D23 - Disney Chomps Off Marvel's Balls And Marvel Likes It

Today at D23, in a Herculean display of awfulness, Disney forced Joe Quesada to explain to a half full audience what Marvel was and what it has in common with Disney. He explained to us how in lieu of talking about actual Marvel properties or making any sort of announcement, Disney specifically requested that he give the audience a history lesson. So, the one Arena panel I thought *wouldn't* be one big Disney dick sucking session turned out to be just that, yet again. Even down to the Mickey Mouse shirt and professment of love for old school Disney from Quesada himself. To his credit, he put together a great lesson and really did his best to seem like he was enjoying getting raped through the ear, but I skipped out on free Breakfast to spend an hour learning what I already knew, on this occasion infused with Disney Ego, so I was not a happy camper.

Thankfully, the Q&A portion of a normal Cup O'Joe was retained, though this also demonstrated that they *could* have done a Q&A during the Walt Disney Studios panel and simply did not. But the Q&A, bizarrely consisting of way too many Boom Studios questions from Disney fans (how many times can the man say Marvel isn't working with Boom?!), still didn't feel like the right experience, as most of the questions Joe could not answer. On top of that, the session was extremely short and when a fan asked if they could show the Avengers footage from the day before and Joe said yes, he was quickly shut down, much to the disappointment of the actual Marvel fans who stayed in the room after the massive exodus took place at the beginning of the Q&A.

While it was interesting enough to learn about Marvel's history straight from Queseda himself, it was inherently so skewed towards convincing the audience how well Marvel meshed with Disney, that I felt like I was somehow being lied to or deceived. Something felt very wrong about being hit over the head with what Marvel and Disney had in common (If you're wondering - "Storytelling, Community, Accessibility, Appeals to all ages"), when one of these companies I love so much and the other, I have such a massive like/hate relationship with. A relationship that wasn't helped by ANYTHING at D23, I'll tell you that much.

And you know what I kept thinking of during this Disney & Marvel making a baby love-fest? Jack Kirby. The family and estate of whom Disney fucked out of their rights earlier this summer. Work for hire blah blah blah 1909 bullshit laws, I don't give a shit, someone should have had some compassion, and that someone is never Disney. Awfully devilish in the courtroom for all their hemming and hawwing about being about love and family, aren't they? Yeah, your family values really show when you screw Jack Kirby's family out of anything that should rightfully belong to them. I won't argue about the invalidity of an archane act, developed before artists even understood the meaning of what not owning the rights to your own work meant, but I will say that I was not the only one with Kirby on the mind. A giant section of fans screamed wildly when his name was announced as one of the first to create for Marvel.

Ultimately, the panel was an utter disappointment for Marvel fans with no news, no information, no sneak peaks, no special guests, no title specifics, no giveaways, nothing. And while the majority of the people in attendance had never been to a Cup O' Joe panel (Quesada had audience members raise their hands), the room was still only half full to start. So okay, several hundred Disney fans learned about the history of Marvel today. Great. Doesn't change the fact that any Marvel fan who bought a ticket and came to Anaheim for this convention would have been sorely disappointed by the entire experience and certainly doesn't change the fact that Disney fans are in no way the right target audience for Marvel. You know who is? Other genre fans. Like the ones who don't necessarily read Marvel yet, but go to Comic-Con to find out if they should.

But enough of my bitching. If you'd like to know what information was relayed at the panel, I've provided my live account after the jump, beginning with the history lesson, skipping past all the "Disney and Marvel were made for each other "expository bullshit. Maybe you will find some value in it and my missing free Breakfast won't entirely be in vain.

*****

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D23 - In Depth Look At The Character Design Of Pixar's Monster's University

Monster's University Production Designer Ricky Nierva and Director Dan Scanlan were on hand at D23 today to provide attendees with an in depth look at the character design of young Mike and Sully in the new Pixar movie set for release in 2013. Below is a live account of what took place.

*****

"Story is King" slide appears on screen
They remind themselves of this often at Pixar.
Can't do character design without story, until they know who characters are and what their stories are.

"Design from the Inside-Out"
Nierva's mantra.
When you design a character, you want to know who are they inside first - best friends, favorite food, hobbies, etc.

An original sketch of Mike and Sully by Monster's Inc director, Pete Docter

Nierva tells a story about how at CalArts, when he brought in a picture he drew of an elephant, the teacher said, now draw me Jim the Elephant or Sally the Elephant. It's not enough to just draw an elephant when telling a story. Can't be generic.

More after the jump

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D23 - A Look at Walt Disney Studios' Upcoming Animation Slate

 Saturday marked the massive Walt Disney Studios panel, which brought lots of footage. In fact, pretty much only footage, along with a couple of announcements and staged bits. Some Q&A would have been nice, but apparently, Disney can't handle wild cards like "people" so there was very little room for spontaneity. Still, we saw some interesting stuff, so to jump start our Saturday coverage, here are my impressions of what Walt Disney Studios Animation had to offer.

PLANES
First up was Planes, a film that takes place in (or as the teaser points out, "above") the Cars Universe. The director's father was an aviator, which sits nicely with the Pixar folk as they loves them some authenticity. The main character is Dusty, voiced by Jon Crier, who appeared on stage to talk about what an honor it had been to work with Pixar on this project - "Every so often I get an email that says I have a Planes session and I'm like ::cue guttural sounds of joy::". John Lasseter, present to run the whole Animation portion of the show, gave some insight into the work of a voice over actor on a Pixar film. He explained that the lead actor would typically come in for 10 sessions over the course of two years, and it's not uncommon for the character to design to change with every session, as it is molded and transformed by the actor's performance. The teaser clip was cute enough and I can say without hesitation that this *will* be a movie I go in theaters, unlike Cars 2, because flying through the air in 3D makes me a happy.

More after the jump!

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Disney Movie Countdown WEEE!

Saw @GirlHack tweet that she's seen 45/50 Disney movies and I immediately thought I HAD to know what my count was. NUMBERS! COUNTING! DISNEY!

Watch the video below and see how many you can name off the top of your head. I could sadly only name 40. And how many have I seen? List after the clip.



Key
Movie's I've seen = Red, Bold
Movies I didn't know were Disney = Bold

1. Snow White

2. Pinocchio

3. Fantasia

4. Dumbo

5. Bambi 

6. Saludos Amigoes

7. The Three Caballeros

8. Make Mine Music

9. Fun and Fancy Free

10. Melody Time

11. The Adventures of Ichobad & Mr Toad

12. Cinderella

13. Alice in Wonderland

14. Peter Pan

15. Lady & The Tramp 

16. Sleeping Beauty

17. 101 Dalmations

18. The Sword in the Stone (Favorite)

19. Jungle Book

20. The Aristocats (Favorite)

21. Robin Hood

22. Winnie the Pooh

23. The Rescuers

24. The Fox and the Hound

25. The Black Cauldron

26. The Great Mouse Detective (Favorite)

27. Oliver & Company (Favorite)

28. Little Mermaid (Favorite)

29. The Rescuers Down Under

30. Beauty & The Beast (Favorite)

31. Aladdin (Favorite)

32. Lion King (Favorite)

33. Pocahontas

34. Hunchback of Notre Dame

35. Hercules (omg Meg's song)

36. Mulan

37. Tarzan

38. Fantasia 2000

39. Dinosaur
40. The Emperor's New Groove
41. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
42. Lilo & Stich

43. Treasure Planet

44. Brother Bear
45. Home on the Range
46. Chicken Little

47. Meet The Robinsons

48. Bolt

49. Princess & The Frog (Favorite)

50. Tangled

So there ya have it! I've seen 40/50. 41 as soon as I see Tangled. Lilo & Sitch and Emperor's New Groove can be on my list, but those nebulous wait these are Disney animated movies?! ones? Not so much. Sorry, Brother Bear. Maybe when I have kids, we'll go in order and I'll check you out then.

So how did you stack up? See full post

Disney Women Just Got A Lot More Awesome

 I'm oddly obsessed with these. If I had a favorite Disney character the way I had a favorite DC character, I'd want one of these on my wall. Well. Actually, I'd take one on my wall anyway. These are gorgeous.

From J Scott Campbell (Danger Girl)
Hat Tip: Live For Films See full post

Strong Pieces Takes In The AWESOME Tron Panel [Comic Con 2010]

I've just finished up with the Tron press conference, where I got tons of pictures and got my moment to swoon over Garrett Hedlund as I was walking back to the convention center from the Hilton. He had his car window rolled down to smoke as I was walking by, I looked over and smiled, he looked a bit confused but smiled as well. Only at Comic Con, folks.

Highlights from the press conference as we wait for the Tron panel itself to start:

- Garrett only saw Tron for the first time in 2003 and was blown away, Michael saw it when he was 11, and Olivia wasn't even born when it was released.
- The reason it's been so long since Tron is because Disney was patient and wanted the right hands to craft the sequel. When Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner saw the creative team and script, they agreed to come back on, no question.
- When asked if it was hard to impress an internet-savvy world, Steven Lisberger said Tron: Legacy would have no problem impressing everyone.
- Michael Sheen, Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund were all adorable the entire time, often whispering and giggling at each other.
- Tron Legacy was an entirely collaborative effort; between the writers, Daft Punk's involvement from the very start with the movie score and the directing.
- Speaking of Daft Punk, Olivia said it was incredibly helpful to have them be a part of the process from the start.
- This is Michael Sheen's first time at Comic Con, which is something exciting for him considering he's a fanboy in his own right.

And now, the Tron: Legacy panel begins!

- Patton Oswalt is moderating again, opening with a joke about furries. Always a good dig, there. "Five minutes of Tron: Legacy every year for the next five years," jokes Oswalt!

- Secret Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges knife fight tonight? Don't toy with my emotions, Oswalt, I'd be all over that!

- Mini documentary on Tron's impact on pop culture, scored by Daft Punk = epic!

- "Lanky and lean, every nerd girls dream." re: director Joe Kasinski. Hell yes!

- Sreams for Garrett Hedlund! LOUDER yells for Olivia Wilde! LOUDEST yells for Michael Sheen! EVEN LOUDER for Bruce Boxleitner. AND PANDEMONIUM FOR JEFF BRIDGES, as it should be! (And some DUDE!s thrown in for good measure.)

- Tron: Legacy is a true 3D movie, no film conversion after the fact. Also, the suits were fully illuminated while filming, lighting up each other and the environment around them.

- The story at the heart of the movie will be a father/son story.

- Jeff Bridges plays himself at different ages in this movie: Flynn at his age, and his avatar Klue, at age 35. Playing against himself was "psychedelic."

ASIDE: the thought of Garrett Hedlund in a skintight suit makes me swoony.

- Olivia talks about her character Quorra, a fearless warrior who's smart, cool and, in a word, awesome.

- Garrett's training involve parkour, motorcycle training, hand-to-hand combat.

- Michael is ADORABLE, seriously. According to him it's a 4D film because Jeff Bridges brings an extra dimension of awesomeness to it. Truth!

- Bruce Boxleitner looks awesome. He was thrilled to revisit Tron when he heard the movie was going to be made. He hopes everyone will be thrilled by the movie, saying so as the biggest Tron fan there is.

- Jeff says getting a chance to play around with technology was one of the things that drew him to Tron: Legacy, same as Tron.

- Steven Lisberger says good things take a long time to happen, about Tron: Legacy finally coming about.

Now, time for the Tron footage! Excited as all hell for this -- 8 minutes of film footage!!

...that was UNBELIEVABLE. Every little bit of the movie hype is EARNED. The 3D is truly amazing, the music score is intense, and I was truly sad when it was over.

- Now some crowd sound recording, if it's great this will be in the movie! That was actually kind of fun!

- After some Q&A from the audience, they'll be screening a new Tron: Legacy trailer!

- When asked why they chose Daft Punk to score the movie, Kasinski said they were huge fans and it just seemed right to have them be involved with the movie. They've been working on the music for almost 3 years.

- Jeff tries not to spoil anything about the father/son relationship, choosing to say nothing and leave it to fans to find out for themselves when the movie is released.

- When asked how doing Babylon 5 might have prepped him for doing Tron: Legacy, he corrected the questioner that pointing out that Tron came out first and prepared him for B5. Minus one thousand geek points, questioner.

- Twins step up to the mic and share a question on whether Olivia now has a new found appreciation for guys who play video games. Cute! She's also started playing video games now, the last she'd ever played being Duck Hunt. Hot and geeky? Sweet.

- The original Tron will hopefully be re-released in exciting formats in the future!

With questions over, time for the new trailer and time to say goodbye to the Tron panel. I had a great time here today, a great kick off to Comic Con Thursday.

!!!! Surprise video message from Captain Jack Sparrow! Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides will be released next year!

Greatest panel or greatest panel??!

Stay tuned for more updates! See full post

Best Backstage Inside Joke Ever? [Wondercon]

Items reserved by Nic Cage during Wondercon on Saturday:

A platter of Chocolate & a shitload of water and red bull. (Photo courtesy of Geoff Stults)

An entire table. Where he was sitting. Alone. Just him and his sign.

(Yeah. We don't have a photo of that.)

The cast of The Losers. But especially Columbus Short. (Photo courtesy of Ed Douglas)

I'm hoping he put his sign on an iPad at the Disney press reception Saturday night. Have I mentioned lately how much I adore Nic Cage? See full post

Prince of Persia/Sorcerer's Apprentice = FUN YES PLEASE

I've been ridiculously excited for both Prince of Persia & Sorcerer's Apprentice for a while now. Persia because adventure movies = life and Apprentice because the last time Nic Cage & Disney got together, we got the national treasures that are National Treasure 1 & 2. Greatest movies ever? Maybe. And based the footage that was shown at Wondercon today, it seems both films will live up to expectations.

The footage from Persia was very reminiscent, for me, of Assassin's Creed 2, since I just spent 30 hours of my life climbing walls, perching on buildings and pulling bad guys off of ledges. Obviously these are all also elements from the PoP video game and I'm LOVING that the action sequences immediately make you feel like you're in a game. Plus Jake is so pretty. As one audience member pointed out after asking a question, marking one of the panel's most delightful moments. We also got a taste of the relationship between Jake's prince & Gemma's princess character. At first, they're trying to kill each other, but fittingly, they end up falling in love instead. Sure their scene had a little cheese, but HELLO, it's a Disney adventure movie, I expect cheese or I'm disappointed.

Important to note however - Mike Newell let us know that the tone of the movie is not tongue in cheek, but rather takes the genre very seriously. He also noted that he's tried to play the game, but is absolutely "hopeless" at it, always falling on the revolving knives.

Some fun tidbits learned at the panel:

-The sets & environments in the film are 3/4 REAL, which is actually quite huge for a movie like that nowadays. Jake also did as many stunts as he possibly could, loving the fact that he was forced to get tan & muscley for the role.
- The beginnings of the game were formed out of its creator, Jordan Mechner, filming his brother running up walls in bulky pajama pants
- If Jake Gyllenhaal could go back in time, it would be to his birth. Did I mention...he's really cute?

We filmed a bunch of the panel that you can check out for yourself below! Personally, I'm excited.

All I really got to see of Sorcerer's Apprentice was the first clip but ZOMG, Nic Cage was genius in it. He is just a genius. He can do no wrong. NO WRONG. Only genius. The clip featured the first time Nic Cage's Sorcerer meets his apprentice. Alfred Molina is accidentally let loose, there's some magical action, and the clip ends with the promise of seeing the boy again in 10 years, in the form of Jay Baruchel.

Prince of Persia Panel Snippets - Jake starts around 5:50 mark

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The Marvel Disney Dilemma

I was prompted by the lovely Scarlet Scribe for my thoughts on the Marvel/Disney merger, and this is pretty much what it boils down to:

It's tantalizing, because Disney is one of the most powerful marketing machines on the planet. If you look at PotC and Prince of Persia, and then imagine the money and technical teams behind those films being applied to something like, I don't know, THE AVENGERS or the X-Men or anyone else, it's like a wet dream. Unfortunately, Disney is known more for being creatively domineering over smaller productions or creations that aren't 'their baby', and not friendly to a lot of tropes that make comics great or darker material that has marked the transition for comics from pop and pulp to serious attempts at examining the world and telling stories. Disney is also known, fairly or not, for censorship and for caving to public and especially Christian opinion. That's troubling. Also, the degree to which Disney properties are pimped through marketing and multiple media platforms can be distasteful. It's a weird little dichotomy. As a consumer whore, I am torn between fearing the Disney Machine and wanting Marvel plushies. Monetarily, the possibilities are now seemingly endless, but creatively, a Marvel fan has to worry about the hands these properties are now in. See full post

STUFFED TALKING DUG [WANT]

Find out what's on the canine mind with our ''Up'' Talking Dug Plush Toy. This soft and fuzzy stuffed toy dog can really talk from a faux ''radio'' collar when you squeeze his left paw. While his funny thoughts may be taken quite literally, you'll have to decide for yourself when to give this Dug stuffed toy a hug. This big and friendly canine Dug is one of the stars of Disney/Pixar's animated adventure, Up. Imported.

Dug thinks aloud when you squeeze his paw
Hear 7 unique phrases such as ''Are you a dog, too?'' and ''My name is Dug. I have just met you and I love you''
Polyester
Sits 11'' H
Look for more Up plush including the entire Up Alpha Pack with Talking Alpha Plush, Talking Beta Plush and Talking Gamma Plush, each sold separately

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANT

Buy it for your dear friend LoquaciousMuse by clicking here. See full post

Please Make This Happen [Photo of the Day]

Hat Tip: Hollywood Dump See full post

NO MORE NARNIA

so disney hath decided to not make any more narnia films. i support this, as i found the two installments thus far to be dull as poo and think the source material is a wee bit too jesus-y for me (though i would probably be more fond of christianity if jesus were in fact... a lion. he could have eaten judas). that being said, this is one of those rare matters on which i'm more interested in your opinion than my own, so rant, rave, celebrate, or otherwise speak your mind below.

here's some reading, son: Defamer See full post