Sorry for double posting. Madeline Sharafian said how she's a lead storyboard artist for the movie. She seems to have a thing with animals since she worked on We Bare Bears and the Pixar short Burrow.
https://twitter.com/maddieshara/status/1414995511929544716?t=Zl9jDN9Leaj_fC0vFP_6Ng&s=19
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Now that you mention it, the movie's art style looks a lot like We Bare Bears translated to 3D CGI. Mei also has the typical pear-shaped head that seems to be common in 2010s cartoons.
EDIT: Mei's friend Abby, in particular, looks like a human version of Amethyst.
Edited by Snicka on Nov 17th 2021 at 10:04:04 AM
Because omicron variant? And also because The Batman will probably curbstomp it into the ground in the box office since that's coming the week before?
And besides, the last time a cuddly animated Disney movie went up against a hardcore live-action WB movie adaptation based on a book, it didn't turn out so hot for Disney?
If anything, I think Lightyear will keep its theatrical release... hopefully.
Edited by lbssb on Jan 7th 2022 at 4:40:04 AM
Disney100 Marathon | DreamWorks MarathonI'm not sure it's that negative. Luca and Soul were pretty successful when placed on Disney+, and it's noticeable that Encanto (not a Pixar film but one of Disney's mainline features) only generated a lot of buzz when it was put on streaming. I think Disney might be finding a potential formula that works.
Disney is absolutely doing a thing right now where the output of some studios go on the big screen and the output of all the others don't, so I'm not sure where the idea that Disney is treating all their owned properties the same is coming from. They're not.
But it's not because they're marginalizing X studios. It's because they're emphasizing Y studios. They're putting all their pomp and circumstance into WDS and Marvel right now.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Jan 7th 2022 at 9:08:46 AM
I think Disney just doesn't trust Pixar anymore. The studio makes great animation, but in terms of merchandise, they don't measure up. Edwin Catmull already stated his dislike for the commercial part of Disney by labelling it the "Hungry beast". And today, Toy Story's 4 Forkies are still warming the shelves in some stores. Coco skeleton plushes send a dubious message to the public. The saving grace could have been Onward but Covid struck. Disney didn't take a chance with Soul as the story didn't have a very merchandise-friendly concept. It's flirting with PR disaster. The Gardner talking dolls got a very short release. Luca merch had a very short production run too. Pixar got some bad luck that is now sticking to it.
In short, Pixar tends to make movies that don't really lend themselves to toys and merchandise. The Cars movies were an exception, but that series is more or less over now. Disney doesn't just want to have movies that rock the box office, those movies must also act as ads that sell tons of goods. But they don't, and Pixar keep on going the creative route, so it's vaulted to Disney+. Pixar won't play by Big Daddy Disney's rules, so it gets grounded and has its theatrical release privileges taken away.
Edited by ElSquibbonator on Jan 7th 2022 at 2:31:37 PM

I'm not sure if there's a page for the movie, so I'm creating one anyway just in case. In any case, here's a teaser trailer for the next Pixar movie Turning Red.