What Disney Voices Would Look Like As Their Characters
Posted: October 14, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Animation, Cartoon, Cinema, Disney, Edina Menzel, Emma Thompson, Illustration, Kelly McDonald, Kristen Bell, Mandy Moore, Movies, Painting, Pixar, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Voice acting, Voiceover, Zachary Levi Leave a comment[VIDEO] Pixar Tech Director Alonso Martinez is Building His Own Desktop Robot Companion with Emotional Intelligence
Posted: July 13, 2015 Filed under: Entertainment, Robotics | Tags: Alonso Martinez, Board of directors, Emotion, Emotional intelligence, Facial recognition system, Mindy Kaling, Mira, Pixar, Quadrupedalism, Robot, Technical director, YouTube 1 CommentTechnical director at Pixar, Alonso Martinez, is currently in the early stages of developing a new companion robot. Mira, as it is currently named, is apparently an exploration into human-robot interaction and emotional intelligence. While currently in the very early stages of development, the small desktop companion is already equipped with some pretty impressive facial recognition and quite an adorable little personality.
“As her understanding of the world and people’s emotions get richer so will her ability to interact with people in a more meaningful way.”
As you can see in the video above, Mira’s favorite activity at the moment is peak-a-boo. Able to realize when you have covered your face, it will light up in excitement like a small child once revealed again making happy blips and bleeps while changing color. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Avengers’ Overpowers the Box Office
Posted: May 3, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Age of Ultron, Avengers (comics), Box office, California, Captain America, Chris Hemsworth, Emeryville, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Marvel Studios, Movies, Pixar, Robert Downey, Thor 3 Leave a commentSequel ‘Age of Ultron’ pulls in $187.7 million domestically, but falls short of record set by the original film
“Avengers: Age of Ultron” opened to a phenomenal $187.7 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates, the second-biggest debut of all time. But many in Hollywood were surprised it came in 9% lower than the record set three years ago by the original “Avengers,” which also opened the first weekend of May and kicked off summer moviegoing season.
Saturday night’s boxing match between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, along with the Kentucky Derby and NBA and NHL playoff games, undoubtedly depressed grosses a bit for “Age of Ultron,” from Walt Disney Co.’s consistently successful Marvel Studios. What’s not yet clear is whether the decrease in ticket sales indicate any audience weariness for Hollywood’s accelerating pace of big-budget “event” films.
[Read the full text here, at WSJ]
The movie industry is expecting a blockbuster summer at the box office, thanks primarily to highly anticipated sequels such as “Jurassic World,” “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation,” “Ted 2” and “Minions,” as well as Pixar Animation Studios’ “Inside Out.” If even a portion of the population is growing tired of such films, that could be bad for major studios.
In good news, however, there are no signs of fatigue overseas. “Age of Ultron” has collected $439 million internationally after opening in many countries last week. Compared with the first “Avengers,” it has grossed 7% more in U.S. dollars and 31% more in local currencies in the same markets over the same period of time, said Dave Hollis, Disney’s executive vice president of distribution.
The most successful foreign country is South Korea, where the “Avengers”sequel has grossed $55.4 million. Part of the movie was shot and takes place in that country. This weekend, “Age of Ultron” set a record for the biggest opening of all time in Mexico, with $25.5 million. Read the rest of this entry »
IMAX Treatment for Marvel’s ‘Star Wars: Rogue One,’ ‘Captain America: Civil War’
Posted: April 8, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Associated Press, Burbank, California, Doctor Strange, IMAX, IMAX Corporation, Lucasfilm, Marvel Comics, Pixar, Star Wars, The Walt Disney Company Leave a commentImax Corporation has renewed its exhibition agreement with Walt Disney Studios, ensuring that its wide screens will host a steady stream of Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm productions in the coming years.
The multi-picture deal begins this year and extends through 2017, and includes such hotly anticipated films as the seventh “Star Wars” picture and the stand-alone “Star Wars” film “Rogue One,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Doctor Strange” and “Guardians of the Galaxy 2.” Read the rest of this entry »