John Lasseter
usually doesn’t reveal anything about upcoming Pixar projects. Even though
Toy Story 3 has
been a known project ever since Disney threatened to make it without Pixar,
Lasseter always dodges it. Finally, Lasseter has once-and-for-all confirmed it
and discussed turning over the original Pixar property to a new(ish) director.
"We have Toy Story 3 directed by
Lee Unkrich
and Lee co-directed Toy
Story 2 with me," said Lasseter. "Lee was part of the original creative
[team]. I didn’t let go of the reins. We’re still doing it and Lee was a part of
the original creative team on
Toy Story and then
he co-directed Toy Story 2 with me."
Whatever Toy Story 3 is about, it’s got nothing to
do with that summer camp idea Disney bandied around. "Obviously not. I don’t
know what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about that."
Lasseter has some other Pixar treats too. "The movie after
Wall-E is a movie
called Up and it’s directed by
Pete Docter
who did Monsters, Inc.
It’s kind of a big action adventure starring an 80-year-old man. It’s got a lot
of heart in the story. It’s great."
Pixar is also revisiting 2D animation with The Princess
and the Frog. "John
Musker and
Ron Clements (Aladdin,
The Great Mouse Detective,
The Little
Mermaid) are directing it for Disney. It’s going to be great. We have an
awful lot of animators at Pixar who have been trained in hand drawn. We all
still love the art form. What I love sometimes is when creative people have
tremendous constraints, brilliant ideas come out of it."
The Princess
and the Frog and Up are
scheduled for 2009, with
Toy Story 3 set
to a 2010 release. Wall-E
will roll into theaters on June 27, 2008.
