“We have not entered into this decision lightly,” Skydance Media CEO David Ellison informed his employees — and therefore, the press — about the decision on January 9, 2019, to hire disgraced Pixar head John Lasseter to fill the animation group president position that was not currently vacant.
When Skydance announced its plan to move beyond its video games and live-action productions and into animated features in October 2017, the production company tapped DreamWorks Animation veteran Bill Damaschke. No news of Damaschke’s plans to leave have been announced except what Ellison explained today as part of the bigger (more controversial) announcement.
“Bill Damaschke will be transitioning from his current role, and we are hopeful he will choose to remain within the Skydance family.”
The memo, which can be read in full here, mentions the “extensive investigation” and careful evaluation of Lasseter’s previous conduct, which I imagine includes not just a record of what complaints he received before his forced sabbatical and departure from Disney-Pixar but also of how much money ($11 billion box office for Pixar alone) and fame he raked in for the group during his tenure… That is, after all, how businesses make money.
It seems Skydance chooses to risk what Disney-Pixar cannot, to give a “second” chance to the “storyteller” whose “art transcends generations and cultures” as the group tries to get their animation division off the ground.
I would like to see them also focusing on making the animation industry a safer place for victims of “inappropriate conduct” and other euphemisms of harassment.
While reports of Lasseter’s conduct were certainly enough to have family companies like Disney showing him the door, no news of legal action has been reported, so it’s hard to say what the extent of Lasseter’s “misconduct” entails. Skydance reports that they investigated Lasseter as well, and they’re taking a chance on his attempts in the past year to “address and reform” his mistakes.
It may pay off. I desperately want it to go well, for the rest of the employees’ sakes.
According to Deadline, Lasseter also laid out his wishes for a brighter future at Skydance:
“I have spent the last year away from the industry in deep reflection, learning how my actions unintentionally made colleagues uncomfortable, which I deeply regret and apologize for. It has been humbling, but I believe it will make me a better leader.
“I join Skydance with the same enthusiasm that drove me to help build Pixar, with a firm desire to tell original and diverse stories for audiences everywhere. With what I have learned and how I have grown in the past year, I am resolute in my commitment to build an animation studio upon a foundation of quality, safety, trust and mutual respect.”
Lasseter begins work in the Los Angeles office later this month. Skydance Animation’s films “Luck,” “Split” and “Powerless” are still in pre-production.
- Courtney (harmonicacave)
“You working on any movies right now?”
“Just one.”
Monsters University director Dan Scanlon coyly teased an inquiring fan on Twitter this month before announcing at D23 that he’ll be helming one of Pixar’s next projects: an “untitled suburban fantasy.”
Variety.com reports that John Lasseter introduced the project and Scanlon at the Expo by saying, “We love taking audiences to new worlds they’ve never seen before.” An encouraging promise in light of the sequels currently slated for Pixar after original film Coco this year: Toy Story 4 and Incredibles 2, while exciting, won’t be taking anyone to completely new worlds.
The film will cover a very personal topic to Scanlon: a unknown father, lost at an early age. (I am making a note to bring tissues to this one — Pixar films can really make you cry).
Scanlon also explained that “this movie is a mixture of the fantastic and everyday.” The D23 website provides more insight:
The story is set in a world with no humans—only elves, trolls, and sprites—“anything that would be on the side of a van in the ’70s,” said the director. “In the film, we’re going to tell the story of two teenage elf brothers whose father died when they were too young to remember him. But thanks to the little magic still left in the world, the boys embark on a quest that will allow them a chance to spend one last magical day with their father.”
The release date, while not yet set, should be no sooner than 2020, with slots on March 13 or June 19 available for that year. June 18, 2021, has also been reserved by Pixar.
- Courtney ( @harmonicacave )
Cars 3 All New Extended Preview
With this latest, darker take on the Pixar Cars series fast approaching its June 2017 release date, more info is being released. The Disney blog revealed a more thorough synopsis of the Cars 3:
After the crash forces him off the track, McQueen is forced to return to his roots and enlist outside help from an eager young race technician, Cruz Ramirez (voice of Cristela Alonzo), with her own plan to win, plus inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage!
There’s potential here for a deeper take on the Cars franchise. The hero making a comeback might just win back the critics, after a lighter Cars 2 left most unimpressed.
Disney’s Gigantic adds Inside Out writer Meg LeFauve as co-director
Disney Animation’s Gigantic has been a rumor for the past couple years, but solid details are finally starting to emerge from the clouds. Meg LeFauve, writer on Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, has just been announced as co-director on Gigantic, alongside fellow director Nathan Greno. It’s a pairing very similar to directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, where Lee was another writer adopted mid-production as co-director on Frozen. Along with this similarity, Gigantic will also feature music from the same team as Frozen: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
Gigantic was first officially announced at D23 2015, where John Lasseter stated that Disney hoped to make the definitive take on Jack And The Beanstalk. With that in mind, Disney is making some bold new interpretations in their version of the story. There will be a female giant who Jack befriends, and the synopsis lays out more specifics:
Set in Spain during the Age of Exploration, Disney’s “Gigantic” follows adventure-seeker Jack as he discovers a world of giants hidden within the clouds. He hatches a grand plan with Inma, a 60-foot-tall, 11-year-old girl, and agrees to help her find her way home. But he doesn’t account for her super-sized personality—and who knew giants were so down to earth?
For now this is all the information that Disney has released, but there’s some production art and some announcement videos from D23 that lend a bit more to the imagination:
Toy Story 4 Picks Up A Co-Director Alongside John Lasseter
Recently we learned that Toy Story 4 would not be a direct sequel to Toy Story 3, or at least, not a direct continuation of the story. It’s set to be more of a spin off romantic comedy with the characters we love.
Now we’re hearing, according to SlashFilm, that Josh Cooley will be taking on the role of co-director with John Lasseter. Cooley was the head of story on Inside Out and he has been working with Pixar since Cars. In and interview with Variety, Cooley said,
To be co-director on Toy Story 4 with John, who brought the Toy Story characters to the screen 20 years ago, is a dream come true. When I first saw Toy Story I was amazed by the groundbreaking computer-generated animation. But it was the strong storytelling that kept me coming back. Toy Story 4 will continue that tradition and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it!
It’s interesting to note that John Lasseter is returning to the director’s chair on this latest story in the Toy Story universe. Lasseter directed the original Toy Story by himself, and then co-directed with Ash Brannon and Lee Unkrich on Toy Story 2. On Toy Story 3, Lasseter was noticably absent with Unkrich taking the sole directorial position. It is highly likely Lasseter was significantly involved on Toy Story 3 as he was a writer and executive producer on the film.
Now on Toy Story 4 Lasseter is back to direct alongside Cooley who is new to directing. It will be exciting to see what kind of organic storytelling will come out of this new combination.
UPDATE: According to Animation Magazine Toy Story 4 is set for a June 16, 2017 release.
![“ When [John] Lasseter and [Ed] Catmull came aboard [the failing Walt Disney Animation Studios team], they were encouraged to consider shuttering Disney Animation altogether and replacing it with the ascendant Pixar. But Dumbo is Lasseter’s favorite...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/45b4bf4e2386aaadba0dcab4389fd379/tumblr_ne69whEqA31s9t02qo1_1280.jpg)
![“ When [John] Lasseter and [Ed] Catmull came aboard [the failing Walt Disney Animation Studios team], they were encouraged to consider shuttering Disney Animation altogether and replacing it with the ascendant Pixar. But Dumbo is Lasseter’s favorite...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/abc22a55710694b2cb9e5050b4062a2c/tumblr_ne69whEqA31s9t02qo2_1280.jpg)
When [John] Lasseter and [Ed] Catmull came aboard [the failing Walt Disney Animation Studios team], they were encouraged to consider shuttering Disney Animation altogether and replacing it with the ascendant Pixar. But Dumbo is Lasseter’s favorite movie of all time. As a child, Catmull spent countless hours imagining himself in the worlds of Pinocchio and Peter Pan. It was Disney that inspired their careers in the first place.
“There was so much pressure on us to close these doors,” Lasseter says. “Ed and I absolutely could not do that.”
If you’re needing a little inspiration for your week, you NEED to be reading this amazing article from WIRED magazine. It’s an in-depth look at turn of the 21st century Disney animation and the heart John Lasseter’s team has put into turning the studio around.
JUST LOOK AT ALL OF JOHN’S TOYS IN HIS OFFICE (in the first photo). We need to be friends with these men (Ed is on the left, John’s sitting down).
The second photo shows three more inspirational guys in Disney animation: Big Hero 6 producer Roy Conli and director Don Hall and Chris Williams.
Check out the full article here: Big Hero 6 Proves It: Pixar’s Gurus Have Brought the Magic Back to Disney Animation
- Courtney (HarmonicaCave)
Start your Friday off right with these images from Disney’s newest short film, Feast, set to play before Big Hero 6 in theaters this November.
USA Today has a great feature on animator/Feast director Patrick Osborne, the most recent Disney employee to see his successful pitch to John Lasseter come to the big screen as part of a short story pitching program at Disney. Osborne has worked on the animated projects Tangled, Bolt, Surf’s Up, Paper Man, and Wreck-It Ralph as well as animating characters as live-action visual effects on The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and I Am Legend. Read the interview here, if you’re into heartwarmingly cute dogs or happiness.
- Courtney (HarmonicaCave)
From Pencils to Pixels (2003). This is a great documentary about the history of animation and where it’s going. It’s a little behind, having come out in 2003, but it still holds up very well, and there’s a lot of great information about the industry and tips on animation too. I highly recommend it.
-Chris