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.

Family: love em or hate em, you’re stuck with em. Most of the time, you only have immediate family members to deal with. But every so often, once the holidays come around, you get distant relations that might as well be strangers cramming into your home and relegating you to the kid’s table for dinner. No one’s perfect, but Hollywood has repeatedly tried to construct the model idea of what a Hallmark nuclear family should look like. We’ve put together the five most ideal movie families, even if they’re a little bit flawed. Squeeze in for the group photo and hit the jump for Collider’s Thanksgiving Top 5 Best Movie Families. If you missed any of our previous “Thanksgiving Top 5″ articles click here.

Director Brad Bird is poised to make his live-action debut with this fall’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and for those of you lost as to why so many people are excited about that prospect, it has a little something to do with Bird’s oeuvre. The director’s animated filmography includes outstanding works such as The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and of course The Incredibles. The latter has drawn quite a bit of sequel chatter over time, as it’s generally regarded as one of the best films to come out of Pixar (and that’s saying something). We recently got the chance to talk to Bird and he revealed that he’s not at all opposed to making an Incredibles follow-up, and talked about what it would take to make the sequel happen. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

After posting a strong start on Friday, Cars 2 went on to finish the weekend with an estimated $68 million from its 4,115 locations.  That was more than double what its closest competitor, Bad Teacher, took in; but not quite enough to get the sequel higher than fifth place on the list of All-Time Pixar Studio champions.

One of my favorite composers is Michael Giacchino.  That’s because in the last decade, Giacchino has written some amazing scores including The Incredibles, Speed Racer, Ratatouille, Up, Star Trek (2009), Super 8, Lost, Alias, Fringe, and so many more.  With Giacchino writing the score for Cars 2, the other day I got to talk to him about his latest soundtrack.  Of course we also talked about other subjects including what the last few years have been like, his writing process, collaborating with directors, the challenge of scoring Star Trek, if he’s coming back for the sequel, working with the Wachowskis on Speed Racer, if he’s started work on Mission Impossible 4, and I also asked what do we have to do to get Brad Bird to make a sequel to The Incredibles.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

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 likes to take chances, and for them one of the biggest was hiring outside of their staple. Since John Lasseter directed the first Toy Story, the filmmakers have all been with Pixar from the beginning so bringing in Brad Bird was somewhat risky. After all, Bird’s last film was the 1999 bomb The Iron Giant. The film might be a masterpiece, but it was nowhere near successful. But Bird’s The Incredibles worked, and was another in a long line of hits for the studio. It also did things the company hadn’t done before. And now it’s on Blu-ray and looks better than ever. Hit the jump for my review of The Incredibles on Blu-ray.

After just one weekend of excitement surrounding the release of The Green Hornet, the box office reverted to more modest numbers this weekend.  As the week’s sole new release the romantic comedy No Strings Attached came out on top, bringing in a higher than expected total estimated at $20.3 million from its 3,018 locations.

The first trailer for the The Incredibles Blu-Ray has just hit the web, and it’s as beautiful and heart-warming as one has come to expect, if not demand, from a Pixar film in high definition. The Incredibles tells the tale of a family of retired superheroes who are forced to abandon their normal-Joe identities and mundane suburban existence to defeat a nefarious villain before Earth goes bye-bye in his grasp. The all-star lineup of voices include Craig T. Nelson (Coach) as Mr. incredible, Holly Hunter (Saving Grace, Raising Arizona) as Elastigirl, Samuel L. Jackson (Iron Man 2, Pulp Fiction) as Frozone, and Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) as Syndrome.  Brad Bird, the writer, director and voice of the sassy, German super-fashion designer Edna Mode, has also lent additional vocal talent to this teaser, sneaking in a few Blu-Ray related quips that are sure to pry a giggle out of fans of the picture and technology. The Incredibles on Blu-Ray will be soaring onto shelves sometime in Spring 2011.  The trailer awaits after the jump:

After securing the opening-day record for an animated movie on Friday with $41 million, Toy Story 3 finished the weekend with an estimated $109 million – making it the second biggest animated debut of all-time behind Shrek the Third and 2010’s third largest opening overall.