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91 of 92 of major American animation releases in the current decade have had a male director.

The post Sorry, Women: You Won’t Be Directing Any Major U.S. Animation Releases in 2017 appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

"Brave" director Brenda Chapman reveals big new plans in an exclusive interview with Cartoon Brew.

The post Life After Pixar: An Interview with Brenda Chapman appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Watch these personal stories about the making of the Disney classic "Beauty and the Beast."

The post Watch: 25th Anniversary ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Panel That Took Place in LA appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

This 25th anniversary screening is sold out, but we've got a tip on how you can attend this special event.

The post May 9 in LA: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in 70mm With Cast and Crew Discussion appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Of the studio's 16 films to date, no Pixar film has had a solo woman director, but Ed Catmull thinks that will change soon.

Women don't receive the same opportunities as men do in animation, and they're finally speaking out about it.

"Brave" co-director Brenda Chapman is organizing an auction to help artist and friend Sue Nichols.

Yesterday’s New York Times delivered a glowing profile of DreamWorks chief creative officer Bill Damaschke. The pieces describes how CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is relinquishing oversight of creative matters to Damaschke, who for his part is trying to make the studio more creator-friendly.

It reads like your typical puff piece until it gets to the part about Brenda Chapman. The article reveals that Chapman, who co-directed the first DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt before jumping to Pixar where she made Brave, has recently returned to DreamWorks. First, Chapman explains why she left DreamWorks:

“I left in part because I felt like I was being asked to do the same story over and over. I look at the movies DreamWorks is doing now, and I see the exact opposite happening.”

Then, it gets juicy when she places the blame for her removal as director of Brave squarely on the shoulders of John Lasseter:

She was pushed out of Pixar after clashing with that studio’s chief creative officer, John Lasseter. Although she could have joined another studio, she said she chose to return to Glendale in part because of Mr. Damaschke, who started at DreamWorks Animation in 1995 as a production assistant on The Prince of Egypt.

“As Jeffrey has gained experience and age, and DreamWorks has grown, he has stepped back and allowed other people to run creative,” Ms. Chapman said. “At Pixar, it’s all John’s show.” She added of DreamWorks Animation, “you can butt heads here and not be punished for it, unlike at another place I could name.”

It’s not exactly news that there was some kind of a conflict between Lasseter and Chapman, but it begins a new chapter in the story when Chapman publicly claims that Lasseter’s micromanagement was the cause of her rift with Pixar. And on another note, who would have ever thought that directors like Chapman and Chris Sanders would begin migrating to DreamWorks for its liberal creative environment. In the animation world, the times they are a-changin.

The confetti from Merida’s Royal Coronation at Cinderella’s castle in Walt Disney World has barely been swept up and she’s already learning what it means to be a real Princess. When it was announced that the star of 2012’s Brave would be crowned Disney’s 11th Princess on the morning of May 11th, they unveiled her new look for the product line.
The makeover, which apparently happened to all the Disney princesses when no one was looking, involved dropping 20 pounds, caking on some mascara and giving Merida a Keratin hair treatment. “There’s the hot hair, the coy expression,” wrote Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter. “Also the obligatory exposed shoulders, slimmer waist, and the bow and arrow replaced by… what is that, a low-slung belt?…Because, in the end, it wasn’t about being brave after all. It was about being pretty.”

The new look has caused such an uproar with the female empowerment website, A Mighty Girl, that they started a petition on Change.org to “Keep Merida Brave!” The appeal, which has already picked up over 100,000 signatures, states:

“The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls’ capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value — to be recognized as true princesses — they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty.”

The film’s original director, Brenda Chapman, has also blasted the makeover, telling the Marin Independent Journal that it is “a blatantly sexist marketing move based on money.” Chapman continued:

“There is an irresponsibility to this decision that is appalling for women and young girls. Disney marketing and the powers that be that allow them to do such things should be ashamed of themselves. I think it’s atrocious what they have done to Merida. When little girls say they like it because it’s more sparkly, that’s all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy ‘come hither’ look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It’s horrible! Merida was created to break that mold — to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance.”

A writer couldn’t have scripted a more Hollywood ending to the saga of Brenda Chapman, Pixar’s first female director. Cartoon Brew broke the story when Chapman was unceremoniously dumped from her film Brave back in October 2010. Last night, Brenda made history after becoming the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a prize shared with co-director Mark Andrews.

It took only twelve years of the Best Animated Feature award before the Academy recognized a film directed by a woman. By comparison, it took 82 years before the Academy awarded an Oscar to a live-action film directed by a woman. That happened in 2009, when Kathryn Bigelow won both Best Picture and Best Director for The Hurt Locker. Let us hope that Hollywood continues to embrace diversity and encourage fresh perspectives on storytelling.

Oh yeah speaking of the Oscars, Renee Zellweger -- WTF. While the actress often looks like she just chomped into a handful of Sour Skittles, last night her eyes seemed to have collapsed into tiny black holes orbiting Alpha Centauri. And what was with mean Richard Gere trying to get her to read on stage? It was obvious girlfriend did not want to wear reading glasses, and was too shy to say anything about it. Either that or she had found the stash James Franco had hidden at the Dolby Theater a couple of years back.

From the No-Big-Surprise Department: Brenda Chapman, who developed Pixar’s Brave and was its original director before being replaced by Mark Andrews, officially ended her Pixar employment at the end of July. Pixar Portal reported on Monday that, “She is now working as a consultant for Lucasfilm animation, but wasn’t able to share any details about the project.” Chapman had been with Pixar since 2003. Prior to that, she co-directed the first DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt and served as story supervisor on Disney’s The Lion King.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | One comment | Post tags: Brenda Chapman, Lucasfilm

All this week, to celebrate Children’s Book Week, we’re having a daily book giveway. To enter the giveway, just come back and visit our blog every day and leave a comment each day.

Today’s book for the giveaway is Running Scared by Brenda Chapman.

About the Book: Feeling somehow to blame for her father’s absence, thirteen-year-old Jennifer Bannon struggles to hang on to her dream that he will return and they can be a family again – a dream that doesn’t include her mother’s new boyfriend, nights of looking after her little sister or a ninth grade year that is rapidly going down the toilet. Finally – after two years of waiting – Jennifer learns that her father is back in town, and suddenly the dream seems within reach. However, hope quickly turns to horror when Jennifer witnesses an event that threatens to tear apart her family and perhaps destroy the life of someone she loves.

Will Jennifer be able to unravel the mystery in time, or will keeping a secret turn deadly?