Cars

[picolas]

this movcar will be great!

[Sleuth]

picolas, look at your avatar!

[Kal]

the graphics and all that looks amazing... but im not so sure about this one... at least not yet...

[Sleuth]

I remember this thread  I'm very happy

[MacGuffin]

Pixar, Disney Delay Release of 'Cars'

The Walt Disney Co and Pixar Animation Studios Inc on Tuesday said they would postpone the theatrical release of their animated feature "Cars" to June 2006 from November 2005.

Officials from both companies said the move was aimed at profiting from potentially stronger movie attendance by kids on summer break, but analysts said it may help buy Pixar more time to find a new distributor for its films.

"Cars," an animated road movie helmed by "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life" director John Lasseter, is the seventh and final film produced by the successful Disney-Pixar partnership.

Pixar Chief Executive Steve Jobs said on Tuesday the schedule shift would also apply to films released after "Cars," meaning they will be released in theaters over the summer and on home video at the holidays.

Last month, Jobs said the company hoped to replicate its success with "Finding Nemo," a summer release that became the 12th highest grossing U.S. movie of all time.

Jobs' announcement in November that Pixar was considering the schedule change prompted Wall Street speculation that the company would postpone making a distribution deal planned for mid-2005.

Emeryville, California-based Pixar's distribution and production agreement with Disney is set to expire in 2005 with the delivery of "Cars."

Pixar now pays Disney 10 percent to 15 percent of revenues from the films, plus a 50-percent cut of profits. Jobs and outgoing Disney CEO Michael Eisner have publicly clashed over terms for a new deal.

Jobs admitted then that he wanted to see how the "musical chairs" affecting the heads of several major studios would turn out before committing to a new partner.

Disney spokeswoman Heidi Trotta said on Tuesday that the two studios were not in talks over a new distribution pact.

"This is about moving a summer movie to summer," she said.

Analyst David Miller of Sanders Morris Harris said the shift shows Pixar needs more time to find a new partner.

"They're going to sugar-coat it and say, 'Well, this is going to play better in the summer,' but that's only a quarter of the story," Miller said.

The schedule shift also will mean that Pixar will have only the DVD release of "The Incredibles" on which to peg its financial performance in 2005.

Fulcrum Global Partners analyst Richard Greenfield called the move "not terribly surprising" but predicted it would pressure Pixar's stock price.

"We are surprised that Disney was interested in pushing out a very important part of its fiscal '06 earnings," Greenfield said.

Pixar shares were down 4 percent to $87.60 in after-hours trade on Inet from a $91.06 close on Nasdaq. Disney shares were down 4 percent to $26 on Inet from a $27.10 close on the New York Stock Exchange .

[MacGuffin]

Exclusive Poster: Cars
The teaser one-sheet for Pixar's latest.

Since releasing their first full-length feature Toy Story in 1995, Pixar Animation Studios has virtually established its own subgenre with a series of fun computer-animated films that are relevant to all ages: A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. And there's a new addition to the Pixar filmography arriving next June, courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures: Cars.

Cars, directed by Oscar-winning helmer and Pixar's creative top-dude John Lasseter, is set in the world of auto racing. Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed. He discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters - including Sally (a snazzy 2002 Porsche voiced by Bonnie Hunt), Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, voiced by Paul Newman), and Mater (a rusty but trusty tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) - who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship.

In addition to Wilson, Hunt, Newman and Larry, the movie's all-star voice cast also includes Cheech Marin, George Carlin, Richard Petty, Michael Keaton, Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, Michael Wallis, Paul Dooley and Jenifer Lewis.

With Cars, billed as a "fast-paced comedy adventure," Pixar promises plenty of laughs, heartfelt drama and more of their unique and irresistible brand of eye candy. The film races into theaters everywhere on June 9, 2006.

[MacGuffin]

Teaser Trailer here.

[MacGuffin]

Pixar, in digital overdrive
Source: USATODAY

Someone at Pixar - actually, chief Pixar-teer John Lasseter - had the bright idea to do a computer-animated film set entirely in a world of cars.

With humans out of the way, the vehicles could skip the middleman and simply steer themselves.

One guy who's been around the track a few times was so impressed with the premise of Cars, which pulls into theaters June 9, that he agreed to do his first-ever cartoon voice. Maybe it's because the taciturn 1951 Hudson Hornet he plays, Doc Hudson, has a distinctive pair of baby blues and the film title Hud as part of his name.

"Those cars have personality," says racing enthusiast Paul Newman, speaking on the phone about his role as Doc. "It's like having your favorite car and your favorite driver all in one bundle."

The unstoppable 81-year-old speed demon, who provided filmmakers with an ongoing reality check on racing facts, has yet to put the brakes on his life in the fast lane.

Picking the right voices for each vehicle wasn't too difficult. Who else but Owen Wilson could play cocky, self-absorbed yet appealing NASCAR rookie Lightning McQueen, who takes an unexpected turn en route to a championship race and ends up in the tiny Southwest town of Radiator Springs, off the famed Route 66.

Not that they look alike. "Instead of Owen Wilson's nose, you are getting the way he acts," says production designer Bob Pauley. "That is even deeper."

And the in-jokes -VW Beetles as flying insects, Mack trucks that wear trucker caps - practically wrote themselves.

But before the artists on Pixar's seventh outing could start their digital engines, they had to decide on a few physical details. Unlike the fish in Finding Nemo and the creatures in Monsters, Inc., cars are not soft and squishy.

"John likes to keep the structural integrity of objects," says producer Darla K. Anderson. "In some tests, the cars were too rubbery. He likes to keep it nuanced."

The big question: Where do you place their eyes? Most cartoon autos have them where their headlights should be. "That way you get a snake look with a hump in the back," says story artist Dan Scanlon. Not good. Plus, without a driver inside, it would look strange. By placing the eyes where the windshield goes, however, "the whole character is the head."

Another big question: How do they change tires during pit stops or pump their own gas? Initially, Anderson says, "Every time we would get stuck, storyboard artist Steve Purcell would drop a gorilla in the car and, magically, gorilla arms would come out."

Perhaps that solution would fly if King Kong's Peter Jackson were behind the wheel. But not with Lasseter in charge. "We studied the way real NASCAR teams do pit stops," he says. "We used little forklifts to do the work." As for gassing up, "There is a foot pedal we designed so that the tire fits in and the pump comes down."

Racing fans will be the ultimate judge of how well Pixar captured their favorite sport. In the meantime, Newman, who saw a screening of Cars last week, gives it a thumbs up. "Well, I'm delighted. It's quite an extraordinary film from the standpoint of character and fun of story."

And how about his ride, Doc Hudson, whose nose (hood) and mouth (grill) look awfully familiar? "He may have been quick on the track," Newman says, "but not very attractive to women cars. He's not with any ladies. Maybe because he's a two-door."

[Pubrick]

Pixar, in digital overdrive
Newman, who saw a screening of Cars last week, gives it a thumbs up. "Well, I'm delighted. It's quite an extraordinary film from the standpoint of character and fun of story."

haha, GT, why don't you post your whole review?

[Gold Trumpet]

Pixar, in digital overdrive
Newman, who saw a screening of Cars last week, gives it a thumbs up. "Well, I'm delighted. It's quite an extraordinary film from the standpoint of character and fun of story."

haha, GT, why don't you post your whole review?

Considering who the source is, I'll take it as validation for quality.

[modage]

http://movies.aol.com/movie_exclusive_cars_trailer

[©brad]

sweetness.

[MacGuffin]

'Toy Story' Creator Gears Up for 'Cars'

John Lasseter's latest flick combines his two lifelong loves: The animated and automotive worlds.

The director of the "Toy Story" movies and "A Bug's Life" and a prime creator behind "Monsters, Inc.", "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles," Lasseter returns with "Cars," the animated story of a haughty race car that gets a lesson on life in the slow lane.

For Lasseter who premiered the film Tuesday night at ShoWest, an annual theater owners convention "Cars" rolled off the assembly line of his childhood. His mom was an art teacher whose work helped forge his early fascination with animation, while his dad ran the parts department at a Chevrolet dealership in Whittier, Calif., where Lasseter worked weekends growing up in the heyday of muscular Camaros and Corvettes.

"I've always loved cars," Lasseter, 49, told The Associated Press. "I'm a gear-head and wanted to do a film about cars, like putting the two sides of my life, my two loves, together."

"Cars" also is a reflection of the real-life lessons he learned about making time for family and friends amid his professional success, which includes an Academy Award for best short animated film and an honorary Oscar for creating the first feature-length computer-animated tale with "Toy Story."

After a hectic run making "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2," a time when he and his wife also had four sons, Lasseter decided to pull over for a rest stop.

Lasseter's wife warned him that if he kept up the work pace, he would wake up one day realizing their boys had all gone off to college and he had missed their childhood. So Lasseter figured it was time for a summer road trip, just him and the family.

"We bought a used motorhome, put our feet in the Pacific Ocean and turned east," Lasseter said. "We had two months to drive across country and explore it and get lost and end up at the Atlantic, put our feet in the Atlantic and come back. Everybody said, `You're nuts, you're going to be at each others' throats stuck together for two months.'

"But actually, the opposite happened. We got so close as a family. We loved every single minute of it, and I came back from that journey and I knew what I wanted this movie to be about. It's about a character that learns the journey in life is the reward," said Lasseter, the key creative force behind Pixar Animation, which is being acquired by its longtime distribution partner Disney.

"Cars" is set in a world populated by talking automobiles, featuring the voice of Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car so cocky he thinks he can roll through life without family and friends to provide roadside assistance.

On the way to a big race, Lightning ends up stranded in Radiator Springs, a sleepy burgh along Route 66 that fell off the map after it was bypassed by the speedy new Interstate.

There, he learns the value of slowing down and hanging with a loving pit crew through the help of a crusty old Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman), a sleek Porsche (Bonnie Hunt), a rusty, crusty tow truck (Larry the Cable Guy) and the town's other four-wheeled denizens.

"Cars" debuts in theaters June 9. The ShoWest screening also featured a showing of Pixar's Oscar-nominated short film "One Man Band" and a trailer for the company's next computer-animated flick, 2007's "Ratatouille," about a gourmand rat seeking fine eats in Paris.

Once Disney's buyout of Pixar is completed, Lasseter will become chief creative officer for animation at both companies and principal creative adviser for Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs the company's theme-park attractions. Lasseter said he and Ed Catmull, the Pixar executive who will be president of the companies' combined animation studios, plan to split their time between Disney in Burbank and Pixar in Northern California.

The change marks a homecoming for Lasseter, who caught the animation bug in his youth from the classic cartoons Walt Disney created. At the California Institute for the Arts, where he earned a film degree, Lasseter studied under former Disney artists and worked as an animator for Disney early in his career.

"I've got Disney blood in my veins," Lasseter said. "Walt Disney is the reason I do what I do. I believe so strongly in making what he believed in, which is making family films that are not just for kids. They're for everybody, and that's one of the things I'm so incredibly proud of in the track record at Pixar.

"We're so proud because all the family loves these things. Even teenagers and young adults who don't have kids love our films. That's the testament, and that's what I believe Walt Disney always believed in, too."

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[©brad]

sweetness.