Inside The Mouse Castle 03-09-2015 - Harrison Ford's Crash Landing, 'Tomorrowland' and Indy's 20th Birthday

By Tim Callaway

Tim O'Day and Tony Baxter celebrate
20 years of Indy at Disneyland.

Last week was about as busy as you could imagine if you're a Disney fan--and that's a good thing. New movie trailers, some juicy movie rumors, new cast announcements for Beauty and the Beast, the imminent closing of Innoventions and the 20th anniversary of the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland.

Oh yeah, and Han Solo crash landed the Millennium Falcon on Tatooine. Or something like that.

Here's what Anthony and I wax eloquently about on this episode of Inside The Mouse Castle:

• Anthony dropped in on a 20th anniversary celebration for Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. This exclusive Annual Passholder event saw Disney maven Tim O'Day swap stories with Imagineer and Indy designer Tony Baxter. A pleasant time was had by all.
• Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn let slip on social media that Marvel will not be in attendance at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. Okay by us. We're hyped to get our share of the Cinematic Universe at the D23 Expo in August. We're also wondering if Lucasfilm will go the same route with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Between the Expo and next month's Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, does Lucasfilm even need Comic-Con?
• Movie fans held their breath, then let out a collective sigh of relief when Harrison Ford crash landed his single-engine plane on a Southern California golf course Thursday and escaped without significant injuries. We wish the 72 year-old actor a speedy recovery. 
• A rumor has surfaced about the content of the next Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. We're intrigued, but it seems a bit too detailed for a trailer that's still more than a month away from its expected debut at Star Wars Celebration. And let's face it, speculating that Luke, Leia, Han, C3PO and R2-D2 will finally make an appearance is not really a stretch.
• Meanwhile, this real, live trailer has pinned our nerd meter at eleven:

• This one ain't bad either:

• And have you seen the new movie poster for Tomorrowland? Dude, Space Mountain is in it. Wait, what?

• Luke Evans (Gaston) and Dan Stevens (Beast) are joining the cast of Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast. Anthony and I aren't impressed, but apparently if you're female and have a pulse, this is a big deal.
• Pixar's Toy Story 4 will not be a continuation of the existing Toy Story trilogy--which is a relief. What it will be is a self-contained romantic comedy directed by John Lasseter. Assuming Woody (Tom Hanks) is at the center of the love story, Anthony has a brilliant idea of who should play the sheriff's new girlfriend. In fact, it's such a great idea, Anthony has been losing sleep over it. And it's no small coincidence he was in Seattle two weeks ago.
• Dear Internet: It's not CG. Even Lily James says it's a corset--and a damn uncomfortable one. Please move on.

• By the way, Cinderella opens in U.S. theaters on Friday.

• We really like this first glimpse at Zootopia. The Disney animated film opens next year (description courtesy Walt Disney Animation Studios).

• The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when optimistic Officer Judy Hopps arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde, to solve the mystery. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia,” a comedy-adventure directed by Byron Howard (“Tangled,” “Bolt”) and Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph,” “The Simpsons”) and co-directed by Jared Bush (“Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero”), opens in theaters on March 4, 2016.

Zootopia.

• Innoventions is closing up at Disneyland on March 31st to make way for...we're not sure yet, but we have plenty of ideas. And no, that doesn't mean Mickey's Toontown is closing too. How do these rumors get started?
• D23 has announced two fan contests for the upcoming D23 Expo. Are you artistic? Show them your best Sleeping Beauty Castle and you could win $2,300. Is cosplay more your thing? Mousequerade could send you to Disney's Aulani Resort.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 11-07-2014 - 'Toy Story 4,' 'Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens' and 'Big Hero 6'

Anthony and I have beer and movies on our minds as we recap a busy week for Disney, Pixar and Lucasfilm in the latest Inside The Mouse Castle. We brought beer because, well, it's the weekend, so why not?

• Like it or not, there will be a Toy Story 4, directed by John Lasseter and released on June 16, 2017. Anthony's really looking forward to it. I'm cautiously optimistic but concerned that Pixar is going to the well one too many times in the name of Woody and Buzz. 
• Star Wars: Episode VII is now officially known as The Force Awakens, but you knew that already, didn't you? We'll talk about it anyway.

Baymax in Big Hero 6.

• Big Hero 6 has opened this weekend to enthusiastic reviews and rightfully so. This superhero origin story is pretty basic by comic book standards, but it's buoyed by a high-energy sense of fun and wonder, plus exquisitely detailed, jaw-dropping animation. Go see it...and whatever you do, stay until the end of the credits.
• The new trailer and character images for Into the Woods starring Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp have significantly raised my enthusiasm for the Rob Marshall-directed film, but Anthony isn't sold on it yet. We'll pass final judgment on the movie musical when it comes out on Christmas Day.

The Avengers

• Disney and Marvel aren't pulling any punches when it comes finding the person who leaked the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer before it's scheduled release. They have traced the leak to a Google Drive account and have subpoenaed Google to provide more details before November 18th. Grab your popcorn. This is going to be good.
• Fijian boat makers are in a tizzy over a single piece of concept art Disney has released for the upcoming animated film Moana. Apparently, the image depicts a small, crudely-made boat similar in style to a type the islanders have been building for centuries. They are requesting compensation from Disney for borrowing the design that has no apparent origin or trademark owner. No, really.
• Fantasmic! is going Fastpass at Disneyland beginning December 12th. Find out why we think it's about time.

Enjoy!

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Okay, 'Toy Story 4,' But What About 'Incredibles 2' and 'Cars 3'?

John Lasseter discusses Toy Story 4 with his story team.

Today's announcement that Pixar will release a fourth Toy Story movie directed by John Lasseter in 2017 has raised a lot of questions, the biggest one being "do we really need a fourth Toy Story movie?" I'll give Pixar the benefit of the doubt on this one for the time being because, let's face it, they have a pretty decent track record when it comes to movies. Even their rare disappointment (*cough* *cough* Cars) is still better than most animated films. It is concerning that Pixar wants to go to the well one more time for a franchise that was so beautifully wrapped up in Toy Story 3, but we still have plenty of time to speculate on what possible new story could arise from Woody, Buzz and little Bonnie.

Which brings up another question: What's going to happen with Pixar's other announced sequels, Incredibles 2 and Cars 3?

Here's a theory.

Pixar's release schedule is set for the next two years. Pete Docter's Inside Out comes out on June 19, 2015 and The Good Dinosaur, held back from 2014 because of story development issues, will hit theaters on November 25, 2015. Finding Dory, the follow-up to Finding Nemo is slated for June 17, 2016 with Toy Story 4 coming out almost exactly a year later.

Now it gets tricky.

Walt Disney Animation Studios has no announced films for 2017 making room for the two Pixar releases. Disney's Zootopia and Moana will hit theaters in 2016 with the revisionist Jack and the Beanstalk tale Giants expected to bow in March 2018 (no word yet on the inevitable follow-up to Frozen--Christmas 2018 perhaps?). An untitled Pixar release was previously announced for November 22, 2017 and will probably be Lee Unkrich's long-awaited Dia de los Muertos movie. That leaves one summer 2018 slot open for Pixar, which I hope will be Incredibles 2, a way more anticipated film than Cars 3, which would be bumped to a not-yet-announced 2019 release date. Those dates also fit into the schedules of their expected directors. Brad Bird will be done with Tomorrowland following its summer release next year. Assuming he doesn't take on his often-rumored 1906 project, Incredibles 2 will fit nicely into his schedule. Likewise Lasseter, who directed both of the Cars films and we can only guess will want to direct Cars 3, would be free to do so upon the completion of Toy Story 4.

This is all speculation, of course, subject to change without notice, blah, blah, blah. What are your thoughts?

Walt Disney Animation/Pixar anticipated release dates:

Inside Out (Pixar) - 6/19/15
The Good Dinosaur (Pixar) - 11/25/15
Zootopia (Disney) - 3/4/16
Finding Dory (Pixar) - 6/17/16
Moana (Disney) - 11/23/16
Toy Story 4 (Pixar) - 6/16/17
Dia de los Muertos (Pixar) - 11/22/17
Giants (Disney) - 3/9/18
Incredibles 2 - 6/15/18
Untitled Disney (Frozen 2???) - 11/21/18
Cars 3 - 2019