I have some inside knowledge of why this is. Before Disney bought Pixar, each movie took 2-5 years to make. They would usually have at max 2 feature length movies in development at a time, with...
I have some inside knowledge of why this is. Before Disney bought Pixar, each movie took 2-5 years to make. They would usually have at max 2 feature length movies in development at a time, with different teams focusing on each one. When disney bought Pixar, they instituted a quota of 2 movies a year (not sure of the actual quota). This not only divided talent into smaller teams, it shortened the timeline to around a year for each movie. Pixar used to be very selective about what movies they would make. They had lots of good ideas they didn’t pursue because they didn’t have the technology to show it yet, or they were waiting for the better idea to invest in. With the increased demand, they had to start pursuing discarded ideas and using ideas they wouldn’t have before. Up was the last movie that was started before Disney bought Pixar.
I agree they are doing quantity over quality nowadays, and it's a mistake of over-saturating. Also, Pixar's USP is that their animation AND storytelling are both phenomenal. They're starting to...
I agree they are doing quantity over quality nowadays, and it's a mistake of over-saturating. Also, Pixar's USP is that their animation AND storytelling are both phenomenal. They're starting to lose their way with the storytelling, choosing to push out films that are obviously only meant to capture certain demographics, etc. It has the influence of Disney all over it. I'm sure they will continue making great films but Pixar has seen its heydays, and is another arm of the mouse now.
Bingo. Anything, any organization, anywhere, it's always the people. Never "the name", never "the company", never "the process." Whatever a thing is, it's brought to life by the people behind it....
Bingo.
Anything, any organization, anywhere, it's always the people. Never "the name", never "the company", never "the process." Whatever a thing is, it's brought to life by the people behind it.
If a store you love has its old manager leave, and a new one comes in, it's basically a brand new store. Because the new guy will do new guy stuff, and do it his way, and have his ideas, and his opinions, and his everything. And that's before we even consider something like if he might be an asshole, or unintelligent, or something.
Pixar had a core group of story geniuses. Lasseter was trained in storytelling as an animator, and wanted to tell animated stories. He found a platform to do that with in Pixar. He brought in others, and Pixar was run with that goal in mind; to tell stories. We all know now that's exactly what they did. They found something that was suited to animated storytelling and told that story. Developed it, worked on it, baked it and mixed it and poured love and attention into it.
All those people are pretty much gone. Those who are left don't have the kind of power they did without Lasseter backing them. I posted something on Reddit years about talking about this (and got blasted for it too), and now it's come to pass.
Pixar became obviously successful. What happens when that occurs? Business people want in. Why? Because the desks (at Pixar) are now valuable to a business type. That business schlub can bask in the glory of sitting at that desk. Use it on their resume, stand on it to step to the next bigger desk up the ladder they want to climb as they build their career.
Disney turned Pixar into a machine, and like any machine (that isn't Lt Cmdr Data) it's got no soul. You can't tell story without soul, not even if you make that the title. Pixar used to have storytellers in all the key positions, and you had to go through a storyteller to move a project, or a piece of a project, or an idea for a project, forward.
Now you go through an MBA. And MBAs don't get taught story, don't learn story, don't understand story. An MBA is someone you want keeping the payroll paid and the supply closet stocked up, arranging purchase orders for new computers and graphics pads. An MBA is not someone you want greenlighting projects or deciding when "it's done; release it."
All the Pixar people left. Pixar is now a dead shell. Real shame. They used to be great, back when they had the Brain Trust calling the shots.
Pixar was releasing movies every year or two early on too. I don't think the frequency is the problem honestly bc the animation is the bulk of the work, and the animation in Pixar films is not the...
Pixar was releasing movies every year or two early on too. I don't think the frequency is the problem honestly bc the animation is the bulk of the work, and the animation in Pixar films is not the issue. It's the stories and direction.
I think one big issue is not only do other studios look better now but Walt Disney animation Studios switched from doing 2D to 3D animation only, and they've made several films that have outshone Pixar and possibly plucked some talent from there.
I wonder how much of PIxar's slump is shifting demographics. I love Pixar films but Millennials aren't having kids and probably deprioritize family oriented media. Will I watch Elementals,...
I wonder how much of PIxar's slump is shifting demographics. I love Pixar films but Millennials aren't having kids and probably deprioritize family oriented media. Will I watch Elementals, probably. But I also am not trying to entertain children, so I'm going to prioritize Wes Anderson's Asteroid City and and Nolan's Oppenheimer with my movie-going dollar.
Soul was so boring. I'll go back to watching Pixar when they stop with the CGI fairy tales. I get that Pixar was always kinda like that, but my impression is that lately they're more focused in...
Soul was so boring.
I'll go back to watching Pixar when they stop with the CGI fairy tales. I get that Pixar was always kinda like that, but my impression is that lately they're more focused in teaching me how to live my life in a very on-the-nose fashion than in being fun.
Quit the philosophical metaphors, focus on good stories.
Also, give me a movie that is 100% for adults. I'm tired of movies that are supposed to be equally accessible for 8 and 40-year-olds. Yes, you can make it work, but come on. It's not the same and they know it.
I disagree. I love Soul. It hit home with me as someone disoriented about life and my future, and occasional (rare) thoughts of suicide. I pirated it, I bought it digitally, then I bought the...
I disagree. I love Soul. It hit home with me as someone disoriented about life and my future, and occasional (rare) thoughts of suicide. I pirated it, I bought it digitally, then I bought the steelbook on eBay. I fucking love it. The guy who wrote it or directed it (not sure which, but the creator basically) is the same guy who did Inside Out.
Edit: Guy is Pete Docter, who directed it and is one of the writers.
I love Soul too. My three year old really loves it, although I think he may have had his first existential crisis while watching it. But he still requests it often.
I love Soul too. My three year old really loves it, although I think he may have had his first existential crisis while watching it. But he still requests it often.
I thought Soul was incredible, too. I loved the music, Joe's growth and progression as a person, and the relationships between the characters. I thought it was heartfelt and genuine. First time...
I thought Soul was incredible, too. I loved the music, Joe's growth and progression as a person, and the relationships between the characters. I thought it was heartfelt and genuine. First time I've ever bought a movie on Blu-ray. I think the person above got so caught up un the philosophical metaphors they missed the good story.
I will jump in with the rest of the comments here. Soul came out at a time where I was at a crossroads with the future of my career, and really hit me hard. My wife who usually hates animated...
I will jump in with the rest of the comments here. Soul came out at a time where I was at a crossroads with the future of my career, and really hit me hard. My wife who usually hates animated movies also really enjoyed Soul and Inside Out.
My wife and I are also an interracial couple and I felt the same way. I thought it was really well made and hits really close to home on some of these topics in a really delicate way that we both...
My wife and I are also an interracial couple and I felt the same way. I thought it was really well made and hits really close to home on some of these topics in a really delicate way that we both loved.
Sources told Insider that putting Pixar titles on Disney+ had lasting damaging effects
Sources blamed Pixar's slump on 'Soul' director Pete Docter, who's not as tough on quality as his predecessor John Lasseter
Disney 'devalued' Pixar when it put its movies on Disney+ exclusively, but it's not a death blow
Disney's real endgame here is making a dent in the box office with an original concept, something Pixar has consistently done throughout its history," Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations told Insider. "I think Pixar realized it has to win back the animation crown."
Now the studio is seemingly trying to make it up to Pixar, especially since "Elemental's" second-week box office numbers proved word-of-mouth marketing is working. As "Elemental" star Mamoudou Athie, who plays Wade, told Insider: "It's going to be out until Labor Day in theaters and that doesn't happen anymore. That's how much the studio believes in it."
As a married Millennial with a 5 year old kid, it sounds to me like they have zero clue what the "problems" are and Disney/Pixar is going to be heading for trouble. Elemental just doesn't look...
Exemplary
As a married Millennial with a 5 year old kid, it sounds to me like they have zero clue what the "problems" are and Disney/Pixar is going to be heading for trouble. Elemental just doesn't look good from their trailers, at all, and it's up against the Mario movie which was a flat out sensation in the kid's world, in no short part thanks to the advertising the was the song and video for Peaches.
Disney/Pixar have also never ever ever been kids movies. They've been family movies that appeal to kids and adults alike. It sounds like Disney has replaced enough heads at Pixar that they no longer remember what the studio was founded on, and like so many other companies right now they're going to blame "streaming".
Yes, I'll wait for Elemental on streaming. Not because of streaming, I would have waited for Redbox if it wasn't streaming and paid $1. I'm waiting because my kid doesn't care about it, and it doesn't look good enough for me to spend $60+ to take my wife and kid to the theater when we could do something else with that money.
I just realized that the last Pixar movie I watched was Finding Dory (2016). I've always loved animation, but I started getting burnt out on all the movies coming out every year round about then,...
I just realized that the last Pixar movie I watched was Finding Dory (2016). I've always loved animation, but I started getting burnt out on all the movies coming out every year round about then, especially since they all seemed about on the same level of quality in terms of entertainment and emotional impact. I started focusing more on whatever other studios were doing, since Pixar was generally a solid B in my book and I wanted my money to support the competition because they were trying new things (SPIDERVERSE!!).
Pixar keeps trying to find new gimmicky premises for their stories instead of focusing on story. I imagine their pitch room is something like
A: "Ok, ok, I've got it - a Mac and a PC meet. Sparks fly as they wrestle with their differences against the evil Linux Brigade."
B: "Naw man, I've got it - a personification of an herb realizes they're not as powerful as a manufactured pill. They have to work together to save their home/Human."
C: "Bro, that's just Osmosis Jones repackaged."
B: "Yeah but we'll do it BETTER."
D: "Can we do a story about beans?"
A: "Too similar to Veggie Tales, let's do mushrooms!"
Is it...? It's just the first movie with the roles reversed. It's a decent watch, entertaining, but nothing special. The age of Pixar being king are long behind us. Their union to Disney was...
Is it...? It's just the first movie with the roles reversed. It's a decent watch, entertaining, but nothing special. The age of Pixar being king are long behind us. Their union to Disney was something they wanted to avoid until they couldn't. Each movie they pump out loses something the predecessor had. They've become formulaic and have leaned too hard on the out of the box concepts that set them apart.
Doing a Pixar binge watch and I noticed the earlier movies were unique and simple with a lot of heart. Their voice talents were handpicked, so were their scores, the characters, the comedy, all of it was lovingly packaged together.
Now it's a lot of the same tropes within a whacky concept and some heart. You can feel the budget cutting on the creativity for industry standard things such as the protag narrating in the first 10 minutes of the movie to set up the world and lore and the story. Rather than develop it organically which is more difficult and requires more creative power, now it's an infodump.
You get lots of comedy before the turn, and an emotionally impactful moment, sad tunes, roll credits.
There's also the trend of inclusivity for the sake of inclusivity and no real villains which is common among the children's genre now a days. This is probably an effect of the times we live in but the effect is felt either way.
Take A Bug's Life. Kevin Spacey's character was bad for bads sake at first until you get the tiniest bit of character development that told you he was just as afraid as the ants but lacked any actual leadership and unity. For a damn Locust he had depth.
Toy Story. Toys come to life and hijinks ensue except each toy had emotional depth to them and the growth the two leads experienced was real and meaningful. It wasn't ham fisted, it was gentle and organic as the story moved along. Buzz's transformation was genuine and so was Woodys. Then they did it again in 2 and again in 3 with the scene with Andy at the end being absolutely heartwarming.
Can't say that about Incredibles 2 or much of anything else that was released recently. Maybe I'm just old and grouchy.
Fomulaic is the key word here. Pixar used to be ground breaking because they weren't following a formula set by Disney (fairytales adapted to an animated film). But when the story beats line up...
Fomulaic is the key word here. Pixar used to be ground breaking because they weren't following a formula set by Disney (fairytales adapted to an animated film). But when the story beats line up almost exactly as Dreamworks' Home (cited for its pure heavy-handedness in hitting those beats) lays them out, something's gotten lost.
Film theory emphasizes a specific story structure - acts 1 2 3 rising action and climax etc - but when it's made too obvious to the audience that this is happening, the result is being pushed out of immersion.
I've heard that, but the first one wasn't a fave either. Entertaining and well crafted, but kind of forgettable ultimately to me. Edna Mode was the best part of the movie! Edit: actually, a...
I've heard that, but the first one wasn't a fave either. Entertaining and well crafted, but kind of forgettable ultimately to me. Edna Mode was the best part of the movie!
Edit: actually, a prequel starring Edna Mode's youth struggling in the fashion industry and her (accidental?) introduction to a superhero yielding a new career path and The Cape Incident crushing her spirit has potential. No idea what her actual backstory is, but I'd watch this movie in heartbeat.
In my opinion, the only Pixar movie since Finding Dory that’s a “must watch” is Coco. Coco is probably in my top 5 Pixar movies if I really had to think about it!
In my opinion, the only Pixar movie since Finding Dory that’s a “must watch” is Coco. Coco is probably in my top 5 Pixar movies if I really had to think about it!
For me, Pixar lost me with Inside Out. But then it's not for people old enough to remember the TV show "Herman's Head". Maybe it speaks more to my miserable existence as well in that I didn't buy...
For me, Pixar lost me with Inside Out. But then it's not for people old enough to remember the TV show "Herman's Head". Maybe it speaks more to my miserable existence as well in that I didn't buy a kid getting to be a pre-teen/teen with no negative formative memories. No dead pets or relatives? At a minimum? No horrendously embarrasing school incident? First bad thing is "moving away"? Meh. Didn't buy it.
Coco I think was the last good one, maybe a little predictable, but nice.
Turning Red and Soul I couldn't even finish. Luca was fine, I guess, but again not really substantial.
I didn't even bother with Elemental. MAYBE on streaming...
Really? Inside Out, to me, is the last great Pixar story. Something that was a real story, that had that Pixar heart and Pixar magic. One of the things that always set Pixar apart was how they...
Really? Inside Out, to me, is the last great Pixar story. Something that was a real story, that had that Pixar heart and Pixar magic. One of the things that always set Pixar apart was how they didn't tell kid's stories, but told stories. Layered ones; which would hit the kids one way, but more mature audience members in others. All at the same time.
Riley didn't get to (where we pick up with her in the story) without negative memories. She got there with simple, basic memories and emotions. Everything in Riley's head, like most things most kids experience, was primary colors. Basic. Easily sorted. Simple.
She's now going through a major life event; her whole world is changing, all except her parents. Mom and Dad are still there, but everything else has changed. And Mom and Dad are both wrapped up in dealing with the change too, while Riley isn't reaching out to clue them into just how confusing and upsetting she's finding everything that's happening.
She nearly bails, wanting to return to the way it was by hopping a bus to head back to Minnesota. Joy gets Sadness (key point there) back to the controls in time to unlock a developmental step for Riley. A bitter sweet memory.
Not a primary color; not something that's all sadness, or all joy; something that's sad, but tinged with joy despite it. A complex adult emotion for the first time. That's what rolls out of the chute at the end; a yellow (joy) and blue (sad) ball. And what we see during the denouement; a rack of multi-colored memories that are all complex, rather than singular. So much of life can't be processed simply, and that's what happens in and out of Riley's head; she learns the first step in how there's facets and sides to everything, even if it's really sad, or really scary, or really anything. There's always those other things in there somewhere too.
And in grand Gold Age Pixar fashion, the story was told in layers. Kids can see the parents comforting the child, but parents got to notice how Riley's parents had neglected her a little. Not out of malice or something mean, but just in a normal way; Dad was adjusting to new job while Mom was juggling the aftermath of the move. Both were just a touch too busy to have really thought to probe into their daughter enough to really see she wasn't alright with everything that was happening and needed their help.
And further layers, the whole movie Joy was the bad guy. She stood in the way of Sadness, wanting to eliminate her from Riley's life. Joy made it clear so many times that if Joy could find a way to just make Sadness completely vanish and never play a role in Riley's life that'd be just fine with Joy. She'd consider that a better Riley. A Riley without Sadness was Joy's goal the whole time, and Joy didn't understand that's impossible no matter what convulsions she tried to put Riley (and Sadness) through. When she learned her goal was misguided, and grew enough to change it, we got the payoffs in and out of Riley's head.
The antics of the movie with Joy and Sadness in Riley's head aren't just antics. The absence of those two emotions for Riley was blocking her, and driving her to terrible, confusing decisions. When Joy and Sadness finally make it back, their "win" for all the antics wasn't "and we're back again" but that unlocking of Riley's next step of maturity. Joy's learned, during the antics, to not shut Sadness out. Sadness brings Joy back in after Joy steps aside. Riley decides to reach out clearly, plainly, to her parents, who then see they need to do so as well for Riley to help their daughter who desperately needs their guidance and love to understand and process in a healthy manner what's happening.
Which all combines to unlock that bitter sweet memory, and help Riley grow enough to not be bogged down in Despair and Anger and Fear. It takes all five core emotions to make a healthy Riley. She learned it, but so did the emotions. And so did Mom and Dad.
I find the whole story just utterly brilliant. It's so, so, so much more than "just a kid's story." In the hands of today's Pixar, that's all it would be. But at the tail end of the Pixar Brain Trust's presence, Inside Out was something special.
I’ve actually enjoyed some of the newer movies. Not all of them mind you, but I think that’s normal. My favourites from the last while would probably be Coco, Onward and Turning Red. I thought...
I’ve actually enjoyed some of the newer movies. Not all of them mind you, but I think that’s normal.
My favourites from the last while would probably be Coco, Onward and Turning Red. I thought Turning Red in particular was really well done, although I’m Canadian so probably some bias from the hometown crowd there.
I imagine part of their struggles comes with having to release merchandise in conjunction with their movies and series. In a way, this is similar to the struggles that the folks at Gamefreak face...
I imagine part of their struggles comes with having to release merchandise in conjunction with their movies and series. In a way, this is similar to the struggles that the folks at Gamefreak face in new Pokémon releases. Making sequels and series based off of successful film releases further deprives the staff of their capacity and time to create high-quality original films. There’s also probably something to be said for staff transitioning from Pixar to Disney over the years, leading to a loss of quality talent.
People talk about the story’s they tell but let’s be honest - their 3D animation was unique at the time, they built a brand around it and they told new story’s rather than reboot. Now you have to...
People talk about the story’s they tell but let’s be honest - their 3D animation was unique at the time, they built a brand around it and they told new story’s rather than reboot.
Now you have to be told which studio makes the animation because anyone can do it. My kids love all that Russian animation just as much as Pixar, Dreamworks and Disney Studios.
Also Pixar competes confusingly against its parent company. Pixar is Disney but Disney isn’t Pixar and initially that confused everyone. It just muddied the brand.
That is how I had found out about the next Toy Story movie is through the video that you had posted. Because this video showed up on my recommend page.
That is how I had found out about the next Toy Story movie is through the video that you had posted. Because this video showed up on my recommend page.
I have some inside knowledge of why this is. Before Disney bought Pixar, each movie took 2-5 years to make. They would usually have at max 2 feature length movies in development at a time, with different teams focusing on each one. When disney bought Pixar, they instituted a quota of 2 movies a year (not sure of the actual quota). This not only divided talent into smaller teams, it shortened the timeline to around a year for each movie. Pixar used to be very selective about what movies they would make. They had lots of good ideas they didn’t pursue because they didn’t have the technology to show it yet, or they were waiting for the better idea to invest in. With the increased demand, they had to start pursuing discarded ideas and using ideas they wouldn’t have before. Up was the last movie that was started before Disney bought Pixar.
I have a family member who worked there and would complain about all the changes when we hung out.
You're forgetting Coco.
We watch it every few weeks (sometimes even every weekend because of kids).
Of the Disney ownership era, Inside Out is a standout for me. I think it's a great movie and would have assumed it was made pre-Disney
I agree they are doing quantity over quality nowadays, and it's a mistake of over-saturating. Also, Pixar's USP is that their animation AND storytelling are both phenomenal. They're starting to lose their way with the storytelling, choosing to push out films that are obviously only meant to capture certain demographics, etc. It has the influence of Disney all over it. I'm sure they will continue making great films but Pixar has seen its heydays, and is another arm of the mouse now.
It's clear John lasater was a major reason for the quality..,.
And then he was out during me too
Bingo.
Anything, any organization, anywhere, it's always the people. Never "the name", never "the company", never "the process." Whatever a thing is, it's brought to life by the people behind it.
If a store you love has its old manager leave, and a new one comes in, it's basically a brand new store. Because the new guy will do new guy stuff, and do it his way, and have his ideas, and his opinions, and his everything. And that's before we even consider something like if he might be an asshole, or unintelligent, or something.
Pixar had a core group of story geniuses. Lasseter was trained in storytelling as an animator, and wanted to tell animated stories. He found a platform to do that with in Pixar. He brought in others, and Pixar was run with that goal in mind; to tell stories. We all know now that's exactly what they did. They found something that was suited to animated storytelling and told that story. Developed it, worked on it, baked it and mixed it and poured love and attention into it.
All those people are pretty much gone. Those who are left don't have the kind of power they did without Lasseter backing them. I posted something on Reddit years about talking about this (and got blasted for it too), and now it's come to pass.
Pixar became obviously successful. What happens when that occurs? Business people want in. Why? Because the desks (at Pixar) are now valuable to a business type. That business schlub can bask in the glory of sitting at that desk. Use it on their resume, stand on it to step to the next bigger desk up the ladder they want to climb as they build their career.
Disney turned Pixar into a machine, and like any machine (that isn't Lt Cmdr Data) it's got no soul. You can't tell story without soul, not even if you make that the title. Pixar used to have storytellers in all the key positions, and you had to go through a storyteller to move a project, or a piece of a project, or an idea for a project, forward.
Now you go through an MBA. And MBAs don't get taught story, don't learn story, don't understand story. An MBA is someone you want keeping the payroll paid and the supply closet stocked up, arranging purchase orders for new computers and graphics pads. An MBA is not someone you want greenlighting projects or deciding when "it's done; release it."
All the Pixar people left. Pixar is now a dead shell. Real shame. They used to be great, back when they had the Brain Trust calling the shots.
Pixar was releasing movies every year or two early on too. I don't think the frequency is the problem honestly bc the animation is the bulk of the work, and the animation in Pixar films is not the issue. It's the stories and direction.
I think one big issue is not only do other studios look better now but Walt Disney animation Studios switched from doing 2D to 3D animation only, and they've made several films that have outshone Pixar and possibly plucked some talent from there.
I wonder how much of PIxar's slump is shifting demographics. I love Pixar films but Millennials aren't having kids and probably deprioritize family oriented media. Will I watch Elementals, probably. But I also am not trying to entertain children, so I'm going to prioritize Wes Anderson's Asteroid City and and Nolan's Oppenheimer with my movie-going dollar.
Soul was so boring.
I'll go back to watching Pixar when they stop with the CGI fairy tales. I get that Pixar was always kinda like that, but my impression is that lately they're more focused in teaching me how to live my life in a very on-the-nose fashion than in being fun.
Quit the philosophical metaphors, focus on good stories.
Also, give me a movie that is 100% for adults. I'm tired of movies that are supposed to be equally accessible for 8 and 40-year-olds. Yes, you can make it work, but come on. It's not the same and they know it.
I guess I aged out of Pixar.
I disagree. I love Soul. It hit home with me as someone disoriented about life and my future, and occasional (rare) thoughts of suicide. I pirated it, I bought it digitally, then I bought the steelbook on eBay. I fucking love it. The guy who wrote it or directed it (not sure which, but the creator basically) is the same guy who did Inside Out.
Edit: Guy is Pete Docter, who directed it and is one of the writers.
I love Soul too. My three year old really loves it, although I think he may have had his first existential crisis while watching it. But he still requests it often.
I thought Soul was incredible, too. I loved the music, Joe's growth and progression as a person, and the relationships between the characters. I thought it was heartfelt and genuine. First time I've ever bought a movie on Blu-ray. I think the person above got so caught up un the philosophical metaphors they missed the good story.
I will jump in with the rest of the comments here. Soul came out at a time where I was at a crossroads with the future of my career, and really hit me hard. My wife who usually hates animated movies also really enjoyed Soul and Inside Out.
Elemental was a fantastic movie. It was really emotional for my wife wife and I as an interracial couple.
My wife and I are also an interracial couple and I felt the same way. I thought it was really well made and hits really close to home on some of these topics in a really delicate way that we both loved.
So just a run-down of the article:
As a married Millennial with a 5 year old kid, it sounds to me like they have zero clue what the "problems" are and Disney/Pixar is going to be heading for trouble. Elemental just doesn't look good from their trailers, at all, and it's up against the Mario movie which was a flat out sensation in the kid's world, in no short part thanks to the advertising the was the song and video for Peaches.
Disney/Pixar have also never ever ever been kids movies. They've been family movies that appeal to kids and adults alike. It sounds like Disney has replaced enough heads at Pixar that they no longer remember what the studio was founded on, and like so many other companies right now they're going to blame "streaming".
Yes, I'll wait for Elemental on streaming. Not because of streaming, I would have waited for Redbox if it wasn't streaming and paid $1. I'm waiting because my kid doesn't care about it, and it doesn't look good enough for me to spend $60+ to take my wife and kid to the theater when we could do something else with that money.
I just realized that the last Pixar movie I watched was Finding Dory (2016). I've always loved animation, but I started getting burnt out on all the movies coming out every year round about then, especially since they all seemed about on the same level of quality in terms of entertainment and emotional impact. I started focusing more on whatever other studios were doing, since Pixar was generally a solid B in my book and I wanted my money to support the competition because they were trying new things (SPIDERVERSE!!).
Pixar keeps trying to find new gimmicky premises for their stories instead of focusing on story. I imagine their pitch room is something like
A: "Ok, ok, I've got it - a Mac and a PC meet. Sparks fly as they wrestle with their differences against the evil Linux Brigade."
B: "Naw man, I've got it - a personification of an herb realizes they're not as powerful as a manufactured pill. They have to work together to save their home/Human."
C: "Bro, that's just Osmosis Jones repackaged."
B: "Yeah but we'll do it BETTER."
D: "Can we do a story about beans?"
A: "Too similar to Veggie Tales, let's do mushrooms!"
Is it...? It's just the first movie with the roles reversed. It's a decent watch, entertaining, but nothing special. The age of Pixar being king are long behind us. Their union to Disney was something they wanted to avoid until they couldn't. Each movie they pump out loses something the predecessor had. They've become formulaic and have leaned too hard on the out of the box concepts that set them apart.
Doing a Pixar binge watch and I noticed the earlier movies were unique and simple with a lot of heart. Their voice talents were handpicked, so were their scores, the characters, the comedy, all of it was lovingly packaged together.
Now it's a lot of the same tropes within a whacky concept and some heart. You can feel the budget cutting on the creativity for industry standard things such as the protag narrating in the first 10 minutes of the movie to set up the world and lore and the story. Rather than develop it organically which is more difficult and requires more creative power, now it's an infodump.
You get lots of comedy before the turn, and an emotionally impactful moment, sad tunes, roll credits.
There's also the trend of inclusivity for the sake of inclusivity and no real villains which is common among the children's genre now a days. This is probably an effect of the times we live in but the effect is felt either way.
Take A Bug's Life. Kevin Spacey's character was bad for bads sake at first until you get the tiniest bit of character development that told you he was just as afraid as the ants but lacked any actual leadership and unity. For a damn Locust he had depth.
Toy Story. Toys come to life and hijinks ensue except each toy had emotional depth to them and the growth the two leads experienced was real and meaningful. It wasn't ham fisted, it was gentle and organic as the story moved along. Buzz's transformation was genuine and so was Woodys. Then they did it again in 2 and again in 3 with the scene with Andy at the end being absolutely heartwarming.
Can't say that about Incredibles 2 or much of anything else that was released recently. Maybe I'm just old and grouchy.
Fomulaic is the key word here. Pixar used to be ground breaking because they weren't following a formula set by Disney (fairytales adapted to an animated film). But when the story beats line up almost exactly as Dreamworks' Home (cited for its pure heavy-handedness in hitting those beats) lays them out, something's gotten lost.
Film theory emphasizes a specific story structure - acts 1 2 3 rising action and climax etc - but when it's made too obvious to the audience that this is happening, the result is being pushed out of immersion.
I've heard that, but the first one wasn't a fave either. Entertaining and well crafted, but kind of forgettable ultimately to me. Edna Mode was the best part of the movie!
Edit: actually, a prequel starring Edna Mode's youth struggling in the fashion industry and her (accidental?) introduction to a superhero yielding a new career path and The Cape Incident crushing her spirit has potential. No idea what her actual backstory is, but I'd watch this movie in heartbeat.
In my opinion, the only Pixar movie since Finding Dory that’s a “must watch” is Coco. Coco is probably in my top 5 Pixar movies if I really had to think about it!
For me, Pixar lost me with Inside Out. But then it's not for people old enough to remember the TV show "Herman's Head". Maybe it speaks more to my miserable existence as well in that I didn't buy a kid getting to be a pre-teen/teen with no negative formative memories. No dead pets or relatives? At a minimum? No horrendously embarrasing school incident? First bad thing is "moving away"? Meh. Didn't buy it.
Coco I think was the last good one, maybe a little predictable, but nice.
Turning Red and Soul I couldn't even finish. Luca was fine, I guess, but again not really substantial.
I didn't even bother with Elemental. MAYBE on streaming...
Really? Inside Out, to me, is the last great Pixar story. Something that was a real story, that had that Pixar heart and Pixar magic. One of the things that always set Pixar apart was how they didn't tell kid's stories, but told stories. Layered ones; which would hit the kids one way, but more mature audience members in others. All at the same time.
Riley didn't get to (where we pick up with her in the story) without negative memories. She got there with simple, basic memories and emotions. Everything in Riley's head, like most things most kids experience, was primary colors. Basic. Easily sorted. Simple.
She's now going through a major life event; her whole world is changing, all except her parents. Mom and Dad are still there, but everything else has changed. And Mom and Dad are both wrapped up in dealing with the change too, while Riley isn't reaching out to clue them into just how confusing and upsetting she's finding everything that's happening.
She nearly bails, wanting to return to the way it was by hopping a bus to head back to Minnesota. Joy gets Sadness (key point there) back to the controls in time to unlock a developmental step for Riley. A bitter sweet memory.
Not a primary color; not something that's all sadness, or all joy; something that's sad, but tinged with joy despite it. A complex adult emotion for the first time. That's what rolls out of the chute at the end; a yellow (joy) and blue (sad) ball. And what we see during the denouement; a rack of multi-colored memories that are all complex, rather than singular. So much of life can't be processed simply, and that's what happens in and out of Riley's head; she learns the first step in how there's facets and sides to everything, even if it's really sad, or really scary, or really anything. There's always those other things in there somewhere too.
And in grand Gold Age Pixar fashion, the story was told in layers. Kids can see the parents comforting the child, but parents got to notice how Riley's parents had neglected her a little. Not out of malice or something mean, but just in a normal way; Dad was adjusting to new job while Mom was juggling the aftermath of the move. Both were just a touch too busy to have really thought to probe into their daughter enough to really see she wasn't alright with everything that was happening and needed their help.
And further layers, the whole movie Joy was the bad guy. She stood in the way of Sadness, wanting to eliminate her from Riley's life. Joy made it clear so many times that if Joy could find a way to just make Sadness completely vanish and never play a role in Riley's life that'd be just fine with Joy. She'd consider that a better Riley. A Riley without Sadness was Joy's goal the whole time, and Joy didn't understand that's impossible no matter what convulsions she tried to put Riley (and Sadness) through. When she learned her goal was misguided, and grew enough to change it, we got the payoffs in and out of Riley's head.
The antics of the movie with Joy and Sadness in Riley's head aren't just antics. The absence of those two emotions for Riley was blocking her, and driving her to terrible, confusing decisions. When Joy and Sadness finally make it back, their "win" for all the antics wasn't "and we're back again" but that unlocking of Riley's next step of maturity. Joy's learned, during the antics, to not shut Sadness out. Sadness brings Joy back in after Joy steps aside. Riley decides to reach out clearly, plainly, to her parents, who then see they need to do so as well for Riley to help their daughter who desperately needs their guidance and love to understand and process in a healthy manner what's happening.
Which all combines to unlock that bitter sweet memory, and help Riley grow enough to not be bogged down in Despair and Anger and Fear. It takes all five core emotions to make a healthy Riley. She learned it, but so did the emotions. And so did Mom and Dad.
I find the whole story just utterly brilliant. It's so, so, so much more than "just a kid's story." In the hands of today's Pixar, that's all it would be. But at the tail end of the Pixar Brain Trust's presence, Inside Out was something special.
I’ve actually enjoyed some of the newer movies. Not all of them mind you, but I think that’s normal.
My favourites from the last while would probably be Coco, Onward and Turning Red. I thought Turning Red in particular was really well done, although I’m Canadian so probably some bias from the hometown crowd there.
I imagine part of their struggles comes with having to release merchandise in conjunction with their movies and series. In a way, this is similar to the struggles that the folks at Gamefreak face in new Pokémon releases. Making sequels and series based off of successful film releases further deprives the staff of their capacity and time to create high-quality original films. There’s also probably something to be said for staff transitioning from Pixar to Disney over the years, leading to a loss of quality talent.
People talk about the story’s they tell but let’s be honest - their 3D animation was unique at the time, they built a brand around it and they told new story’s rather than reboot.
Now you have to be told which studio makes the animation because anyone can do it. My kids love all that Russian animation just as much as Pixar, Dreamworks and Disney Studios.
Also Pixar competes confusingly against its parent company. Pixar is Disney but Disney isn’t Pixar and initially that confused everyone. It just muddied the brand.
I feel like they'll be fine
Especially after doing after another Toy Story.
https://youtu.be/xN2VcRBZlHU
That is how I had found out about the next Toy Story movie is through the video that you had posted. Because this video showed up on my recommend page.