DISQUS

Fred Seibert · 1 year ago

Great movies Floyd, great movies. Everything I read about John Lasseter and "Toy Story" seems to be driven by stories he wants to tell. Naive of me? Sure. But, the great film that was Toy Story 2 makes me frothing at the mouth for Toy Story 3. I mean, it's got to be better than The Godfather 3, yes?

floydbishop · 1 year ago

I would agree that their great movies are what has bought them their fanbase loyalty, but what about the not so great films? Maybe the love of the great ones are what throw the blinders on when Pixar makes a bit of a misstep?

My favorite animated film from any studio is probably "The Incredibles". This didn't prevent me from not liking "Cars"... and that's OK. Not every film has to be the best thing ever, but why is it so taboo to say that out loud about Pixar?

Avi · 1 year ago

Look at it this way, not every movie of Walt Disney's was the greatest movie ever. But people still looked to him for the highest quality entertainment, because they liked most of his work, and understood he wanted to make the best films possible.

Pixar is the same way. Currently, Pixar is the only artist run movie studio around, the only one where the directors decide what goes into their movie in the end or not. At other studios, marketing tells them to do stuff, top execs tell them to do stuff, and they have to do it. It is, to an extent, film making by committee.

As for when Pixar makes lackluster films, its a fluke. Even the smartest kid in class doesn't get every answer right. Because Pixar made one or two films that weren't their strongest, they're now all washed up? No. Its the hazard of making films. You can't hit a home run every time, but getting at least a double or triple on every hit, make you a better player than than the one's who tend strike out.

GeoffMunn · 1 year ago

I work with a guy who is amongst the Pixar worshippers (and by no means am I a hater, I generally love their movies too), and wouldn't hear anything about Kung-Fu Panda because Wall-E was coming out and would be a grand slam. He hadn't seen any of the movie and already called it a great film. This is also the same guy who hated the Bee Movie due to the fact that Bees interacted with people.

I guess I'm just one of those people that goes into every movie with an open mind, and if I enjoy it, I enjoy it, no matter who made it. I'd love to get to a point where everyone could just accept that any studio can produce a worthy film at any time, and even Pixar will some day probably produce a movie that the majority of the population will think was "just ok." I love that studio, and wish them 15 more years of successful films, but I'm not going to join the group of people that think they can do no wrong.

All that being said, Up looks like it will be fun, but I'm so much more excited to see The Princess and The Frog, especially after the trailer came out. I think it looks great, and give the animators kudos in capturing a New Orleans atmosphere.

GeoffMunn · 1 year ago

Great post, Floyd. I remember when we got our first glimpses of Wall-E, and everyone and their brother compared him to Johnny 5, so I don't think that went unnoticed. I personally hold no loyalty to any studio, and don't care for Cars (and am not happy about it getting a sequel, yet Incredibles sits on the shelf), and don't see what all the fuss is about with Wall-E. Yeah, I liked the movie, but I don't see it as such a great film. I applaud Pixar for taking a pretty big risk with it though, limited dialogue, and a looooong set up of Wall-E working alone on a desolate Earth. I enjoyed Kung-Fu Panda a lot more, and found the 2D sequences absolutely stunning. In fact, I usually find something in almost every animated film to like. Even Horton Hears a Who looked great, despite it's lackluster story (I fell asleep in a theater full of kids 3 times during it). I think a lot of people just need to let go of their prejudices going into a film and just enjoy what they're seeing. BTW, Toy Story wasn't exactly the first time we saw toys come to life, anyone else remember Jim Henson's "The Christmas Toy"?

floydbishop · 1 year ago

I know what you're saying about the "Christmas Toy" film, but I was reminded by Lasseter's own "Brave Little Toaster". Granted, it was appliances instead of toys, but it's in the same general ballpark. That being said, "Toy Story" has more than cemented its place in animation and cinema history, being just as important a piece of work as "Steamboat Willie" or "Tron".

ElliotCowan · 1 year ago

Well nobody is infallible, but for the most part they've made really, really entertaining films.
Personally, I think their one shitty film is Ratatouille which I enjoyed upon first seeing it (with some reservations) but on repeated viewings I think it's the sloppiest offering from Pixar.
I prefer Cars.

The reason nobody bothered to remember Blue Sky's Robots, is because it's not a very good film, and it's untrue that comparisons weren't made to Short Circuit.
A quick google search shows it was among the first comments made about the film by the online fanboy community.

Also, Floyd.
You haven't explained why you prefer that leaden, stodgy Princess and the Frog teaser to the Up teaser.

floydbishop · 1 year ago

To me, the "Princess and the Frog" teaser was way more entertaining than the "Up" trailer for a few reasons. The "Up" teaser was just a balloon simulation and one word of dialog that was barely animated. It didn't really get me excited about the film.

Don't get me wrong, the teasers don't need to have dialog to be great. The "WALL-E" teasers where he would find objects against a white background were some of the best stuff Pixar has done.The design of the frog was great, and the back and forth between the characters was very nice. The bit where the frog insists on a kiss and throws out his lips is very well done. It's such an absurd situation, which is great for animation. In the hands of a lesser studio, that exchange could have been really weird and yucky.

ElliotCowan · 1 year ago

Well I can't say I agree with you too much on the design of the frog or the exchange between the characters.
I didn't think it was weird or yucky but it was mawkish and muddy with a terrible performance by whichever actress is playing the gal.
Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to this, despite this teaser.

Personally I found that little Up teaser to be delightful in a low key way, and far more entertaining than the Princess stuff.

TIkiPuffy · 1 year ago

I think what makes Pixar films so much more likable than most other studios is that they make such amazing stories and characters. They're beautiful animators, but if the characters and stories weren't great, no one would be very interested (I can think of a lot of beautiful animations with very forgettable characters). I feel like most other studios go to great lengths just to get a film out and concentrate less on the story and character. When I think of "Shark Tale", "Robots", and a lot of other films, no offense to their creative teams, but I can't even remember the character's names let alone the plot of the story. Yet I find it quite the opposite with pretty much all of the Pixar films.

Charles_K · 1 year ago

It's good to remember that Pixar were the first in the field, and by a decent time margin as well. Everyone else has been playing catch-up in the animation department ever since Toy Story, and it's only now (with Dreamwork's Kung Fu Panda) that they're starting to get close.

As for the stories, yes, they are more original than most it would seem. But it's important to remember that Disney, for so long the standard bearer for feature animation (at least in the public's eye) was heavily reliant on fairy tales and other unoriginal material. Suddenly Pixar shows up with a new kind of animation AND some original storytelling. The number of original CGI movies that have followed since Toy Story are certainly an indication that the formula is a successful one.

Ultimately, staying at the top exerts a toll. The day will come when Pixar will not be the king of CGI animation, but for now, fair play to them for still going strong with their features after 15 years.

floydbishop · 1 year ago

Pixar was the first with a full feature, but they weren't alone in the field of theatrical CG animation. Several other companies worked in computer animation, and beat Pixar to the screen when they worked on "Tron". These studios included Triple I, MAGI/Synthavision (which would later kind of spawn Blue Sky), and Robert Abel and Associates. Pacific Data Images was also founded around the same time as Pixar, but one year later in 1980.

Avi · 1 year ago

Well, technically, Pixar was actually the first to have CG on the big screen. Ed Catmull's school project of his hand was in the movie Future World.

Also, Pixar did 3D for Star Trek II, which came out before Tron. Although, Pixar was still part of LucasFilm at this point.

Charles_K · 1 year ago

Right you are Floyd, and I'm sorry if that's what I seemed to imply as should know better than that ;). However, pioneering as some of those companies were, they did not enter the public consciousness with the same kind of impact as Pixar did (I don't know what kind of impact Tron had for MAGI). It was certainly not through lack of skill, but rather that none of them combined the animation and writing under one roof. Could this have created a more favourable creative environment? I would certainly think so and it seems to have served Pixar well.

lennyb · 1 year ago

I loved most of the Pixar movies but feel that Ratatouille was the first Pixar piece of junk. I was bored to death. My kids were bored to death. We all recently saw Wall E. I thought it was marginal. I kept waiting for Ali Sheedy to call him Number 5. My wife did not like it. My kids, 10 and 6, both liked it. I absolutely think Pixar's infallible days are over. They have shown me that they are human.