The Typography of Pixar’s Film Logos

Often not talked about, I think, are the logos for Pixar's animated features. As a graphic design student, I'm finding more and more to appreciate in these very logos and how they work on viewers. Now, the reason I'm going over Pixar's logos, and not Walt Disney Animation Studios' logos, is because with Pixar, there's …

A Meandering Discussion on ‘The Good Dinosaur’, Continued…

In the previous ramble, I talked a lot about how The Good Dinosaur defies a lot of modern animation conventions, whilst going over the expectations that Pixar's films normally get. Now I want to dive more into the film itself... One of the things that makes The Good Dinosaur work so well amongst modern animated …

A Meandering Discussion on ‘The Good Dinosaur’

I always felt that Pixar was sort of a victim of their own success. Think about it. You dash out of the gate with your debut feature, which was innovative in the world of both animation and cinema. You follow that up with fifteen years of critically acclaimed box office smashes, each and every one …

‘The Jungle Book’, ‘The Lion King’ and the Future of Animation

Updates made to this article on September 28, 2016 following the announcement of a remake of 'The Lion King'... Original article follows, then the updated thoughts... The other day, I finally got around to watching Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book, which was made by Walt Disney Pictures and released earlier this year to unanimous critical …

Disney’s Marketing Problem…

Back in April of 2013, Disney had excitedly announced at the annual CinemaCon expo that their plan was to release at least *eight* tentpole films every calendar year. This was when movie division chairman Alan Horn - pictured above - was relatively new to the studio. A veteran from Warner Bros.' heyday, Horn was the …

A Better Beast?

The 2017, Disney-made live-action Beauty and the Beast remake is only happening for one reason, and it rhymes with honey. Disney's animated adaptation of Beauty and the Beast is still loved 25 years after its 1991 theatrical debut, and is often called one of the greatest animated films. Of course Disney wants to mine from …

2016’s Animated Oscars… Hard to Predict?

The Oscars... The Best Animated Feature category... Who is in the running? I think this year, we don't have too many definite answers. This is a bit premature, because four more major animated features are left, one of which comes from the on-a-roll Walt Disney Animation Studios. The features are Warner Animation Group's high-flying comedy …

Why I’m Looking Forward To ‘Cars 3’, More So Than ‘Toy Story 4’…

Update: In late October, Pixar played musical chairs with Toy Story 4 and The Incredibles 2. Toy Story 4 is now slated to come out in summer 2019, with The Incredibles 2 opening in summer 2018... Pixar's future slate, a line-up peppered with sequels, is a complicated discussion. Another story for another day, but so …

The Animation Box Office Crown

This summer's Finding Dory, interestingly enough, broke the record for highest grossing animated film in the domestic market. For 12 years, the crown was held by DreamWorks' Shrek 2, which was actually one of those rare sequels that outgrossed its predecessor by a wide margin. Finding Dory of course got to that point due to …

Breaking Down Disney’s “Dark Age”: Aftermath and Conclusion

  In the previous part, I looked at The Black Cauldron, the film that is seemingly the poster child of everything wrong with the company before the esteemed Renaissance. It's also often looked at as a low point for theatrical animation, but was it really, truly that bad? In my review I gave the verdict, …