(Source: www.joblo.com)
In a previous article, I suggested the best way for John Lasseter to keep Disney and Pixar on top of the animation heap was to keep doing what he's doing, and to give up-and-coming animators the chance to hone their craft and not force them to go somewhere else (like Don Bluth did in the late 1970's).
Well, it's obvious that Lasseter listened to me (my monstrous ego would not let me admit that he had might've had that idea already: perish the thought!) since Disney has announced that they will be running a new round of animated shorts in front of their movies. This isn't anything new: Disney did this back in the 30's, 40's and 50's as a way to give their best and brightest a chance to create on a smaller scale before letting them loose on a full-sized project. Pixar fans will know that they added shorts like "Boundin" (with The Incredibles) or "One Man Band" (which preceded Cars) to their movies and DVD's. It also added extra value for theatregoers' money, which might help explain why Pixar's flicks are so popular. Oh yeah, and having movies with good stories doesn't hurt.
Be that as it may, John "The Man" Lasseter has now added animated shorts to other Disney movies. These will come as both cel and CGI formats (Lasseter said that, unlike previous Disney administrations, he still feels 2-D cel animation still has some life left in it).
Here are some of the proposed titles of these shorts: "The Ballad of Nessie" is a stylized retelling of the Loch Ness monster myth; "Golgo's Guest" shows a Russian frontier guard meeting an extra-terrestrial; and there's "Prep and Landing," where two inept elves ready a house for Santa's visit.
Bonus points to Lasseter and Disney for allowing animators to come up with original ideas, instead of forcing them to rehash already popular characters (the penguins in Madagascar, anyone?).
Lasseter and Disney have revived a classic character and premise for their last short, but I'll let it go because it's so freakin' cool. "How to Install a Home Theater" revives the classic "How To" series of the 1940's and 50's, featuring everyone's favourite aw-shucks idiot, Goofy. The premise: a po-faced narrator tells the audience "how to" do a certain action, while Goofy ineptly demonstrate it (to hilarious results). Presumably this will be the traditional cel offering but who knows? A CG Goofy could be interesting.
No word as to when these are coming out (or which movies they're attached to) but no doubt that I'll let you know when and where.
