After Turning Red, what is next for Pixar? Unlike Marvel and Star Wars, Pixar doesn’t usually announce an entire slate of films ahead of time. We may not know the storylines or titles but we do know the directing talent behind a couple of the upcoming projects, and similar to Turning Red’s Domee Shi most of these directors did incredible short films before being given the opportunity to create a feature film at Pixar.
Lightyear
This film will hopefully mark Pixar’s return to theaters. The film will be directed by Angus MacLane, the co-director of Finding Dory. The film was written by Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter. Lightyear will be a sci-fi action-adventure and the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear — the hero who inspired the toy.
Lightyear features the voices of Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Dale Soules, Taika Waititi, Peter Sohn, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Win or Lose
Pixar’s first long-form series is coming to Disney+ in 2023. Win or Lose will have 20-minute episodes that will highlight the perspective of a different character as a middle school co-ed softball team prepares for their championship game.
The series will be directed by Michael Yates and Carrie Hobson.
Aphton Corbin-directed feature film
Aphton Corbin was the writer/director of the Pixar SparkShort Twenty Something. Corbin is directing her own feature film at Pixar.
Aphton Corbin’s credits include being a story artist and a part of the cultural trust for Soul. Corbin was also included in the story trust for the SparkShort Loop.
Brian Fee-directed feature film
Brian Fee directed Cars 3 for Pixar. He’s getting to direct his own original film at Pixar. I’m curious to see what Fee will do outside of the world of Radiator Springs. Could his original film be about F.C. Barcelona? There’s been reports and rumors over the years that there would be a Pixar project about the famed soccer team. According to Fee’s IMDb he will be the director of the F.C. Barcelona project, although there is a good chance that this info is false, and was just put in by a fan.
Fee has worked on direct-to-video projects such as The Little Mermaid 2, Pocahontas 2, 101 Dalmatians 2, Mulan II, Tarzan 2, and The Fox and The Hound 2. Boy, that’s a lot of twos. At Pixar, Fee was a storyboard artist on Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Cars 2.
Fee has been a member of the Pixar senior creative team for Inside Out, Coco, The Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4.
Kristen Lester-directed feature film
Kristen Lester was the writer/director of the Pixar SparkShort Purl. This was actually the first SparkShort to be released from the program ahead of the Disney+ launch. Lester is directing her own feature film at Pixar.
Lester was a storyboard artist on The Emperor’s New School, Blue Sky Studios’ Epic, Finding Dory, and Onward. Lester was the story supervisor on Soul.
Lester was a part of the story trust for Aphton Corbin’s Twenty Something. Lester was also a part of the story trust for the Pixar SparkShort Float.
Rosana Sullivan-directed feature film
Rosana Sullivan was the writer/director of the Pixar SparkShort Kitbull. Sullivan is directing her own feature film at Pixar.
Sullivan was most recently a story supervisor on Turning Red. Her other credits include being a story artist on Monsters University, Incredibles 2, and Soul. Sullivan was a storyboard artist on Piper and Onward and an associate executive producer on Toy Story 4.
Did I miss an upcoming Pixar project? Do you have a fresh Pixar scoop/tip for us? Reach out to us on Twitter @BoardwalkTimes or email us at boardwalktimes@yahoo.com.
The future sure is bright for Pixar Animation Studio.
Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
