As 2013 closes, we look back at the talented individuals we lost this year.

The following seven featured individuals contributed to The Walt Disney Company in various capacities, from film and television work (like Annette Funicello), to altering the landscape of Disney history (thanks to you, Diane Disney Miller). We pay our respects and reflect back on these individuals who shaped Disney, many of whom passed away far too young.

Welcome to another edition of Disney In Depth! This week, in honor of Disney-Pixar’s most recent feature, Brave, I will be focusing on some of the best elements of Pixar’s films: funny characters. They evoke a laugh or two during perilous scenes, and manage to make us smirk when a situation seems far from humorous. These are the funniest of the bunch, offering a witty quip or inspiring a gag. This animation studio is known for developing deep characters, in both their personalities and designs. Thanks to Pixar’s brilliant team of writers and the talented voice artists who made these images into fully-fleshed individuals, we have a bunch of characters to root for and giggle along with. Here are the ones I find as most hilarious.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced the items to be included in their 2011 commemorative stamp program, which includes five new Pixar stamps.

Several Disney-Pixar movie characters are part of the five different designs that make up the 20-stamp pane Send A Hello collection: Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars; Remy the rat and Linguini from Ratatouille; Buzz Lightyear and two of the green, three-eyed aliens from Toy Story; Carl Fredricksen and Dug from Up; and the robot WALL*E from Wall*E.

The Send a Hello “Forever” stamp will go on sale on August 19, 2011.

Amazon has an awesome Gold Box lightning deal of the hour right now — Disney/Pixar Ultimate Collection DVD

For only $98.99, you get 8 Pixar movies: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars, Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. That’s 54% off the regular price.

Note, the offer is only from 5pm to 6pm EST TODAY or while supplies last. Also, it’s listed as $109.99, but will be discounted to $98.99 during checkout.