There are few Disney-related stories floating about that aren’t particularly hearty on their own, but worth letting you know about all together. Here’s a rundown of what’s up in the vermin mansion.

• Monsters University

That’s the title of Pixar’s 2012 sequel to Monster’s Inc. which will follow this year’s Cars 2 and last year’s Toy Story 3 in the company’s string of sequels. The film should be well under way by this point, and John Goodman and Billy Crystal will return to their voice roles as Sully and Mike. The story will cover the pair before they were friends at the University of Fear, and show exactly how the two became partners.

Monster’s Inc is one of the more quietly beloved Pixar films, as it isn’t as profoundly moving as their more obviously lauded work, but it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t love the mix of monsters and heart. A sequel has big shoes to fill, with a different kind of pressure than would be applied to say, Cars 2. Thing is, I’m already ready for them to get back to original material.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tides poster

Another new POTC one-sheet, done in the same N.C. Wyeth style that made the last poster at least vaguely interesting. I think everyone knows where they stand on this sequel by this point, and the consensus reads to me as a pretty consistent, “Don’t need it, but looks like it could be better. We’ll see.” (via JoBlo)

• Kosinski and Disney

Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski has been developing another sci-fi project called Oblivion (also Horizons) with Disney, but his Tron clout apparently doesn’t cut it. The studio has booted the project from their slate, though they’re allowing Kosinski to shop it around- indicating they’re not altogether out of the Kosinski business. Other major studios are taking a look at the pitch, which is for a pg-13 flick with some “edge,” that has a space traveler meeting a mysterious figure on a lonely planet. Tom Cruise has long been associated with the project, but his name really doesn’t seem to count for much in the genre tentpole world these days. Alas.

Maybe this will be good for Kosinski. The director is clearly capable of some visual brilliance that he was not able to express with Tron, under the constraints of such a massive studio effort and pileofshit script. I know he’s capable of more visionary images than the same old bland, messy action rendered in sharp neon, so maybe an original concept and a different studio will allow him to produce them. If one of the other studios bites, then maybe we’ll get to find out. (THR via Dark Horizons)

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