The Pixar Überthread

[CaledonianGonzo]

Time that the best damn movie studio in the business got their own thread?  I hope so.  Whereas the individual movies still deserve their own threads, it might be worthwhile having a collective/catch all sort of place for developments in Emeryville.

Anyway, noted Disney blogger Jim Hill has seen Toy Story 3 and the word is very positive:



http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2010/03/16/toy-story-3-a-triumph-puts-exhibitors-at-showest-in-tears.aspx

they kind of achieved the impossible here....there's no discernible drop-off of quality.

Word elsewhere is equally glwing:

Some quotes from the various reports out there:

    * Entertainment Weekly "This might be one you sneak off to see with your spouse after you've watched it once with the kids."

    * ComingSoon.net "Like the best Pixar movies, it's consistently funny, exciting and moving, sometimes all three at the same time... Toy Story 3 is the type of movie that I could definitely see again right away..."

    * Cinema Blend "Toy Story 3 fits perfectly in line with the Pixar legacy, and almost definitely represents the 11th hit in a row for the remarkable studio ...I guarantee you will enjoy this film."

Which is a relief.  This is the short that's going to be playing before it:



Looks very 2-D.

On the downside, it looks like the plug has been pulled on Newt, which I was very much looking forward to.

[hoverdonkey]

Great idea. Thanks to Thomas, Pixar would be my specialist subject on Mastermind. He loves em, and so do I despite chronic overwatching, with Cars getting an outing almost every day through November and December. I shall be contributing much here when I'm not stuck at work

[ThickAndCreamy]

Toy Story 3 on Rotten Tomatoes. 97 reviews - Every single of one of them positive.

Bloody hell. I might have to even watch this, even though I love Pixar I dislike Toy Story, more out of bad personal experiences with the films than the quality of them however.

[vrailaine]

I still think people were ready to give this a good review before it came out in much the same way as how Be Here Now got some very good initial reviews.

It's probably good, but not up to the level of older ones. I wanna see more things like Wall-E from them anyway, Up left me cold.

Onto the real important stuff now, what's the short before it like?

[CaledonianGonzo]

The short is called Day & Night and is a foray into hand-drawn animation (with some slight CG enhancements).



I will report back in further detail over the weekend - as I have tickets to the UK premiere tomorrow night in Edinburgh!

Also looks like it's going to be on on the Sunday morning at Glastonbury...

Edit:  Oh - and Empire have given it the big five.  IIRC, that's the first Pixar movie to get five stars from them since Toy Story II (unless Ratatouille did...?).

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=135545

[ThickAndCreamy]

Just wondering, how do you get tickets for a première? Is it just first come first served or another special method?

Look forward to the review by the way, just obviously don't mention any spoilers.

[Subtle Mocking]

Yep, Ratatouille got 5 stars from Empire. 96% on Rotten Tomatoes too.

[biggytitbo]

I'm not very versed in Pixar films but I caught Wall-e the other day and quite enjoyed its 'artiness', especially the early scenes. That kind of very delibrate pacing seems to really suit the medium. But, as with the other pixar films I've seen, its intention to milk pathos out of almost every pixel does get a bit tiresome.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Just wondering, how do you get tickets for a première? Is it just first come first served or another special method?

Look forward to the review by the way, just obviously don't mention any spoilers.

Nothing exclusive.  Just first come first serve for the EIFF when the tickets went on sale

its intention to milk pathos out of almost every pixel does get a bit tiresome.

Not that I agree anyway, but couldn't you argue the same of peak period/Golden Age Disney (Bambi, Dumbo, Pinocchio)?  Strangely, for someone not well-versed in Pixar movies, I'm sure I recall you speaking vocally on here before about your dislike of them.

[biggytitbo]

Nothing exclusive.  Just first come first serve for the EIFF when the tickets went on sale


Not that I agree anyway, but couldn't you argue the same of peak period/Golden Age Disney (Bambi, Dumbo, Pinocchio)?  Strangely, for someone not well-versed in Pixar movies, I'm sure I recall you speaking vocally on here before about your dislike of them.

Pinoccio is the only classical disney fllm I remotely like. I find most of the others a s distasteful as their creator, and the latter day stuff is despicably calculating. As I said though I liked Wall-e, but I didn't like Finding Nemo and I don't like the relentless pathos of the pixar films, its pretty nauseating once you break their spell.

[Pseudopath]

Just watched an out-of-focus, strobe-lit, Russian-subtitled version of this and it still made me cry like a newborn. Christ knows how I'll react when they eventually release it at the cinema.

How do Pixar do it? It's witchcraft!

[CaledonianGonzo]

Well - that was quite something. 

After the stonking opening

Spoiler alert

(Death by Monkeys!)

[close]

, you could be forgiven a twinge of doubt - there are a couple of sections where it feels a wee bit over-familiar - a slight retread of the second movie.  But once that very minor hurdle is cleared, it really takes off and becomes its own movie - and it's a wonderful one.  The equal of the other Toy Story movies and with every bit the earned emotional wallop of something like Up.  Quite frightening in places, and might perhaps even be genuinely traumatic for younger viewers.  If you want pathos you got it - not a dry eye in the house towards the end, and one moment in particular absolutely floored me -  best not read that Empire review until you've seen the movie, as it's actually quite spoilery.

But it's also one of the year's funniest movies.  If not, in fact, the title-holder.  With this one, Pixar are 10.5 out of 11 - and that's a record practically without equal.

Day and Night is a bit of a departure and is also, in it's own way, something quite, quite special.

Excellent star spotting beforehand, as well.  Shir Shean and Missush Shir Shean were both looking shplendid.

[Feralkid]

Just watched an out-of-focus, strobe-lit, Russian-subtitled version of this and it still made me cry like a newborn. Christ knows how I'll react when they eventually release it at the cinema.

How do Pixar do it? It's witchcraft!

Technical innovation matched with a steafast devotion to proper story-telling craft.  The fact that they're willing to jettision whole concepts mid-way through lengthy development if they're just not working properly speaks volumes.   Even the least of their films Cars is still miles better than their nearest competitor.   

Look at the little things they get right.  Whereas everyone else is hose-horning celeb voices into toons whether it works or not Pixar making canny casting calls.  Yes, Tom Hanks is famous enough to garner a film attention but can you imagine anyone doing a better job at voicing Woody? 

Their design work is beautiful.  As a child one of my mum's part time jobs was selling World Book Encyclopedia's door to door.  So our house was always full of books showing Rockwell esque paintings of Americana - images which seemed both nostalgic and futuristic at the same time.  Pixar's visual aesthetic seems to come from a similar place.  The way they play with light and colour is astonishing. 

They give a shit.  Even when tasked with making a cheap tie-in, they still bring their A-game.  It's why the originally destined for DVD Toy Story 2 got polished and reformatted for theatrical release. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

Pixar animators Bobby Podesta and Mike Venturini were at EIFF last night to introduce TS3.  While on stage, they name-dropped Brave, a film due in 2012 that's set in the Highlands.  I guess that's the new name for The Bear and the Bow:



Nice hint of medieval illuminations in the character design, no?

They mentioned something about lots of Scottish voices.  Really hoping they had a word with Sean Connery last night when they were posing for photos with him on the red carpet ...

[ThickAndCreamy]

Why on earth is this being released in the UK on the 23rd of July? That's over a month for god sake, I was hoping to see it this Wednesday.

[CaledonianGonzo]

That's nothing compared to the seemingly never-ending four month wait for Up last year, which didn't make it to the UK until October!

[Madison]

My non-spoilery review from this morning's press screening:

The first ten minutes of Toy Story 3 are like the first ten minutes of Up, but with joy instead of sad.

Day and Night is bloody, bloody gorgeous.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Why on earth is this being released in the UK on the 23rd of July? That's over a month for god sake, I was hoping to see it this Wednesday.

Movie studios running in fear from the World Cup.

"Kids, you want to go and see Toy Story 3?"
"Fuck no Dad, Italy v New Zealand is on!"

[hoverdonkey]

And to be fair, they'd have a  point :0

[teaneck]

Spoiler alert

If there's any justice 2010 will finally be Ken's year. Writing + Keaton's performance + look + animation = star of the show. In fact I think Ken might be the funniest and most complex character in the series.

[close]

Wonderful stuff.

[Ginyard]

Why on earth is this being released in the UK on the 23rd of July? That's over a month for god sake, I was hoping to see it this Wednesday.

School holidays.

[mcbpete]

Fuck school kids (wait, that came out wrong - as did that)

[The Plunger]

I would agree with the comments thus far, and can't wait for Toy Story 3. For me, the best Pixar film was Wall-E. It was absolutely fantastic. One of the best looking films that I've witnessed at the cinema. Possibly a bit bleak for kids, hence the massive sale of Wall-E merchandise in every Poundland of the nation.

However, I don't get the love for Cars. It was unmitigated shit. The awful schmaltzy story that seemed to aim for every available emotional target and miss every one of them. Awful voiceovers. Characters that I had no empathy or interest in. A poor storyline. It was the one Pixar film that I was genuinely bored watching at the cinema. What's the big attraction ?

[gmoney]

Oooh yes, I didn't like Cars at all either. It had the feel of someone trying to ape the style of a Pixar film, like that crap one about pigeons with Ricky Gervais, Valiant. It was almost totally charmless.

[tygerbug]

 A Bug's Life was the shit one. The being-forced-to-make-a-Disney-film one. Cars was just a little bit disappointing. And the look of the cars themselves being based on old Disney garbage from the 50s. No surprise that the merchandise for Cars just keeps coming.



   I think Newt has been dropped because a lesser company is doing the same story. Certainly not the first (or eighth) time that's happened, so points to Pixar for dropping their own version rather than saddle us with another Bug's Life/Antz issue ...

[The Duck Man]

As an aside, Antz is an odd movie, co-starring Woody Allen and Sylvester Stallone, and featuring what must be a kid-terrifyingly bloody battle scene between ants and termites.

[SavageHedgehog]

I have very fond memories of Antz, more so than A Bug's Life. I think people have grown tired of that "hip" style in an animated film, but at the time it seemed fresh. I bought it on DVD recently but haven't got round to watching it.

However, I don't get the love for Cars. It was unmitigated shit. The awful schmaltzy story that seemed to aim for every available emotional target and miss every one of them. Awful voiceovers. Characters that I had no empathy or interest in. A poor storyline. It was the one Pixar film that I was genuinely bored watching at the cinema. What's the big attraction ?

I think most adults were disappointed or bored by Cars, but it was and is huge with under 10s, and merchandise hasn't stopped flying off shelves since 2006; thus a sequel. Personally I don't really see how it was all that much worse than Finding Nemo, and the John Ratzenberger gag at the end, while obvious, is a corker.

[CaledonianGonzo]

A Bug's Life was the shit one. The being-forced-to-make-a-Disney-film one.

Care to expand on this?

IIRC the idea for it came from the infamous lunch where they also thought up Finding Nemo and WALL*E.  I don't get a sense that they were just going through the motions on it.  There was pressure on them to follow Toy Story, of course, but it doesn't seem like they were forced down any particular path by Disney.  In fact, they abandoned the original 'Red the Circus Ant' premise for a story that Andrew Stanton came up with on his own.

It might be slight in the story department if you're familiar with the movies it's riffing on and not hold up so well compared to Pixar's later triumphs, but I think it's still a lovely film. 

[hoverdonkey]

Yes, my depleted bank balance will tell you Cars is a merchandise dream, with about four different versions of each character. Pull back cars, die-cast cars, big, talkie cars. The new Buzz is cool though. 28 phrases!

[Jemble Fred]

The Bug's Life is definitely my favourite Pixar movie, but generally it's such a depressing collection of films, to me. The odd sprinkling of pathos or splash of cynical heart-string-tugging doesn't stop them being Big Mac cinema (they have to be really, just to exist, being such big-scale projects), and most of their big hits are so reliant on stolen ideas and corporate skullduggery. That's the Disney influence I suppose.

But then, having worked with Pixar and Disney – even if only on the publishing side – it would be impossible not to be depressed by what a soulless, fascistic, by-numbers world it is behind the scenes. Once you get onto the tenth page of Buzz Lightyear's Rulebook it tends to put you off the whole oeuvre. You get the equivalent feeling to people who work in pork pie factories... and never eat pork pies.

Toy Story 3 on Xbox 360 is quite good though. Very enjoyable, seeing as I'll never bother to see the film.