The Bearded Trio

Disney Pixar's Elemental Hits The Big Screen And Looks Like A Classic Pixar Movie When I went to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at our local cinema, there were a lot of commercials to wade through and then a lot of trailers for upcoming movies.  I just wanted my Indy adventure so the trailers were not really a welcome wait.  Not many caught my attention so when Disney Pixar's Elemental hit the screen I was not expecting much.  Honestly though I was super impressed with the trailer and thought "well that's an original concept."  It really does look fun and reminded me of a classic Pixar movie with that trademark quick humour.  Whoever came up with the idea of separate elements coming together as a relationship is a genius.  Here's the write up on the movie and I have definitely got this on my radar.  It's going to be hot! (No elemental prejudice meant.) Disney and Pixar’s all-new original feature film Elemental was in its ‘element’ this week...

STAR WARS™  FANS CAN “BRING HOME THE BOUNTY” THIS FESTIVE SEASON WITH NEW PRODUCTS SPANNING THE GALAXY Global weekly programme lasting eight weeks will debut new toys, apparel, accessories, games and more, celebrating everything from the “Skywalker Saga” to “The Book of Boba Fett,” streaming 29 December on Disney+  Launces today in the UK with products dropping including premium LEGO sets, Hasbro action figures, tech accessories from MobyFox, and scale statues from Iron Studios Disney and Lucasfilm today launch “Bring Home the Bounty,” a global consumer products, games and publishing campaign to debut new Star Wars™ products every Tuesday from today through 21 December across the UK & EMEA, helping fans find the perfect bounty for their family, friends and themselves this Christmas. The eight-week programme, launching across UK & EMEA, will include reveals of items inspired by the expansive Star Wars portfolio, including Lucasfilm series like “The Mandalorian” and “The...

The Walt Disney Company had its Investors Day event Thursday evening, and an absolute deluge of news for Star Wars/Lucasfilm/Indiana Jones was revealed. INDIANA JONES Kathleen Kennedy announced the fifth - AND FINAL (emphasis mine) - Indiana Jones film, slated for release in July 2022. Kennedy confirmed that Harrison Ford would return in the iconic role of Indy, with James Mangold stepping in to direct the final installment of our favorite whip-cracking hero.  I have been in the camp of feeling that, with all the delays, maybe we'd be better off without Indy 5. Ford will be nearly 79 years old when the movie starts production in late spring of 2021. Will John Williams return to score the film? Will Steven Spielberg's touch be missed as much as I suspect it will? How much of an action hero can a 78-year-old Ford realistically be? Regardless of these questions, Lucasfilm is plowing ahead with Indy 5. STAR WARS The sheer volume of content coming out for the Star Wars franchise, as...

This is the third part of impressions from my trip to Disney World at the end of August/early September. This part is probably the most widely relevant, talking about what it was like to explore Disney during this awful pandemic. I must stress first of all, that I have been back from Disney for more than two weeks and am perfectly healthy. Dealing with the spread of the virus in the state of Florida, which from a state government standpoint has done a poor job at mitigating it, was a huge concern of mine. So my wife and I took an abundance of precautions, like packing more hand sanitizer than we needed, wearing masks all the time, etc. It has been a source of relief that we both got home fully healthy. Now, a distinction should be made between the state of Florida and Disney property. They very much are two different jurisdictions. From when Disney shut down on March 31 until its reopen on July, it put its best minds to work on how to reopen, but safely. Test passed. With flying colors...

One of the ongoing projects I'll be following here is the construction of the forthcoming Star Wars hotel, named the Halycon, or Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. The hotel is being built on the south end of Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. Like most everything that was in progress in society, construction on the site was halted due to COVID-19 in March. As shown in the photo above, taken earlier this year, progress on the Halcyon was moving along nicely before the shutdown. According to the Orlando Business Journal and The Dis , permits have been filed with Orange County to resume "the fabrication and installation of sets," on something called Project H, which is presumed to be the Disney code word for the Halcyon. The Halcyon had been advertised to open in 2021, though any change on an opening date due to COVID-19, has not yet been announced. The Halcyon is intended to be directly accessible via the back end of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. ...

Win The Art Of Onward Thanks to Chronicles Books , we've got our hands on the latest "the art of" book for a Disney/Pixar movie and this time it's for the quirky, "Onward" which is directed by Dan Scanlon.  Set in a suburban fantasy world, Onward introduces two teenage elf brothers who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there.  Dan Scanlon also gives the book an introduction and from the offset you can see that The Art Of Onward is of the highest quality just like the previous books in the series and why they have actually created quite a following with Disney and Pixar enthusiasts. As usual with these kind of books, The Art of Onward provides a huge insight into the creative process and the amount of work involved that goes into producing an animated feature.  Character designs, storyboards, colour scripts plus exclusive interviews from the creative team are all present in the full colour 176 p...

Disney Publishing Worldwide has announced the launch of an all new publishing-led  Star Wars  storytelling initiative,  Star Wars: The High Republic,   previously called “Project Luminous.” The publishing program will feature interconnected stories told across multiple publishers. This epic saga will take place 200 years prior to the events of  Star Wars: The Phantom Menace  in an all new time period. Newly revealed publishers Abrams,  becker&mayer!, DK,  Insight Editions, Titan Publishing, and Viz Media join previously announced Disney Lucasfilm Press, Marvel Comics, Del Rey, and IDW Publishing. Star Wars: The High Republic  is set in an era when the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order are at their height, serving and protecting the galaxy. This is a hopeful, optimistic time, when the Republic and the Jedi are noble and respected. This multi-year publishing program will be rolled out in phases, with Phase I being called “Ligh...

FROZEN II Starring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown and Evan Rachel Wood Screenplay by Jennifer Lee Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee Reviewed Patrick Gibbs &  Paul Gibbs  Out of Four There’s a lot of talk about whether we “need a  Frozen II . Well, Of course we don’t “need” it. Let’s be honest, we don’t “need” any sequel (and that includes any and all Marvel or Star Wars movies). The question often would be more accurately phrased as “is there really anything more they can do with this story?” and most of the time that’s a debatable point. But the answer here is a qualified yes: Frozen lends itself to a sequel more so than, for example, Tangle d, because it’s a different type of story that broke the mold on the traditional idea of what happily ever after means, and there were still some questions left unanswered (where did Elsa’s powers come from? What happened to Else and Anna’s parents...

VIDEO:  Obi-Wan On Stage At Disney D23 Expo Watch the part from last night's Disney's D23 Expo where Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy announced a new Star Wars TV series is in the works featuring the return of Ewan McGregor.  The Scot will reprise his popular role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in which he played the Star Wars character in the Prequels. Also, we have a video where Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni were interviewed after the event.  They explain how doing this kind of work never gets old.  Dave Filoni also reveals how he is always relieved when the secrets are out in the open. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

MICKEY, DONALD, GOOFY - THE THREE MUSKETEERS Composed and Conducted by BRUCE BROUGHTON INTRADA ISC 399 Musically, I chose to write the theme and much of the score in a classically heroic, dashing swashbuckler style, something that would befit an Errol Flynn flick.         -- Bruce Broughton, composer For the latest release from the rich catalog at Disney, Intrada presents the premiere of Bruce Broughton's score from the 2004 animated adventure,  Mickey, Donald, Goofy - The Three Musketeers. While a song album was initially released, the rollicking score had not been included.  Now some 14 years later, Intrada has enhanced the presentation to include both the songs and Broughton's extensive score.  In fact, this score is one of Broughton's own favorites.  As he stated above, the score recalls an earlier time of swashbucklers, with the likes of Adventures of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk found embedded in the score's heroics.  As for t...

Last week we posted a video showing every best visual effects ever from 1929 to 2018.  Well the clever folks over at Burger Fiction have done another one, this time every best animated feature winner which surprisingly is only from 2002.  As you will see from the video, Pixar own this award. The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

After three Star Wars theatrical releases, Disney have now earned their money back from the purchase of Lucasfilm.  Who would of thought it would only take three movies?  Well when it comes to Star Wars it's no surprise.  Disney back in 2012 bought Lucasfilm for a whisker over $4 billion in cash and stock.  As of January 1st the numbers are: The Force Awakens released in 2015 - Worldwide takings: $2 Billion Rogue One: A Star Wars Story released in 2016 - Worldwide takings: $1 Billion The Last Jedi released in 2017 - Worldwide takings: $1 Billion* *At the time of writing this The Last Jedi is still released at cinemas so the box office takings is likely to rise. That's an impressive investment from Disney and that's without even touching the other franchises such as Indiana Jones and not taking into account toy sales.  It's all profit from here on in. figures from Boxoffice Mojo The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, J...

CARS 3 Starring the voices of Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper,  Nathan Fillion, Armie Hammer, Larry The Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Kerry Washington and Lea DeLaria Screenplay by Kiel Murray and Bob Peterson and Mike Rich Directed by Brian Fee Reviewed by Patrick and Paul Gibbs   Out of Four Owen Wilson returns as the voice of Lightning McQueen. The fact that a series of films about about talking cars has been repeatedly dismissed for being strictly for kids speaks volumes about how much Pixar accomplished in it's first decade. It has challenged the notion of who animation is aimed at, and whether animation for grown ups has to be "adult" in content. It's dealt with strong characters and deep stories. and given us masterpieces like Toy Story, Up and Inside Out . But there's nothing wrong with animation aimed at kids, especially when it's well done, and the Cars series is one of the most popular among children, and it's easy to...