Pixar

Crews of hundreds can typically spend years making a single animated feature — and it's not uncommon during what "Kung Fu Panda 2" director Jennifer Yuh Nelson describes as a "messy, creative process" for a director to be fired midway through a production. It happened to Jan Pinkava, who was directing 2007's "Ratatouille" before Brad Bird took over the Oscar-winning Pixar film. And it happened to Chris Sanders ("How to Train Your Dragon"), who was removed from Disney's "American Dog" in 2006, before it was reimagined as "Bolt.

In a match made in corporate-branding heaven, Starbucks says it will open branches inside Disney resorts in California and Florida. Yes, now you can enjoy your favorite caffeinated beverage as you hang with your favorite rodent. So here's a question: Why did it take so long for these super-popular brands to climb into bed together? And here's another: Why stop there? The first of the Starbucks outlets is scheduled to open this summer at Disneyland California Adventure in Anaheim.

When Walt Disney Co. looked to revamp its troubled retail stores in 2008, Chief Executive Robert A. Iger sought advice from the company's largest shareholder, a foremost expert on the consumer experience. Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs had lured theme-park-size crowds to his company's stores with daring architecture, no-pressure sales staffs and displays that enticed customers to come in and play with the tech world's sexiest toys. Though Disney sold its chain four years earlier, its name was still on the stores.

Walt Disney Studios' Martian adventure film "John Carter" appears to be heading, in the words of one financial analyst, "to the red ink planet. " Wall Street media analysts said the studio could lose $100 million to $165 million on its big-budget epic, which opened Friday in theaters worldwide. "We normally would not be changing estimates prior to a movie opening," Alan Gould, senior media and entertainment analyst at Evercore Partners, wrote in an investor note published Friday.

"Honnnnnk! Honnnnnk!" John Lasseter had explicit instructions about how the Galloping Goose, an antique steam train character in "Cars 2," should look and sound, and he was delivering them with brio. It was January and the animation czar was making the hourlong commute from his home in Sonoma County to his Pixar office here on the outskirts of Oakland in the passenger seat of a town car. On his lap, he balanced an iPad loaded with shots to review while he recorded voice memos for the movie's crew: "Like a diesel horn.

Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s third-quarter profit soared 70%, mainly because of the continued strength of DVD sales from last year's blockbuster "Finding Nemo" and its earlier computer-generated films. Thursday's announcement that it earned $22.4 million, or 38 cents a share, on revenue of $44.5 million follows Pixar's release of its sixth straight hit film, "The Incredibles." A year earlier, Pixar earned $13.2 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenue of $30.2 million.

"Honnnnnk! Honnnnnk!" John Lasseter had explicit instructions about how the Galloping Goose, an antique steam train character in "Cars 2," should look and sound, and he was delivering them with brio. It was January and the animation czar was making the hourlong commute from his home in Sonoma County to his Pixar office here on the outskirts of Oakland in the passenger seat of a town car. On his lap, he balanced an iPad loaded with shots to review while he recorded voice memos for the movie's crew: "Like a diesel horn.

Walt Disney Co. said its Pixar animation studio would commit to 3-D by releasing all of its movies in the format beginning with "Up" next year. Walt Disney Animation Studios will offer "The Princess and the Frog" in the traditional hand-drawn format for release for Christmas 2009. Pixar movies will be released in 3-D and the traditional two-dimensional format, beginning with "Up," about an elderly widower who embarks on a South American adventure, in May 2009.

A roundup of this morning's arts and entertainment headlines: Pixar will release a sequel to "Monsters, Inc." in 2012. (The Hollywood Reporter) On last night's "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart weighed in on Comedy Central's censoring of Wednesday's "South Park" episode. (The Daily Show) And he's not the only one. (Los Angeles Times) Lindsay Lohan has waged a Twitter war against her father, Michael Lohan, after he sent police to her home. (@LindsayLohan, ABC News)

The idea for a themed land at Disney California Adventure celebrating California's car culture had been kicking around at Walt Disney Imagineering for years. The working premise focused on the classic cars, tourist attractions, auto-centric restaurants, roadside architecture and cross-country road trips popular during the 1950s and '60s when vehicles became less about transportation and more about personal expression. > Photos: The evolution of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure The Carland concept, like many other lands and attractions at Disney California Adventure , lacked one key ingredient: Disney characters.

The races for the live-action and animated short film Oscar tend to operate blessedly outside the Academy Awards hype machine; assembled here into two separate programs, this year's nominees - a stronger batch than last year's - offer thought-provoking contrasts in storytelling and style. On the live-action side, many of the entries are marked by worlds in collision. Max Z¿hle's suspenseful drama "Raju," breathlessly filmed in Calcutta, depicts the seesawing emotions and ethical quandaries a German couple go through trying to adopt a 4-year-old orphan boy in a teeming Indian metropolis of overt poverty and hidden agency.

It's a living, breathing ocean that you can "dive into," exploring underwater habitats from the Indian Ocean to the Sea of Cortez while encountering thousands of fish — as they swim across your computer screen. The fish and fauna are created by artists from Los Angeles to Seoul and Mumbai, India, and are programmed to behave as they would in their natural habitat — enabling viewers to tag, follow and even buy their favorite fish. This is not an online game or an animated movie.

Cars 2 Walt Disney, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99/$49.99 Critics seemed to be laying in wait to savage "Cars 2," ready to rip Pixar for making a cash-in sequel to the studio's least artful, most merchandising-friendly movie. But fun is fun, and the globe-hopping spy story that drives "Cars 2" is a blast, full of zooming action and clever ideas about how a world run by vehicles would look. Is it as sophisticated or emotionally resonant as "Up" or "Toy Story"? Heck, no. The "friends forever"/"be yourself" theme is pitched more to the younger audience, and the humor — carried largely by Larry the Cable Guy as rusty truck Tow Mater — is more cornball.

Walt Disney Co. says it plans to launch a broadcast version of Disney Channel in Russia next year, enabling the entertainment giant to deliver its family programming to about 40 million households in the increasingly important market. Disney will acquire a 49% stake in Seven TV network, a national TV network in Russia, enabling it to air Disney Channel programming on broadcast stations in 54 urban markets, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in rural areas. The company did not disclose financial terms.

The idea for a themed land at Disney California Adventure celebrating California's car culture had been kicking around at Walt Disney Imagineering for years. The working premise focused on the classic cars, tourist attractions, auto-centric restaurants, roadside architecture and cross-country road trips popular during the 1950s and '60s when vehicles became less about transportation and more about personal expression. > Photos: The evolution of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure The Carland concept, like many other lands and attractions at Disney California Adventure , lacked one key ingredient: Disney characters.

Riders aboard Luigi's Flying Tires will use a pair of joysticks to steer the levitating bumper car as it floats atop a surface similar to a giant air hockey table. The new ride debuting in the 12-acre Cars Land at Disney California Adventure in summer 2012 recalls the short-lived, breakdown-prone Flying Saucers that moved from Disneyland to Yesterland in 1966. > Photos: Luigi's Flying Tires at Disney California Adventure Luigi, as you may recall, was the excitable 1959 Fiat 500 who ran the tire shop in the animated movie "Cars.

Walt Disney Studios' Martian adventure film "John Carter" appears to be heading, in the words of one financial analyst, "to the red ink planet. " Wall Street media analysts said the studio could lose $100 million to $165 million on its big-budget epic, which opened Friday in theaters worldwide. "We normally would not be changing estimates prior to a movie opening," Alan Gould, senior media and entertainment analyst at Evercore Partners, wrote in an investor note published Friday.

It's Pixar Animation's 25th anniversary, and the studio has kicked back and given a present to itself and its ever-expanding audience with the genially entertaining "Cars 2. " A movie that loves autos and doesn't care who knows it, "Cars 2" is so close to the heart of John Lasseter that he carved out time from being the creative czar of both Pixar and Disney animation to direct it himself, the first time Lasseter's done that since, well, the original...