Pixar to open studio in Vancouver

Buzz Lightyear is one of the characters the new studio will concentrate on

Disney/Pixar is to launch an animation studio in Vancouver, Canada this autumn to handle its non-feature projects.

According to president Ed Catmull, the "small in size" operation will focus on short-form computer animation for DVD, theme parks and television exhibitions.

Work in Vancouver will concentrate on "legacy characters" like Woody and Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies.

Feature films and all stereoscopic 3-D work will remain based at Pixar's main HQ in Emeryville, California.

"We have a somewhat unfulfilled demand," Pixar general manager Jim Morris told the Hollywood Reporter.

Facility

"We wanted to do various things with Toy Story to keep the characters alive. People like to see them somewhat regularly."

Pixar, whose other hits include Finding Nemo and Wall-E, currently employs around 1,000 people at its main studios.

According to Morris, the staff at the new facility is expected to be no more than a tenth of that number.

Disney/Pixar's latest animated movie, Up, will be unveiled next week at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

3D versions of Toy Story and its sequel will be distributed later this year ahead of next summer's release of Toy Story 3.