The year 2012 is already set to be an incredible one for the folks at Pixar. In addition to launching a new original animated film with Brave, the studio is also making their debut in the live-action world with John Carter of Mars. Unfortunately, it looks as though they may have gotten a little overwhelmed as another 2012 Pixar project has just been pushed back to 2013.

THR reports that Monsters University, the long-awaited sequel to Monsters Inc. has seen its release date pushed back a year. The announcement comes on the same day that the logo for the film was launched. Now set to be released on June 21, 2013, the new Disney animated film Reboot Ralph is going to be taking over the place that Monsters vacated, now set to come out on November 12, 2012 (it was originally going to be released on March 12, 2013). Monsters University will now open just two weeks after Dreamworks Animation's Turbo.

This is a true bummer. It feels like it's been forever since we've seen the likes of Sully and Mike, and with the project gaining steam over the last two weeks, it's surprising to hear that it's been pushed back so far. I suppose in the long run it doesn't matter, so long as we get a great sequel, which we know Pixar has the capability to deliver.

It's been rumored since January that the upcoming sequel to Monsters Inc. would be a prequel that would see the franchise's beloved main characters, Mike and Sully, meet in college and become best friends. We can now confirm that's true.

Today at Cinema Con Disney/Pixar announced that they've officially titled the prequel Monsters University. The film will follow Mike and Sully's early days, when they hated each other, eventually telling the story of how they became friends.

While Ratatouille will likely forever hold the top spot on my "Favorite Pixar Movies" list, Monsters Inc. is a close second. The first film is ridiculously adorable and truly hysterical. November 2, 2012 cannot get here soon enough.

Next year will see the long awaited sequel to one of the best movies Pixar ever made: Monsters Inc. But while the project was officially announced just last April, this isn't the first time that a Monsters Inc 2 has been in the works. Back in 2004 it looked as though Disney and Pixar were going to split ways, so Disney created a sister studio called Circle 7 that would be responsible for only making sequels to Pixar movies that they retained the rights to. The two companies, of course, eventually worked everything out and the work that Circle 7 did in the interim was scrapped (part of the new deal between the studios was that only Pixar employees would work on Pixar movies). One of said scraped projects was called Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, and now a trailer made from abandoned concept art has arrived online.

Posted on a blogspot account created by Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir, the screenwriters for the project, the story would have seen everyone's favorite monsters, Mike and Sully, enter the real world as they search for Boo, who apparently moved. We may never know exactly how things would have panned out for the duo and what kind of scrapes they might have gotten themselves into, but this is a nice, well-illustrated little taste.

Check it out below.

Yesterday when the final Twilight movie’s release date was announced as November 16, 2012, the same day Disney/Pixar was targeting for the release of Monsters, Inc. 2, we speculated there might be trouble. Disney, it seems, agrees. They’re getting the hell out of there.

Pixar movies may be money in the bank, and Monsters, Inc. may be one of the most popular animated movies of all time, but even Mike and Sully can’t compete with the blind, rabid devotion people have towards Twilight. Monsters, Inc. 2 is giving up its date and moving to November 2, 2012 where it will hopefully make its money before all the Twihards trample through the theaters and make the place unbearable.

Disney made a ton of announcements about their future plans today, but the most exciting news, as usual, was coming from Pixar. THR reports that the studio not only confirmed the existence of Monsters Inc. 2, but has announced a release date of November 16, 2012. Everyone now clutch your Sully dolls and squeal all at once.

The other Pixar announcement was official confirmation that original fairytale The Bear and the Bow has been retitled Brave (rumored last month), and will be released on June 15, 2012, making it the official Pixar summertime release for that year. Much of the other Disney news came in tidbits, which I gleaned from Anne Thompson's Twitter feed and you should too. Among them: Jason Segel's new Muppets movie will include a new Muppet named Walter; The Avengers has an official release date of May 4, 2012; Disney will release Gnomeo and Juliet even though it's technically a Miramax film; and Thompson thinks Secretariat, starring Diane Lane as the legendary horse's owner, could be a surprise hit for the studio.

But really, the news here is Monsters Inc. 2, and Pixar's continued reliance on sequels alongside their original material (remember, Cars 2 is coming next summer, not to mention this summer's Toy Story 3). Are you so excited to see Boo again that you just don't care? Or do you wish the Pixar brain trust would devote more time to original material?

“What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can’t stand each other?” Apparently nothing. The plan was for Pixar to create a film about Newt and Brooke, two newts that go on a crazy adventure and learn finding a mate is no easy task, even when there’s only one choice.

As reported by Pixar Talk, Disney vet Floyd Norman visited the Animation Guild Blog and replied to a comment questioning Newt’s status simply by saying, “Oh, and Newt is dead.” When another visitor probed for more details, Norman answered, “Naturally, our pals up north run a tight ship, so it’s not polite to provide details at this time."

Of course this isn’t an official announcement that the Gary Rydstrom project has been canned, but the outlook is grim. Another site user suggested Monsters Inc. 2 might fill the vacancy. If that’s the case, the demise of Newt will go overlooked. Clearly that concept has been all over the place in terms of status updates; one month it’s happening and the next it’s not. But hey, this is the company that brought us masterpieces like Ratatouille, WALL-E and Up; in Pixar we trust.

For months now we’ve heard rumors that Disney and Pixar might be planning a sequel to Monsters, Inc.. Pixar, once avowed sequel haters, seems to have jumped feet first into the world of follow-ups recently. Toy Story 3 is already on the way.

Now we have, what would seem to be, something closer to confirmation of Monsters Inc. 2 plans. Disney focused blog Jim Hill has been on the alert, and they’ve spotted Disney registering the domain name “Monsters2.com”.

While normally the registering of a domain name might simply be a pre-emptive strike against squatters, Jim Hill thinks in this case it might actually mean something. Disney has recently registered a couple of other domain names, both of which coincide with the promise of a sequel. Unfortunately that sequel is Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, a direct to dvd effort.