Meet the Robinsons 10th Anniversary: How it changed and brought new life to Walt Disney Animation Studios

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Disney Animation's 47th film - Meet the Robinsons - a film that may not be well-remembered or universally beloved but that nonetheless, ushered a new golden age of animated features at WDAS and deserves to be remembered, re-watched and discovered by audiences around the world.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #56: Moana (2016)

Previous post: Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #55: Zootopia (2016)

Walt Disney Animation Studios 55th film, Zootopia, was a complete success grossing (against all odds) over $1b and becoming the third highest grossing film of the year. Audiences were drawn to the fantastic animation, richly-developed characters and a poignant, relevant and timely story. Zootopia continued the winning streak of the studio but it was not their only offering of this year. Moana, their second film of the year, is a more conventional fairy tale that nonetheless provides high-quality entertainment for the whole family and it'll surely become a classic in the years to come.

'The Incredibles 2' and 'Toy Story 4' Swap Release Dates

This is a good news / bad news situation: Pixar has announced that the planned release dates for Toy Story 4 and The Incredibles 2 have been swapped. The sequel to The Incredibles will now be released on 15 June, 2018 in the US, and the fourth installment in the Toy Story franchise will be released on 21 June, 2019.

'Cars 3': Production has Started and a Director has Been Announced

A Cars 3 concept art by Pixar artist Noah Klocek

Cars 3 has been scheduled for a June 2017 release for a long time, but the film was so shy since it's been announced, some people were starting to wonder if it had been cancelled - myself included. At last, we've got some news on the project: a director, some new characters names, a tease of the story and even two concept arts. More below.

Watch: A 47-minute Documentary About Disney's 'Zootopia'

The Fusion Network released a documentary called Imagining Zootopia on YouTube; this 47-minute film shows how the 55th classic from the Walt Disney Animation Studios became what it is today. Watch it after the break.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #55: Zootopia (2016)

Previous post: Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #54: Big Hero 6 (2014)

After taking a year off, Walt Disney Animation Studios has returned in a major way with what might possibly be the best film from the new era and one of the best films from the canon ever. Zootopia, the 55th animated film from the studio, is an instant classic perfectly balancing humor, heart and timely themes, all set up against one of the studios' most inventive and gorgeous creations of all time.

Munir's Pixar Retrospective #2 - A Bug's Life (1998): 17 Years Later.

Previous post: Munir's Pixar Retrospective #1 - Toy Story (1995): 20 Years Later.

Toy Story's enormous success put Pixar on the map but it still wasn't the animation powerhouse it would become years later. When producing its second film, Pixar had the daunting task of not repeating itself but also, to deliver a high-quality motion picture. As a result, A Bug's Life was born but how does it fare almost 17 years after its original release?

Munir's Pixar Retrospective #1 - Toy Story (1995): 20 Years Later

Make Sure You've Read: Pixar Retrospective - An Introduction. 

To talk about Toy Story is a daunting task. After all, since the film's release almost 20 years ago, there have been countless articles, reviews, discussions and more of a film that completely changed the animation industry and put its studio on the map. Toy Story is the modern Snow White, a film that revolutionized the medium, infused it with fresh energy and opened the door to a new technology that has become the standard tool to make American animated films.

'The Good Dinosaur' Gets New Voices

When it was announced that Bob Peterson quit the project, leaving Pete Sohn as the solo director of The Good Dinosaur, we knew some changes were gonna happen; we just didn't know what these changes were. Today, as Pixar announced an almost entirely different voice cast than the one they gave away two years ago, things become a little clearer.

Cannes: John Lasseter Talks Upcoming Pixar and Disney Films

John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios) is currently at the Cannes Film Festival where Pete Docter's Inside Out premiered on Monday. But while he was at Cannes, why wouldn't he also talk about the future? Thankfully he did, and some new tidbits on The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory, Zootopia and Moana came through. More after the break.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #54: Big Hero 6 (2014)

Previous post: Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #53: Frozen (2013).

Big Hero 6 is the latest film from WDAS - and also their latest triumph! It would've been easy for the studio to rest on its laurels after Frozen's smashing success, (success that's still resonating today) but it's reassuring to see that the studio has no plans to slow down; Big Hero 6 is the latest proof of that.

Pixar Announce Toy Story 4! John Lasseter Directing, Rashida Jones Writing, Out 2017

Well damn. I genuinely did not see this one coming. Yesterday, Pixar shook the entire Internet with the surprise announcement that they will be releasing a fourth film in the Toy Story series! Toy Story 4 (not, as some have suggested, called Toy Story: The Fours Awakens, sadly...) in June 2017 - meaning the film has presumably been in the works for a few years. More on this, who's involved, the general reaction - and ours - below.

DisneyToon Studios' Future: What Options Does it Have?

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that there were going to be some layoffs at DisneyToon Studios, the studio responsible for the Tinker Bell and Planes series. The reason? There wasn't an specific one but it's not too hard to see why the layoffs occurred. The Tinker Bell series is done, with Legend of the Neverbeast being its last instalment, and the second film in the Planes franchise, Fire and Rescue, didn't do nearly as well as the first did last year. With the home media market shrinking every year, there are not many options for a studio that has specialized in producing home video products since its inception.

Ed Catmull Takes Us Inside Pixar

A Creativity, Inc. Review

I'm not usually one for management books. To be honest, I don't recall reading one in the past. I don't think I ever thought to myself 'Yowzah! This management book looks so exciting I can barely restrain myself from exploding with joy!' - by the way, if you have said these exact words to yourself at any point in your life, you're an interesting subject matter.
And yet something in Disney and Pixar president Ed Catmull's book, Creativity, Inc., (co-written with journalist Amy Wallace) felt weirdly attractive: the promise of learning more about the two studios, as an animation fan, seemed exciting; Mr. Catmull should have great insight on these companies and on the films they produced in the recent years. And, unsurprisingly, when you read Creativity, Inc. you find out quite a lot of things about just that. What takes you by surprise, though, is how much you relate to the management segments.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #53: Frozen (2013)

Last Week's: Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #52: Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

The Snow Queen, like many other Disney projects was in development hell for many years. Constantly revived and shelved, the project never seemed to properly take off and fans never knew when/if the film was finally going to be released. After the latest 2002 attempt was cancelled again, Chris Buck (director of Tarzan) pitched a new version to John Lasseter in 2008 and development started once more. Finally, in 2011, Disney officially announced the film with a new title and a 2013 release date. What nobody expected is that the new film, now called Frozen, was to become a critical darling and a box office behemoth that matched the run of The Lion King almost 20 years ago.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #52: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Last Week's: Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #51: Winnie the Pooh (2011).

After the more quiet and charming Winnie the Pooh, Disney Animation came firing back on all cylinders with their next film. It was something very different from anything the studio had attempted before, and it seemed like an unlikely endeavour from a studio that seemed more "traditional" in the view of most people. Nonetheless, Wreck-It Ralph came at the perfect time for WDAS, as it helped it reinvent itself and find a new identity, as a pioneer of new and fresh stories, while also developing new technology to match them.

Rumour: Are Pixar Developing a Star Wars Film?

This is a rumour, so treat it with a grain of salt, - or a vat of it - but Latino Review claims that Pixar is currently in development of its own Star Wars film! The inevitability of these sort of rumours has been abound since Disney bought Lucasfilm back in October 2012, so it's not a shock to see this pop up, but Latino Review have been proven right with some rumours in the past (although they've also been egregiously untrustworthy with others...), so it's worth considering.

Munir’s Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #51: Winnie the Pooh (2011)

Last Week’s: Munir’s Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #50: Tangled (2010).

After the big spectacles that The Princess and the Frog and Tangled were, I was genuinely surprised that Disney chose to do a Pooh film. The last Pooh feature done by Disney Animation was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh back in 1977 and it was a compilation of previously done shorts. I've never been much of a Pooh fan and, outside of Many Adventures, I never cared for any of its other incarnations as most of them tended to be kid-exclusive. I went to see Winnie the Pooh with a bit of trepidation but I came out utterly enchanted by its disarming charm.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #50: Tangled (2010)

Last Week’s: Munir’s Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #49: The Princess and the Frog (2009).

After The Princess and the Frog marked a glorious return to hand-drawn animation, I was disappointed that Tangled was made in CG. Don't get me wrong, I love CG animation, especially Pixar films, but because Tangled was a fairy tale, I expected a similar approach to Princess & Frog. Also, what didn't sit well with me was the title change. Because The Princess and the Frog "underperformed", Disney thought that, in order to appeal to boys, the name Rapunzel was not appropriate. So they changed it to Tangled, a very generic title that doesn't say anything about the film. Fortunately, despite this, Tangled was another triumph for Disney Animation, and their first genuine box office success in a very long time.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #49: The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Last Week’s: Munir’s Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #48: Bolt (2008).


One of the most exciting things in 2009 was the release of The Princess and the Frog. After a decade of releasing (mostly) misfires and giving traditional animation the death sentence after the abysmal Home on the Range, Disney was finally ready to go back to the technique they practically invented and perfected for over 70 years. Thanks to John Lasseter and his vision, traditional animation was back firing on all cylinders at the studio and with a new fairy tale to boot. Better still, the helmers of this new movie were none others than studio veterans John Musker and Ron Clements and handling the music was Pixar veteran Randy Newman. With all this talent behind it, we could only expect the best film possible and, thankfully, the movie delivered on all fronts.