Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund in TRON: Legacy. They’re talking about how excellent Ratatouille was.It’s been a while since we’ve mentioned anything having to do with Walt Disney Pictures, but there’s a tidbit that’s just emerged from Entertainment Weekly that’s too good to go without comment. According to them, Pixar filmmakers Brad Bird and Michael Arndt (screenwriter for Toy Story 3) signed on briefly last month to script re-shoots for the upcoming TRON: Legacy.
That’s right. Brad Bird. TRON. Together.
Now, typically re-shoots don’t necessarily spell good news for a production, although they’re fairly common. And sometimes it can mean that the filmmakers have really found something that works in the piece and want to develop it further with some re-writes. It’s also true that Bird and Arndt only wrote enough pages for about six days of shooting, so it’s unknown how much they will affect the final film, but the fact that they were hired to punch up scenes to deliver more emotion, character and theme can only be seen as a good thing.
We all know the original TRON wasn’t exactly a character piece, and even those of us who love it unconditionally admit that its script isn’t bulletproof. We proud nerds have been waiting almost thirty years for a sequel, and while there’s so much that makes TRON: Legacy an unknown quantity, mixing in the name Brad Bird brings an extra bit of excitement to the proceedings.
I think it’s pretty cool that TRON: Legacy director Joe Kosinski and the other filmmakers decided to show their work-in-progress to some respected vets at Pixar and in Hollywood for some feedback in advance of last June’s re-shoots. And anything, and I mean anything, involving Brad Bird – who I’ll remind you has directed The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and freakin’ Ratatouille – demands my full and undivided attention.
Wow. I was already incredibly excited about what looked to me like it had the potential to be the best live action Disney film since 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean. My excitement has been bumped up about 10 notches.
It’s funny. Yesterday I posted on Twitter that next year we’ll see a Brad Bird film for the first time in four years and it has to be a Mission Impossible sequel. And today we at hear that he’s at least part of something a lot more interesting. The world needs more Brad Bird films, but preferably animated films or 1906.
By the way, love the caption. Heh.
Well, I figured at least we’d get our first good Mission Impossible film… and the good thing about live action is that it’ll be out by next Christmas so he can move on to the next thing. I know he wants to do all sorts of projects, but I rather greedily want him working on animation…