A 'Brave' Move for Pixar - Brand New Teaser Trailer Released

The trailer above is for Pixar's next animated feature, "Brave" which tells the story of 'Merida', a young Scottish Princess who defies her parents by defying an old age custom sacred to the lords of the land.

This film will be Pixar's first fairytale and its first film to feature a female lead. It was originally titled "The Bear and the Bow" and was also originally going to be directed by Brenda Chapman (Little Mermaid, Road to Eldorado) but has now been replaced by Mark Andrews (One Man Band, Jack Jack Attack) and although Brenda Chapman is no longer working on the movie she will be credited as co-director.

It's good to see Pixar giving the lead to a female character. Kelly McDonald is supplying the voice of Merida. She has replaced Reese Witherspoon. The official line from Disney/Pixar with regard to the replacing of Reece was due to scheduling conflicts but I am not so sure. Recording voice characters is not quite the same as filming is it ? I think it was more of a case of Reese not being able to portray a believable Scottish accent. Regardless of that the cast list looks strong featuring the acting talents of Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly.

Brave is released in June 2011. Keep an eye out here at 'The Production Diaries' for more information and art as we receive it. So far though it looks pretty good to me.

John Carter Of Mars - First Images

Andrew Stanton is a two time Oscar winning Director from Pixar. Both Wall-E and Finding Nemo won Oscars for best animated feature and he was also co-wrote Toy Story 1, 2 & 3, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, Wall-E and Finding Nemo. He was the second animator to be hired at Pixar (after John Lasseter) and is part of Pixar's Brain Trust, which often review and participate in the film making process of non-Pixar films made by Walt Disney Pictures. To say the man is a talented film maker would be an understatement, but Disney are taking somewhat of a gamble with Andrew's next project.

Mr Stanton is currently on loan to Disney and is in the director's chair for his first live action film, "John Carter of Mars", based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs serialisation from 1912. This film is based on the first story to feature the character John Carter from the novel "The Princess of Mars". This is one story that film makers have wanted to bring to the big screen for decades and has its roots as far back as 1931 when MGM tried to turn it into animated rotoscoped cartoons but they failed to impress test audiences.

The rights to the story have been banded about since the 1980's between Disney, Paramount and back to Disney in 2007 again. As recently as 2005 Robert Rodriguez was lined up to direct the story using digital sets from his Sin City movie.

With Disney back in the frame in 2007 they 'loaned' both Andrew Stanton as director and Mark Andrews as writer from Pixar. Principal photography started in January 2010 at Shepperton Studios and finished in Utah in July the same year. The film stars Taylor Kitsch as 'John Carter', Lynn Collins as 'Dejah Thoris' and a strong supporting cast including James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe, Dominic West and Samantha Morton. Michael Giacchino will be composing the score.

This will be a heavy effects laden movie, as you can see from the concept art below but even I was surprised at how long this one is taking to make. The official release date is March 9th 2012 in the US so that gives Disney plenty of time to get it right.....and they will need to as this story is one that Burroughs fan-boys will be keen to see and, if not done right, will certainly make their opinions known !

Here is the official press release from Disney:

From Academy Award®–winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”—a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

Click on the Book Cover to read an excellent interview with Andrew Stanton in the LA Times.