When is a Pixar movie not a Pixar movie? When it’s produced by Disney-contracted third parties in India, apparently. Bleeding Cool has discovered that Planes, the planned direct-to-DVD spin-off from Pixar’s Cars, won’t be produced by Emeryville’s favorite animators after all, but instead originate in Disney Toon Studios, where the storyboarding and layout work will be done before being sent to outside animation houses before returning to DTS for final editing. Pixar’s involvement in any part of the process seems to be minimal.
While the animation snob in me is happy that Pixar isn’t wasting time on what sounds like a cynical cash grab of a direct-to-DVD movie, I can’t help but feel that it’s somehow sacrilegious to do anything with any of the Pixar characters without involving the company itself. Should I be happy or sad about this news? I can’t decide.
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