Monsters University Premiere Day!

It's opening night and we couldn't be more excited! We held a big pep rally last night, just to get fired up for the big game.

 

It's become a tradition for Good Day Sacramento's Mark S. Allen to stop by Pixar each Summer during premiere time.

This year, MU story supervisor Kelsey Mann taught Mark how to draw Mike Wazowski.

I did a little drawing lesson of my own...

Turning Mark into his very own MU character!

I think this kid works for the school newspaper.

All in all, it was a great start to opening day!

I can't say I've ever looked forward to summer school as much as today.

GO MU!

27 days...

Happy Birthday to Eric Hann and Jason Topolski

I love doing birthday cards because it's an excellent way to both roast and honor a buddy. The first card is for a pal I've known since highschool. He's a huge fan of Starbucks and Indiana Jones, but I wasn't going to do the kindness of caricaturing him as the hero himself. Plus, this scene between Belloq and Marion really captures Eric's relationship with his wife, Alexa.

The second card was for my buddy Jason, who is co-creating a horror-themed boardgame with me. Naturally, I had to make him his own player card!

That's our game's killer, Otis, preparing to kill Jason with the film stock of the very movie that the game is parodying. It's game-ception.

39 days...

InGen Man

Now that Disney owns Marvel and Lucas, us Pixar employees are allowed to roam the halls of Industrial Light and Magic, and I spotted this design for Jurassic Park IV! Looks uh-mazing!

What do you guys think?

0 days...WINTER IS HERE!

March Madness

 That's right, even the boys down at MU aren't immune to the effects of the madness!

I had the pleasure of participating in the brainstorm session for this one. Sketching gags of angry/disappointed monster jocks is no bad way to spend an afternoon!

11 days...

The Boss Man Brings Home the Gold!

Mandrews brought the Oscar around for a bag-pipe laden victory lap around the studio. The first stop: the Animation Department.

If anyone is wondering: no, we don't all get an Oscar, we just share the one. We place it on a stone plinth and surround it with booby traps and interns.

Alba gu bràth!


32 days...

School's in Session!

You can only imagine the sort of "research" trips we had to do for this one!

34 days...

Life of Calvin

 

Ang Lee may have won Best Director last night for "Life of Pi," but I'd still much rather see Bill Watterson's take on the material.

35 days...

Chades Challenge LXXVIII: Oscar Contenders

As always, the Chades (Character Design) Challenge is open to anyone who wants to contribute. If you have an Oscar-nominated design of your own, let me know and I'll post your art below. Otherwise, you can join in March 8th for...

Chades Challenge LXXIX: 

DINO-RIDERS

Hugo "Silver-Lined Oscar Gold" Noguira

Marc "The Rat" Vibbert

2 days...

Adam and Dog

 A lot of you guys have been asking for it, and here it is! Minkyu Lee's Oscar-nominated short film, "Adam and Dog" in its entirety. Enjoy!



If you dug the film, or if you dig animation in general, Minkyu's Adam and Dog tumblr has a peak inside the garden and some wonderful pencil tests by folks like James Baxter. They spared no expence!

33 days...

Nom Nom Nom'd

Congrats to Minkyu and the rest of our fantastic crew! I had the pleasure of working on this beaut, and I told Minkyu the first time he pitched it to me that he'd be taking home the Oscar. An amazing film with a wonderful message. Can't wait to share Adam and Dog with the world!

24 days...

Enroll Today!

What better way to kick off 2013 than with a taste of things to come? 

There's still time to sign up for the Spring semester!

32 days...

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

Lincoln debuts today, the same opening night as Twilight. Coincidence? I think not. Give 'em hell, Abe!

I even wrote a little seasonal jingle to get everyone in the emancipatin' mood (sing to the tune of Frosty the Snowman):

Lincoln the POTUS, was a penny-pinching soul,
With a stove pipe hat and a chin-strap beard, and nasal labial mole.
Lincoln the POTUS, was a president, they say
He was honest, though, and the children know his wife Mary was cray cray.
There must have been some magic in that stove pipe hat he wore
For when he placed it on his head, he won the Civil War!
Oh, Lincoln the POTUS, he saved the USA,
And the children say that he freed the slaves,
And all the vampires he did slay!

30 days...

Chades Challenge LXXII: Bond Girls

No amount of parkour would save Bond from Grace Jones.

If you have any femme fatales (preferred shaken, not stirred), let me know and I'll post them below. Otherwise you can join in November 22nd for a special Thanksgiving edition of the Challenge...

Chades Challenge LXXIII:

Thanksgiving-Themed Superheroes

Colleen "M" Madden

James "Thunderballs" Trucillo

35 days...

No Pain, No Bane

In our excitement for the upcoming Batman movie, my friend Jeff and I decided to do a collaborative Batman vs Bane sketch. Jeff drew Batman first, and I added Bane. 

I figured Batman, being the clever fellow he is, would defeat Bane by taking advantage of his RSI wrist brace.

7 days...

Genetic Engineering

My friends in LA have created a blog called My Boyfriend is an Engineer, devoted to the scandalous escapades of the Prometheus engineer. Of course, I had to contribute.

 8 days...

Batman Warm-Up Sketches

I finally translated what Bane's been saying this whole time!

Sketching on the iPad with Everett over coffee, and getting stoked for Comic Con. We made a wager on whether Avengers or Dark Knight Rises will make more money this Summer. The loser has to draw their superhero getting the superhero serum kicked out of them by the other guy's hero, similar to last Summer's Thor/Captain America drawing bet.

With Dark Knight's opening weekend already selling out and tickets going for $100+ on eBay, I told Ev he could go ahead and get started on my drawing.

15 days...

Draw Something

Every once in a while, Draw Something lobs me a soft ball.

30 days...

Merida and the Frightening Forest

The Japanese may have an odd title for Brave (they call it Merida and the Frightening Forest), but they certainly have a kickass poster!

11 days...

Ralph McQuarrie (1929-2012)

George Lucas, John Williams, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill are the names most often associated with Star Wars. But the one wizard who left as big a thumbprint on the Star Wars universe as anyone was concept artist Ralph McQuarrie.

Mr. McQuarrie designed everything from the hamburger-shaped Millenium Falcon to its seven foot walking carpet of a copilot.

Any artist would be happy to create half as many iconic images as Mr. McQuarrie. I, for one, will never walk through a forest without imagining one of Ralph's Imperial Walkers chasing a family of Ewoks through a cluster of sequoias.

Here's to Mr. McQuarrie, and the wonderful world he created for us in a galaxy far, far away.

4 days...

The Prize

Fasten your kilts, laddies, the new Brave trailer is here!

3 days...