pixar

25 May

Pixar, Italian Style: Why Luca is Set in 1950s Italy

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Pixar movies have been set in all kinds of places: a coral reef, a closet full of toys, and the inside of the human brain are just a few examples of such creative flights of fancy. But with Luca, the original new fantasy coming from the fabled studio that will stream exclusively on Disney+ next month, director Enrico Casarosa and the filmmaking team have ventured into an exotic new locale: Italy during the 1950s. Luca is the charming story of two young friends, Luca and Alberto (voiced by Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer respectively), who spend a delightful, seemingly…

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28 Apr

How Luca Became the First Pixar Movie Made at Home

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Luca is the name of the next animated feature film from Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, directed and conceived by animator and artist Enrico Casarosa. Working at Pixar since 2002 as a story artist in films like Cars, Up, Coco, and Ratatouille, Casarosa directed the 2012 short La Luna before making his feature directorial debut this year with Luca—an original fantasy based partially on Casarosa’s boyhood in Genoa, Italy. Telling the tale of two teenage sea monsters named Luca and Alberto (voiced respectively by Jacob Tremblay from Good Boys and Room, and Jack Dylan Grazer of It and Shazam! fame) who…

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26 Dec

Pixar’s Soul: Who Are All of 22’s Mentors?

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This article contains Soul spoilers. You can find our spoiler-free review here. 22, the incorrigible soul voiced by Tina Fey, has resided in the Great Before for a very, very long time. But just how long is that? Centuries? Millennia? By virtue of her name, a number designated to her soul upon arrival in the Great Before, it is hinted that she’s been watching our world with skepticism since the very beginning: a soul who’s had eons to say, “No, that living thing is not for me.” In all that time, she’s also had countless mentors: Souls who completed a…

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22 Dec

Soul Review: Pixar is Bringing You Some Christmas Magic

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It takes nearly 12 minutes before Disney and Pixar show their title cards in Soul. By then, we’ve met a guy named Joe, basked in his dream to be a professional jazz pianist, and watched him fall down a manhole that’s led him to the other side. Now he’s being confronted with a bright multi-hued light called the Great Beyond, which draws souls to it like a bug zapper collects flies, and he’s understandably fleeing in the opposite direction To say that Soul is ambitious for a kids’ movie, or even a Pixar film, is an understatement. Here is a…

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01 Dec

Soul: How Nine Inch Nails Scored the New Pixar Movie

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For many music fans, the name Trent Reznor has long been synonymous with Nine Inch Nails. It is, after all, the groundbreaking industrial rock act that Reznor founded in 1988 and was the sole stationary member of until Atticus Ross was added as a permanent member in 2016. For others still, Reznor and Ross are the Oscar and Emmy-winning composers of scores for acclaimed films and TV shows like The Social Network, Gone Girl, and Watchmen. And yet, even with this eclectic legacy, it’s likely few except the minds at Pixar ever thought of either NIN member as the sound…

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09 Oct

Inside Pixar’s Soul and the Secrets of Life Before Death

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In 2015 Pixar and director Pete Docter brought us Inside Out, a brilliant, moving exploration of how our emotions affect our relationships as we grow older. The Oscar-winning film’s script (by Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley) was heavily inspired by the filmmakers’ research into neuropsychology and the mysteries of how the human mind works. Now five years later, Docter and a new team have gone in a completely different direction–the metaphysical–with Soul. Den of Geek was given a chance to view the first 20 minutes of the film and speak afterward with Docter, co-writer Kemp Powers, and producer Dana…

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09 Oct

Pixar’s Soul Moves to Disney Plus for Christmas

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In news that hardly qualifies as a surprise, although still bitter for movie theater owners, Disney is officially breaking the theatrical window for the next Pixar movie, Soul, in favor of a Disney+ premiere. The Mouse House announced the news late Thursday, making good on a move that’s long been speculated, particularly after Disney moved Marvel’s Black Widow and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake out of 2020, but left Soul on the calendar. As per Disney, the film will be abandoning its current perch of Nov. 20 and skipping Thanksgiving altogether in order to be home in time for…

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30 Jul

Pixar Reveals New Original Film is Luca

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Disney and Pixar Animation Studios may still be angling for the intriguing Soul to meet its current November release date, but the pair is also now moving onto the next project with the announcement of Luca. The previously untitled film slated for June 18, 2021 was unveiled by Pixar on Tuesday after the movie’s name, Luca, leaked online earlier this week. That was due to Disney filing a trademark application for the title. Now we have our first concept artwork from the film, visible above, as well as new details about the animated movie, which is set in the Italian…

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17 Apr

Onward: The RPG and Gaming Easter Eggs in Pixar’s Latest

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Pixar’s most recent release, Onward, is a celebration of brotherly love and family. It’s also a send-up of fantasy role playing games. In the story, brothers Ian and Barley (Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) must complete a quest in order to bring their late father back to life for a single day. While you don’t need to be a gamer to enjoy Onward, there are some delightful easter eggs inside the film for those of us familiar with tabletop role playing games, collectable card games, and specifically old school Dungeons & Dragons. Take a peek at what we noticed while…

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07 Apr

Pixar Movies and Shows on Disney Plus Streaming Guide

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To infinity and beyond. That’s of course Buzz Lightyear’s favorite turn of phrase, but it might as well describe the amount of viewing options you’ll have now that Disney+ is live. With almost every classic animated movie on the service, as well as most of Disney’s live-action library, there is a cornucopia of options for the Disney faithful. But what might make a certain subsect of the congregation especially happy is nearly full access to Pixar Animation Studios’ catalogue.  Stream your Pixar favorites with a FREE TRIAL of Disney+, on us, right here! The animation house responsible for changing the very…

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23 Mar

Complete Pixar Movie Disney Plus UK Streaming Guide

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When Disney+ launched in the US last November, it was still shaking off the remnants of its former Netflix deal. Lingering ties to the streaming competitor meant that a few completist-irking gaps were left in the US Disney+ Pixar catalogue. At launch, Coco, Up and Incredibles 2 weren’t available to American subscribers. Not so for the UK. When Disney+ arrives on March 24th, it’s getting the full complement of Pixar. Films, shorts, you name it. That catalogue is fuller than Emile the Rat in a binful of tainted Camembert. Don’t miss out on this Disney+ PRE-ORDER DEAL, on us! So if you’re…

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13 Mar

Soul: Release Date and Trailer for Disney Pixar Movie

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Soul is the (contextually loaded) title of an intriguing new feature from Disney-Pixar. While the project had a long-held hush-hush status, the veil has finally been lifted with the first teaser trailer (seen just below), revealing a life-affirming metaphysical ordeal of a jaded jazz man (Jamie Foxx), who falls down a manhole and becomes a spirit, rediscovering his life priorities. Pete Docter serves as director for Soul, bringing a breadth of Pixar experience as a writer (for classics like Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., WALL·E, Up and Inside Out,) and director for the aforementioned Monsters Inc. and Inside Out. Thus, the…

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