Why we should be excited about Pixar's future - D23 Update

Pixar's future is undeniably bright. Three of the four films officially slated for release are original films (not sequels). Sure this doesn't guarantee that they will be good films, but it's encouraging nonetheless. 

Toy Story of Terror

Pixar's first television 30 minute special has a lot of promise. Firstly, Toy Story is adored globally. You can guarantee it will get a good reception from the public. Plus, the premise is interesting and it's scored by Michael Giacchino. What can go wrong?

Update: Brand new still showing Jesse in distress. We already knew that she will be a key part of the story, along with Combat Carl. The animation looks as great as ever and we'll see if the story can deliver.

The Good Dinosaur 

The concept is pretty good, not groundbreaking, but far superior to a lot of the trash you can pay to watch these days. Considering, at the time of writing, we don't know much about the plot, it's hard to predict what to expect. The few details we do know are encouraging, as are the people involved. Bob Peterson did a great job co-directing and co-writing Up (one of my favourite Pixar films), so I think he'll pull something great out of the bag. He's working with Peter Sohn too, who directed the lovely Partly Cloudy. On paper, The Good Dinosaur should be sweet.

Update: Brand new image released, showing the two main characters, Arlo (the dinosaur) and Spot (the human). I love the look of Arlo, even in this concept art he looks great. Also more announcements regarding the cast, John Lithgow will be voicing the father of Arlo's family, Frances McDormand the mother, Neil Patrick Harris and Judy Greer as the middle-siblings and Bill Hader as the oldest member of the family. Hader also features in Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs (not Pixar) and the upcoming Inside Out (PIXAR). A bonus arrived in the form of Party Central, a Monsters University short, featuring Mike and Sulley reuniting with the Oozmas.

Inside Out 

This is the one I'm looking forward to most. Firstly, Pete Docter (the genius behind Monsters Inc. and Up) is directing. He's one of the Pixar legends, crucial to the production of their string of hits, from Toy Story to Toy Story 3. Now, we have nothing but this concept art (above) to go by, but I love the premise and the idea of emotions being characters is creative and intriguing. Frankly, I think this will be the true return to form for Pixar.

 Update: Great new character art, showing the five main characters, those being, Joy (Amy Poehler - my favourite piece of casting news), Disgust (Mandy Kaling), Fear (Bill Hader - again), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Anger (fantastically cast Lewis Black). We now discover that the girl's name is Riley and she will be the setting of the film. We'll see many parts of her mind, including Long Term Memory, Abstract Thought, Imagination Land and Dream Production. It's only becoming more and more intriguing.

Finding Dory

Oh my god. We all remember the ecstasy when we found out that Andrew Stanton was making a sequel! With he blessings of Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres too, it should be a solid follow up to the original. Pixar's track record supports this too. Only a follow up in the Cars franchise has been below par. Both Toy Story sequels were spectacular and Monsters University was funny and emotionally satisfying. I'm extremely optimistic about this, I just hope Stanton can deliver, not that he's struggled in the past with Nemo and WALL-E.

Update: New concept art and casting announcements. The picture is intriguing and leaves us in the dark a bit, but you can tell the animation is going to be amazing already. Ty Burrel has joined the cast as Dory's Beluga Whale friend, Diane Keaton (YES) and Eugene Levy have been announced as her parents. It looks interesting, I'm glad to see her family involved. Looks like a proper sequel this.

 Untitled Dia De Los Muertos Film

Another promising concept. We know virtually nothing besides the fact that Lee Unkrich is directing. He previously directed my favourite Pixar feature, Toy Story 3, and I'm confident that he can deliver again, particularly because he subject of Dia De Los Muertos has a lot of promise. here's loads of stuff to explore, even jus a rough skim of its history leaves you mightily interested. I've got a feeling this will be different from anything we've seen before from Pixar.
Update: No new news on Lee Unkrich's second film, we'll get that at the D23 Expo in 2015.