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Back to School with Monsters University. An Interview with John Goodman and Billy Crystal.
Go back to school with us as we celebrate Monsters University. This prequel to the 2001 successful film, Monster’s Inc. introduces us to a whole new set of characters and how James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) became friends.
We had the opportunity to sit and chat with John Goodman and Billy Crystal at a recent Press Conference to discuss their new film. If you’re interested in hearing the full audio of the conference Click Here to jump down. To read the full Spoiler Free movie review Click Here.
Since he was a little monster, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) has always dreamed of becoming a Scarer, a prestige role in the Monsters world. After being accepted into Monsters University (MU) Wazowski might finally have that chance, well so he thought. That’s when he met James P. Sullivan “Sulley” (John Goodman) and things took a turn for the worse. Directing this prequel is Dan Scanlon (Cars, Mater and the Ghostlight, Tracy) who joined Pixar in 2001 as a storyboard artist. He makes his animated feature directorial debut with Monsters University. Both Goodmand and Crystal were asked what it was like working with Dan. “Dan is a hipster.” “Dan is like – he had totally different energy than Pete Docter” commented Crystal. Goodman added that “he had great sensibility and he would read with you.” He continued by saying that “if the other characters weren’t there he reads with you. He’s got a good energy to feed off of.”
Billy Crystal is known worldwide for his film roles in “When Harry Met Sally,” “City Slickers,” “The Princess Bride” and “Analyze This.” The Emmy Award sinning comedian was also seen starring alongside Bette Midler in the 2012 film “Parental Guidance.”
John Goodman is no stranger to film. He can be seen in Ben Affleck’s drama “Argo,” “Flight” and “Trouble with the Curve.” He has also lent his voice talents to many animated films including “The Emperor’s New Groove,” “Tales of the Rat Fink” and “The Jungle Book 2.”
So what would set Sully and Wazowski apart from each other? And how did they ever get along? “The fact that he’s a blowhard. No, I think the reason they work so well together is that they complete each other, in a way. I think Sulley really, really needs Mike Wazowski.” added Goodman. Crystal went on to say “For me, Mike is fearless. He’s really the favorite character I’ve ever played in anything I’ve done.” Both Goodman and Crystal demonstrated to have a good working relationship with each other and since they both did the first Monsters Inc. movie, they knew of one another’s strengths and weaknesses. This also makes for a great on-screen presence for both characters. Crystal continued by adding “I love this guy, and playing it with John is phenomenal because we work together in the studio, and we can act together. We’re not just reading lines; we are performing them, and we’re playing them, and we feel them. I think that’s why their relationship on screen is really great because it’s a real thing.”
While filmmakers were certainly able to hit the ground running when it came to creating their cast of characters for “Monsters University”— they had three key returning characters and a blueprint for the monster world from “Monsters, Inc.—they still had their work cut out for them. Watch this short interview clip about the animation process:
We then asked both guys what it was like working with Helen Mirren, Crystal responded with “She is Dame Helen, and I wish we also had been around her when she was working. She’s just fantastic. She gets it. Helen Mirren plays Dean Hardscrabble who is the Dean of Monsters University.
We had a great time at the press conference and excited to see Monsters University on the big screen. Make sure to read our movie review and lets us know what you think when you see the movie. Monsters University opens in theaters Friday June 21.
Full Audio from Press Conference:
Check out disney.com/MonstersU, like us at facebook.com/PixarMonstersUniversity, and follow us on twitter.com/disneypixar. Rated G by the MPAA, the film opens in U.S. theaters on June 21, 2013, and will be shown in 3D in select theaters.
Gadget Review: Tiffen Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 5
Consumer cameras are becoming more and more popular every year and we are starting to see some really great professional settings and features on some of the cameras at our local electronics stores.
Monsters University Storybook Deluxe App Review
Disney publishing has release a brand new app Monsters University Storybook Deluxe!
Blu-Ray Review: Emperor's New Groove / Kronk's New Groove
It’s hard to see the newly released 3-disc “Special Edition” containing The Emperor’s New Groove and Kronk’s New Groove as anything short of a cash grab. After all, they already released a pretty spectacular DVD set of the Emperor’s New Groove several years ago, and the less said about Kronk’s New Groove the better. Sure, it’s nice to have a copy of Emperor on Blu-Ray, but this set, with literally no extras at all, is a complete waste of a pretty great film.
The Emperor’s New Groove was an extremely troubled production, with a fascinating road to the big screen. Beginning life as a traditionally animated Disney epic that would be titled Kingdom of the Sun, the story went through massive changes in story and tone, with a great deal of negative behind-the-scenes activity. I’m not saying that they should have any sort of documentary or behind-the-scenes footage chronicling the drama in the Disney offices, but this backstory led to the production of a significant amount of artwork and story that the public has never seen. A great deal of this artwork is on the original DVD release, but now it appears to be swept under the rug, lost to the Disney vaults.
Again, I understand their attempts to shy away from a relatively dark period in the Disney studios (one which led to the original director quitting the film mid-production), but it’s depressing to see such a bare-bones release. As expected, the film looks and sounds great. In a way, it feels as if the finished product was slightly ahead of it’s time, with a style of humor that relies on sight-gags, cutaways, and random non-sequiturs that would be right at home in an episode of Family Guy. It’s very funny material, with terrific voice acting and highly stylized animation that demands attention.
Unfortunately, everything that goes right with Emperor’s New Groove is undercut by the sheer blandness of the direct-to-video sequel, Kronk’s New Groove. Everything from the generic title to the humor-by-committee style of writing feels designed as nothing more than an attempt to capitalize on the limited popularity of the original film. The animation feels like a Saturday morning cartoon, and they manage to take Kronk, the funniest character from the first film, and make him relatively unbearable. In small doses, the character is hysterical, but centering an entire film around him proved a huge mistake. There is a reason this sequel went direct-to-video, and I have no desire to ever watch it again.
While I did love the original, the sequel just seemed to negate my enthusiasm for the entire universe of the film. With no extras for either film, this 3-Disc set contains the Blu-Ray with both films, and then separate DVD’s for the films individually. The DVD’s themselves aren’t even redone for this set, containing previews for films that are supposedly coming soon to a theater near me, but have been on DVD for years. Overall, this is a massive disappointment of a set, and if you are an animation fan, you owe it to yourself to track down the original DVD box set. Even on DVD, that is the version I will always watch when I want to revisit this very funny film.
On-the-Set Featurettes with The Long Ranger Part 1 & 2
From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, comes Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “The Lone Ranger,” a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.
“The Lone Ranger” also stars Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter.
A Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films presentation, “The Lone Ranger” is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, with screen story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Justin Haythe and screenplay by Justin Haythe and Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. “The Lone Ranger” releases in U.S. theaters on July 3, 2013.
Check-out Part 1 and 2 of On-the-Set Featurettes!
Part 1: The Lone Ranger – “Spirit Platform”
Part 2: The Lone Ranger – “Cowboy Bootcamp”
Disney Announces Release Schedule Updates
The Walt Disney Studios announced a number of release schedule updates. Here is some additional information regarding these projects.
Sonic Lost World for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS Announced
SEGA® of America Inc. announced details of the next Sonic the Hedgehog franchise title to be published on Nintendo platforms as part of the exclusive partnership recently announced between the two companies. Sonic Lost World™ puts Sonic up to the challenge as he faces his most powerful enemy to date – and this time there are six of them to conquer! Sonic Lost World™ will be available exclusively for Wii U™ and Nintendo 3DS™ platforms later this year.
Dr. Eggman has harnessed the power of six menacing creatures collectively known as the Deadly Six, but when the Deadly Six rise up against their master, Sonic has to unite with his arch nemesis in order to take on the new enemies head-on. Using his dynamic new parkour moves and improved Color Powers, Sonic must run, jump and race through a variety of ever-changing terrains in order to defeat the Deadly Six.
Alongside a single player adventure, the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions of Sonic Lost World will feature a range of competitive multiplayer modes. In addition, each platform will also contain distinctive features that take advantage of the consoles’ unique capabilities. Exclusive Wii U Color Powers can be controlled with the Wii U™ GamePad by tilting, touching, aiming and more. The full game can also be played using only the GamePad screen and will feature a two player support mode. Sonic Lost World for the Nintendo 3DS is the first handheld Sonic game ever to feature fully realized 3D levels which include exclusive Special Stages and Color Powers unique to Nintendo 3DS.
“We are proud of the strong relationship between Nintendo and SEGA and look forward to continuing success with Sonic Lost World on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS,” commented Hiroyuki Miyazaki, Chief Content Officer, SEGA of America. “The game marks an evolution of the Sonic series and fans –both old and new — will be excited by a story which sees two of video games biggest adversaries, Sonic and Dr. Eggman, joining forces for the first time to help defeat a new deadly threat.”
Sonic the Hedgehog™ first appeared as a videogame character in June 1991 and instantly became an icon for a generation of gamers. Defined by his super-fast speed and cool attitude, in the years since he first raced on to videogame consoles Sonic has become a true global phenomenon with over 75 million videogames and smartphone apps sold worldwide. SEGA’s iconic blue blur has also gone on to enjoy incredible success in many licensed areas, such as toys, apparel, comics and animation.
Sonic Lost World™ will be distributed by SEGA® of America Inc. throughout the USA, Canada and South America, with Nintendo of Europe GmbH looking after distribution throughout Europe and Australia.
Blu-ray Review: Oz The Great And Powerful
You gotta love Blu-Ray… Blu-ray has allowed this absolute visually stunning film to be able to make way in the audiences living room without losing that immersive element Oz The Great and Powerful was able to create in the theater. This rendition/prequel to The Wizard of Oz stories that we all know and love is a wonderful way to look at the world before Dorothy.
I invite you to read our review of the film (click here), but I wanted to focus on the DVD features and quality. I am going off a DVD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy set in which I mainly focused on the Blu-ray copy. It’s good to note that Disney will finally no longer be having that 3rd disc for the digital copy. Instead you can now just enter a code online and download. Makes complete sense and I’m surprised it took this long to go this route and catch up to many of the other studios.
This particular edition has some marvelous extra features. The movie is jam packed with special effects and magical characters that come to life through digital effects. The special features allow for you to really see a bit in to all the main areas of the movie. No, these aren’t half-hour long documentaries of every aspect, but it did feel like I got a chance to really dive into the creation rather than just having a sneak peek behind the scenes. If you are already a fan of the movie, this is completely worth buying just for the extra features. Again, they aren’t terribly long, but there are some goodies that really give an in depth look at the making of the film.
Bonus Clip: Influence of Classic Disney
Let’s begin with Walt Disney And The Road to Oz. This is a short featurette that explains the history of this tale in the Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney was actually planning do his own take on The Wizard of Oz tale during the opening of Snow White. A real natural fit into what Walt Disney was truly all about. Unfortunately, he missed out on the rights as Samuel Goodwin with MGM bought the rights. Goodwin’s interest was all thanks to Disney’s success with his fantasies making him realize that adults too could enjoy these fantasy driven films. Walt came close to eventually making his own rendition, The Rainbow Road to Oz, however it never quite got off the ground and never came to fruition.
This eventually led to creation Babes in Toyland, which by watching this quick extra feature you’ll see how this led to the makings of many of the Disney classics we know today. This short doc told a story that I never knew and that many other Disney enthusiasts may be unaware of.
Bonus Clip: Practical Sets
One of the big extra features is the The Magic of Oz The Great And Powerful Second Screen Experience. Sadly I do not have an iPad, however this is supposed to interact with the film as it is played. You must download the app and connect your Wi-Fi enabled Blu-ray player. Finley from the movie will guide you through. (2nd generation iPad or above)
There is also a great extra of James Franco telling his journey in Oz. This has a little longer running time and has James Franco interviewing the main cast about their roles and thoughts of being on the film as well as digging into Sam Raimi and how the film came to be. This is a fantastic feature as it gives a sense of what it truly was like on set and how everyone got a long together.
Other special features also include:
- Mr. Elfman’s Musical Concoctions
- China Girl And The Suspension of Disbelief – This short featurette gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the famous doll and how they brought her to life.
- Before Your Eyes: From Kansas to Oz – This is all about the cinematography, art direction and overall feel of the world of Oz. A great behind-the-scenes look at how everything was created.
- Mila’s Metamorphosis
- Bloopers – You have to have these.
You also have several options on how to hear the film. In the “Language” selection there are many audio settings:
- English 2.0 Dolby Surround (best if you’re using TV speakers)
- English 5.1 Dolby Digital
- English 7.1 DTS-HMDA Near Field Audio Mix
- English 2.0 Descriptive Video Services
- French 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
My biggest complaint is that there were no commentaries from anyone. That would probably be the only other item I wish was on here though. Otherwise, this is a great addition if you are a fan or at least a bit interested in the creation of the film or any other heavily CGI oriented film for that matter. By no means do I feel that this is a perfect film, but I definitely found it beautiful and entertaining. This DVD/Blu-ray helps the audience have more of a connection with the film and see how it became a gorgeous masterpiece.