Pixar's Motto: Going From Suck to Nonsuck (Fast Company)

In a world that is obsessed with preventing errors and perfection, perhaps it's ironic that despite 11 straight blockbuster movies, Pixar cofounder and President Ed Catmull describes Pixar's creative process as "going from suck to nonsuck."

That's because Catmull and Pixar's directors think it's better to fix problems than to prevent errors. "My strategy has always been: be wrong as fast as we can," says Andrew Stanton, Director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E, "Which basically means, we're gonna screw up, let's just admit that. Let's not be afraid of that." We can all work this way more often.

If only all directors / bosses / colleagues / people were so understanding. If only we reminded ourselves of this more often. Imagine....

Read the full article here.

Nightmare for DreamWorks? (The AM Law Daily)

Among the similarities between his creation and the DreamWorks character that Gordon cites in his complaint: both giant pandas hang out with red panda sidekicks who use chopsticks in connection with kung fu fighting.

Gordon also claims that the similarites extend to other plot elements and settings. Portions of both the movie and Gordon’s illustrated literary works take place in "The Valley of Peace," a fictional land in ancient China. Gordon also notes that while his panda is supported by a group of five fighting animals known as the "Five Fists of Fury," Kung Fu Panda protagonist Po is accompanied by a group called "Furious Five" that is composed of the same five animals: a tiger, a monkey, a crane, a mantis, and a snake.

This on top of the 2010 lawsuit filed by another man whith the same Zen-Bear idea:

Self-described "writer-producer-teacher-philosopher" Terence Dunn ... claims that he originally pitched the idea of a "spiritual kung-fu fighting panda bear" to DreamWorks studio execs back in November 2001. Dunn's kung-fu bear was "adopted by five animal friends in the forest (a tiger, a leopard, a dragon, a snake and a crane), whose destiny is foretold by an old and wise sage, Turquoise Tortoise, and who comes of age and fulfills his destiny as a martial arts hero and spiritual avatar."

I guess this just goes to show that there really are no original ideas - I mean, what are the chances? Two guys, on opposites sides of the country, both come up with this idea? (Hmmm, you know, the guy in LA went to Harvard, and the other guy lives in Boston. I wonder if they ever crossed paths?) Either way, DreamWorks certainly has its hands full.
Read the full article here.

The Shame of Family Films (Newsweek)

This study, undertaken by Stacy Smith and Marc Choueiti at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, analyzed 122 family films ... and found that only 29.2 percent of characters were female. And one in four female characters was depicted in “sexy, tight, or alluring attire,” compared with one in 25 male characters. The female characters were also more likely than men to be beautiful, and one in five were “portrayed with some exposed skin between the mid-chest and upper thigh regions.” ... (Another study found, troublingly, that women in G-rated films wear the same amount of skimpy clothing as women in R-rated films.) One in four women was shown with a waist so small that, the authors concluded, it left “little room for a womb or any other internal organs.” ...

[Additional] studies show... the more TV a girl watches, the fewer options she believes she has in life, and the more a boy watches, the more his views become sexist.

This study was done on films rated G, PG, and PG-13. Am I the only one (besides the author and Geena Davis) that thinks there's something wrong here?

Read the full article here.

ArcLight Cinemas to Showcase Disney Classics in August (The Wrap & ComingSoon.net)

D23, Disney's official fan club, and ArcLight Cinemas, the premier moviegoing venue in Southern California, will present classic Disney movies every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the month of August, giving movie lovers the rare opportunity to revisit some of their favorite Disney characters and stories on the big screen. ...

Aug. 2: Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) - Hollywood
Aug. 3: Cinderella (1950) - Sherman Oaks
Aug. 4: Newsies (1992) - Pasadena
Aug. 9: The Rocketeer (1991) - Hollywood
Aug. 10: Pinocchio (1940) - Sherman Oaks
Aug. 11: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) - Pasadena
Aug. 16: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) - Hollywood
Aug. 17: Alice in Wonderland (1951) - Sherman Oaks
Aug. 18: Pete's Dragon (1977) - Pasadena
Aug. 23: The Black Hole (1979) - Hollywood
Aug. 24: The Jungle Book (1967) - Sherman Oaks
Aug. 25: Mary Poppins (1964) - Pasadena
Aug. 30: Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) - Hollywood
Aug. 31: Peter Pan (1953) - Sherman Oaks

Can you say supercalifragilisticexpialidociously awesome? I can!
Read the full article from The Wrap here.
Read the full article from ComingSoon.net here.

Toy Story 3 Box Office: Great But Not That Great (Time)

And yet — considering the popularity of the Toy Story brand, and that a film greeted by critical hosannas and an enraptured A rating from CinemaScore's poll of exiting moviegoers — the TS3 total was a bit less than fabulous. ...Whatever TS3's official three-day gross, it will have sold fewer tickets than the older films, since ticket prices have risen and the Pixar picture earned 60% of its take from the more expensive 3-D venues. ...
Further, the film's $37 million earnings on Saturday were $4 million below its Friday gross. Animated features usually accelerate the second day, with parents taking their kids to a Saturday matinee, and the first 10 Pixar films averaged a sturdy 26% jump from opening day to the one after.

An interesting counterview to all of the "Biggest Box Office Ever!" articles saturating every other news source.
Read the full article here.

Pixar, with TOY STORY 3, shows increasing reliance on sequels (LA Times)

On Friday, Pixar debuts the highly-anticipated third chapter of its popular "Toy Story" saga, to be followed in the next two years by new installments of "Cars" and "Monsters, Inc." Pixar won't have another original movie until 2012, when "Brave," about a young Scottish girl of royal blood who dreams of becoming a champion archer, arrives in theaters.

Read the full article here.