Woody and Buzz are back in theaters June 18th, 2010! However, the third installment of the Toy Story series did not come into fruition smoothly. After watching the second teaser trailer, which was released on February 10th, 2010, I decided to take a closer look into the development of this much anticipated animated film. Apparently, in 2005 under the leadership of Bob Iger, there was a small animation unit called Circle 7 Animation created to produce computer generated imagery. Their job was to exclusively produce sequels to Pixar box office hits. The creation of Circle 7 Animation caused a racket between both Pixar and Disney because the people at Pixar thought Disney was overstepping their boundaries.
Disney’s Circle 7 Animation started working on the third installment of the Toy Story series, a Pixar film, without any help from the original artists. The artists who had worked on both Toy Story and Toy Story 2 worked with Pixar and their creative director John Lasseter. According to the Los Angeles Times, Circle 7 Animation was actually nicknamed “Pixaren’t.” The people at Pixar thought that Disney had crossed a line by hiring their own people to create the follow-up movie to Toy Story 2.
Aside from the fact that Disney was using their people to make Toy Story 3; what were both Pixar and Disney up in arms over, you ask? Money, of course! There was trouble reaching a new long-term distribution deal that both parties thought was fair. Meanwhile, while these two animation power houses were working out their deal, production on Toy Story 3 continued in the hands of Disney artists.
The folks at Disney had come up with their own story line. According to Wikipedia, the storyline revolved around the idea of shipping a malfunctioning Buzz back to Taiwan to be fixed. Of course, the toys, being technologically savvy researched this on the internet and find out that their beloved friend Buzz has been recalled and is never coming home – they then set out on a rescue mission.
This idea was canned shortly after an agreement between Pixar and Disney was reached in 2006. From now on, according to the Las Angeles Times, “all of the sequels to Pixar movies will be made by Pixar.” Also, now any film Pixar and Disney work on together will be branded under the post-merger name of “Disney•Pixar.” Circle 7 Animation was shut down and the original artists at Pixar started working feverishly on Toy Story 3. Be sure to check out the film which is coming to a theater near you on June 18, 2010.
This week I commented on Kristina Wade & Danyael Hughes.
Also, you can see the trailers for Toy Story 3 here.
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February 14, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Megan Pettry
I really appreciate the fact that you researched this topic before you wrote about it. You seem like you know alot about the subject and are confident about the facts. This conflict between Disney and Pixar is very surprising to me I had no idea that any of this was going on behind the scenes. Isn’t all the conflicts from major corp.’s about money. I think that it was really wrong of Disney to go behind Pixars back and create circle 7 animation. All I know is that Toy Story 3 is coming out soon and I think that it will look polished even though this conflict was going on behind the scenes.
February 14, 2010 at 8:29 pm
cpocalyk
I do remember hearing rumors about that plot about Buzz Lightyear being shipped off to Taiwan a long time ago, and I was getting extremely worried that Disney would be targeting Pixar movies as vehicles for their “Cheapquel Farm”.
However, I do have hopes for Toy Story 3 despite all the conflict that’s been going on behind the scenes. The trailer looks very interesting, and it looks like Pixar can make really good sequels and care about the plot and characters more than the money. Speaking of which, I’m not at all surprised that the fight was about money; huge corporations are like that.
Still, I grew up watching Toy Story, so I look forward to see how Pixar will stun me this year.
February 14, 2010 at 10:59 pm
bonbonhistory
My fiance had told me the Circle 7 Animation plot a few months ago and then I saw the trailer for the other plot and said he was wrong. But now I know where he got it from! I am not surprised to see the competition between Disney and Pixar but I am surprised at the fact that Disney thought they could get away with making the 3rd movie with no say from the original animators! Thanks for posting this. It was very well written and very insightful! I am looking forward to seeing Toy Story 3!
February 15, 2010 at 1:45 pm
cinnamellon
I’m not remotely surprised by this spat. Disney and Pixar are major motion picture companies and from what I’ve been hearing, people think Disney is on the outs (this gossip was prior to “Princess and the Frog”, which may have been Disney’s lifeline). Disney tried to and succeeded in buying out Pixar (according to Wikipedia)–I see the act as a desperate company grasping at new-movie-straws. Pixar’s films, at least in my networks (family, friends, coworkers), have been wildly popular. Starting in the mid 90s Disney began releasing an overwhelming amount of direct-to-video films, many of which were sequels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disney_direct-to-video_films). Perhaps Disney feels their sequels will stand a chance at theatre time should Pixar be involved thus the acquisition of the company.
February 16, 2010 at 11:34 am
animashunation
Wow I didn’t know about this whole clash behind the movie. I have to admit, I always wondered if a Toy Story 3 was going to be created. When I heard recently that it was coming out in theaters, I wondered what in the world took so long for the third movie to be made. Looking at the old plot outline that you described, and then looking at the teaser trailer for the new movie, I think the plot line Pixar has come up with (Andy’s going to college and leaving toys behind, etc) is much better than a malfunctioning buzz being shipped off to Taiwan and being recalled.
February 23, 2010 at 1:37 pm
schoolfieldva
One thing that’s good to hear is that Pixar seems to be in the driver’s seat as far as story line and animation goes. It’s always insulting to see someone take over a classic piece of art and bring it in an “entirely fresh” new direction only for it to lose what originally made it so special.