A recent post by the always brilliant Piper over at Lazy Eye Theatre caused me to start thinking about Pixar’s continued brilliance. In some ways, we are starting to take their craftsmanship for granted. The colors don’t seem quite as vibrant. The carefully-woven storyline tapestries reveal their seams more often. It’s like watching Tiger Woods make ten fifty-yard putts in a row. When you’re on top, there’s often nowhere to go but down.
So what can Pixar do (or not do) to remain at the head of its class? Several ideas leap to mind:
1. WIDEN OUT THE PERSPECTIVE. To date, all of Pixar’s movies have been male-centric films. All of the main protagonists in every single film have been males. Female characters have been, for the most part, relegated to love interests or companions. They have also been the least interesting characters in any Pixar film, the lone exception being Dory from FINDING NEMO. And that was due to Ellen DeGeneres‘ perfect voice acting more than any other factor.
While I realize that Pixar is the animation equivalent of a treehouse gang of boys, they desperately need to let some girls in to play with their toys. I’m not suggesting that Pixar make an animated ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – oh God, no! – I do think a film with girl protagonist can hit with all children.
The main reason why we haven’t seen a female protagonist is because Pixar has a keen and methodical understanding of what sells. Girls have the capacity to relate to boy characters, while boys have more trouble relating to girl characters. It’s one of the magical differences between the sexes. But I think it’s a bit crude and cold of Pixar to use this evolutionary development for their own monetary advantage. It’s time for Pixar movies to look through a different set of eyes.
2. STAY AWAY FROM SEQUELS. While I thought TOY STORY 2 was superior to the original, sequels spell the end of a period of creativity. Pixar has had a terrific run of original films, all of which have been wildly successful. The temptation would naturally be to milk those into franchises.
Don’t do it. As we have seen numerous times in the past, sequels stifle the creative muse and choke new ideas. In the words of Yoda, sequels lead to the path of the dark side. A Pixar film takes years of painstaking work to produce. If those years are spent on sequels, then there will be no time for the development of original films. And, given the wondrous abilities of the staff at Pixar, that would be like Michelangelo carving multiple David’s rather than creating anything else.
Besides, the rumored sequel to CARS should definitely NOT happen.
3. GET BACK TO TELLING COMPLETE STORIES. Recent Pixar films have shown a tendency to drop the final act, rather than finish it in a flourish. The finales to TOY STORY or FINDING NEMO are perfect finishes, tying up story threads into a beautiful bow. But CARS, WALL-E, and even UP have shown third act problems.
4. TELL STORIES RELATED TO KIDS. Animation is, for the most part, a medium for children. Adults simply will not flock to the theaters to see an animated movie without kids in tow. The genre will never earn the kind of respect reserved for live action films, so why try making them for grown ups?
As we’ve seen throughout movie history, children’s films touch adults when they’re well made and effective. E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL is a children’s movie, but it touched adults as well. Films like OLD YELLER are made for kids, but adults are reduced to tears just as quickly.
At the beginning of Pixar’s career, you can see a methodical mining of childish interests: toys coming to life, monsters in the closet, bugs, fish, superheroes, cars, and cute robots. But recent films from Pixar have been much more esoteric and kid-unfriendly. RATATOUILLE, no matter how beautiful, simply wasn’t going to connect with kids at a gut level. WALL-E was probably confusing for kids, and the storyline was mostly over their heads. UP is a film about old age and loss, hardly the stuff of childish fantasy.
Don’t misunderstand me … I don’t want Pixar releasing TELETUBBIES: THE MOVIE any time soon. But they do need to go back to basics, and let their ability to weave adventurous storylines carry the rest.
5. GIVE EVERYONE IN THE LIGHTING DEPARTMENT BIG FAT RAISES. Besides scripting, Pixar’s films trump every other animation house in their look and feel. This mostly concerns the lighting department, which contains some of the most skilled cinematographers in the biz. Every Pixar film is lit so well that they make the SHREK films look like the Nintendo version of Donkey Kong. It’s a fairly easy thing to make characters move around onscreen; it’s entirely another to make it feel warm, alive, and cinematic. That is the legacy of Pixar.
Those are some of my observations on Pixar’s past and future. They have become the new mecca for film lovers worldwide, the film studio version of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Unlike other production houses, Pixar has spread out its heart in every one of its films with loving detail and superior craftsmanship. It has been a marvelous two decades for this cherished studio … and, with some adjustments, it will hopefully continue entertaining us and our families long into the future.
And, just for the sake of perspective, this is my ranking of Pixar films in order of preference:
1. FINDING NEMO
2. THE INCREDIBLES
3. TOY STORY 2
4. TOY STORY
5. WALL-E
6. UP
7. MONSTERS, INC.
8. RATATOUILLE
9. A BUG’S LIFE
10. CARS
7 Comments
I’ve never seen one person get it so wrong. Not only was WALL-E perfect and the “third act” problems oft mentioned only used as a crutch by people who want to be critical but have nothing to criticize….but THEN you go on to say animation is for kids. NO. The *reason* Pixar is successful is because they reject this philosophy and make movies THEY as adults want to see as much as their children would want to see them. It’s the reason WALL-E won so many Best Picture awards last year. It was created as a brilliant film and not just something to keep someone’s kids entertained. This list is how Pixar would fall, but luckily they’d never follow such bad advice.
@ Matt – Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I appreciate yours.
But I disagree with you about WALL-E’s third act. Not to say that going to the ship was a bad idea – it wasn’t – but it’s clear that it doesn’t hold up the energy or the creative spark of the first half of the film. And it is one of the few Pixar films that doesn’t have the character cohesion throughout its running time. Perhaps the guys at Pixar didn’t have themselves invested enough in the development of that last section of the film, but it falters somewhat.
My two cents.
Matt I’d have to agree with Ray here, I just watched Wall-E last night and I felt a bit let down by the last act, it just seem to lose steam a bit and you get the impression the the film makers were just thinking “lets just end this quickly” but saying that I guess most kids couldn’t care less anyway and would just enjoy a superb annimated film for what it is (and of course that is…a kids film after all.)
I love Pixar’s output to date, they are the best at what they do without a doubt, but I also hate to see them venture in to sequel territory.
The toy story filma great but a 3rd film might be one film too far?
I for one am worried about toy story 3. Usually after a pixar movie is released, we are treated to a preview of their next film within a few months. I love hearing what their new original project is, but now…we’re gonna have to stick with hearing about Toy story 3.
As much as I loved Toy Story, I thought Toy Story 2 was just mediocre compared to the previous, so trying to top both with 3 will be very hard to do.
i was really hoping to see what other original pixar film we’d be hearing about, but now it’ll be Toy story 3 for an entire year. I hope this is the last sequel Pixar makes to one of their original films. Next one i could POSSIBLY see done is Incredibles 2, but whatd be the point if the first was amazing.
thats what i think. i whole-heartedly agree that sequels destroy creativity, and Pixar is at its game and it’d be sad to see it crumble so soon
Ray,
Excellent write-up. Your first point is an interesting one and one I’ve taken for granted. But yes, they need to have stronger female characters.
And you’re right about Wall-E and Up falling in the third act.
But I would disagree with the fact that cartoons are for kids. I’m not saying that they need to feature adults more, but more adult oriented material. Fantasia was very childlike, but its themes were much more mature. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking for Pixar to say Fuck It and do something completely unexpected. But judging by how long it takes to make these films, I don’t know that that will come anytime soon.
And the sequels point is right on, but I am looking forward to TS3.
To me, Toy Story 1 is and always will be superior to 2. The relationship between Buzz and Woody, combined with the presence of Sid, blows annoying characters like Jesse out of the water.
I’d rank the films:
1. Toy Story
2. Wall-E
3. Finding Nemo
4. Toy Story 2
5. Monster’s Inc.
6. A Bug’s Life
Still yet to see Cars, Up, Ratatouille and The Incredibles.
At the end of the day, this list is just your personal opinion. Up and WALL-E have received just as much critical praise as any of Pixar’s other films, and there was even a substantial campaign to nominate WALL-E for a Best Picture Oscar.
I disagree with your belief that the female characters have been uninteresting. Helen Parr/Elastigirl and EVE were very interesting characters. I would even argue that their respective films were just as much about them as they were about Bob and Wall-E. If you’re in desperate need of a movie where a female is the one and only protagonist, The Bear and the Bow is coming out in 2011.
I think you hold a rather cynical view on animation. I don’t want to say that animation will never be accepted in the same vein as live action. It’s not like Pixar’s suffering financially. Up is on pace to gross >$300 million domestically. I’m pretty sure it’s much more than just parents and kids who are flocking to see it.