`Toy Story 2' Set For 6 Digital Playdates On November 24

Continuing its efforts to stimulate digital exhibition, Buena Vista has set six digital playdates for its November 24 release of Disney/Pixar's all-new computer-animated adventure, ""Toy Story 2,"" it was announced Thursday by Bob Lambert, senior vice president of new technology and new media for The Walt Disney Co., Phil Barlow, Executive Vice President of The Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, and Ed Catmull, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Pixar Animation Studios.That film becomes the first major studio feature to be released day and date in both a digital and traditional film format. It is also the first film in motion picture history to be entirely created, mastered and exhibited digitally.""Toy Story 2"" will have six digital playdates: The El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood; the Edwards Irvine Spectrum (Southern California); the AMC Burbank; AMC Van Ness in San Franciso; The Cinemark Legacy in Plano, Texas; and the AMC Pleasure Island in Orlando, Florida. The El Capitan Theatre begins its exclusive engagement on November 19, five days prior to the film's national opening.The release of ""Toy Story 2"" will utilize Texas Instruments' highly regarded DLP Cinemaô prototype projection technology. These digital projection systems are the first of a variety of new exhibition technologies being developed for future theatre installations.Commenting on the announcement, Barlow said: ""Disney is stepping up its pursuit of digital exhibition, and `Toy Story 2' is a great showcase for this state-of-the-art technology. Audiences seem to be excited by the improved clarity that digital exhibition offers and appreciate the fact that the picture quality is the same the 28th day as on the first day. We believe that the additional exposure of the public to digital cinema will increase the demand for this technological breakthrough.""John Lasseter, director of ""Toy Story 2,"" added: ""Seeing the film projected digitally just blew me away, and I am so excited that moviegoers will have an opportunity to see the film this way. It was an entirely different experience from seeing the film in the conventional film format and added such incredible detail and definition to the images on screen. Digital projection is simply amazing and adds to the overall enjoyment of the presentation.""Lambert said: ""Digital exhibition continues to improve and offer tremendous possibilities for the distribution and exhibition communities. We will continue working with Texas Instruments and the other pioneers in digital exhibition to bring the best possible presentation to the moviegoing public.""Catmull added: ""This technology allows audiences to see for the first time what everyone at Pixar has been seeing on their monitors throughout the production. It has a steadiness that is superior even to film.""

For more information, contact Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, Heidi Trotta, 818 560 7280.