During this year's Detroit Auto Show, I had the great opportunity to meet up with Jay Ward, Creative Director, and Jay Shuster, Production Designer, for the upcoming Disney PIXAR Cars 3 movie that will be roaring into movie theaters on June 16, 2017. They mentioned to me that they've been working on Cars 3 for five years! While
the movie is scheduled to be released this summer, they said the film was going to continue to get tune ups until just a
couple of weeks before it is released. Ward and Shuster were very proud that the studio was going over
every little detail of the film to make sure everything is just right
and movie goers can appreciate an exceptional experience at the theater
viewing it. CLICK HERE to read the full details about my discussion with this dynamic duo who have played a major role in creating the Cars movie franchise that so many families, including my own, are fans of.
Cars 3 promises to be another entertaining movie chock full of action, racing and fun adventure scenes. The movie begins with Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers. Trying to get back to the front of the pack, McQueen turns to an eager young race technician named Cruz Ramirez (voiced by Cristela Alonzo) for help plus gets some inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet. Making his way through some unexpected turns #95 shows that he isn't done yet. Can Lightning McQueen win another Piston Cup and take another cruise through victory lane? We'll have to see the movie to find out!
Growing up in the Motor City, I have naturally developed a love of cars. So in addition to my children enjoying these wonderful animated movies, I've also really liked them as well. Our whole family is really enthusiastic to see Cars 3 when it rolls into theaters. Join us in getting geared up for the movie by having some fun with these great free Cars 3 downloadable activity sheets that my friends from Disney PIXAR provided A Geek Daddy to share with you:
Plus here's a a snippet from the upcoming Cars 3 movie:
Learn more about Cars 3 at cars.disney.com which includes character profiles, craft ideas, games, videos and an online store of themed merchandise. Also check out their Twitter and Facebook accounts as we head towards the green flag being waved for the opening weekend of Cars 3!
Lightning McQueen from Disney PIXAR's popular animated CARS movie franchise will be displayed on Cobo Center's exhibit floor throughout the length of the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. This year's event is open for the public to attend from January 14 - 22nd. Visit naias.com for more information about show hours and purchasing tickets for Detroit's annual auto show that in addition to showcasing a real life Lightning McQueen car will also feature 750 vehicles ranging from autonomous and electric cars to tricked out full-size trucks on display.
To kick-off Lightning McQueen's visit to the Motor City, Disney PIXAR held a special press conference during the NAIAS Media Preview days that A Geek Daddy was able to attend.John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer at PIXAR, noted that this appearance was the roll out of promotional efforts for the new CARS 3 movie that is scheduled to arrive at movie theaters across the US on June 16, 2017. He explained that CARS was born at the Detroit Auto Show because when the concept for the original movie was being considered the first thing Pixar did was attend NAIAS to do some research for developing the film. So to begin promoting the new movie, CARS 3, Pixar wanted to return where it all began. Lasseter then introduced the Creative Director, Jay Ward, and Production Designer, Jay Shuster, for CARS 3 to provide some insight on the development of some of the movie's key characters.
In the original CARS movie, Lightning McQueen was the arrogant hot-shot rookie taking on veteran racers for a chance to be the Piston Cup champion. The tables have turned in CARS 3 as McQueen is now the experienced racer on the track fending off challenges from rookie challengers who are full of attitude. When Lightning McQueen is involved in a racing accident does he have what it takes to come back and compete to be the Piston Cup champion again?
Lightning McQueens new antagonist and lead adversary in CARS 3 is named JACKSON STORM who is challenging him as top car on racetrack. Jackson Storm is fast, sleek and ready to race. A front-runner in the
next generation of racers, Storm’s quiet confidence and cocky demeanor
are off-putting—but his unmatched speed threatens to redefine the sport.
Trained on high-tech simulators that are programmed to perfect
technique and maximize velocity, Jackson Storm is literally built to be
unbeatable—and he knows it.
When creating Jackson Storm, PIXAR wanted the character to clearly be distinct from Lighting
McQueen. So Storm's profile is more angular than Lighting McQueen’s rounded shape. He also has a darker palate.
Jackson Storm's 'S' logo design is inspired by international symbol for hurricane. A cool Pixar detail about them playing off the Storm in the characters name in designing the race car's layout!
Shuster and Ward then introduced CRUZ RAMIREZ, the new girl on the racetrack in CARS 3 who helps Lightning McQueen get his groove back.Ramirez is a sunny-but-fierce unconventional trainer at the
Rust-eze Racing Center. She expertly arms the team’s talented rookies
with cutting-edge tools to tear up the track—but she nearly stalls when
her longtime idol Lightning McQueen shows up. While she’d love to help
him find his way back to the top, she knows the competition is faster
than ever, and victory is all about speed—or is it?
The creative team shared that while the movie is digitally animated there is still a lot of old fashioned hands-on effort put into designing its characters. To make sure each character is portraying just the right vibe each one is hand sketched out numerous times to get it just right before the digital process starts. Shuster and Ward wanted Cruz Ramirez to be a blend between an American Muscle Car and a
European Sports Car. The resulting style is something between Lightning
McQueen and Jackson Storm, which is symbolic of her role in training Lighting
McQueen is some new racing techniques but having equipped Jackson Storm to be top gun of the race track.
Inspired by how real life automotive industry designers utilize clay to model new vehicles, PIXAR did the same to craft the layout for its CARS 3 characters before digitally animating them.
After hand drawing and clay modeling the CARS 3 characters, PiIXAR utilizes computer programming to digitize them and create the environment they interact in. The final digital design for Cruz Ramirez in CARS 3:
Lightning McQueen may now be an aged veteran taking on hot shot rookie cars trying to win the Piston Cup away from him but he has a fresh, new modernized NASCARinspired paint job in CARS 3. He is world champion—a modern-day racing legend who’s
riding high with five Piston-Cup wins under his hood; but suddenly, Lightning McQueen
finds himself faced with a new generation of racers who threaten not
only his dominance in the sport—but the confidence that got him there.
Determined to get back to the pole position, the #95 must decide if his
love for racing is enough to fuel the comeback of his life.
Lightning McQueen rolls into the Detroit Auto Show!
After the press conference, I had a chance to meet one-on-one with Jay Ward and Jay Shuster.
In addition to working on steering the creative direction of all three Cars films for PIXAR, Jay Ward was also instrumental in the development of the Cars Land attraction at Disney California Adventure. I have to give him some well deserved kudos on Cars Land because that was one of the highlights of our family's Disneyland vacation. Of course the CARS movies are some of my kids favorite films to watch as well!
Shuster is a Metro Detroit native and the automotive industry is in his blood as his father worked as a car designer during Jay's childhood growing up in Birmingham, Michigan. As a boy, Jay Shuster's room was filled with automobile sketches, blueprints, and models. This diehard Star Wars fan was impressed that he got his start in the film industry at Lucasfilm working on
Star Wars Episodes 1 & 2 (Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones)
designing vehicles and environments for the movies. Moving over to PIXAR, his sci-fi focus continued as he designed the character Wall-E before focusing on the CARS movies.
Take a look at a snippet from the upcoming CARS 3 movie:
Jay Ward mentioned to me that they've been working on CARS 3 for 5 years. While the movie is scheduled to be released in just a few months, they aren't done yet. Ward said they will be fine tuning the movie until just a couple of weeks before it is released. He said they are going over every little detail of the film to make sure everything is just right and movie goers can appreciate an exceptional experience at the theater viewing it.
Jay Schuster mentioned that like me, he and Jay Ward, both have daughters who love the CARS movies. So he said they wanted Cruz Ramirez to be more than just a love interest for Lightning McQueen by having an integral role in the movie's racing plot as a strong female leading character. Ward chipped in "just to make it clear there isn't a romantic relationship between Cruz and Lightning in the film -- Sally is still his girlfriend." He noted that Sally, Mater and other cast members from previous movies are in CARS 3 but they tend to stay in Radiator Springs while Lightning, Jackson and Cruz are traveling to various locations for Piston Cup races.
I asked if there might be any cameos in the movie by any of the characters from Disney's PLANES movies in CARS 3, but was told that a cross-over would probably not be happening. Ward noted PLANES is produced by Disney Animation Studios and while PIXAR is owned by Disney they are treated as separate entities. It doesn't seem like CARS want PLANES flying in on their parade.
Discussing how my wife, I and our kids enjoys watching CARS movies together, Jay Ward said that he is proud that CARS 3 is a movie that is fun for families to experience together. "Parents will have a good time, children will have a good time and teenagers will pretend they're too old for this movie yet really enjoy it too," Ward said. "I really think Cars 3 is the strongest film of the three both emotionally and story wise. It is also a very family-friendly movie based upon how it delves into the theme of relationships in a journey that parents and kids can enjoy together."
CARS 3 features the voices of Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen), Armie Hammer (Jackson Storm), and Christela Alonzo (Cruz Ramirez). It is a perfect movie for a summer family outing to the movie theater. Learn more about CARS at disney.cars.com which includes character profiles, craft ideas, games, videos and an online store of themed merchandise. Also don't forget to swing by the Detroit Auto Show to say hello to Lightning McQueen before he races out of town on January 22!
My little girl and I enjoyed an enjoyable daddy-daughter night out going to see THE GOOD DINOSAUR, the newest PIXAR theatrical movie release from Walt Disney Studios. This really is an excellent film to go see for a family outing to the movie theater, especially if you have elementary aged children, though there are some scenes in the film that may be too intense and scary for some preschoolers. The Good Dinosaur arrived at movie theaters Thanksgiving Weekend, is rated PG, and is a 100 minutes in length.
The movie begins with the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs on our planet 65 million years ago narrowly missing instead providing the premise for the story that dinosaurs could have been roaming the Earth at the same time humans were beginning to emerge onto the landscape. This animated film has a Wild West theme with an Apple Dumpling Gang vibe to it combined with cartoonish dinosaurs in the roles of cowboys, farmers, Indians, rustlers, and outlaws obviously inspired from classic Hollywood western movies. The central character of the movie is Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa), the smallest dinosaur in a family of Apatosaurus. Arlo is afraid of everything which is beginning to make him a nuisance on the family farm and aggravation to his Poppa (Jeffrey Wright), Momma (Frances McDormand), and two-siblings Buck (Marcus Scribner) and Libby (Maleah Nipay-Padilla).
To help Arlo get over his fears and "make his mark" in contributing to the family, Poppa assigns him the task of capturing and killing the "Critter" that has been sneaking into the farm's corn silo and eating their winter supply of food. Arlo discovers that the thief is an orphaned human caveboy and can't bring himself to kill the "Critter" when he has it trapped. When Poppa discovers that Arlo let the caveboy go, the elder dinosaur becomes enraged and drags off Arlo to go with him to look for it and finish the job.
** Spoilers Ahead **
Unfortunately, while searching for the "Critter", a storm arrives and a flash flood wipes through the canyon with Arlo only being able to survive drowning by his Poppa sacrificing himself to save the son. The story fast forwards to the next year's harvest with the family struggling to get by without Poppa. Arlo discovers that the "Critter" also survived the flood and is back stealing the family's corn again. He chases after the caveboy seeking revenge for his Poppa's death, but ends up getting swept away in a river ending up far, far away from the family farm.
Lost, scared, and alone things are looking pretty grim for the young Apatosaurus until the "Critter" finds Arlo and begins looking out for him. Witnessing the odd interaction between Arlo and the "Critter", a Styracosaurus called the Pet Collector (Peter Sohn) approaches them in one of the more comedic scenes of the film. This dinosaur, whose traits resemble a native American chief from a Wild West film has gathered a collection of forest creatures to protect him and wants to add the "Critter" to his ensemble. Arlo and the Pet Collector agree that whoever shouts out a name first that the "Critter" responds to gets to keep it. Arlo wins out and the caveboy gets the name "Spot" in a scene which really begins the friendship between the dinosaur and his human sidekick. Thus the duo begins an adventure across a harsh landscape in a journey back to Arlo's family farm. During this trek, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and what he is truly capable of.
Arlo and Spot next encounter a pack of pterodactyls they initially believe will help them get home but instead find out this group of bandits is only really out to eat them. Fortunately the youngsters are saved by some cowboys, in the guise of three T-Rexs - Butch (Sam Elliot), Ramsey (Anna Paquin) and Nash (AJ Buckley) - who are herding buffalo in a cattle herd. To earn the help of the Tyrannosaurus, Arlo and Spot must help stop a trio of Raptors from rustling the buffalo. You'll have to watch The Good Dinosaur to find out what happens next.
The scenes with Poppa dying, the T-Rex roaring, the raptors rustling and the pterodactyls attacking can be a bit intense, scary and violent for younger viewers though my six year old herself didn't have any issues at all with this film. My daughter though was somewhat freaked out by the PIXAR short called "Sanjay's Super Team" that ran before the feature film. It is the story of an Indian-American boy fantasizing about the similarities between his favorite TV superheroes and his father's Hindu gods. It features a fast-paced action sequence with the boy tackling an antagonistic monster which had my daughter covering her eyes with her hands til it was over. The short was creative, very original, and I found it very enjoyable bringing to mind memories of my watching Tron as a kid, but a bit too intense for my little girl. Just a heads up fellow parents!
The Good Dinosaur is filled with great landscapes and natural backdrops that really are stunning at times. I'm not normally a fan of 3-D but it worked really well in this film enhancing the life like natural settings in the movie. In particular there is a scene where Arlo runs through a flock of birds and the 3-D really enhances your viewing dimension provided to the setting placing you into the moment as if these gulls were flying about around you. There are quite a few moments where the 3-D really provides extra dimension improving the context of a scene for your viewing enjoyment. The 3-D really expands upon the great animation in the film and I would recommend viewing it in this format if you can.
The downside of The Good Dinosaur is that while the movie's focus is on Arlo's struggles and adventures, the main character (even if you watch the movie in 3D ) is rather flat and just not that interesting and likable. It is the supporting characters that really stand out in the film with Spot stealing the show. Some of the scenes also can be pretty unoriginal with Poppa's death scene seeming as if it came right out of the stampede scene from A Lion King and some of Spot and Arlo's could resemble the unlikely friendship and buddy-story interactions from A Fox & A Hound. Also the wonderful big-sky horizons and the incredibly detailed water and forest scenes at times really dwarf the characters and when we are talking about characters we're talking about dinosaurs here. I'm not sure if it is a good thing when you are enjoying taking in the background of a movie rather than being absorbed into the plot of its story.
That being said there were some very original, touching moments that were pure PIXAR magic in The Good Dinosaur. There is a scene that Spot and Arlo disclose to one another they both have had parents die. Since the two don't speak the same language they have to communicate by drawing symbols and moving sticks in the dirt. It is a pure heart-breaking moment when the audience is enveloped into the story when these two characters understand they both share a profound grief for lost parents. This is an especially touching moment that is nice to be able to share with your own loved ones sitting by your side. While it doesn't have the best storyline, this film is full of the special touches PIXAR is know for combined with plenty of comedic moments and great animation which makes A Good Dinosaur a fun and enjoyable movie.
Coloring Pages
The Good Dinosaur gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval because it is a light-hearted movie that a parent can depend on for providing a fun and entertaining time on a family outing to the movies.
Recreate your family's favorite scenes from The Good Dinosaur or create your own adventures with this fun Dino-O-Rama featuring Arlo, Spot, Butch, Ramsey, Nash and the Pet Collector from the movie.
**Disclaimer: I attended an advance screening of INSIDE OUT as a guest of Walt Disney Studios. The opinions in this post are honest and my own** My little girl and I recently had a daddy-daughter night out on the town to grab a bite to eat and check out the newest Disney PIXAR animated feature film INSIDE OUT. This film takes its audience on an emotional journey - you see the primary characters are the emotions of an 11 year old girl named Riley. From the control room inside Riley's mind 5 emotions ( Joy - voiced by Amy Poehler, Fear - voiced by Bill Hader, Anger - voiced by Lewis Black, Disgust - voiced by Mindy Kaling & Sadness - voiced by Phyliss Smith) steer the girl through all the obstacles life throws her way both literally and figuratively. This movie was inspired by the emotional changes that Director Pete Docter observed his daughter go through as she matured from a young girl to a tween during the time he was directing the movies Monsters, Inc. and Up. INSIDE OUT opened in theaters on June 19, 2015 and features many moments that both parents and their kids can relate to. I was impressed that this is a very original movie with a fresh approach to its stories as too many Hollywood productions lately seem to be regurgitating material from past works. INSIDE OUT takes the road less taken and establishes its own memorable path to audiences' hearts.
Disney PIXAR has developed a tradition of thrilling audiences with delightful short films before their feature presentations and INSIDE OUT is no exception to that legacy with LAVA. I have to admit that I had forgotten about this and was a little perplexed at first on what a singing volcano had to do with the premise of INSIDE OUT before I realized that this was the traditional short proceeding the main movie. Ooops! My six year old daughter just adored LAVA with its bright animations and Hawaiian lullaby inspired soundtrack. When it looked like there may not be a happy ending she looked so distraught and then when things worked out in the end she giggled continuously with a huge smile on her face until INSIDE OUT began.
Riley (and her 5 emotions) seem to have a perfect and content life as the film begins. Then Riley's family picks up and moves across the country from Minnesota to San Francisco and things start to get all out of wack. Sadness starts to have a major role in the control room for reasons that none of the emotions can understand, including Sadness herself, so they try to isolate her because everyone wants Riley to be happy not sad about the changes in her surroundings and life. In a tussle about whether Riley's core memories should be classified as joyous or sad, the emotions accidentally flush them away to the far reaches of her mind where they may be lost forever. Joy and Sadness must leave the comfort zone of the brain's control room to find them and hopefully restore these core memories to their rightful place. The adventures that ensue take Joy and Sadness throughout Riley's mind visiting places like Long Term Memory, Imagination Land, Abstract Thought, and Dream Productions. While Joy and Sadness are venturing through the inner recesses of Riley's mind, that leaves Anger, Disgust, and Fear running the show when it comes to Riley's interactions in the real world...and that does not go smoothly at all for anyone.
While the 5 emotions are billed as the stars of the show, my daughter and I both agree that the best character and our favorite part of the movie was Bing Bong. Joy and Sadness stumble upon Riley's childhood imaginary friend wandering around in her long term memory trying to avoid being dumped into the forgotten memories grave yard by the workers who determine what needs to be stored to remember later and what can be tossed away as a forgotten moment. Hey who can't love a creature that is part elephant, half teddy bear, and a little bit cheshire cat while also being made out of cotton candy! In the end it is Bing Bong that saves the day and helps the emotions learn through their journey that joy and sadness are two sides of the same coin when it comes to helping steer Riley through the memorable moments in life. Joy can lead to sadness and sadness can lead to joy with both emotions playing a role in keeping Riley's overall life healthy and happy.
Just like starting out the movie with a short film is a Disney PIXAR tradition, so is subtly placing easter eggs throughout the movie. Easter eggs are intentional inside jokes or hidden messages that are placed within movies. For example, A113 was the graphic design classroom at California Institute of Arts where PIXAR honchos like John Lassetter and Brad Bird went to school. A113 has been incorporated into every PIXAR feature film including INSIDE OUT. According to Pete Doctor A113 just happens to be Riley's class room number at her new school in San Fran.
As you are watching the movie keep an eye out for pizza trucks, PIZZA PLANET trucks to be specific. First introduced in Toy Story, Pizza Planet trucks tend to pop up in PIXAR movies. According to the movie's director this truck appears in three different shots and should be visible to fans who search for it. I have to say I totally missed it so feel free to share with us where it appears if you catch site of it in the movie.
Also PIXAR has a habit of previewing upcoming characters from upcoming movies. For example, in Up, there were scenes that showed Lotso Huggin Bear who later appeared in Toy Story 3 and Fin McMissile who later appears in Cars 2. For INSIDE OUT, Doctor has mentioned that audiences can catch a glimpse of Arlo who is the lead character in the upcoming movie The Good Dinosaur. So just a few things to keep an eye out for when watching INSIDE OUT.
The one downside to INSIDE OUT was that it wasn't the type of PIXAR movie that parents can take their whole family to go see knowing children of any age would love the show. While there isn't content that is overly violent, scary or graphic in nature to make it inappropriate for younger children, I found that my six year old just didn't get most of the humor and jokes found within it as they were over her head for understanding what was going on so this may not be the best movie to take younger children to. I thought Joy, Sadness and Bing Bong trying to escape a furnace that will turn them into abstract thoughts was very hilarious and creative but I've also taken college level art classes too getting more of a meaning on jokes like these compared to a Kindergartener. My daughter told me she LIKED this movie but felt she just didn't LOVE it in the same way she does Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and Toy Story which she will watch over and over and over again.
While the show is very creative and original over all, I was also a little disappointed that the ending was just a little too similar to the conclusion of another recent Walt Disney Studios movie Big Hero Six. This movie really was a roller coaster of emotions for both its characters and the audience so you may want to bring some tissues with you. It seemed as everyone around us was in tears as the movie was reaching its conclusion. This being said, that doesn't make it a bad movie just don't go into it expecting it to be entirely a feel good humorous comedy.
While INSIDE OUT didn't become my favorite Disney PIXAR movie, I did find it enjoyable to watch from my own adult perspectives. If you have tweens and teens at home I'd recommend taking them to go see it for a family outing to the movie theater. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll have a good time together.
This is the year to buy Disney stock because 2015 is when their brand acquisitions over the last decade are coming together for a stellar movie lineup that is as good as gold filled with blockbusters that may generate record profits for the company. Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars will be combining with classic Disney brands (Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and TomorrowLand) that will have people young and old excited to go to the movie theater throughout the year. I'm both excited by all these movies and a little concerned about just how much lighter my wallet is going to be if my family actually goes to all the movies at the theater we want to see...and as great as digital downloads or DVDs can be they still don't match the thrill of viewing a blockbuster on the big screen. So with no further delay, here's the 2015 list of feature films from Disney:
STRANGE MAGIC - January 23 (Touchstone Pictures/LucasFilm)
"Strange Magic" is a madcap fairy tale musical
inspired by "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Popular songs from the past six
decades help tell this animated tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves,
fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the
battle over a powerful potion.
McFarland USA - February 20 (Walt Disney Studios)
A cross country coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.
CINDERELLA - March 13 (Walt Disney Studios)
A live-action retelling of the classic fairy tale about a servant step-daughter who wins the heart of a prince. This is the number one movie my six year old daughter wants to see this year.
Monkey Kingdon - April 17 (Disney Nature)
It has become a tradition for Disney to release a nature themed movie around Earth Day and this year's topic is monkeys. Monkey Kingdom is a documentary that follows a newborn monkey and its mother as
they struggle to survive within the competitive social hierarchy of the
Temple Troop, a dynamic group of monkeys who live in ancient ruins found
deep in the storied jungles of South Asia.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON - May 1 (Marvel)
This might have been the most anticipated movie of the year until word came out that a new Star Wars movie would be coming out. Sorry Marvel but this will still be a huge blockbuster. In this sequel based on the characters from Marvel comic books, when Tony Stark (Iron Man) tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program,
things go awry and it is up to the Avengers to stop the villainous
Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.
TomorrowLand - May 22 (Walt Disney Studios)
This movie is still pretty shrouded in mystery but is based on the TomorrowLand section of Disney's theme parks and stars George Clooney. Here's the synopsis: Bound by a shared destiny, a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and
a former boy-genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets
of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective
memory.
INSIDE OUT - June 19 (Disney / Pixar)
This animated film tells a story from the perspective of the emotions inside the mind of a little girl.
Ant-Man - July 17 (Marvel)
Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale
but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero
and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will
save the world.
THE JUNGLE BOOK - October 9 (Walt Disney Studios)
A live action telling of the classic story of an orphan boy is raised in the jungle with the help of a pack of wolves, a bear, and a black panther. The Disney animated version of this movie is a favorite of my kids so you know we'll probably be going to see this as a family outing.
Untitled Cold War Spy Thriller - October 16 (DreamWorks Pictures)
Directed by Steven Spielberg this movie produced by DreamWorks Studios is being distributed through Disney. It tells the tale of an American lawyer recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union.
THE GOOD DINOSAUR - November 25 (Disney / Pixar)
After a traumatic event unsettles a lively Apatosaurus named Arlo, he
sets out on a remarkable journey, gaining an unlikely companion along
the way - a human boy. This is the move my son really wants to see this year.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - December 18 (LucasFilm)
This of course is the movie that I and millions of other fans are looking forward to 2015 with each of us wondering if this will be a hit like the original trilogy or a flop like the prequels that followed. For those of you who may have been hiding under a rock for the last year or so this new movie is a continuation of the saga created by George Lucas set thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).
So that's the Disney movie lineup for 2015. What do you think?! Have fun at the movies this year my friends ... I know my family and I will be having a blast!
If you look closely into the scenes of your favorite movies
you can see mysterious and spooky clues about events that will take place in
the future. Really … try it out by looking
past the main characters and action sequences deep into the scenes and
all will be revealed to you!
Recently DISNEY purchased the Star Wars franchise from
George Lucas which was a move that caught many people off guard, but look
closely in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and you can see Mickey Mouse everywhere. Was
this a clue to the future?
Now just this last week,
J.J. Abrams (the director of the rebooted STAR TREK franchise) was given
the helm by DISNEY for also leading the creation of a brand new STAR WARS movie. Is this brand new news or was it pre-ordained
in 2009 when Abrams included a reference to Star Wars in his Star Trek movie?
Check this out:
YES, that is R2-D2, one of Star Wars’ most popular
characters flying through the debris as the crew of the Enterprise looks on!
Wow! Are these mysterious messages that give us a glimpse into
the future?! No, not really. Actually in
many movies there are images hidden within the scenes as inside jokes by the
Director. These images have come to
become known as “easter eggs” and often are meant as hidden salutes to other
movies. It’s just ironic that George
Lucas included a salute to one of his mentors Walt Disney in the Empire Strikes
Back and J.J. Abrams gave a poke to George Lucas in Star Trek.
Sometimes though easter eggs are meant to give a glimpse of
the future. Pixar is an example of a studio that has become amazingly astute with
inserting easter eggs into its movies to give a sneak peak of things to come.
Monsters, Inc. in
2001 gave us a glimpse of Nemo whose movie came out in 2003:
In Finding Nemo (2003) we are given a preview of Mr. Incredible
from the movie The Incredibles that was released in 2004:
Movie goers were given a peak at Doc Hudson from CARS (2006)
during The Incredibles (2004):
Is that Dug the Dog from UP! (2009) in Ratatouille (2007)?
And the bear villain from Toy Story 3 (2010) makes an appearance in
UP (2009)!
And look there’s a poster of Finn McMissile on Andy’s Wall
in Toy Story 3 giving a sneak peek at CARS2!
In BRAVE we see a wood carving of Sully … is that the easter
egg for “Monsters University”? The
Monsters Inc. sequel “Monsters University” hits theaters on June 21, 2013!
Here are a couple of other examples of easter eggs in films
I’ve seen:
In Raiders of the Lost Ark you can see Star Wars characters
R2-D2 & C3PO in the hieroglyphics in this scene:
Did you also notice Indiana Jones escapes from the CLUB OBI
WAN in The Temple of Doom?
George Lucas repaid the Indiana Jones references with a nod
to Steven Spielberg in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Look it’s E.T. in the galactic senate!
In this scene from Kevin Smith’s Mall Rats Jeremy London’s
character TS Quint picks up a hat that has “Clerks” printed on it in reference
to Smith’s first film, Clerks.
In the movie TRON, is that Pac-Man I see in the scene?
What easter eggs have you found in movies? Become a member
of my "a geek daddy" blog and share with us in the comment section below what your favorites are:
