Wow, the hype from Tron: Legacy sure died down quickly didn’t it? For the record, we thought it was pretty awesome, if a bit talky -read our review here -but Disney certainly aren’t the type of company to let FIVE YEARS of extreme social marketing go to waste, as shown by this leaked preview from the upcoming Blu-Ray release of Tron: Legacy. Taking place right after the film’s closing credits, the short revives the Flynn Lives meme and drops a few ‘Clu’s (see what we did there, damn, we should be on TV) about possible sequel storylines.

What do you think, are you up for more Tron, or are you all pixelled out?

These days Pixar movies often sum up everything that’s missing from Disney’s mainstream releases – plot, characters you can root for, a distinct lack of songs about dreaming/the pain of being Miley Cyrus.

If only the two studios had linked up earlier…

wow.

Flynn lives! Time to rise up and join the revolution comrades, and what better way to get started than checking out these awesome propoganda-style Tron posters by illustrator Steve Thomas.

Steve specialises in arcade-related retro designs (that it has to be said would look amazing on my wall at home, so hopefully he’s reading this and feeling generous…),and retro-futuristic travel guides, with a number of very cool prints available over at zazzle. Check out Steve’s site for more of his stuff, including some great takes on Donkey Kong, Frogger and even everyone’s favourite mediaeval knights on flying ostriches actioner Joust.

Wow -two newsgushes in a row for Disney’s hyped-through-the-roof Tron series. Yep -series.

While Tron: Legacy may be a few months away from screens, it seems the house of mouse has enough confidence to greenlight a third installment. According to the Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, they’ve already signed up ‘Lost’ writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz to penthe continuing adventures of Jeff Bridges in cyberspace.

Of course, this may depend on Tron: Legacy’s ability to fend off the box office kryptonite that doomed it’s predesessor to a life of dodgy VHS cultism…

What do you thing? Are we ready for more Tron, or is this headed for a disaster of Matrix-like proportions?

So far we’ve only had some gorgeous light cycle shots to clue us in on happenings in Tron: Legacy’s computer generated world, but it looks like marketing – or the Master Control Program – are ramping things up online, starting with a truly odd site over at www.flynnlives.com which is playing a weird flash graphic. Rumours are already circulating that it’s a variation on a binary coundown clock, set to stop at: February 24th at 2:30 PM ET.

Whether this ominous date will bring us a new trailer or an invasion by holographic flying tanks remains to be seen…

Normally we don’t go for direct press puffery here at STS – prefering to think our journalistic integrity is worth a pint or two at least – but the 25th of February sees the premiere of Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, and we’re willing to make an exception as the 3D extravaganza and the nice chaps from Disney will be transforming London’s Leicester Square for the event in aid of The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts

The entire cast—including Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and newcomer Mia Wasikowska as Alice will be attending, and hopefully we’ll be able to distinguish Tim burton and Helena Bonham-Carter from the drunks stumbling out of Chinatown as the entire place gets it’s bi-annual scrub down in preperation for a royal visit (that’s HRH The Prince of Wales, not Stephen Fry).

We’ve already seen some pretty stunning visuals – including the (did we mention it was exclusive? we probably should) new image of Anne Hathawy above – from the movie, as Alice “embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen’s reign of terror” apparently. Oh -and it’s in lovely 3D – not sure how that works with the Cheshire Cat but hey-ho.

Alice in Wonderland is released across the UK on March the 5th on 2D, Disney Digital 3D and IMAX® 3D screens, so come on down and join in as we attempt to sneak past the bouncers and cram your camera full of celebrity goodness in aid of a good cause.

Time to chuck that moldering Jack Sparrow costume out the window and get yourself an outsize topper for next Halloween, as our driends at Disey reveal the new trailer for Tim Burton’s hotly tipped Alice In Wonderland today.

Previously the STS staff only got near a set of playing cards when payday rolled around, but based on this they’re all set to be next years must-have fashion accesory. Expect Burton regulars Depp and Bonham Carter to be suitably nutty and degenerate, with Burton’s dark edge seemingly finding it’s spritual home as some wonderfully twisted takes on the classic Lewis Carrol characters lurk among the beautifully rendered backgrounds.

Whether it’s a big hitter or a Mad Hatter may be down to the script, but based on this it’ll be a sight worth seeing…

Sony is planning on expanding the Marvel Universe further despite the company recently being snatched up by rivals Disney, with a spin-off featuring Spider-Man Villain -and fanboy favourite -Venom.

Already doing a script polish on Spider-Man 4, Sony has tapped Gary Ross to write a stand alone feature for the oily symbiote, although whether Topher Grace will reprise the role is unclear. Sony, and Columbia pictures avoid any legal trouble with Disney with the proportionate agility of a spider thanks to a perpetuity deal covering Spidey and his rogue’s gallery.

Although he’s been out of practice since the similarly Maguire-centric Seabiscuit, Ross is also being tapped to direct, with early hints transforming Eddie Brock’s monstrous foe into an anti-hero -brain-eating destruction not scanning well with family audiences apparently.

What’s your opinion, should Venom play to the spidey market-or would a grim n’ gritty R rating carnage-fest be more his speed?

Having mastered the anthropomorphic, Pixar’s attempts to bring people to life have always been so-so. Sid from Toy Story was far less lifelike than his plastic co stars, and it took until The Incredibles for the artists to realise that full on realism was to be avoided, instead going for a kind of Muppet influenced characterisation that was rounded out in Ratatouille, and is finally perfected here.

Carl Fredricksen – voiced wonderfully by Mary Tyler Moore Show stalwart Ed Asner – is a masterclass in character building. He’s cantankerous and grumpy, but eminently loveable throughout, each of his curmudgeonly tics making you warm to him more. The main reason for this can be found in one short, very sharp sequence. Carl’s a widower, and a magnificent montage is employed to show how he got that way. Economical but touching and never blasé, it traces Carl and wife Ellie’s entire life together, from childhood all the way to Ellie’s death. If you’re taking children to see this,then tissues will be required for these few seconds alone, as we’re given a 3 minute crash course in their hopes, dreams and even unfulfilled travel plans which ultimately drive the very funny plot.

Determined to finally make it to the table-top mountain he’d always promised Ellie they’d visit, Carl employs some basic engineering -and several thousand balloons to make his dream a reality, but unfortunately brings badge-hungry wilderness scout Russell along for the ride.

It’s a perfect odd-couple set-up with adventure thrown in, so it’s a surprise that the film jettisons this fairly quickly, instead dropping our heroes off for an odd little tale of flightless birds and packs of talking dogs that’s nevertheless hugely entertaining, if not quite reaching the figurative and literal heights of the first act.

Monsters Inc Director Pete Docter has a fine line in absurdist humour, with some very funny dogs competing in aerial acrobatics, their thoughts playing out hilariously via electronic dog-collars that never quite work, and while it loses some of the sophistication it’s still overblown family fun throughout.

On reflection, it’s something of a shame, as the amped-up wackyness seems like a placating measure after dealing with relationships and mortality so early on, but it doesn’t stop Up from being one of the most satisfying movies to emerge from Lasseter’s house of mouse offshoot yet. An emotional and well rounded animation, amusing and imaginative that has as many ups and downs as the protagonist, but remains hugely watchable.