Pete Docter Was Given Newt Before It Was Cancelled, Says Ed Catmull

Ed Catmull's got a book coming out. Creativity, Inc. tells the story of the studio's rise "from a small, money-losing hardware company to a movie studio with 1,200 employees and a streak of fourteen #1 movies in a row that has garnered 30 Academy Awards and earned more than $7 billion worldwide." And, to help promote that book, the Pixar president has been chatting to Fast Company, spilling a lot of really exciting and interesting titbits from inside the studio's walls. Like, for instance, what actually happened to newt. Read on to find out.

Former Pixarian Gary Rydstrom Heads to Lucasfilm Animation; Brenda Chapman Talks

Word just broke today that longtime Pixarian, Gary Rydstrom, who was a sound designer on multiple Pixar films, directed Pixar shorts Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian and the wonderful Lifted, and was directing the hotly anticipated newt (so that's still a no then?) is now directing an animated feature film for Lucasfilm Animation! You may recall that was where Brenda Chapman headed after her Pixar exit last year (although she now works for DreamWorks), and it was from said Brave co-director that the news emerged.

Damn You, Pixar: More Tantalising Newt Concept Art

*sigh* Pixar, will you ever let us move on?

newt was by far my most anticipated Pixar film, we didn't know much about it, only a premise and some gorgeous concpet art (here and here -- you can view it all here), but I was hooked; I don't remember ever connecting quite so much to quite so little. So, I was rather upset when the film was cancelled - due in part to plot similarities to Blue Sky Studios' Rio. Pixar, though, won't let us mourn in piece, and insist on showering us with yet more beautiful concept art and references to the film, and today we get more still, via former Pixarian Katy Wu, who shared some of the work she did on the film on her personal blog.

Behold: Brave Easter Eggs Found!

A113 in Brave, carved in Roman numerals (ACXIII) above the doorway.

UPDATE: 20:33 (GMT) - you can now check out the references (including a newly found one, paying homage to the late-great Cars co-director Joe Ranft) in hi-res below; again via The Pixar Post.

It's not quite out over here yet, but Pixar's thirteenth feature film, Brave, is now out on Blu-ray and DVD in the US, and it's jam-packed with special features! The most special feature of all, though, is the film itself, and Pixar fans all over the web have returned to the film to try and nail down the few Easter Eggs that eluded us all in cinemas!

Those wonderful guys over at The Pixar Post have a breakdown of all the Easter Eggs you can see, ranging from Pixar-mainstays to some rather more interesting ones. We've already seen some of them before - the Pizza Planet Truck, Sulley from Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University, and a newt reference - but we also, finally, now know the location of A113 in the film (and the Luxo ball pops up as well).

A113 (top) isn't the most highly-defined and visible in the world, but it's there, and we'll add it to our A113 page ASAP! Check out the rest, of the slightly more visible Easter Eggs, below!

The Luxo ball, clearly - well, maybe not clearly - visible in the Witch's clutter.

The Witch's carving of the Pizza Planet Truck, which appears in every Pixar film except for The Incredibles.

Sulley from Monsters, Inc., who will also appear in next year's Monsters University, doubling up as a reference to past and future Pixar films.

A newt, paying reference to Pixar's cancelled film of the same name.

A carving of the late-great Joe Ranft's face.

Brave hits Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on 26th November - you can pre-order it below. In the meantime, to whet your Pixar appetite, Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2 is out now in the UK and you can buy it here, and check out our exclusive review of Monsters, Inc. 3D (released 19th December, US; 18th January, UK).

Pictures and Easter Egg-spotting courtesy of The Pixar Post.

Theory: Newt Isn't Cancelled, It's Just Hibernating

*This post contains some mild spoilers if you haven't seen Brave yet*

Pixar's latest feature film, Brave, is out now in the US and its release dates for the rest of the world are fast approaching. With the release of a new Pixar film, swiftly comes the Easter-egg hunting. Pixar have a long-standing tradition of cross-pollinating their films with references, both to each other and to the wider world of animation in general. The most famous examples are the Pizza Planet Truck (which first appeared in 1995's Toy Story) and the code A113 - the very same code that this blog is named after.

Very common also though are references to other Pixar films, past and present. Occasionally for the purpose of time-saving or due to cost-constrains - like the use of Geri from the short film Geri's Game as the cleaner in Toy Story 2, or the tree from Ant Island from A Bug's Life being used as the scene for Jessie's happy playtime memories, also in Toy Story 2, due to the film's short time-frame for animation - but more often just as a neat little reference, indicative of the deep affection Pixar have for all of their projects. In Monsters, Inc. for example, in one of the final scenes in Boo's bedroom, you can see Jessie from Toy Story 2 and Nemo from Finding Nemo (the previous and following Pixar films). Also, in Ratatouille you can see a shadow of Dug, who would appear two year's later in Up.

The only hint I'll give y'all concerning all the Brave Easter eggs is that they are all in the same sequence. ;)
— Catherine (@cathicks) June 25, 2012

Now that Brave is out, the search is on for how Pixar slotted its references into the antiquated 10th century Scottish setting. The Pizza Planet Truck has been spotted quite en masse, but A113 and an apparent Monsters University reference have alluded most viewers - despite Pixarian Cat Hicks' helpful hint (above) that all of the Easter eggs are in the same scene. However, one reference that has been noticed quite widely, to some delight and shock, was one to Pixar's cancelled project, newt.

Rio Review - A Film That Easily Takes Flight

This latest review is of a film that, as regular blog followers will know, is one of the animated films I have been most looking forward to this year, Rio. Rio is the sixth film from Blue Sky Studios, the animation company famous for the Ice Age trilogy, however Rio is far removed from director Carlos Saldanha's more comedic Ice Age films and is a far more musical endeavour than Blue Sky Studios' previous films.

Brave Concept Art Poster

Following on from the newt poster I made from all of the concept art yesterday, I decided to make one for Pixar's next release following Cars 2, Brave, using all the concept art released so far.

Since this most recent concept art has surfaced, I have been super psyched for Brave, it looks brilliantly original and I'm hyped to see Pixar's first fairytale.

Fortunately this one didn't take as long as the newt one did!

Newt Concept Art Poster

Well that's an hour and a half of my life I'll never see again! I thought it would look very cool to compile all of the concept art for Pixar's cancelled film project, newt.

As regular blog followers will know, I was immensely excited for newt and was distraught by its cancellation, so it seemed only right to pay homage to the film, now that we will (sadly) not be seeing it.

I'm quite pleased with how the poster turned out, thoughts?

More Newt Concept Art

Following the very public cancellation of Pixar's Newt last year, we were treated to a large amount of beautiful concept art for the film, as anyone who frequents the blog will know, this was the Pixar film I was most looking forward to and I was very disappointed by its cancellation. However, we have just been treated to a new batch of concept artwork for the film and its characters (courtesy of The German Pixar Blog) by Pixar artist, Jason Deamer (above and below).

Needless to say, the artwork looks fantastic!

Newest Rio Clip

The newest clip for Blue Sky Studios' upcoming film, Rio, was released today (above). As I predicted, as the film's April release date draws ever closer, we're being treated to more and more clips, and they're all great. As regular blog followers will know, Rio is one of the animated films that I'm most looking forward to this year and these clips are very reassuring!

The animation looks great, the music looks great, the story sounds great and - as the film that allegedly was the reason for Pixar's newt being cancelled - I'm hoping it is great.

Stay tuned for more!

Rio Trailer 2 Flies Online

The second trailer for Blue Sky Studios next feature film, Rio, due out in April 2011, surfaced online this past week. The trailer reveals more intricate plot details and cast members the film looks really fun and beautifully animated.
Simultaneously, Blue Sky Disney posted an article, citing Rio as the reason that Pixar's Newt was cancelled, due to plot similarities. When you look at this trailer in particular, you can definitely see the similarities, whilst I would have paid to see both films, out of fear of competition and being branded as derivative, Pixar cancelled the film.
Nonetheless, Rio looks great and will be out next year.