How to use this Page

A behind-the-scenes look at the ultimate challenge: figuring out the story of "Zootopia."

The post WATCH: ‘Imagining Zootopia’ Is A Fantastic 47-Minute Look At The Making Of Disney’s Latest Film appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

John Lasseter's thoughts are better with soothing music and scenic photography.

The post The Wisdom of John Lasseter appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

John Lasseter has an interesting way of explaining 'Zootopia."

The post ‘Zootopia’ Feels Like It Was ‘Made By And For Animals,’ Says Lasseter appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

At one point during tonight's Annie Awards ceremony, after Pixar had won its umpteenth award, SpongeBob voice actor Tom Kenny asked the audience, "When are we going to start calling these awards The Pixies?"

The post ‘Inside Out’ Dominates Annie Awards With 10 Wins – Complete Winners List appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Is your holiday tree lacking that extra special something? Tired of the same old ornaments and toppers? Add an animation director to it.

The post Holiday Decorating Idea: Animation Director Angels appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Last night Pixar’s new film The Good Dinosaur had its premiere in Los Angeles. We invited a Pixar mega-fan to send us his personal report from the premiere:

“The premiere was wonderful, and it was a memorable evening for the film’s director Pete Sohn.”

“But it was an even more memorable evening for me…John Lasseter.”

“It was fun to see intimate conversations, like this one that Pete is having with ‘Good Dino’ voice actors A. J. Buckley and Raymond Ochoa.”

“Guys, is there room for me in here?”

“Let’s get a photo, A. J.”

“O.K., can I have a hug, too?”

“Hey Pete, let’s get a photo of us with your film’s producer Denise Ream!”

“That was fun, but now let’s just get one of me by myself.”

“OMIGOD….GROUP PHOTO…GROUP PHOTO!”

“Thanks for letting me be in this one, guys!

“Come closer, little Raymond!”

“All my favorite celebrities were there, like the legendary actor Sam Elliott.”

“…and Anna Paquin.”

“The governor of the great state of Wyoming, Matt Mead, even asked to take his photo with me.”

“These guys said they worked for the Disney Company, but I never heard of them.”

“It was a fun night until my wife Nancy said we had to leave. Ugh!”

“But I had a great time! I can’t wait until the premiere of Pixar’s next film!”

(All photos © 2015 Getty Images. Photos by Alberto E. Rodriguez and Jesse Grant.)

Pixar's latest short is getting its very own art-of book.

Pixar will finally answer the question, What if a Mexican boy named Miguel could meet his long-dead Mexican family members?

Charismatic leader Chairman Lasseter has launched his own clothing line.

Seven student shorts made the cut in the animation category.

The footage is from a 1981 Disney tour to dozens of colleges.

The show will explore the studio's iterative and collaborative design process.

A new book explores the original, un-Disney-like goals of Pixar's first feature effort.

John Lasseter says that Disney and Pixar will aim to increase diversity onscreen—and hopefully offscreen too.

The 'Frozen' teaser trailer is in legal hot water.

A much sought-after piece of animation history has surfaced on YouTube at last.

These rare videos document the presentation of the animated short Oscar from 1949 through 2013.

Walt Disney Productions changed forever when two guys named Mike and Frank showed up.

Steve Hulett on everything from "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore" to "Katy Caterpillar."

'Toy Story 4'. It's Happening.

To accompany its fawning story on the success of Walt Disney Animation, "Wired" labeled John Lasseter and Ed Catmull as "big heroes" on its cover.

A bit of advice to John Lasseter.

New chapters of Mouse in Transition will be published every Friday on Cartoon Brew. It is the story of Disney Feature Animation—from the Nine Old Men to the coming of Jeffrey Katzenberg. Ten lost years of Walt Disney Production’s animation studio, through the eyes of a green animation writer. Steve Hulett spent a decade in Disney Feature Animation’s story department writing animated features, first under the tutelage and supervision of Disney veterans Woolie Reitherman and Larry Clemmons, then under the watchful eye of young Jeffrey Katzenberg. Since 1989, Hulett has served as the business representative of the Animation Guild, Local 839 IATSE, a labor organization which represents Los Angeles-based animation artists, writers and technicians. Read Chapter 1: Disney’s Newest Hire Read Chapter 2: Larry Clemmons Read Chapter 3: The Disney Animation Story Crew Read Chapter 4: And Then There Was…Ken! Read Chapter 5: The Marathon Meetings of Woolie Reitherman Read Chapter 6: Detour into Disney History Read Chapter 7: When Everyone Left Disney Read Chapter 8: Mickey Rooney, Pearl Bailey and Kurt Russell “Chief has to DIE,” Ron Clements said. “The picture doesn’t work if he just breaks his LEG. Copper doesn’t have enough motivation to hate the fox.” Ron looked at me intently, shaking his head. He was a supervising animator on The Fox and the Hound, and was just then in the process of making a jump into the story department. He was something of a perfectionist and (for some reason) wanted the story to be better. Ron had worked for a season at Hanna-Barbera and then entered the Disney training program, apprenticing with veteran animator Frank Thomas. Within a decade he would be co-directing Disney’s breakout blockbuster The Little Mermaid, but at this moment he was unhappy with the story arc of The Fox and the Hound. “I agree with you, Ron,” I said. “Agree completely. But do you think Art Stevens will buy a change like that?” “I don’t know. But we have to try. The picture needs to be stronger.” The Fox and the Hound had a three-act structure. The second act had the fox, Tod, involved with a railroad accident. The old dog Chief gets knocked off a tall bridge by a thundering locomotive, and Tod gets unfairly blamed for the accident. Chief dies in the book on which the movie is based, but in the Disney version, the elderly dog only suffers a broken leg. Even so, Copper (the young bloodhound) angrily vows revenge against his friend Tod. Ron and most of the younger story crew thought Copper’s anger and lust for revenge was several clicks over the top, considering Tod’s minor sin. So Ron and the rest of us pleaded the case to the lead director: “Please let’s have Chief DIE.” Art was skittish about it, and said no. No surprise there. So the same argument was hauled upstairs to Disney’s management, with the same reaction: “You can’t kill off a lovable central character! Children will FREAK OUT! Parents will hate us! WE’LL GET LETTERS!!” Neither tearful pleas nor the example of Bambi’s mother catching a bullet could change the directors’ or the top brass’s minds. They wouldn’t kill Chief, and that was final. Ron Clements was not a guy who easily took “No” for an answer, but after a protracted campaign, he dropped the issue. Arguing was as pointless as jousting with windmills. (I had dropped the issue earlier. I am not a big believer in banging my head against hard, thick walls.) But it was one more point of dissatisfaction between the recently-arrived Young Turks and the Disney Animation establishment. The old timers from the 1930s were gone, but the generation that had rolled in during the 1940s and 1950s was finally holding the tiller, and they were bound and determined not to cede their newly acquired power and leverage to a bunch of goddamn kids in their goddamn twenties. Many of the “kids” were from California Institute of the Arts, the Disney-funded college in Valencia, California that served as a training ground for a lot of the animation industry. Walt Disney Productions had, in recent years, skimmed off the cream of the CalArts crop, and recent grads like John Musker, Henry Selick, Brian McEntee, Bruce Morris, Joe Ranft, Mikes Cedeno, Mike Giamo, Tim Burton, Jerry Rees, and an ebullient CalArts star named John Lasseter (among numerous others) populated the animation building. A 1980 volleyball game between the Disney producers and artists. The color commentary and play-by-play by John Musker reveals the underlying tensions between the two camps. Video by Randy Cartwright. Most of the CalArts group groused about the old-timers’ stodgy, moldy fig attitudes, and the stodgy, moldy fig product that resulted therefrom. They had been against the Bluth forces; now they chafed against the veterans’ tightly-held reins. Brad Bird had already gotten his ass fired for making his gripes too loud and too public, but the general mood of frustration and desire to try something fresh, new, and different continued. Even with the bad feelings, various CalArts graduates were being groomed for better things. Early on, John Musker jumped on a career track pointed toward director. John Lasseter was assigned to different projects in development. Bruce Morris and Joe Ranft quickly worked their way into story development. But the veterans remained territorial…and a touch paranoid. I remember Art Stevens saying, “Who do these pipsqueaks think they ARE?! They’re not geniuses. They can’t come in here and have their way after fifteen minutes!” (Another old-timer told me: “Art spent years in John Lounsbery’s unit as his key assistant. And Art would get furious if artists in their group tried to move up and out. He always wanted everybody to stay where they were, to not change anything. He’d get offended if anybody tried to jump ship.”) Tim Burton, bent over a light board down on the first floor, was becoming known for his very un-Disney character sketches. Joe Ranft, Darrell van Citters, Brian McEntee, Mike Giamo, Jim Mitchell, and …

Disney is developing a live-action feature based on the 1941 animated film Dumbo. Ehren Kruger, who has written or co-written three of the four Michael Bay "Transformers" films, will write the script

John Lasseter, who became a doctor for the second time last week, delivered the commencement speech to this year's graduating CalArts class. Lasseter's speech is a cross between a revival meeting and a rock concert, complete with rowdy audience members chiming in, like in this exchange.