Monsters University

[Locall]

I'm not a fan of sequels either, but I think we should wait and see how they turn out to be...
Toy Story 3 looks to be amazing, and if this is true than I couldn't care less if Pixar puts out more sequels as long as their good.
Disney made the word 'sequel' look bad, but it doesn't have to be a bad thing

[EricJ]

While I'm really looking forward to Brave and John Carter of Mars

(And just off the subject--
Anyone familiar with knockoff king Asylum Studios, of "Transmorphers" and "I Am Omega" fame, may or not know they've already staked that target out:
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Mars-Tra ... 002RUNJCW/ ,
but also had the gall to promote "From the classic story that INSPIRED AVATAR!"

That's a pretty hefty stretch, but....wellll...wait...think about it...

...Nah. Let's not go there. I want to ENJOY Pixar's movie while I can. )

Weeeeelll...
1) Disney bought them, and wants to see a return on their investment.
2) Pixar, like any other company, needs to keep the hits coming so they don't lose their independence.
3) Pixar is expanding, with the move into live-action, and that's a big risk for them. They need to potentially cushion any blow and the best way to do this is with a sequel that they know carries brand recognition and will probably deliver big numbers.
<snip>

6) The sad saga of Circle 7 Animation. Bury the dead with ceremony on hallowed ground, and maybe the ghosts won't come back to haunt.
(Not to mention--unlike the TS3 script which was written to prevent C7's monstrosity--the C7 Monsters 2 script reportedly got rave in-house reviews; the writers stayed on at Disney and are reportedly also getting good notice for the new upcoming Tink video. Like TS2, Pixar had to make a sequel out of necessity, and may have found they had a good script source to expand upon. )

7) With a brief drought in projects (after Newt's cancellation, and gearing up for the live-actions), it would've made more sense to save Brave for '12-'13.
Just why they're jamming it in BETWEEN sequels may be a public image: A lot of (ahemdopes ) aren't aware of the reasons why TS3 and Monsters2 were made, and are (coughshootingofftheirbigfatfanboymouths) about "Pixar making nothing but sequels, they probably don't have any new ideas anymore", etc.-rinse-repeat.

Obviously, makes more sense to stagger the artistic schedule a bit and not have the sequels awkwardly clumped together, although it never helps to have too much of a good thing in the same year--
Remember back in '02 when we were still so busy word-of-mouthing about "Lilo & Stitch" by August and September, we literally hadn't even noticed Disney's trailer for their next movie in November?..."Wait, I thought that was coming out next year!"

[James]

Weeeeelll...

...Lasseter's reign at Disney hasn't yet delivered results. Sure there is the goodwill that Disney is doing hand-drawn again - at least for now - but none of the films that have carried Lasseter's name as exec producer (Robinsons, Bolt, Princess) have exceeded or even met expectations (with Princess the big gamble that didn't pay back as much as it could/should have)...

To be totally fair, the results critically have improved from the pre-Pixar days. Disney may not be at Pixar quality levels yet, but I don't think we can doubt there has been a change for the better in Disney's films so far. Also, at the same time Pixar's films have just gotten better since the Disney merger so the worry that Lasseter and Co. might spread themselves too thin resulting in a loss of quality in Emeryville has not come to pass.

All in all though I agree with you on the financial front. And if Pixar is moving to a two pics a year schedule I can live with one of them being a sequel if the other is something new on par with Ratatouille, Up, and Wall-e!

[starlioness]

speaking of Ratatouille I wonder how many kids (or anybody not familiar with that word) can get the spelling/pronounciation right... I used to call it Ratowheelie ( I never heard it pronounced until I finally saw a trailer :p) and can barley spell it to save my life.. but it's a lot better than calling it Rats.. or Crepe Suzette..

[ohmahaaha]

Considering their track record, I don't think we have anything to worry about. Toy Story 2 was even better than Toy Story 1; I can't wait to see Toy Story 3. Cars and Monsters Inc. both I thought were wide open for good sequels.

[Foxtale]

I couldn't find a thread devoted to Newt so I did a search and this is where it was last mentioned. The cancellation was made more public by the Pixar Blog

http://pixarblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/e ... um=twitter

[LotsoA113]

Not sure if we have a topic on this yet (if there is, feel free to move this), but here's the teaser for Monsters University that'll debut on Brave.



Alright, so I chortled, not gonna lie. Mike and Sully are some of the best characters ever made by Pixar and Monsters Inc. is, along with Ratatouille, probably their most underrated movie. Unlike Cars 2, they're may actually be a bit of a story here that's neccesary and fun, so count me in.

On a technical note...if you wanna look at how much animation has changed since 2001, just compare Monsters Inc's teaser to Monsters University's teaser. Right of the bat, the door, the lamp, the basket...all the objects in the room are much more stylized, like most objects in Pixar features are post-The Incredibles (that flick certainly set the style animation wise for the company that still goes on to this day) Also, the animation looks too clean and perfect for me. One of the charms of Monsters Inc. was that the building looked a little run-down, the streets had life in them and the monsters looked a bit obtuse. Here, most of the beats look like plush toys and even Mike And Sully have undergone some changes that don't sit well.

I'll probably get used to it by the time June 21, 2013 rolls around...but it's amazing how much there is to ponder here, animation-wise alone, just from this little snippet of footage.

[laughingoctopus]

I agree with you about the animation, but I think this will be good. The teaser captures the feel of the first movie just in it's short time, and I like the concept.

[Josh]

A few years ago, I wrote an idea for the Monsters, Inc. sequel, here in the AV Forum, that included Mike being used as a disco ball. Cool to see something similar in the trailer, I guess. (Not saying Pixar stole my idea or anything. Heck, I'm probably the only one who even remembers it. )

Anyway, I agree with you, Lotso. From the colorful redesigns to the harmless premise, I'd almost think this was a direct-to-video sequel. The teaser for Monsters, Inc. was far better.

[LotsoA113]

Glad to see I'm not insane after all. Also, just something I noticed a moment ago, look at the bottom right hand corner of the thumbnail...isn't that Mike's doll from Monsters Inc. ? If it is, I appreciate the continuity.

[EricJ]

Not sure if we have a topic on this yet (if there is, feel free to move this), but here's the teaser for Monsters University that'll debut on Brave..

There's supposedly FOUR separate spot-the-difference cuts floating around, depending on what Mike mutters in his sleep. (This is the "My homework ate my dog!" version, the others are in remote locations with weird viewing apps that never load )

[ShyViolet]

First review:

http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/mo ... iew/564746

[Ben]

Just as I feared. I read this last week and almost posted it here...OUCH!

[ShyViolet]

The idea itself is flawed because halfway through the first film Sulley SAW the effect that scaring children had on Boo, and it was her terrified face that inspired him to find a better way of powering Monstropolis. There is no point in making a prequel because it underrmines the deep, affecting relationship that Sulley had with Boo. It would have been SO much better to make a sequel, maybe with Boo, maybe with another child: that relationship between the children and monsters was the true core of Monsters Inc. This prequel basically unravels everything that made the first film so great. (I do, now, believe that it deserved the Oscar over Shrek.)

At this rate I don't have very high hopes for Finding Dory, but I am looking foreward to The Good Dinosaur.

[Randall]

Pixar takes another step towards the dark side of commerce over art. There's nothing wrong with a prequel or a sequel per se, IF you have a great story, pefeably a greater one than you would tell in an original film--- the film you're NOT making, because you're making Monsters University. It's too bad they're running out of original ideas, or at least don't have faith in them.

Of course if Brave is the alternative, more sequels won't likely be any worse. I don't think Pixar has made a "bad" film yet, but they've certainly slipped a little. I don't celebrate this at all; it's just hard to not notice.