The release of Pixar’s next upcoming film, The Good Dinosaur, may be less than a year away, but Pixar is apparently still making some major changes to the upcoming animated feature. This week, it was officially confirmed that Bob Peterson, the film’s original director, has been removed from the project.
Peterson’s removal as director is the latest in a long line of director replacements at Pixar, with directors having been replaced previously on Ratatouille, Toy Story 2, Cars 2, and, most recently, Brave. This was to be Peterson’s debut as a lead director at Pixar, after previously serving as the co-director of Up. About the change, Pixar president Ed Catmull told the Los Angeles Times:
“All directors get really deep in their films. Sometimes you just need a different perspective to get the idea out. Sometimes directors … are so deeply embedded in their ideas it actually takes someone else to finish it up. I would go so far as to argue that a lot of live-action films would be better off with that same process.”
There is no word yet on who will replace Peterson as director. Currently, the film is being overseen jointly by a team of people, including the film’s co-director Peter Sohn, Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, and such other Pixar directors as Mark Andrews (Brave) and Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3).
The Good Dinosaur, which tells the tale of a world in which dinosaurs did not become extinct, is currently set to debut in theaters on May 30, 2014. Stay tuned for more news on this upcoming film.
