In 1995’s groundbreaking Toy Story, we were introduced to Woody (Tom Hanks) and the gang. When a new toy, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) was introduced to the group, Woody was convinced he was going to be replaced as Andy’s favorite toy. By the end of the film, after a series of adventures, the two were best buddies. In 1999’s Toy Story 2, the dynamic took a bit of a turn when Woody is stolen by a toy dealer, and discovers …
The Princess and the Frog
While the last few years have focused on exclusively computer-animated projects, like Meet the Robinsons and Bolt, Walt Disney Feature Animation finally returned to the classic art of 2D hand-drawn animation this past year, with The Princess and the Frog. Directed and written by The Little Mermaid’s John Musker and Ron Clement, the film is loosely based on the classic fairytale of "The Frog Prince", but with a few twists. First, the story and action is set in early 20th …
Toy Story / Toy Story 2 in 3D
In 1995, a groundbreaking film hit theaters and changed the course of animation forever. Pixar’s first feature-length computer-animated film, Toy Story, brought toys to life, with the story of a rivalry between cowboy doll Woody (Tom Hanks) and new space ranger toy Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), fighting for the affection of their owner, Andy. Woody’s jealousy of Andy’s shifting attention leads him to knock Buzz out of the window, but after both toys are lost at Pizza Planet and captured …
Randy Newman!
Today I went to my first ever Randy Newman scoring session. It was as awesome as I had expected it to be, and Randy sure can tell stories! The score (for the George Clooney film Leatherheads) was vintage Randy Newman, and I will have more details on my SoundtrackNet news item in a few days.
Seabiscuit
Matt and I drove into Hollywood to the Arclight Theaters for a screening of Seabiscuit. The film was a little saccharine at times, but overall was very good. Dramatically speaking, most of the actors did a fine job. Jeff Bridges was quite good as (yet another) car salesman turned horse investor. Tobey Maguire wasn’t bad, and Chris Cooper was pretty good too…. but it was William H. Macy who (as always) stood out in his small supporting role as a …