Pixar is opening a satellite studio in Vancouver which will be dedicated to producing short subjects. According to a story in The Vancouver Sun, the new studio will not work on Pixar’s feature films, but will make shorts which, general manager Amir Nasrabadi hints, could include TV series.

“First and foremost for us is to concentrate on Pixar legacy characters,” said Nasrabadi, citing Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, and Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars as four of its legacy characters. “We want to keep these well-known and well-liked characters alive without creating a distraction to those working on the full-length motion pictures in California.

“The types of products we produce will be niche products, such as short films, whether they are standalone or episodic in nature,” said Nasrabadi, a 12-year veteran of the digital entertainment business. “They will be helpful to all of Disney’s ancillary businesses, such as television, compilations on DVD, Internet broadcasting, as well as theatres.”

It sounds like the new studio will be producing DVD bonus materials, at least to start with. After that… who knows?

UPDATE: Canadian animation director and historian Mark Mayerson offers his take on Pixar’s new studio. Historically, he writes, “[S]atellite studios tend to stay satellites. Rather than regard the satellites as minor league teams, where talent is developed and then moved up to the majors, the satellites are walled-off as facilities for lower budget work.”

Come October, I know I’ll definitely be adding two new books to my bookshelf:

South of the Border with Disney: Walt Disney and the Good Neighbor Program 1941-1948 by J.B. Kaufman. The topic is fascinating, the historian is impeccably qualified. This should be incredible!

The Duchess of Whimsy is the first time that Ice Age designer and New Yorker cover artist Peter de Sève has created original illustrations for a children’s book. I’ve seen it and can say that this isn’t your average children’s book. Every page is a work of art.

I’ve linked to a number of animated book trailers in recent months, and the trend appears to be growing. In the overcrowded fiction marketplace, these trailers are a smart way of standing out from the pack and allows publishers to turn audiences on to books they may have otherwise not heard about. The latest book trailer I’ve found is for the book White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi. The trailer can be seen on the book’s website WhiteisforWitching.com. The spot’s illustrations were created by Jon Klassen and animation/compositing work was done by Julia Pott.

Just published this week from HarperCollins is Mr. Warburton’s first childrens book 1000 Times No.

Warburton (Code Name: Kids Next Door) created a promo for it at curious pictures which is pretty much the whole damn book animated. Enjoy:

I’ve posted the last part of my 2009 animation and cartoon book sale. Rare goodies straight ahead on the book sale page.

I’m continuing the great animation book purge of 2009. Everything I posted earlier today is already sold, but I’ve just posted more cool stuff by Jack Kinney, Eyvind Earle, Ernie Pintoff, Bob Dranko, Chris Jenkyns, Ken Anderson, Charles Schulz, Harvey Kurtzman, Friz Freleng, etc. Help me empty my life by going to the book sale page. Even more stuff coming soon!

I’ve decided that I have way too many books and magazines, and so I’ve decided to get rid of as many of them as I can. I could put them on eBay but I’m too lazy, and frankly, I’m not interested in making a killing either . I just want to get these books—some of which are very rare, others not— into the hands of people who appreciate them and wish to build their animation and cartoon book libraries.

A few details: I’m not a book dealer and don’t know much about book conditions. They’re all in decent shape but don’t expect perfection. They’ve been used over the years, by myself and previous owners, just as books are meant to be used. If there are any serious defects, I’ll try to note them. If you’re interested in purchasing a book, contact me via this form and tell me which books you want. First come, first serve!

Shipping is $6 for the first book, $3 each additional book. I’m only shipping these within the continental US. Rates for Canada and elsewhere will be significantly higher. Check or money order gladly accepted. Unfortunately, I’m not set up for Paypal. Bookmark the specific page because I’ll be posting many more books and magazines here over the coming week or two. Bonus offer: Anybody who purchases a book will also receive a copy of ANIMATION BLAST #9 at no extra charge (a $15 value).

Let the great sale of 2009 begin. All the books are after the jump…

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I got a peek at the latest Disney Book Group catalog, prepared for this week’s London Book Fair. There are plenty of things coming up this fall of interest to our readers, for example:

THE PIXAR TREASURES by Tim Hauser (similar to The Disney Treasures with all sorts of removable “keepsakes”) - publication date September 2009.

THE MAKING OF DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Diane Landau (based on the Zemeckis motion capture film) - publication date September 2009

SEASON’S GREETINGS FROM DISNEY by Jeff Kurtti (a collection of vintage studio Christmas cards) - publication date September 2009

SOUTH OF THE BORDER WITH DISNEY by J.B. Kaufman (major history of Disney’s South American films) - publication date October 2009

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS ARCHIVE SERIES: ANIMATION, Intro by John Lasseter - publication date October 2009

WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - a sequel to a previous Imagineering book, with a Forward by Bob Iger Intro by John Lasseter - publication date November 2009

WALT DISNEY’S PETER PAN by Dave Barry (yes that Dave Barry) and Ridley Pearson, Illustrated by Mary Blair - publication date September 2009

I was also intrigued by the catalog’s listing of two children’s books based on upcoming shorts: Pixar’s Partly Cloudy and Disney’s Prep & Landing. Click thumbnails below to see the catalog pages about these two unusual projects.