Opening this weekend is Pixar’s Finding Nemo 3D.  Unlike some post-converted movies that are released as a cash grab, Finding Nemo 3D is absolutely worth seeing again, especially in 3D.  When the movie was first released almost ten years ago, the gorgeous ocean-set pic looked beautiful and the animation was stunning.  However, when Pixar converted the film, they also re-rendered it (without changing anything) and it’s now even more vivid with higher resolution.  Finding Nemo has never looked this good and the 3D actually helps tell the story.

Recently, Pixar held a press day for the re-release at The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  While there I was able to speak with Stereoscopic Supervisor Bob Whitehill and the Director of 3D Production Josh Hollander.  We talked about the collaboration process with directors when converting films to 3D, the technical challenges of turning older Pixar movies into a 3D release, how technology has helped make 3D easier, and what fans can look forward to with the 3D release of Monsters Inc..  Finally, Whitehill and Hollander answer whether they have started to think about 3D re-releases for The Incredibles and Ratatouille.  Hit the jump to watch. 

This weekend, Brave became Pixar’s 13th feature film, the latest addition to an impeccable body of work that started nearly twenty years ago with Toy Story.  Given the storied history of everyone’s favorite animation studio, I think this is the perfect opportunity to try out a new feature, By the Numbers.  Essentially, I will go one by one through each of the Pixar movies and provide a numbers-based snapshot of its place in the filmography by looking at the box office, critical reception, and miscellaneous facts.  Four thousand words later, I hope you’ll agree this is a comprehensive review of Pixar’s work over the last two decades.

Hit the jump for a detailed look at Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monster’s, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, and Brave.

It’s a Pixar extravaganza!  We’ve got some exciting news to share regarding everyone’s favorite animation studio.  First up, a new clip from the excellent-looking Brave has gone online.  It skews towards the comedic side of the film, and I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that the triplets may or may not steal the show when the film hits theaters.  Additionally—and excitingly—Pixar will be re-releasing a few of their classics exclusively in AMC theaters this Memorial Day weekend.  Wall-E, Up, Ratatouille, and Toy Story 3 will return for a limited engagement from May 25 – 28th.  Moreover, tickets will run at the family friendly and affordable price of $6.

Each screening will be accompanied by a behind-the-scenes look at Brave, and Toy Story 3 and Up will be running in 3D (the 3D in the latter is gorgeous).  This is excellent news, and I’ll most definitely be taking advantage of the chance to see Andrew Stanton’s masterwork Wall-E on the big screen once more.  Hit the jump to watch the new Brave clip and to watch the trailers for the aforementioned Pixar films set for re-release.

Continuing our coverage from our visit to Pixar in anticipation of the release of Cars 2, we have our exclusive interview with Michael Giacchino.  One of the most in-demand composers at the moment (and rightly so), Giacchino has been a bit of a mainstay at Pixar having scored The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and most recently Up, for which he won the Academy Award.  His versatile work is undeniably brilliant, from the sweeping tones of Lost to the bombastic panache of Star Trek.

In our interview, Giacchino talked about his approach to the score for Cars 2, what influences he used in creating the music, what the process of a composer at Pixar is like, and also gave an update on his scores for some highly anticipated upcoming films (Super 8, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and John Carter of Mars).  Hit the jump to check it out.

Pixar Animation Studios classics like Toy Story, Up, Wall-E, Ratatouille, and Cars will soon be commemorated with their own unique stamp designs in 2011.  Citing Pixar’s “exciting, contemporary characters and strong themes involving family and friends,” the United States Postal Service will begin circulating the “Send a Hello” stamps on August 19th, 2011.

To check out the official USPS release and to catch a glimpse of the five designs, hit the jump.

Last Friday, a few online reporters were invited to the Santa Monica office of Illumination Entertainment to watch about 15 minutes of Universal Pictures’ inaugural 3D CGI feature Despicable Me.  In addition to watching the footage, we were able to speak with producer Chris Meledandri (Ice Age franchise, Robots, Horton Hears a Who!) about leaving 20th Century Fox and starting Illumination Entertainment, which has a multi-picture deal to deliver live-action and animated all-audience films for Universal Pictures.

After the jump you can find a brief recap of what I thought about the footage, a video blog that I did with Peter from Slashfilm about going to Illumination Entertainment and what we both thought of the footage, and a full interview with Producer Chris Meledandri.  Take a look: