What's Pixar's secret project for 2006?

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Source: Kansas City Star by way of Coming Soon

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Disney. The world's best-known maker of animation is knee-deep in negotiations with Pixar Animation Studios, the powerhouse responsible for giving the world such instant animated classics as the first two TOY STORY films, MONSTERS INC. and FINDING NEMO, the highest-grossing animated film in history.

At stake is whether or not Disney will be business partners with Pixar on any of its new CGI movies past 2005. Under the terms of the original contract between Disney and Pixar, the latter company has two more films to deliver and then it is free and clear of its contractual obligation to Disney. Since every Pixar film has turned out to be a runaway success and generated hundreds of millions of dollars of profit for both firms, a lot of money and perhaps even the future of mainstream feature animation is up for grabs.

According to an article that originated with the Los Angeles Times newspaper (and was picked up by the Kansas City Star paper), details on what may be the first post-Disney Pixar project have emerged. The secret project, slated for release in 2006, is about a rodent named Ratatouille who lives inside a fancy Parisian restaurant. The movie its being directed by Jan Pinkava, the man responsible for the 1998 Oscar-winning animated short film "Geri's Game".

If Disney can't reach a deal with Pixar don't count on TOY STORY 3 happening -- at least, not with the imagineers working at Pixar.



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