It's time for the second installment of Career Review, where I take a look at the career of a director (or in this case animation studio). This Career Review takes a look at the animation studio that started the business of making movies using just a computer, has since become one of the critical and commercial leaders in film, and has made you cry in front of hundreds of people at a movie theater. This is Pixar.
Toy Story (1995)
Being the first completely computer-generated animated film,
Toy Story would be a huge landmark film whether it was great or not. However, the film holds up beautifully almost
20 years since it’s release. This
nostalgia explosion of a film is chocked full of references to classic films, (look for the homage to Alien in Pizza Planet and the homage
to The Shining in Sid’s house) as well as toys and games from the past. The genius writers and animators drop in tons
of very easy to miss jokes (for example Mr. Spell spells out Hubba Hubba super
quickly after the announcement of a Mrs. Potato Head as one of the Christmas
gifts) that rewards people who go back and watch this film again. There is also quite a bit of adult humor
sprinkled in that rewards those who haven’t seen the film since they were kids. As one would expect, Pixar’s first film’s
animation doesn’t have the smoothness and detail of its later films, but is
still good-looking enough for it to not heavily affect any viewings.
Rating (out of 5 stars): *****
Favorite Peformer: Tom Hanks as Woody
Favorite Scene: The chase after the moving truck.
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Having the tough job of playing the middle child between Toy
Story 1 and 2. A Bug’s Life seems like
kind of the forgotten Pixar film. It’s
rarely in the conversation when talking about the films of Pixar, but it’s
really an underrated film. The film
looks beautiful, taking the animation style Toy Story created, and improving
upon it with gorgeous textures and awesome use of light and shadows in the primarily exterior settings. As
with most Pixar films, the voices of each character are perfectly cast, this is
true specifically with the circus bugs.
A Bug’s Life is filled with plenty of funny moments, but its biggest
flaw is that it doesn’t really have the emotional punch that other Pixar films
have. This keeps it from getting to the
same level as Pixar’s masterpieces. That
being said, it deserves a little more attention than it currently receives.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***1/2
Favorite Performer: Tie between Kevin Spacey as Hopper and
Richard Kind as Molt.
Favorite Scene: The circus performance for the grasshoppers.
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Toy Story 2 takes the already wonderful idea set up by Toy
Story, and adds even more to it. The
animation is improved, and looks fantastic.
We get new interesting characters with the inclusion of Mrs. Potato
Head, Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete.
The story is great, and includes stronger subplots for the
non-Woody or Buzz characters than the first film. Everything
works really well like it does with Toy Story, which only leads me to compare
the two films. I believe that Toy Story
2 has the more interesting story, with Woody getting stolen and possibly being
sold to a collector in China along with his new friends. The animation is clearly better in 2, but
that just comes with improved technology.
Toy Story 2 has probably the most emotional segment of the three Pixar films made up to this point, with Jessie’s flashback sequence. However the thing that gives the original Toy
Story a slight edge is that it is filled with more memorable moments. Even after just watching Toy Story 2, I can
name from memory many more moments that stick out in my mind from Toy Story
than I can from Toy Story 2, and for primarily that reason I believe the original is the
better film.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****1/2
Favorite Performer: Joan Cusack as Jessie
Favorite Scene: Jessie’s flashback sequence
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Monsters, Inc. showcases the great imagination of the people
over at Pixar. An alternate universe
where monsters use the screams of children as their main source of energy, it’s
a real interesting concept. The writers
of all of these Pixar films are experts at creating amusing universes, milking
as much comedy and drama out of it as they can.
The monsters universe is less appealing to look at then the previous
three universes, but the factory setting is portrayed well. The voice casting is perfect; it wasn’t until
seeing this movie that I realized Steve Buscemi was meant to play a lizard. Also Monsters, Inc. includes in my opinion
the best Pixar bloopers reel of the company’s entire filmography. Roz as the prankster of the set is one of the
funniest things in the entire Pixar universe.
Despite the tidal wave of praise I’m giving the film, it’s not
perfect. Jennifer Tilly’s character
Celia isn’t very strong, and winds up being annoying for most of the scenes
she’s in. The film also doesn’t hold up
watching it alone rather than with a group of people as the others did, however
it still remains one of Pixar’s stronger films.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Favorite Performer: Billy Crystal as Mike Wazowski
Favorite Scene: Mike’s comedy routine at the end.
Finding Nemo (2003)
With 2003’s Finding Nemo, Pixar comes the closest to a
perfect film since Toy Story. The film
has wonderful moments of true scariness (the barracuda and the Angler fish),
true hilarity (most of the film, especially Dory), and true emotion (the
reunion). Up to this point, it’s Pixar’s
prettiest film. There is some incredible
writing here, with a character so good that she spawned a sequel, presumably
focusing on her (Finding Dory coming in 2016).
It’s easily one of the more re-watchable of the Pixar films, and I’m
actually excited for this Pixar sequel, which is rare. I remember all of the hype that surrounded
this film when it came out in 2003, it lived up to the hype back then, and it
remains a pleasure to watch over a decade later.
Rating (out of 5 stars): *****
Favorite Performer: Ellen DeGeneres as Dory
Favorite Scene: The meeting with the Sharks.
The Incredibles (2004)
Pixar brings their streak to six straight fantastic films
with The Incredibles. The Incredibles has family drama, action, and all of the qualities of the big-budget superhero films
that are so popular today, before it became as big as it is now. Slipping elements of a typical
family drama film into an animated movie about a family of super heroes is a
great idea. The Incredibles is written
and directed by Brad Bird (also wrote and directed The Iron Giant, and Ratatouille, which we'll see later), and he
paces the film super (no pun intended) well.
The one thing the film lacked in comparison to the previous Pixar films
on this list was an abundance of hilarious moments. There are few solid comedic moments, but overall the film was played more for drama, which works just fine. As a kid I didn’t appreciate it much, but after this re-watch I realized just how incredible
it is (pun intended this time).
Rating (out of 5 Stars): ****
Favorite Performer: Holly Hunter as Helen Parr/Elastigirl
Favorite Scene: The Incredibles’ fight in the jungle on the
island.
Cars (2006)
I understand the appeal of Cars to kids, but even as a kid I
saw this as one of Pixar’s weakest films.
It’s an exhausted story that lacks the snappy dialogue, which enhanced
the company’s previous films. While
Pixar usually casts perfectly for their films, Owen Wilson doesn’t feel like
the right choice for the lead role of Lightning McQueen. This is nothing against Wilson as an actor;
he just doesn’t seem to try in this particular film. Cars might have benefitted from switching Michael
Keaton, who brought lots of enthusiasm to his much smaller role, to the lead
role, and given Owen Wilson the lesser smaller part as Chick Hicks. Maybe if Cars was made today that would have
been the case with Keaton coming off of Birdman's success. Other than Wilson however, the casting is
great, unfortunately that still doesn’t save half the film from being too long
and really boring.
Rating (out of 5 stars): **
Favorite Performer: Paul Newman as Doc Hudson
Favorite Scene: The race at the end.
Ratatouille (2007)
It’s a little weird to think that among living toys, talking
fish, and monster worlds coinciding with ours, Ratatouille might have the story that you have to suspend disbelief the most. But I’ll be damned if it’s not among the best
stories from the company’s career. A
rat idolizes and has visions of a world-famous chef, befriends the chef’s
son, and helps him become the most talked about chef in Paris by hiding under
his hat and controlling his body functions by pulling his hair. What I would give to be a fly on the wall in
that pitch meeting. But somehow the
story works, and incredibly well at that.
Brad Bird writes and directs yet another wonderful script. Also I dare
anyone to watch this film and not want to eat yourself into a deep sleep. I love it when film showcases another art
form, and Ratatouille portrays cooking as an art form beautifully.
Rating (out of 5 stars): *****
Favorite Performer: Patton Oswalt as Remy
Favorite Scene: The preparation for Ego’s meal and his
flashback.
Wall-E (2008)
Wall-E is without a doubt a film for kids, but at times
Wall-E can be the most adult that Pixar films get. The film does a good job of mixing in
childish humor, but there are some really, really adult subjects. In Wall-E we see a post-apocalyptic earth,
commentary on our laziness and dependence on technology as a society, and a few
references to probably every child’s favorite film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The most effective aspect of Wall-E is also
thus far the best portrayal of romance in a Pixar film. Wall-E and Eve’s relationship is easily the
most interesting part of the film, so much so that I don’t really care what
happens to the humans. While I like
Wall-E quite a bit, it suffers from being part of a group of such amazing
films, which is unfortunately why it’ll wind up towards the middle of my
rankings.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Favorite Performer: Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight as Wall-E
and Eve. Honorable mention goes to Jeff
Garlin as the captain since he does pretty much all of the talking in this
film.
Favorite Scene: When Wall-E and Eve are dancing in space.
Up (2009)
Up continued what I would consider Pixar’s unofficial
trilogy of kids movies for adults, with Wall-E being the
first and Toy Story 3 completing two trilogies at once. While I'd say most, if not all of Pixar films are enjoyable for adults as well, these three films seems to have the most adult themes. The montage at the beginning that starts with the
birth of the relationship between Carl (the protagonist) and Ellie, and ends
with Ellie’s death, packs a heavy emotional punch. But it’s so effective, and could honestly
work as a short film on it’s own, although it would be more depressing without
the rest of the feature film that follows.
One of Up’s most creative ideas, the translating dog collars, worked as
the main laugh getter for me in the film.
They perfectly capture the thoughts that one might expect a dog to
think, and the malfunctioning of the scariest dog, Alpha's collar to give it an Alvin-and-the-Chipmunk voice is hilarious.
Although this type of voice changing is something I deplore
(youtube/nickelodeon star Fred is one example), it works really well here, as does the film as a whole.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Favorite Performer: Bob Peterson as Dug/Alpha
Favorite Scene: The
first meeting with Dug.
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Like I said before, this is the third in both the adult
themes trilogy, as well as the third installment in the Toy Story trilogy. While it’s the strongest of the adult themes
trilogy, I think it’s the weakest of the Toy Story trilogy. Not to say it’s bad or even just all right,
however. Toy Story 3 is great. It’s just that the journey of the first two
films is part of what makes those movies amazing, where as 3’s journey seems
too isolated due to the fact that most of the film takes place at
Sunnyside. Even though it’s an
interesting environment to throw the toys into, it’s not as fun as a Pizza
Planet or an Al’s Toy Barn. With that
being said, the voice work is terrific as always, especially from newcomers to
the series like Michael Keaton as Ken, and Ned Beatty as one of the most evil
Pixar characters to in Lotso. The
comedy lands for the most part, with bits like Mr. Potato head as a tortilla
and a cucumber, as well as Spanish Buzz Lightyear. The highlight of the film, however, comes at
the end with Andy and the little girl.
No other Pixar scene gets me choked up more than this one. It’s a real kick to the feelings gland.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Favorite Performer: Michael Keaton as Ken
Favorite Scene: The scene with Andy and the little girl.
Cars 2 (2011)
Cars 2, like the first Cars film, suffers from being too on-the-nose at times. I wanted to turn the movie off very early on as soon as Mater describes all of the events that happened after the first movie in a 10-second conversation of pure exposition. Instead, I gave the film a fair fight to win me over. Cars 2 has quite a few negative qualities, such as the still not-right-for-the-role Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, or putting Mater (one of the more annoying characters in the Cars series, possibly in Pixar films altogether) as the primary character, or the uninteresting dialogue consuming most of the script. Despite all of these problems, Cars 2 is…fun. Rather than having a boring first half of the movie, Cars 2 has a boring twenty minutes, and a fun rest of the movie. The new characters added to the universe are all interesting, entertaining characters. The settings are more extravagant, and nice to look at. The spy storyline is a lot more exciting than the entirety of the first Cars. This film doesn’t come close to achieving the same quality of storytelling as Pixar’s greater films, but it does do what the people behind the first Cars film should have done, made it more fun. Cars 2 is basically an animated kids movie version of the Fast and Furious franchise, and it works, kind of.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Favorite Performer: Michael Caine as Finn McMissile
Favorite Scene: The entire final race sequence in England.
Brave (2012)
Brave was one of two (the other being Cars 2) Pixar films
that I hadn’t seen before watching them all in order for this post. Especially considering the small similarities
that can be found between this film and Dreamworks’s How to Train Your Dragon,
Brave almost feels like Pixar trying to make a Dreamworks film. The lesson learned in the film is too blatant,
and the fairy tale quality is something I tend not to really enjoy in animated
films. However, the film is
gorgeous. Each frame is brilliantly
crafted; the physics of things like Merida’s hair flowing and arrows being shot
look flawless. The film is very funny
thanks mainly to Merida’s three younger brothers and father. Brave is a pretty good film; the problem is I
kept waiting for it to be a great film. Maybe another viewing is warranted sometime in the near future.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***1/2
Favorite Performer: Kelly Macdonald as Merida
Favorite Scene: When Merida and her mom are trying to escape
the castle with the help of the three boys.
Monsters University (2013)
The main thing that a good sequel (or in this case, prequel)
has to do is be able to stand out on it’s own as a good film. It has to put its characters, new and old, in
a similar, but different environment. It
can’t just recycle everything that worked in the first film, slightly alter it,
and call it something new (Ex: The Hangover sequels). The sequel (or prequel) has to be different,
and this is one of the reasons why Monsters University (Cars 2 to a lesser degree, and the Toy Story sequels) works.
University introduces several new characters to the Monsters world, and
although some are under utilized, for the most part they bring interesting
characteristics to the table. Among the
under utilized returning characters is Randall, who could have and should have
played a bigger role in this film.
Additionally, the look of the film really showcases how far Pixar’s
animating has come since 1995, with incredible textures and lighting
throughout. One of the few things that
might drag University down a bit is the fact that it is a prequel, so we’re not
getting a completely original idea. Also
the solutions to problems seem to come a little too easily at times, which is
fine on occasion, but not throughout an entire film. And finally the stakes of Mike and Sully
getting kicked out of school are kind of diminished by the easiness at which
they are able to get jobs afterwards.
But nonetheless, Monsters University is a good enough follow up (or
follow down?) to Monsters, Inc., and a solid bookend to the Pixar career thus far.
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***1/2
Favorite Performer: Joel Murray as Don
Favorite Scene: The first Scare game with the pink spike
balls.
Overview
Pixar has had a long and prosperous career, and has rewarded it's fans by placing little easter eggs into each of it's films. Like the Pizza Planet Truck in
every Pixar film except for
The Incredibles, or the
Pixar Theory, which explains how all of the Pixar films exist in the same universe, or theories about seemingly
minor characters. Pixar rewards us for continuing to see their work, with films that are smart, funny, and as touching as you'll see in cinema. While the company's master works are found towards the beginning of their catalogue, hopes are high for this year's upcoming
Inside Out (which has gotten great reviews out of the Cannes Film Festival) as well as
The Good Dinosaur. Things are looking potentially great for the company with nothing left to prove.
Final Ranking:
1. Toy Story
2. Ratatouille
3. Finding Nemo
4. Toy Story 2
5. Monsters, Inc.
6. The Incredibles
7. Toy Story 3
8. Up
9. Wall-E
10. A Bug’s Life
11. Monsters University
12. Brave
13. Cars 2
14. Cars
Look out for the next Career Review, which will be a look at director Quentin Tarantino's body of work.
