Pixar Consulted on New Muppet Movie

Published by Jeff Leins on July 27, 2010

Here’s a story I missed last week before Comic-Con started monopolizing my time.  The Hollywood Reporter learned the team behind Disney’s upcoming Muppet movie met with the “Pixar Brain Trust” for a table read and notes session.

Director James Bobin, producers David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, and Jason Segel were “likely” in the room with filmmakers John Lasseter (Cars, Toy Story), Brad Bird (Ratatouille), Pete Docter (Up), Andrew Stanton (Wall-E), Michael Arndt (screenwriter on Toy Story 3), Bob Peterson (Up) and animation president Ed Catmull.  Wow!  What I would give to be a fly on that wall!

This is the second Disney/Pixar brainstorm that we’ve heard of recently after word got out that Bird and Arndt met to discuss small Tron: Legacy reshoots.  The Muppet movie, tentatively titled The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made doesn’t have a greenlight, but it appears Disney is trying to beef it up before it gets underway.

The “Brain Trust” reportedly assisted on The Princess and the Frog and the upcoming Rapunzel feature, Tangled.

The history between Pixar and Disney dates back to 1990 when the animation studio provided the computer effects software that helped craft The Rescuers Down Under and assisted on the Best Picture-nominated Beauty and the Beast a year later.  Of course, the studio began creating their own animated features in 1995 with Toy Story.

Disney bought the company in 2006 and promoted co-founder Lasseter to Chief Creative Officer.  There wasn’t much crossover during the first few years under Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, but when he stepped down in September 2009, the Mouse House bumped up Disney Channel president Rich Ross.

Ross is the reason for all the recent crossovers, who clearly gets that Pixar’s 11-film streak is due to their superb storytelling abilities.  Bringing Pixar people into the fold on other Disney movies is a brilliant move that should improve the quality of work and, more importantly, entertainment value for audiences.

It could be interesting to see how producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who oversaw summer flops Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, would react to input on future films, especially if his slump continues.