By Kristin Gaffney | Echo
Pixar has moved all of their current projects up a year, meaning we won't see a new Pixar movie until 2015. Andrew Stanton, writer of "Finding Dory," explained the reasoning behind the delay in film releases: "We can't have the amount of labour it takes to do these movies at the same time because it becomes unsustainable economically."
However, there is still plenty of Pixar to look forward to.
No one is sure exactly what that means. A MSN review calls it "'Inception' for kids."
Los Angeles Times writer Rebecca Keegan called it "a creative gamble."
Peter Docter, known for "Up" and "Monsters Inc.," is the director. He is excited about the movie and its surrealist overtones. At the D23 expo, he said, "What always excited me is finding a story that can only be done in animation. It has to have an element of truth to it."
What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and dinosaurs never became extinct? Pixar thinks this is a good premise for a movie.
Pixar has not released much information on "The Good Dinosaur." Since the title is about a good dinosaur, it can be implied at this point that the rest of the dinosaurs are not good. The film is about a boy named Spot who befriends a 70-foot-tall Apatosaurus. Since most children have wanted a pet dinosaur at some point, the movie is sure to be a hit.
A year after "Finding Nemo," amnesiac fish Dory goes on a quest to be reunited with her family. Many characters are set to return, such as Marlin, Nemo and the "Tank Gang." There will also be new faces, including Dory's parents Jenny and Charlie and a beluga whale named Bailey (spoiler: Dory speaks whale).
Ellen DeGeneres, the voice of Dory, said on the Ellen Show, "I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time. I'm not mad it took this long. . . The script is fantastic. And it has everything I loved about the first one: it's got a lot of heart, it's really funny, and the best part is-it's got a lot more Dory."
What about 2014?
With the animation mogul Pixar out of the way for the Oscar race next year, there will be stiff competition in the Best Animated Feature category.
Other studios will be busy in 2014. Warner Bros. is releasing "The Lego Movie." The story is about an ordinary LEGO minifigure that is mistaken for the key to saving the world and launched into an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant. The movie features an all-star cast of Chris Pratt, Channing Tatum, Morgan Freeman, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett.
Summertime Entertainment is debuting a children's animated musical "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return" starring Lea Michele, Patrick Stewart and Hugh Dancy.
Dreamworks is releasing its long anticipated sequel "How To Train Your Dragon 2," which continues the story of Hiccup and Toothless, as well as "Me and My Shadow," the story of a shadow that longs for adventure but is trapped within a timid person.
Disney is releasing "Big Hero 6." A 34-second promo video is available on YouTube that shows a misty, San Francisco/Tokyo-like city called San Fransokyo. The story is based on a Marvel Comics series. It follows Hiro Hamada, a teenaged robotics prodigy, and his robot as they join a team of crime fighters to save the city.
Will any of these films reign at the Oscars comes February? With Pixar out of the way, it's up for grabs. For now it looks like they have their creative juices flowing again.
