by Matt Raub, Feb 7 2012 // 9:00 AM
There are very few things Pixar could do that would get me more excited to see one of their films. Between the overall popularity of Toy Story, Up, The Incredibles and tons more, there is very little the animation studio can do that would be considered a bad move (Owen Wilson vehicles not included).
With that said, it’s hard to believe they’ve found a way to speak to their audience even more with their upcoming video game parody film, Wreck-It Ralph, but it looks like they just might. Here’s the official synopsis of the film. Consider it Donkey Kong from the gorilla’s perspective.
Wreck-It Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade.
Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman), a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade?
As if the concept of several video and board games being parodied in a Pixar film isn’t enough to guarantee your $10, the studio has recently released some images that will give us an idea of how this video game-based world will look. Take a look after the jump, and catch Wreck-It Ralph in theaters this November.
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Posted in: 3-D · Action · Animation · Comedy · Disney · Fantasy · Movies · News · Pixar · Video Games
Tagged: Disney, Jack McBrayer, John C. Reilly, Pixar, Rich Moore, Sarah Silverman, The Incredibles, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Wreck-It Ralph
by The Flickcast, Jul 14 2011 // 8:00 AM
With Con season in full swing Big Bang Theory star Kelly Cuoco helps girls who have that embarrassing moment of realizing they’re the 1,000th Slave Leia at the party.
While it may not make any sense to people outside of the greater Los Angeles area, this trailer explaining the doom that will set in during Carmageddon this weekend is pretty spot-on.
Mob Wives is a pretty ridiculous show concept, but this Funny or Die spoof spells it out in 3 minutes better than we ever could.
Patton Oswalt has managed to find time in his schedule to star in a series of 5 second films. His newest one is both priceless and thought provoking.
Getting ready for the final Harry Potter film this Friday? Then you’re going to want to catch up with Every Harry Potter Film in 7 Minutes.
Pixar guru John Lasseter is a busy guy. How busy? Here’s a short film on exactly what it takes to be the man himself.
Some great new trailers out this week, including Cuba’s first horror film ever, titled Juan of the Dead, and it looks as good as the title is clever.
Who doesn’t love a good lightsaber battle? The only thing that could make it better is if the sound effects were completely done a capella.
Posted in: Movies · News · Trailers · TV · Video · Web · Web Video Roundup
Tagged: Big Bang Theory, Carmageddon, Harry Potter, John Lasseter, Juan of the Dead, Kelly Cuoco, lightsaber, Mob Wives, Patton Oswalt, Pixar
by Jonathan Weilbaecher, Jul 7 2011 // 8:00 AM

Film composers for the Pixar films have been a pretty exclusive club up to this point. It began with Randy Newman, then stayed in the family when Thomas Newman came over to work with Andrew Stanton,. Finally Michael Giacchino came aboard with Incredibles and that was basically it. Randy Newman and Giacchino both won Oscars for their Pixar works and Thomas Newman has been nominated for three of his own. So when a new composer is signed to join those storied ranks it is exciting news.
The Scotsman is reporting that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire composer Patrick Doyle has been hired to write the music for the next Pixar film Brave. The new film centers on a Scottish princess and boasts many other departures from the normal Pixar mold.
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Posted in: Animation · Announcements · Disney · Movies · Music · News · Pixar
Tagged: Animation, Brave, Disney, Film Score, Movies, News, Patrick Doyle, Pixar
by Matt Raub, Jun 28 2011 // 8:00 AM
It was unfortunate when Disney and Pixar broke up over creative differences a few years back. For a time, albeit brief, there were thoughts that the two iconic animation studios would never reconcile their differences and get back together for us. Turns out, we were wrong, as they got back together almost immediately and have been cranking out amazing films since. Mostly sequels to their franchises, those films had a built in audience. Now, they’re branching into less familiar territory with their newest fantasy film, Brave. Here’s a rundown of the premise.
Brave is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman (Julie Walters) and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Merida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), the surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson), and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane).
A pretty stellar voice cast, with Journeyman’s McKidd and Late Night Guru Craig Ferguson, but will the film hold up against the other epic franchises like Toy Story and Cars? You’ll have to decide on June 22nd when it hits theaters. In the meantime, check out the newest teaser for the film after the jump.
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Posted in: Action · Animation · Disney · Fantasy · Movies · News · Pixar · Trailers · Video
Tagged: Billy Connolly, Brave, Craig Ferguson, Disney, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Kelly MacDonald, Kevin McKidd, Pixar, Robbie Coltrane
by The Flickcast, Jun 27 2011 // 7:00 AM
In what was expected to be one of the smaller opening weekends in this year’s epic summer movie season but Disney and Pixar’s Cars 2 ended up surprising almost everyone with an estimated $68 million take at the domestic box office.
Not only did Cars 2 have the biggest 3-day pull of the year so far, it blew the original 2006 film out of the water by an astounding $8 million lead. The newest film pulled in over $110 million worldwide, which is quite impressive, considering how most Pixar films perform overseas.
In second place this weekend was the raunchy comedy from Sony/Columbia, Bad Teacher. The film performed mildly well domestically, pulling in an estimated $31 million and upwards of $20 million overseas.
Another film that opened this weekend made some impressive strides as well, with the indie documentary Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop. The film only opened in 24 screens and managed to pull in $105,000. Not bad for CoCo.
Next weekend, expect the results to be skewed, as Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens to 4,000 screens on Wednesday. Those who miss out on the robot-on-robot action will get Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in Larry Crowne.
Posted in: Action · Animation · Box Office · Comedy · Disney · Movies · News · Pixar
Tagged: bad teacher, Cars, Cars 2, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, Disney, Larry Crowne, Pixar, Sony, Transformers: Dark of the Moon
by The Flickcast, Jun 24 2011 // 2:30 PM
Welcome to another edition of On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.
Let’s get started!
• Jamie Foxx is no Will Smith, but that didn’t stop Quentin Tarantino from getting him to play his slave (in a non-offensive way) in Django Unchained.
• We’ll be getting the final film in a mere weeks, but that hasn’t stopped J.K. Rowling from keeping the Harry Potter franchise top-of-brain with the newest marketing ploy, Pottermore.
• Pixar is being pretty secretive about their newest film, Brave. The first thing we’re getting, however, is a glimpse at the very stylized characters of the film.
• We know that Entourage is a pretty douchey show, but this new poster makes us feel like they may just know themselves, and feel really bad about it.
• A Russian company called Stoyn has helped make every 80s fanboy’s dream come true by releasing Pop Culture Popsicles. We have a feeling the Darth Vader flavor may taste more like plastic than anything else.
• The very first images of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy have hit the web. Strangely, they look identical to Peter Jackson’s last trilogy about a ring…
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Posted in: Animation · Comedy · Movies · News · On The Radar · Sci-Fi · The Internets · TV
Tagged: Anime, Brave, Darth Vader, Disney, Django Unchained, Entourage, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Jamie Foxx, Peter Jackson, Pixar, Quentin Tarantino, The Hobbit, True Blood
by Jonathan Weilbaecher, Jun 24 2011 // 12:30 PM
PIXAR began taking the cinematic world by storm in 1995 with the original Toy Story. Part of what made that film so good was the songs and score by Randy Newman, who would go on to write music for the next three PIXAR films. For the fifth film by the studio, Randy’s cousin Thomas Newman stepped up to the plate for the Finding Nemo score. It began to look like the Newman scoring dynasty had the monopoly on Disney’s golden goose.
That was until PIXAR brought in an outsider to direct their sixth film, The Incredibles. Brad Bird brought on young TV composer Michael Giacchino to write the Bond-tastic music and the rest is history. Giacchino has since won an Oscar, and was nominated for another, for his work with PIXAR and now has come full circle with another international spy influenced score for Cars 2.
There are few things that are a certainty in life, and it is starting to become obvious that one of them is Giacchino’s PIXAR scores are some of the greatest pieces of music written in the last decade. Cars 2 is absolutely not an exception to that rule. The music is fun, exciting and catchy as all hell, I instantly find myself whistling and humming along with the tracks. I have only been with the CD for a week and I already count it as being as good as the best scores from last year.
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Posted in: Animation · Comedy · Disney · Film Music Reviews · Film Score Friday · Movies · News · Pixar · Reviews
Tagged: Animation, Cars, Cars 2, CD, Disney, Film Score, Film Score Friday, Michael Giacchino, Pixar, review
by The Flickcast, Apr 29 2011 // 5:45 PM

Welcome to another edition of On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.
Let’s get started!
• Chuck Lorre is developing a Sheen-less reboot of Two and a Half Men for CBS. Would this be considered #cheating?
• As if Lex Luthor didn’t have enough reason to hate him, Superman recently renounced his US citizenship in the comics so that DC can appeal to a more global audience.
• A brand new poster for Green Lantern has hit the web showing off way more Corps members than we can name. Check out the full-res image here.
• Zach Galifiniakis is out, but Jeff Bridges may be picking up the slack to play alongside Ryan Reynolds in the big-screen adaptation of R.I.P.D.
• Those of you hoping for an animated Ant-Man film with Pixar and Marvel Studios are sadly out of luck, as Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter says there are no plans for a team-up.
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Posted in: Action · Movies · News · On The Radar · Sci-Fi
Tagged: Ant-Man, Beastie Boys, Brother's Justice, Charlie Sheen, Chuck Lorre, Fast Five, Green Lantern, Jeff Bridges, Lex Luthor, Pixar, R.I.P.D., Ryan Reynolds, Superman, Three and a Half Men, X-Men: First Class
by Matt Raub, Apr 5 2011 // 9:00 AM
Just a short while after it was announced Pixar’s upcoming sequel to 2001′s Monsters Inc. will actually be a prequel, it looks like Pixar and Disney may have spoken too soon, as the film is now getting pushed back to 2013.
We’re not looking at a massive push, just 6 or 7 months. According to THR, that hasn’t stopped Disney from filling up that prime open box office time.
Disney is pushing back the release of Pixar’s sequel Monsters University from Nov. 2, 2012 to June 21, 2013. As a result, Disney toon Reboot Ralph will now open Nov. 2, 2012 — Monsters’ old date — instead of March 12, 2013.
Within several hours, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation announced they were moving The Croods from March 1, 2013, to March 22, 2013.
Needless to say, both November and now the following June are going to be pretty big months for animation fans, especially families. Sadly, this does mean that fans of Billy Crystal and John Goodman’s characters from the original will have to wait that much longer.
Posted in: Animation · Announcements · Comedy · Disney · Dreamworks · Movies · News · Pixar · Sci-Fi
Tagged: Billy Crystal, Disney, Dreamworks, John Goodman, Monsters Inc., Monsters University, Pixar, Reboot Ralph, The Croods
by Joe Gillis, Jan 11 2011 // 9:00 AM
While the Pixar/Disney partnership has been one for the record books, one film that touches the hearts of anyone who has ever picked up a comic book is 2004′s The Incredibles. The film withstands it’s 7 years of release, and will now be getting a brand new breath of life as it makes it’s way to Blu-Ray this April.
The release is said to be a combo pack, which means you’ll not only get the Blu-Ray disc, but a standard definition disc as well as a digital download. The Blu-Ray disc will also be state-of-the art in high definition, bringing you 6x the resolution of a regular DVD.
In promoting this release, Pixar and Disney Home Video released a new trailer, featuring the voice of director Brad Bird reprising his role as the lovable fashionista Edna E. Mode. Check out the trailer after the jump, and get ready for the Blu-Ray combo release on April 11th.
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Posted in: Action · Blu-Ray · Disney · Kids · Movies · News · Pixar · Sci-Fi · Trailers · Video
Tagged: Brad Bird, Craig T. Nelson, Disney, Jason Lee, Pixar, The Incredibles, Toy Story
by Matt Raub, Nov 16 2010 // 12:30 PM
A few weeks ago, we brought you the very first teaser trailer for Disney and Pixar’s upcoming sequel, Cars 2. Now, things are getting a bit more exciting with a brand new, full-length trailer.
We know that we’ve lost Paul Newman, George Carlin, and Joe Ranft since the last film, who all voiced main characters. With that, the team at Pixar and Disney has helped by introducing some great new characters, including a James Bond-esque spy car voiced by Michael Caine.
Cars 2 is set to hit theaters in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D, and standard 2D on June 24th of 2011. In the meantime, check out the new trailer after the jump.
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Posted in: 3-D · Action · Comedy · Disney · Movies · News · Pixar · Sci-Fi · Trailers · Video
Tagged: Cars, Cars 2, Disney, George Carlin, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Pixar
by Matt Raub, Oct 21 2010 // 8:00 AM
It seems to be a distant memory now, but there was a period in time when Pixar and Disney has split up over financial and creative differences. Obviously, Disney didn’t suffer all that much, and went on to do less-than-Pixar quality films like Meet the Robinsons and Chicken Little. The megastudio finally came to their senses and acquired Pixar in 2006, leading up to it’s first feature film after the purchase, Cars.
The lack in preparation on the marketing side of things hurt the film in the long run, leaving it to get beaten by Ice Age: The Meltdown back in 2006. Now, it’s time to change all of that with a brand new film in the works.
From what we gathered in the teaser after the jump, we know that Owen Wilson an Larry the Cable Guy are returning. Sadly, three of the voice actors from the first film have died since it’s original release, which means we won’t get Paul Newman, George Carlin, or voice actor Joe Ranft in the upcoming sequel.
Check out the new teaser after the jump, as well as some great concept art showing us that the whole gang is making a world tour in this story. Be sure to catch Cars 2 in 3D and 2D, in theaters on June 24th.
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Posted in: Action · Animation · Comedy · Disney · Movies · News · Pixar · Prequels and Sequels · Trailers · Video
Tagged: Cars, Cars 2, Disney, George Carlin, Joe Ranft, John Lassetter, Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Pixar, Randy Newman