It's the beginning of the new year, and Pixar are obviously getting into the action early. The studio has released some teaser art for its 2013-2015 slate, and while it's small and brief, it's definitely something that's already creating excited ripples in the animation community.
First up is a film by Peter Docter, the director behind "Up" — or at least this is the one we're perhaps most intrigued about since the film is said to be "wildly ambitious" and won't even be out until June 19, 2015. Rumored to be titled "The Inside Out," but officially known as the "The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind," all we know at the moment is that the animated picture will go inside the mind of a young girl. It will be shepherded by "Up" producer Jonas Rivera, and Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt has been been working on the screenplay for Docter in some capacity (though whether he'll get a full-blown credit is unclear right now).
Lee Unkrich's Pixar project, known for now as as "The Untitled Pixar Movie about The Día de los Muertos" — the vibrant Mexican holiday that celebrates loved ones who have passed on — gets a piece of teaser art too, and it's interesting to see just how different it looks from the averge Pixar film. The film is produced by Darla K. Anderson (“A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.” and “Cars”), but not a whole hell of a lot more is known about it. There's no release date on this one yet.
"The Good Dinosaur" is being co-directed by Bob Peterson (co-director/writer, “Up;” writer, “Finding Nemo,” voice of Dug the Dog) and Peter Sohn, one of Pixar's in-house animators and storyboard artists on projects like "WALL·E," "Ratatouille" and "The Incredibles." Described as "hilarious and heartfelt," the official synopsis asks: "What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?" The film is due May 30, 2014.
The least nebulous of the bunch has to be "Monsters University," which is set for release on June 21, 2013. We've already seen plenty of images, posters, trailers and teaser footage from the movie. A neat element about it? Metal band Mastodon are contributing a song for the new film. [Via Coming Soon]