We’ve been hearing a lot lately about Pixar’s next feature film, Monsters University. However, this week brought us our first news about the short that will air in front of the highly anticipated prequel, as Pixar announced their next animated short, The Blue Umbrella.
The Blue Umbrella, directed by Pixar technical artist Saschka Unseld, tells the love story of two umbrellas against the backdrop of a rainy city. The official synopsis reads, “Amidst the rain in a singing city, two umbrellas – one blue, one not – fall eternally in love.”
While the film …

Following the success of the Cars franchise, Disney announced in 2011 that a spin-off of Cars, entitled Planes, was set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in fall 2013. However, this week brought the new announcement that the computer animated film will now be released in theaters on August 9, 2013.
Planes tells the story of Dusty, a crop duster who wants to enter an epic around-the-world air race, but is afraid of heights. Although the project will be overseen by Cars director John Lasseter, the film is in production at …

Amid rumors of Disney Interactive’s “new gaming initiative,” the media and consumers alike were wondering if the speculation surrounding Disney Infinity was mere rumor or an actual reality. Now, it has been confirmed that the media giant will be unveiling the new game next year.
Based on a video that one particular Disney fan blog posted, the game would be similar to Activision’s mega-hit Skylanders, where players would use plastic tokens to “beam” Disney and Pixar characters into the game. Considering that Pixar CEO John Lasseter will unveil details about the game alongside …

Cars fans who will be in Disneyland this December may be in for a special treat, as John Lasseter himself and Chip Foose will be holding a special artist signing at Disney California Adventure in just a few weeks.
On December 8, Pixar fans can head to DCA’s Off the Page store for the artist signing with the head of Pixar Animation Studios himself, John Lasseter. Lasseter, who is both the Chief Creative Officer for Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios and Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering, will be …

The beloved Toy Story brand remains alive and well, and sources have just announced that the beloved characters will be getting a special Halloween feature in time for the holiday next year.
Toy Story of Terror will be created in an anthology format and take on the story of a pseudo-murder mystery. The toys stop at a roadside hotel, but one by one begin to mysteriously vanish. The remaining toys are left to figure out what’s going on before they all disappear.
There has been no word on which actors will return …

Disney’s 2D animated classic The Brave Little Toaster will be getting a CGI reboot, sources say.
The film rights were acquired by Waterman Entertainment, who are looking to remake the 1987 film in a fully computerized world. Initially, the movie was pitched to Disney by Pixar giant John Lasseter, but CGI costs were prohibitive back then. Thus, the film ended up with 2D animation.
With Waterman Entertainment acquiring the rights, however, a CGI remake is coming. There is no word on when we can expect work to begin on the reboot, but …

A few months ago, we let you know about some very special Pixar cruises that will be taking place aboard the Disney Wonder this fall. This week, Disney Cruise Line released the schedule of speakers on these exciting cruises, which includes various creative team members at Pixar Animation Studios, including the head of Pixar himself, John Lasseter.
The 7-night Pixar cruises aboard the Disney Wonder will depart from Los Angeles and travel up and down the Pacific Coast, stopping in San Francisco, San Diego, and Ensenada, Mexico. In addition to hearing …

We can’t wait for the Disney/Pixar classic Finding Nemo to be released in 3D in theaters nationwide in just a few weeks. In anticipation of the film’s re-release, Walt Disney Studios New Zealand recently released a behind-the-scenes featurette about the film and its tranformation to 3D.
The featurette features some of the creative team at Pixar behind the film, including Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton and the head of Pixar Animation, John Lasseter. The team discusses the process of converting the film into 3D and why that conversion works so well …

Yesterday marked a major milestone for Disneyland, as Disney California Adventure finally completed its five-year expansion and renovation project. The major expansion, which included such exciting additions as World of Color, Toy Story Mania, and The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, was finally completed upon the grand opening of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street.
The exciting occasion was celebrated with a special opening ceremony, which took place in front of the Carthay Circle Theatre, the brand-new restaurant and exclusive lounge that serves as the park’s new centerpiece. Thousands of …

In 2008, one special Buzz Lightyear action figure was actually able to travel “to infinity and beyond” aboard the space shuttle Discovery. For a record-setting 15 months, Buzz Lightyear orbited the Earth in the International Space Station as a teaching tool to get children excited about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Now, visitors from all over the world will be able to see this special Buzz Lightyear toy in person, as the figure was donated to the Smithsonian last week.
John Lasseter was on hand last Thursday to officially donate …