We believe there are only two significant brands in the film industry—”Disney” and “Steven Spielberg”. We would like to establish “Pixar” as the third. Successful brands are a reflection of consumer trust, which is earned over time by consumers’ positive experiences with the brand’s products. For example, parents trust Disney-branded animated films to provide satisfying and appropriate family entertainment, based on Disney’s undisputed track record of making wonderful animated films. This trust benefits both parents and Disney: it makes the selection of family entertainment that much easier for parents, and it allows Disney to more easily and assuredly draw audiences to see their new films. Over time we want Pixar to grow into a brand that embodies the same level of trust as the Disney brand.

This letter was available on the Pixar website until 2006, when Disney, utterly trounced by Pixar in the world of animated features, bought the company. [The Pixar Touch via David Cho]

The Pixar lamp is all adorable in the brief intro that plays before their movies, but what happens after he stomps down that I? Nothing good, I can tell you that. [CollegeHumor]

Good old Stevesy runs pretty much the most profitable retail chain in the country, the Apple Store, and coincidentally also owns Pixar — and thus sits on Disney’s board. So he heavily consulted with Disney when they decided to totally redesign their retail store’s image, and it shows. From minor details like mobile checkout (employees carry small receipt printers on them) to bigger philosophies like community (there’ll be a small theatre, like in Apple Stores) and interactivity (karaoke, touchscreen kiosks, “live chat with Disney stars”), Steve’s fingerprints are all over the new concept. Hell, Disney store employees will even carry iPhones (or iPods Touch) to communicate. And that’s a good thing, in our opinion: Apple Stores certainly aren’t perfect, but they are a decidedly individual and interesting shopping experience, which Disney apparently needs. A Disney rep, apparently a fan of Fox angryface Gordon Ramsay, referred to some of the current stores as “a dog’s breakfast”.

Disney is rebooting 340 of these stores, with a possible flagship store in, of course, Times Square, and is spending about $US1 million to do it. They’re still working with real estate agents and ironing out the final details, but this could actually work out: Disney + Apple has previously equalled Pixar, and that formula has worked out pretty spectacularly. [NY Times]

Buzz was up there as part of a program by NASA and Disney to encourage students to study science, technology and maths. He’ll be honoured in a parade at Disney’s Magic Kingdom along with his space station crewmates and veteran Buzz Aldrin-on October 2.

Too. Freakin’. Cute. To infinity and beyond! [Orlando Sentinel and Newslite | Photo by Tony Landis/NASA]

Luxo Jr., the mascot of possibly the world’s greatest film studio, Pixar, has been turned into an animatronic, real-life version that’s remarkably smooth and lifelike. Well, as lifelike as a formerly-animated robot based on an old-school desk lamp can be.

This Luxo Jr. debuted a few days ago at Disney’s Hollywood studios, as part of Pixar’s “Living Character” exhibit that includes an inflatable version of the house from Up and a possibly dangerous saturation of Randy Newman songs. [via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Colby’s family called Pixar, guessed a name of an employee to break through the automated operator and explained the situation to the first person they reached. A Pixar employee flew out immediately with a DVD, toys and posters in hand. From the OC Register:

Colby couldn’t see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film. At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

Colby died later that evening, hopefully fulfilled in at least some small way. [ocregister via boingboing]

If you didn’t know it yet, Up! is a cinema masterpiece. Inspiring storytelling, which captures the essence of the best Frank Capra and Billy Wilder. The script made me cry and laugh. The cinematography made my head spin. Here’s the whole movie in 120 frames. SPOILERS WARNING

Click on the image to enlarge at 1400 px wide. Don’t click if you don’t want to see details about the movie, even while the frames are pretty abstract on their own.

This is the final colour script for the movie, drawn by the genius of Pixar’s Lou Romano. This script is used to set the lighting of the scenes, so the computer artists can get the mood right. They are complemented by the colour scripts, which are very stylized strips that help set up the tone through the movie:

Check out Lou’s site. It’s full of amazing art—I wish I could buy the final colour script as a poster—for this amazing movie. If you haven’t seen Up! yet, go and enjoy it. You won’t regret it. I really thought they didn’t make them like these anymore. [Lou Romano via NY Mag—Thanks Rebecca]

We’ve already seen how Dreamworks have made the concerted effort to release every animated film from Monsters vs Aliens in 3D. It’s interesting then to see that Pixar are developing a similar philosophy, starting with their upcoming release, Up.While there isn’t a lot of technical detail in the clips, getting a feeling for the various ways that they’re planning on stretching the 3D is an interesting look at the process of 3D filmmaking, although it is a little short. Hopefully the DVD will have some kind of special feature on the process, as well as an explanation as to why some people can’t handle 3D…

[Up Official Site]

The whole process has been thoroughly documented, and each piece of the mod was cut out with the utmost care. Check it out, this is amazing work. [English Russia]