After a relatively rough last three years, creatively speaking, Pixar thankfully has some promising options on their slate and today, they stopped by Disney’s annual D23 expo to show them off. First up, Bob Peterson‘s May 2014-bound The Good Dinosaur, which asks the question,”What if the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs missed Earth and dinosaurs kept living?,” has secured an impressive voice line-up.
Raising Hope star Lucas Neff will lead the film as an Apatosaurus named Arlo (seen above in new concept art). The story follows his family, with dad and mom voiced by John Lithgow and Frances McDormand, while Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris and Judy Greer are his siblings, Forrest, Cliff and Ivy. The plot surrounds the dinosaurs being able to farm and they need to get rid of “bugs” on their land, but it’s revealed they are actually human cavemen. The film will also be preceded by a new Monsters University short titled Party Central.
Next up, easily our most-anticipated of the bunch is Inside Out, coming in summer 2015 from another Up co-director, Peter Docter. Taking place entirely inside an 11-year-old girl’s mind (named Riley), the story follows her from Minnesota to San Francisco as her family moves and her life changes. Instead of seeing an outward approach, our emotions are felt through the characters in her brain, all voiced by different talents.
Lewis Black plays the red-tinged Anger, while Mindy Kaling is the teen and green Disgust. Bill Hader is back at Pixar, as the purple Fear, while The Office‘s Phyllis Smith is a blue, glasses-wearing Sadness. Amy Poehler rounds out the batch as the yellow Joy. The actual plot will follow Joy and Sadness receding into Riley’s mind, while the others come to the forefront, as they interact with each other and the emotions in the minds of Riley’s parents.
Lastly, we already highlighted some recent controversy brewing in the sacred halls of Pixar over the ending to Finding Dory, but now even more details have landed for Andrew Stanton‘s sequel. Beginning a year after their 2003 original ends, we’ve got word on who will be joining Albert Brooks as Marlin and Ellen DeGeneres as Dory.
Pixar announced that Dory’s parents, Charlie and Jenny, will be voiced by Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton, while Ty Burrell will take the voice of a comedic sidekick beluga whale named Bailey. The story will focus on Dory, whose family is living on a reef, go through atraumatic event and begin searching for her family, as Nemo and Marlin also look for her.
Update: Check out concept art photos from the above films, as well as Disney’s Big Hero 6 and their 2016-bound Zootopia.
“Big Hero 6” features brilliant robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who finds himself in the grips of a criminal plot that threatens to destroy the fast-paced, high-tech city of San Fransokyo. With the help of his closest companion—a robot named Baymax—Hiro joins forces with a reluctant team of first-time crime fighters on a mission to save their city. Inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, and featuring comic-book style action and all the heart and humor audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the CG-animated “Big Hero 6” hits theaters in 3D on Nov. 7, 2014.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ director Byron Howard (“Tangled”) and writer Jared Bush shared plans for the upcoming comedy adventure ”Zootopia” (working title). In the animal city of Zootopia, a fast-talking fox who’s trying to make it big goes on the run when he’s framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Zootopia’s top cop, a self-righteous rabbit, is hot on his tail, but when both become targets of a conspiracy, they’re forced to team up and discover even natural enemies can become best friends. In theaters in 2016.
As a parting gift, while it’s not related to Pixar, check out the first clip from Disney’s November-bound Frozen below and we want to thank /Film and Bleeding Cool for the reporting out of D23, recapped above.
Which Pixar film are you most looking forward to?