Randy Newman was on Classic FM this weekend and there's no way on Earth I would ever have known this if Film Divider hadn't listened in and transcribed some of what he said. I'm always far too busy not being scared of Radio 3 to ever give Classic FM the time of day. From what he said, it doesn't seem entirely like Newman is on the best terms with Pixar. A terrible shame because their working relationship had been yielding some amazing results. "Im not so sure I dont have a reputation for being a little trouble," Newman said, adding "Lee Unkrich isnt going to use me, I dont think." Use him for what? For the studio's first musical. That's what Newman says in any case, though he gives no details. At the time of Toy Story, Jeffrey Kaztenberg was pulling the strings at Disney and he wanted the film to be a musical. Joss Whedon, one of the screenwriters, much later told EW, "It would have been a really bad musical, because it's a buddy movie. It's about people who won't admit what they want, much less sing about it." And as usual, Joss ain't wrong. But just because Pixar struck-out against the model of the typical Disney musical, and because they've yet to make a film in that model to date, it doesn't mean they never should. Indeed, I'm very glad they are. It was reported a few years ago that Unkrich's next film is about the Mexican day of the dead. I guess that's likely to still be the case, despite one animated musical on that theme - the recent Book of Life - already doing pretty well at the box office. It could be sometime until we hear more about Unkrich's next film. In the meantime, Pixar have Inside Out opening this June in the US and July in the UK, and The Good Dinosaur opening this November in the US and December in the UK.
Brendon Connelly has been a film writer since the early 90s, with time on the staff of Orbit Magazine, Slashfilm, Bleeding Cool, Den of Geek and many more. He's a long time teacher of film studies and practical filmmaking classes, and has directed music videos, commercials, short films and more. His favourite film is Terry Gilliam's Brazil, his favourite food is pancakes or crepes, and he tries to live his life by the teachings of Kermit the Frog.
