Disney/Pixar launching new studio

Woody and Buzz are heading north. To accommodate a growing slate of nonfeature projects, Disney and Pixar will launch an animation studio in the fall in Vancouver. The focus will be on Pixar’s legacy characters, including Buzz and Woody from the “Toy Story” films and Lightning McQueen and Mater from “Cars.”

“The operation will be small in size and dedicated to producing short-form quality computer animation for theme parks, DVDs, television and theatrical exhibition … for several different divisions of the Walt Disney Co.,” Disney/Pixar president Ed Catmull said. “We have a somewhat unfulfilled demand,” he said. “We wanted to do various things with ‘Toy Story’ to keep the characters alive. People like to see them somewhat regularly.” He pointed to Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter, who would like to do more with the “Cars” characters.