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D23 has come and gone, and with it all the latest news of Disney’s upcoming features. As I anticipated, despite not announcing anything about them very far in advance, D23 offered some fantastic sneak peak at the Mouse House’s most anticipated upcoming films. Entertainment Weekly has the scoop on the new films.
The Expo was packed with Pixar previews. We got tidbits of what to expect from “Monsters University”: expect Mike and Sully to be a little thinner, less shaggy, and with some orthodontia.
The movie focuses on how the two form their friendship. They’ve actually known each other all their lives, having met as children, but they don’t like each other very much. It isn’t until they are thrown together in college that they actually form the close bond we see in “Monsters University.”
Pixar also used D23 as a forum to reveal details on two of its upcoming, as-of-yet-untitled flicks. Just before the expo Disney announced that these two films exist, but we learned a bit about them at the Expo.
Pixar’s back to pushing the envelope. The first, with a prospective release date for the holidays 2013, is a film about dinosaurs. Don’t expect any “Land Before Time” exploits here, though; the currently “The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs!” explores what the modern world might be and look like if the dinosaurs never died off, and have always lived alongside humans. I’d be intrigued to see a story like this from anyone, but I can’t wait to see what Pixar does with this project.
The other announced film is a bit more vague, but I still feel confident about it given that it’s in the hands of “Up” and “Monsters Inc.” director Pete Docter. I’ll let him explain the film, because he does so better than I could:
“Do you ever wonder how people make decisions? Why we remember, or how we forget? Why we dream? Why do songs get stuck in our heads? Most of us have had the experience of being around someone and thinking what is going on in their head!? This film will attempt to answer those questions.”
It’s being called “The Untitled Pixar Film that Takes You Inside the Mind,” and it does sound like it could be based off a screenplay written by a pretentious philosophy major undergrad. But as I said, given that it’s coming from Pixar, I think it’ll be great.
Out of all the details I learned from D23, the ones from “Brave” excite me the most, even more so than movies at which I haven’t yet looked. The teaser trailer from the film showed us the gorgeous detail work done on Merida’s Scottish highlands, and the preview screened at D23 only confirmed that this is the most in-depth design work Pixar’s done for a film’s setting yet.
What I’m mostly excited for, however, is just how cool Merida is. The clip showed the princess being harangued by her father, King Fergus, to choose a suitor. Merida doesn’t care for any of them; they’re all sleazy or dumb. To narrow down the pool, the King has them all line up for an archery contest.
After they all take their shots, a hooded figure moves to the front and fires off a round of arrows. The arrows sink home to the bull’s eye in every target. The figure pulls off its hood to reveal Princess Merida. That is awesome. Enough said.
OK, no, here’s one more tidbit. The bear we see Merida go up against in the trailer for “Brave” is a legendary beast amongst her people. It claimed her father’s leg in a battle from year’s past. Is Merida going after it to earn her father’s respect? I can’t wait until we find out next June.
Stay tuned later this week, as I’ll report more of the exciting announcements from D23.
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