Circle 7

Yesterday it was officially announced that Toy Story 3 would not be produced at Disney. You can read all about it here.

Many in the industry are really jazzed by this news (me included), but I can't help feeling sorry for the folks at Circle 7 (Disney's Pixar sequel studio). I whole heartedly agree with the decision to keep the sequels at their respective studios, it just makes sense, but its a shame that many artists are getting burned.

As the article said, and I have heard, many people at Circle 7 will be absorbed into Disney and/or Pixar which is good news. But all their time and effort have been for not. And I have been hearing that folks who were scheduled to start work later this year at Circle 7, have been notified that they are not needed.

So the chess game that Eisner started with Jobs has come to and end. And not surprisingly it is the artists that have paid the price.

Toy Story 3... Have a Seat

Well the rumor is circulating that on Wednesday, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, when meeting with the artists at Disney, announced that Toy Story 3 would not be happening. In a nutshell, Pixar would make any sequels to their films and Disney would make sequels to theirs. No flip flopping. Which makes sense. As for Circle 7, the studio Disney created for the sole purpose of making Pixar sequels, they mentioned they would like to use the talent that is there but did not give any specifics.

Again at this point this is rumor, however if you listened to the webcast that included Steve Jobs and Bob Iger, Iger himself said that the studio that does the original film should do it's sequel.

Oddly enough I said on this very blog in March of last year that I didn't think Disney would do Toy Story 3 and that the sequel studio would end up doing Chicken Little 2 (which has yet to happen) To read my take on Toy Story 3 from almost a year go click here

Somebody owes me that cookie.

Disney and Pixar

Well it is now official, Pixar Animation Studios has been bought by the Walt Disney Company. To read the Disney press release go here To listen to the Disney/Pixar conference call webcast staring Bob Iger and Steve Jobs, go here

Being both a Disney fan and a Pixar fan this merger is a coup for me. I remember when the Disney company was creative and innovative, before the dark times, before the Empire. Now I think they really have the potential to regain what they have lost. With Ed Catmull and John Lasseter at the helm of animation I can only imagine good things coming from both Pixar and Disney FA. Who knows they may even do another 2D film in the not so distant future. And, with Lasseter being involved with Imagineering, the theme parks could get a very much needed, shot in the arm.

Exciting times are ahead!

Conveying Emotion

Conveying emotion is not only a necessary and challenging aspect of animation, but it can also be a lot of fun...yes fun. In fact there is a web site devoted to just this thing called: Eric Conveys an Emotion This site makes me laugh and laugh, and well it may do the same for you. In a nutshell, at Eric Conveys an Emotion you will see Eric convey different emotions via his web cam; he even takes requests. I think my favorite is: Morning After-Horror Disbelief.

There is also an Adventures area where Eric goes on adventures like Christmas shopping at the mall and finding a new apartment; very funny stuff. You should check it out....right now!!

Hi I'm Paul

If you have ever seen an episode of Jimmy Neutron or visited DNA's home page you may have noticed the 3 eyed monkey that is our mascot and wondered "What's with the 3 eyed monkey". Over at JimHillMedia.com , columnist Roger Colton tells the tale of how Paul the Monkey came into being. Included is a picture of "Steamboat Paul", a picture I did for our "Paul in famous movies" gallery; so be sure to check that out.

A New Look

Changes are a coming to the ol blog. Yes it's true. Starting perhaps tomorrow the blog will be incooperated into my web page; www.raymation.net. All the links and such to the side there will find new homes in the revamped link section of my main site.

But, you may say, I like the blog the way it is, don't change it. To you I say: stop whining, it's not the end of the world...or...is it? It is becoming increasingly difficult to update both the blog and the web site with new info. And there is a lot of new info coming up, most of which concerns our new film The Ant Bully. Therefore having everything in one spot will make it easier on me to do updates. And quite frankly I only care about me and making things easier for me.

If you are stubborn and refuse to access the blog via www.raymation.net that is your choice. You should know that doing this will make people laugh and point at you.