NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Calling the toon

By Russell Baillie
NZ Herald·
12 Apr, 2008 12:00 AM7 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Woody and Buzz are back in the third Toy Story movie. Photo / Pixar films

Woody and Buzz are back in the third Toy Story movie. Photo / Pixar films

The hottest and the oldest American animation film studios are now joined and unleashing an avalanche of features together. Russell Baillie reports from New York

KEY POINTS:

They call it a "slate" - a list of films a studio has on the go.

But as entertainment media who gathered this week in New York saw the details of the forthcoming releases by the now-aligned Pixar and Disney animation studios, it soon felt like someone had
been quarrying the stuff.

For the titles just kept on coming throughout the presentation hosted by a clearly excited John Lasseter, director of the Toy Story films and Cars, and now chief creative officer for both animation studios since the Disney Corporation acquired Pixar in a US$7.5 billion ($9.4 billion) deal in 2006. Last year's hit Ratatouille was the last product of an independent Pixar.

The two studios have 10 new cinema titles coming out between now and Christmas 2012. Eight of them will be released in the 3D format, which Disney and many of the other major Hollywood studios are banking on to lure the home theatre generation back into the cinema.

As well there will be 3D reissues of the first two Toy Story movies leading up to the release of Toy Story 3 - a film which was once a bone of contention between Pixar and Disney during tenser times in their pre-merger relationship - in mid-2010.

Starting later this year there will also be four straight-to-DVD films telling the origin stories of Tinkerbell, released, yes, just in time for Christmas.

So far as the cinematic releases go, there's still an easy way to tell the two studios apart - the Pixar films will be generally coming out mid-year in the northern hemisphere's summer blockbuster season (and presumably on DVD for Christmas) while the Disney Animation Studio films are the pre-Christmas cinema fare.

And there are signs that the past traditional differences in approach between Pixar and Disney are crossing over under Lasseter's direction.

The 2011 Pixar release The Bear and the Bow is Pixar's first foray into Disney's traditional territory of feisty princesses from history.

Meanwhile, early footage of Disney's Bolt being released at the end of the year, about a TV star dog who thinks he's a superhero, shows he has something of a Buzz Lightyear about him.

And as he teams up with a cat named Mittens and a unhinged hamster named Rhino, early footage of the film suggests it might be The Incredible Journey meets Toy Story.

But Disney still has the majority share on fairytale princesses in its CG adaptation of Rapunzel, a film which the studio's original animators from the Walt Disney era had planned on doing after the 1937 classic Snow White.

And there's a return to classic Disney tradition with the hand-drawn musical The Princess and The Frog, which is set in New Orleans but is sure to be heading to Broadway one day where there are now three Disney productions which were animated or part-animated films in a former life - The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins.

But early footage, some of it just storyboards showing a fascinating work-in-progress, suggests Pixar is retaining its idiosyncratic edge on films like the forthcoming Wall.E, Up and Newt.

Just what the 10 new films represent in terms of money makes for daunting calculation. Budgets are kept close to the chest by the two studios but each film would be in the US$100 million ballpark and based on Pixar's past successes (see sidebar) would be hoping to earn four to six times that amount internationally. Funnily enough, the presentation in a theatre at New York University might have suited the academic-looking - mostly bearded, bespectacled or both - animation boffins from both studios who took it in turn to pitch their films to the press conference.

But it's also just a couple of blocks from Wall St. Judging by what's on display, you can bet that Disney's shareholders are planning on living happily ever after.

THE SLATE OF THINGS TO COME

Wall.E
(Pixar)

What: The tale of the last robot on earth after humankind has evacuated and left the place a real mess, which he is programmed to clean up. His 700-year task is interrupted when another android named Eve arrives and he realises there's something more to life. The hilarious half-hour of highlights shown in New York suggested the film by Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton will clean up at the box office too.
Who: Among others, it features a sci-fi geek-friendly guest appearance by Sigourney Weaver as the voice of Eve's spaceship computer.
When: Opens in New Zealand for the school holidays in September

Bolt
(Disney)

What: Bolt the TV wonderdog doesn't realise his action hero life isn't real, until he ends up in the real world of New York and has to get home to Hollywood with a couple of other oddball pets in tow.
Who: John Travolta gives Bolt his bark while tween superstar Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) is the voice of Penny, Bolt's owner and TV co-star.
When: Due in time for Christmas this year.

Up
(Pixar)

What: Shaping up as possibly Pixar's greatest flight of fancy is this tale about one grumpy old man and his mission to transport his house to South America. By balloon. To give more of the story away would be spoiling what is possibly going to be a very lovely movie described as its makers as a "coming of old age" story. Even the mix of storyboards and unfinished animation on show had many reaching for their hankies.
Who: Ed Asner gives the grumble to cranky Carl Fredricksen while Christopher Plummer also puts in an appearance at the microphone.
When: Mid-2009

The Princess and the Frog
(Disney)

What: Traditionally-animated Disney musical set in New Orleans telling a story of love, voodoo and jazz, complete with a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis.
Who: Broadway singing star Anika Noni Rose will provide the voice of Disney's first African-American princess while longtime Pixar-associate songman Randy Newman is writing the music.
When: Christmas 2009

Toy Story 3
(Pixar)

What: Ten years after their last adventure, the gang returns to face the day that Andy is off to college.
Who: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and everybody. Oh, and Barbie's back.
When: Mid 2010

Rapunzel
(Disney)

What: The Brothers Grimm classic fairytale gets its long-awaited Disney treatment
When: Christmas 2010

Newt
(Pixar)

What: A story about a pampered laboratory-dwelling newt named Newt who is the last of his breed. And who, says the film's director Gary Rydstrom, is "waiting for the last female to be captured and brought to him. Who can't relate to that?"
When: Mid 2011

The Bear and the Bow
(Pixar)

What: Pixar goes into myth mode with a story about Scottish highlands princess Merida, whose strong-willed tomboy ways get her into strife with head-of-the-clan folks.
Who: Features the voices of Reese Witherspoon as Merida and Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly as her folks, and is helmed by Pixar's first female director, Brenda Chapman.
When: Christmas 2011

Cars 2
(Pixar)

What: The all-American racers from the first movie head off-shore
Who: Presumably the same gang who voiced the first.
When: Mid 2012

The King of the Elves
(Disney)

What: Sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick's only foray into fantasy: a story about elves in the Mississippi Delta who make a human him their king.
When: Christmas 2012

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

NZ International Film Festival 2025 Trailer

Entertainment

Life of regrets: Actor Michael Madsen's struggles before his death

04 Jul 02:41 AM
Entertainment

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom confirm split in joint statement

04 Jul 02:27 AM

Sponsored: Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

NZ International Film Festival 2025 Trailer

NZ International Film Festival 2025 Trailer

NZ International Film Festival begins on July 31.

Life of regrets: Actor Michael Madsen's struggles before his death

Life of regrets: Actor Michael Madsen's struggles before his death

04 Jul 02:41 AM
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom confirm split in joint statement

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom confirm split in joint statement

04 Jul 02:27 AM
Actor Michael Madsen dead at 67

Actor Michael Madsen dead at 67

03 Jul 08:05 PM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP