Pixar movies (although Wall-E might be an overall better film). In the years since that feature, the fx have improved, and the creative team have grown as storytellers.

All of this adds up to a heaping toy chest of promise. Don’t believe me? Just check out the trailer for yourself:

What do you think?

A new concept image has just been released by Walt Disney Pictures for next year’s upcoming sequel to Pixar’s Cars.

The picture gives us a pretty good idea of what the film’s plot will be, clearly showing the ever-confident Lightning McQueen speeding through the Japanese countryside.

That’s right, racing fans, the Pixar sequel will showcase Lightning (voiced by returning Owen Wilson) and fan-favorite Mater (Larry “The Cable Guy” Whitney) trekking across the globe as part of a worldwide Grand Prix. The film will reportedly take our heroes to Japan, Germany, Italy, France, and England.

Longtime Pixar producer Brad Lewis will be making his directorial debut, taking over from the company’s Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter, who directed the first Cars to an Academy Award nomination.

Cars 2 was originally scheduled for a 2012 release, but was bumped ahead to just next year, making 2011 the first year to feature two releases by Pixar. Racing alongside Cars 2 will be The Bear And The Bow.

Look for Cars 2 to roll off the assembly line June 24, 2011.

We’re going to get the Blu-rays of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 at the end of March and I must say I am excited. Yes for myself along with my 3 year old daughter who adores them. With a new trailer released today and Pixar Talk reporting that they’ll be released on March 23rd, what more could a 3 year old want from the blu-ray folks. While special features are something new to the blu-ray discs, I am just excited to see the transfer itself from DVD.

This does actually come at a great time for the folks out there that haven’t seen these movies. Such great classics followed up by the upcoming summer release of Toy Story 3. Check out our Toy Story 3 page for more info and trailers to come!

Now I do want to say that while there is a new trailer supposedly in blu-ray quality, youtube does this no justice of what it could be. Check out the newly released trailer, in blu, for your viewing pleasure below.

Remakes. Sequels. Prequels. Screen adaptations of books, cartoons, comics, and TV shows. It can’t be denied that the film industry is starting to run rampant with movies based on something that has already been done. What’s shocking, though, is just how few original ideas Hollywood is really seeing.

Wikipedia recently posted a list of the highest grossing films of the past decade. In the top 20, only one film wasn’t based off of any other previous idea. One.

Think it gets better looking at a larger sample size? Think again. In the top 30, only two films were based on original ideas, and in the top 50 a total of nine were considered original.

The interesting thing about the nine original concepts is that all but two were animated films, and of those seven animated films five were from Pixar, with Finding Nemo being the only one in the top 20.

Joining Finding Nemo in the ‘original concept’ category were Kung Fu Panda, The Incredibles, Hancock, Ratatouille, The Day After Tomorrow, Madagascar, Monsters, Inc., and Wall-E.

Now, I know it’s easy to fall into the mindset that ‘if it worked once, why not make it work again and capitalize on it?’, but it’s sad to see how few movies aren’t based on something else.

The fact that the majority of ‘original’ movies were animated films targeted for a young audience seems to say that writers and studios are more willing to go out on a limb to create something unique for kids, and willing to be complacent with what they release for  adults.

It makes sense if you think about it: Kids are young, curious, and have short attention spans that are always looking for something new to entertain them. If you give them the same thing over and over, they get bored. Thus, it proves to be profitable to make something original for them.

If the list of top grossing films is any indicator, older audiences seem to favor the familiar, so reworking the same ideas over and over appears to be the way to go.

However, as Hollywood continues to move forward with franchises, sequels, and films based off pretty much anything, the film industry runs the risk of losing originality completely. If presented with both a new idea and a takeoff on something that’s been done before, why pick the new when the old is almost guaranteed to see success?

2010 already has numerous sequels, adaptations, and remakes on the horizon, but hopefully a move will be made back to original stories taking the forefront in Hollywood.

Up is still in my top three films of the year. Even now with it’s release on Blu-ray, the gut-punch still gets me and it’s still a marvelous film to watch. The Blu-ray is also no slouch in it’s pristine presentation of the film, it also features a nice batch of extras that go into great detail about how and why the film was made. In honor of this release, I was able to participate in a virtual roundtable discussion with both Docter and Peterson. Aside from being dressed in obscure outfits (Docter in a bunny suit, Peterson as Amelia Earhart,) both seemed to be very proud of the work they did. They should be as the film is incredible.

Who came up with the idea to cast Ed Asner as Carl?

Bob Peterson: Once Pete and I had arrived at the idea of doing an Old Man movie, the thought of Ed Asner came fairly early on. Good casting at Pixar is an exercise of balance. Woody in “Toy Story” could have been perceived as unappealing when he was jealous of Buzz if we had the wrong voice for him, but Tom Hanks brings such a natural appeal that he balanced any of Woody’s negatives. The same with Ed Asner. Ed’s soulfullness balanced his curmudgeon side. When Ed saw the small statue of his character when he came in to read for us he said “It looks nothing like me!!!” In a cranky (tongue in cheek) way. We knew from that, that Ed was the perfect voice for Carl!!

Other than the trip to South America, what inspired the story of UP?

Bob Peterson: Various things – the lives of our grandparents. For example, I had a grandfather who always wanted to go West from Ohio, but never got the chance. I had the foresight to videotape my grandparent’s home after they had passed 20 years ago. There are the side by side chairs – one soft and one hard which absolutely paralleled who the were as people. Many of our life experiences with our wives and children were put into play in the script, and of course living with our dogs gave us great insight into dog behavior!

Who or what was the inspiration behind Charles Muntz?

Bob Peterson: Charles Muntz in story terms is “Carl Fredriksen at the end of the line.” In other words, if Carl had made it to Paradise Falls without accepting others into his life, then he would have gone crazy, wallowing in his unfinished quest. Carl is represented by a square shape. So as far as shape language, Muntz is a “collapsed square.” He end up having more diamond shapes as if a square has collapsed upon itself. From real reference, we looked at the grand adventurers of the last century including Lindbergh. We looked at Howard Hughes, being a sort of inventor/adventurer. We also looked at photos of Errol Flynn and even the dapper photos of Walt Disney in the 1930′s with his pencil thin mustache.

While Docter was on hand as well, he didn’t answer the questions we gave him. Nor did he answer the question my partner in crime Shane MacDonald of Eye Crave Network, but Bob Peterson was. Shane was gracious enough to let me use his question for this piece, so if you could, give him and his site a visit. I promise he won’t steal your girlfriend.

When you release the final film is it like watching your kids go off into the world? You’ve shaped it, guided along, then you have to let them go and see how they do.

Bob Peterson: Yes. It is interesting watching the movie for the first time at our Wrap Parties with our crew. We don’t ever get to see our movies like a regular audience member because we lived through the creation of the film and see the memories brought forward by each shot and movement we see. When I look at my 14 year old (who I don’t want to grow up and go to college!!!) I see her as a 3 year old at the pumpkin patch, the the 5th grader at the spelling bee.Those memories are there. When our movies leave us we hope we’ve given them enough love and sense to do great things in the world!!

Up is available now on Blu-ray and DVD, but quite honestly, grab the Blu-ray. Better deal, and it comes with a DVD of the film that has some nice extras.