Podcast #068 - Remastering Pixar's Films in Ultra High-Definition 4K – our Discussion with Dir of Studio Operations, Cynthia Slavens

In this episode of the Pixar Post Podcast, we dive into the superb box office totals that Inside Out 2 has achieved so far. We'll share the exact amount we predict the film will earn at the box office (spoiler – T.J.'s estimate calculator says $1,447,436,846). We'll also discuss Julie's trip to Pixar Animation Studios and why the Inside Out 2 visit may have been her favorite press event yet. Following the trip, we summarize three recent articles (Bloomberg, Time, and EW) that dive into the future of Pixar's feature films and Disney+ productions. Finally, we discuss Lewis Black's recent comments from his podcast (Link to Episode 178 on Apple Podcasts) about Pixar's paychecks and how the films give actors a certain level of immortality. PIXAR PODCAST SHOW NOTES After our brief intro (54 seconds), T.J. asks Julie her first Pixar trivia question: What team were the Foghorns playing at the beginning of Inside Out 2? 8:10 — Inside Out 2 has been a smash at the box office. Listen in as we discuss the film's current success and why we think it will end up as the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time. 21:00 — One of our posts was mentioned on the Drew Barrymore TV show when discussing Inside Out 2. 29:36 — We briefly touch on the heartbreaking news of Pixar's layoffs. 33:54 — Julie summarizes her trip to Pixar Animation Studios to cover Inside Out 2. 1:04:14 — We summarize and dive into 3 recent articles that discuss Pixar's future in making feature films and series for Disney+. Along with the summary, we also share our thoughts and some insights we know. 1:22:27 — Toy Story 5 and the mention of Andrew Stanton surprised Pixar fans, but is it true? Yes, but it's not the whole truth. 1:29:54 — Elio. We briefly talk about the future of the other-worldly film and Domee Shi's involvement. 1:33:42 — Inside Out 2 should be all over shelves, but is it? Not from what we've seen. 1:40:04 — Enrico Casarosa is working on a new original film. Will it be discussed at the upcoming D23 Expo on August 8-10, 2024? 1:43:53 — Discussions about the Dream Productions series (Inside Out-themed) as well as Win or Lose. 1:52:35 — Lewis Black shares his thoughts (they're not angry sentiments) about getting a reduced paycheck for voicing a Pixar character. It may shed some light on the earlier Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling contract issues.

As we celebrate the 12th anniversary of starting our website (March 25, 2012), we wanted to celebrate by bringing back the Pixar Post Podcast. We started the podcast in 2013 and paused recording episodes at the beginning of 2020, but we always felt we had more to say. We're thrilled to be back leading up to the release of Inside Out 2 in June and will share some upcoming details from the artists—stay tuned. PIXAR PODCAST SHOW NOTES Here are a few of the exciting topics we discussed during the episode. Kicking off the show, we reminisce about our website's 12th anniversary. We talk about our custom Partysaurus Rex toy that started it all, seeing the first Dolby Atmos film (Brave), and the history of our logos. At 40:14 into the show, we talk about Pixar Animation Studios. We discuss what we want to stay the same at Pixar Animations Studios and what we want to see change in the future. What to do with the "special features" now that DVD sales have slowed.   We want fewer human characters and more cars, fish, or toys.   The pressures of Disney corporate and sequels.   Don't chase varying trendy styles like Spider-Verse or TMNT. At 1 hour and 18 minutes into the show, we discuss some Pixar (and adjacent) news centering around Monsters at Work season 2, seeing Soul, Turning Red, and Luca in theaters, and our thoughts on A Real Bug's Life. Additionally, we touch on Pixar at the Disney parks, Inside Out 2 (upcoming press event), and Win or Lose.

The hilarious Disney+ short film, Lamp Life goes behind the scenes of the Toy Story franchise and lets viewers see what happened to Bo Peep and her Sheep all those years after she left Andy and Molly's house (between Toy Story 2 and 3). But, potentially even better than the laughs and excitement of the film, is that we were able to go even further behind the scenes and learn all about the "making of" Lamp Life. We recently spoke with Director, Valerie LaPointe, and Producer, Marc Sondheimer to chat about the editing, the animation, the easter eggs and so much more. Show Notes: 00:00 — Show kickoff and Pixar trivia — how many Pixar films have released in March? 02:24 — Toy Story 4 took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, we discuss the exciting new here. 07:27 — Ian and Barley Lightfoot are set to appear in Disney Parks, catch a glimpse of what they are going to look like. 11:14 — Guinevere, Barley's van from Onward is hitting the road on a tour. Learn more about the tour dates and watch a walk-around video tour of the van as well. 18:49 — An Onward preview is playing at Disney Parks now, catch the preview until the movie opens. 20:10 — We chat all about Pixar Nite at Disneyland coming on March 5 (from 8:00 PM to Midnight). Listen as we describe some of the events (including a cool For the Birds and Geri's Game backdrop for photo opportunities), the food, and the character meet-and-greets which will be available. 26:44 — Interview lead-in. We chat for around 8 minutes about the funny "growing up" connection Julie and Valerie had as well as our love for the short film. 34:47 — Interview with Valerie LaPointe and Marc Sondheimer. Listen as we chat all about the hilarious gags, the filmmaking process, and so much more in this fun and upbeat interview. We had a blast chatting with the team and we know you'll love listening in. 55:34 — Post interview and show wrap-up.

Pixar's Onward kicked off on September 17, 2013. After 6 years, we went to Pixar to dive behind the scenes and learn all about the making of the film. In this first installment of the Onward series, we sit down with Director Dan Scanlon and Producer Kori Rae to learn all about the triumphs, the struggles, and more while making this epic and emotional adventure.

In episode 69 of the Pixar Post Podcast, we chat with Jake Monaco, the composer behind Forky Asks A Question and many other Pixar properties you didn't realize he was involved with...and more coming soon. We also chat about Pixar's next 7 films and how some of the recent release dates have changed. We dive into how Kristen Lester may be one of the upcoming feature film directors and even touch on an exciting new show which will feature 15 new Pixar-themed screen-printed posters. We cover a new mini-series of comics centered around Dash and the Incredibles (and a new villain called Slow Burn. Disney Plus is very popular right now and we chat about the Disney Plus Guide, the Pixar projects which are coming soon to Disney+ and wrap up the episode (after our interview with Jake) offering our review of Forky Asks a Question.

In Episode 68 of the Pixar Post Podcast, we dive into and discuss Pixar's seven films in development, we inquire about Brad Bird's upcoming film, we dive into Awards season chatter about Toy Story 4 and we wonder – is Pixar looking for production support outside the United States?  As if that wasn't a full episode in itself, we also share our interview with Director of Studio Mastering & Operations, Cynthia Slavens as we dive into a background of her team, how they tackle re-rendering a Pixar film into Ultra High-Definition 4K format and learn if every version of the film is cataloged in the Pixar Archives. The episode (of course) kicks off with T.J. putting Julie to the test with two Pixar-themed trivia questions. What percent of Monsters in Monsters, Inc. have Mike Wazowski’s same tongue in their character rig? During the production of Up, the average animator produced how much animation in a week. At 3:48 into the show, we discuss Toy Story 4 producer, Mark Nielsen's discussion with Digital Spy in which he noted that there were seven Pixar films in development currently. We talk about who we already know is working on a film (of with two of those films are Onward and Soul) and explore Mark Andrews and Brad Bird's upcoming films (not necessarily Pixar films). Heck, is Mark still employed at the studio and what is Brad's connection to the book 1906? Starting at 20:41 we chat about a group of Pixar employees heading to the View Conference (October 21-25, 2019 in Turin, Italy) and SIGGRAPH Asia (November 17-20, 2019 in Brisbane, Australia) Of course, nothing is confirmed by any means, but a pair of recent articles got us thinking, "Is Pixar looking for production support from outside the United States for additional Disney+ projects?" We chat about a recent interview with Pixar President, Jim Morris in which he expresses interest working with India and Katherine Sarafian's meeting with the Armenian President who noted he's interested in "cooperation with Pixar." This is discussed starting at 30:30 into the show). At 40:27, we dive into Disney+ discussions as well and how this may relate to Pixar needing additional support outside of the United States and what is this "different type of storytelling" that they want to do which would involve threading together a number of shows? Awards chatter has begun and at 44:18 into the show, we chat about Toy Story 4 being included in the "For Your Consideration" push for Best Animated Feature as well as all three of the original SparkShorts being included as well (Smash and Grab, Purl, and Kitbull). Toy Story 4 is up against 32 films (to be whittled down to 5 before the Oscar's air on Feb 9, 2020) and there are an astounding 85 short films included in the list of eligible short films. At 52:34 into the episode, we get into our discussion with the Director of Studio Mastering & Operations, Cynthia Slavens. We chat all remastering Pixar's films into Ultra High-Definition and how the team balances remastering legacy films while supporting current production as well. We talk about how long it takes to remaster a film from scratch (yes, they go back to the original Toy Story masters and start fresh), and even explore Cynthia's journey to Pixar. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.

Listen to our Toy Story 4 spoiler-free movie review – the film truly goes to infinity and beyond. Then join us as we share our discussion with the sets team behind building, designing, and filling the antique store (as well as the carnival) in the film. The sets crew we talked to were Stephen Karski, Thomas Jordan, and Rosie Cole during our trip to Pixar Animation Studios in April 2019. More details and photos can be found on our homepage – https://www.pixarpost.com/2019/06/toy-story-4-spoiler-free-review.html

There is so much detail that is put into every pixel on the screen — but, why does Pixar do this? Ling Tu (Sets Shading Lead) mentions in our session at Pixar that by putting all the rich detail into the backstory of everything that you see, they're able to enhance their stories. If everything visually looks as you'd expect (set locations like a carnival or a porcelain character with tiny cracks), your mind looks right past those things and you can dive right into the story because everything visually is so familiar. Listen in as Craig Foster (Graphic Arts Director) and Alex Marino (Characters Shading Lead) also dive into what makes a Pixar film shine — oh and don't forget a discussion into all those hidden Easter Eggs that populate the film — there are hundreds in Toy Story 4. 00:00 — Episode 66 Kickoff 01:14 — Pixar Trivia. 03:24 — Love the Disney Parks, do you help plan your friend's vacations, visit Destination Mouse to become an agent. 08:20 — The Final Toy Story 4 trailer is hitting on May 21, get ready. 12:32 — Want to watch Toy Story 4 early or catch a sneak-peek, here's how. 18:14 — Bo Peep is coming to Disney parks this summer, get a look at her in-park design. 22:54 — What is happening with Pixar in New York City? 31:03 — Our interview with The Pixar team — It's all in the details. 1:05:21 — After the interview discussion. 1:10:44 — 1-on-1 interview with Craig Foster and Ling Tu. 1:17:48 — Wrapping up the show. Stay tuned to PixarPost.com all week for the latest Pixar news. T.J. and Julie

In episode 65 of the Pixar Post Podcast, we dive into the full discussion with Josh Cooley and Mark Nielsen — actually answering 15 questions (of which we highlighted 7 above) all about Toy Story 4. Before we dive into the episode fully, we also highlight some of the latest news from the studio — show notes below. We kick off the episode with Toy Story trivia and then offer a high-level overview of our trip (highlighting all that we're going to share over the next few weeks). At 15:28 into the episode, we cover the recent trip we took to Canada to visit Toys R Us and the product videos we've been having a blast creating. At 25:34 into the show, we discuss the Toy Story 4 French premiere at the Annecy Film Festival on June 14 and at 28:02 we discuss the new Toy Story themed table-service restaurant which was recently announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios. At 31:56 we talk about Mychael and Jeff Danna scoring the upcoming (March 2020) release of Onward and then dive into a follow-up discussion on Disney+ and the Monsters at Work show (at 33:44). We also touch on Billy Crystal's historic honoring at the Grauman's Chinese Theater and his impressive nod to Mike Wazowski (at 40:30). Finally, before the interview, we provide some updated comments to our prior podcast (episode 63) asking if Pixar's short films are no longer happening and now transitioning to SparkShorts exclusively. The fantastic conversation with Josh Cooley and Mark Nielsen kicks off at 46:51 into the episode. Listen along as they answer 15 questions over 30 minutes to dive deep into Toy Story 4.

In Episode 64 of the Pixar Post Podcast, we chat with Kelly Bonbright (Script Supervisor on Incredibles 2), dive into Toy Story 4 news and of course start the episode with Pixar trivia. The episode kicks off with T.J. putting Julie to the test with some Presto-inspired trivia — the theme of Presto was chosen since the Funko of the lead rabbit, Alec Azam came out a few weeks back. Additionally, we talk briefly about the opening of Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy and the latest Toy Story 4 news (Tony Hale playing Forky, Don Rickles voicing Mr. Potato Head, the Toy Story 4 US / International trailer and more). KELLY BONBRIGHT INTERVIEW In our interview with Kelly Bonbright you'll learn all about her journey to Pixar — how she started in Consumer Products and eventually moved into the Script Supervisor role. You'll learn how the film is broken down into more manageable segments, funny sequence titles, and even some fun-facts. One of those fun facts was that Incredibles 2 had 59 total story sequences in the final film, but there were 121 omitted story sequences — that's a lot of awesome content and ideas that we still haven't seen! Listen to the entire episode below for even more great facts and learn what Kelly believes are the top skills you need to be a Script Supervisor.