Pixar and You.

[ferretchucker]

After some posts in the Last Seen Movie thread, I thought this would be better than me filling that thread up with this. I think everyone has seen at least one pixar film, and many people's opinions are divided. Here are mine. I think it will be quite interesting to hear what other people have to say on the matter.


Toy Story was one of my favourite animated films. I must have seen it so many times as a child. And it was really the first leap into what has taken over traditional cell animation (which is kinda sad in a way too).

A Bugs Life was okay, but as Chrono said, not particularly memorable. It just wasn't up to the standards most of their films are.

Toy Story 2 was nearly as good as the first. Nearly. Nice new characters and doesn't rely heavily on the first. Good storyline as well. I'm looking forward to the third.

Monsters Inc. is a great film. Lots of laughs, funny characters, a good idea which most people can relate to and brilliant animation. This film is often forgotten and I don't know why!

Finding Nemo is at the moment, my favourite Pixar film. Rewatchable all the time, great jokes, great characters, stunning animation, a compelling story. A great piece of work from Pixar.

The Incredibles is almost as good as Finding Nemo. Very entertaining. I'd say it has everything Finding Nemo has but doesn't pull all of them off quite as well. Still an excellent film. Like Monsters Inc., many people forget it.

Cars was very dull for me. It seemed to have lost the spark that the others had. I watched it but never got into the film or that characters as I did with the other Pixar films.

Ratatouille is a film I've yet to see, but I've heard many positive things about it.

Wall.E seems very overrated to me. It had a certain charm to it but at several points I found myself checking the time or starting to doze off. I'd say it was better than Cars and A Bugs Life, but not as good as the rest. Many people disagree with me, and I'm sure their arguments are well founded. But to me, it wasn't as good as I expected.


These are just my opinions. I actually hope people question them so we can get a productive argument going. I really like Pixar and the films I didn't like, I did want to like. I'm hoping with a few rewatches they can grow on me.

[The Mothman]

i honestly try to avoid pixar/disney films, I usally end up enjoying pixar films when I see them, but i never go out of my way to see one, caught Wall-E a while ago, hate to admit it, but it was friggin cute, CGI was breath taking.

[La Chat Noire]

I love most of the Disney/Pixar flicks. Nemo is probably my favorite. All the characters were adorable. Toy Story was great, but it came out so long ago that I don't remember a lot of it. I'll have to take another watch sometime. I actually really loved A Bug's Life and it stands out as one of the better ones IMO. Cars was all right, but I wasn't that into it. Monsters Inc was pretty cute but for me not too memorable. I haven't seen The Incredibles yet but I'm told it's good.

[Elvis_Christ]

They were all the same to me after Toy Story I hate how the animation is all the same and the stories follow the same formula.

[Despare]

I still have to see Wall-E and Ratatouille so I'll let you know after I check those out but I have their short film collection and love it. Pixar makes beautiful short films that tell great stories and provide genuine laughs.

[The_Return]

Haven't seen Cars or Ratatouille (and I have no interest whatsoever in the former), but based on the rest my favourite would have to be a toss up between WALL-E and The Incredibles.

WALL-E, because it's flat out gorgeous to look at, the characters are adorable, and the plot actually means something.

The Incredibles because...well, because I'm a superhero nerd. Do I really need more reason than that?

I really should re-watch Monsters, Inc. I haven't seen it since it was in theatres, and I forget most of it.

[mikeyjay88]

I loved toy story as a kid and still do. The worst to me was Wall.E simply because im not into robots. Alot of people liked it though. LOVED the incredibles and Monsters Inc. Besides Toy Story though im alot like mothman i dont go out of my way to see them but when i catch them on tv or watched them in school i typically enjoy what i seen.

[Azazel005]

I really have to chime in here against finding Nemo. I'd agree with you assessments pretty uniformly (down to not having seen the damn Rat movie) EXCEPT that over-rated fucking fish movie.

Beyond the occaisonal amusement drawn from Ellen's forgetful fish, I think it's far and away the most cliche of all the Pixar films. There is almost no shades to characters, and the lack of any genuine villain leaves as feeling like all we just watched was a fish road trip.

It's no doubt beautiful, but we aren't talking about exceedingly complicated design, wide blue ocean CGI fish? The level of design is flat and frankly inferior to their other work. It looks nice sure, but it's not very interesting.

I soundly think it's their most over rated film.

[ChronoGrl]

I really have to chime in here against finding Nemo. I'd agree with you assessments pretty uniformly (down to not having seen the damn Rat movie) EXCEPT that over-rated fucking fish movie.

Beyond the occaisonal amusement drawn from Ellen's forgetful fish, I think it's far and away the most cliche of all the Pixar films. There is almost no shades to characters, and the lack of any genuine villain leaves as feeling like all we just watched was a fish road trip.

It's no doubt beautiful, but we aren't talking about exceedingly complicated design, wide blue ocean CGI fish? The level of design is flat and frankly inferior to their other work. It looks nice sure, but it's not very interesting.

I soundly think it's their most over rated film.

I agree with everything that you said here. *high fives Az*

I STILL don't understand why everyone is such die-hard Nemo fans. It's another manipulative dead parent plot with a contrived journey sequence.

Gorgeous, sure, but with the exception of Ellen's character, no one else stood out or was particularly memorable.

It was beautiful, yes, but with no substance, no memorable characters, and a bunch of Disney cliches, that just doesn't do it for me.

...

As for Wall-E... Quite possibly the best film of 2008. Gorgeous, charming, sweet, substantial, memorable and adorable characters... LOVED it.

[Angra]

1. Finding Nemo (Simply hilarious with lots of funny characters)

2. Toy Story 2 (Also very funny, but it has 1 huge flaw. 1 song. Just so happens to be the worst song in the history of cartoon making)

3. Toy Story (Funny, but with less funny characters. No songs tho. Wonderful)

4. Monsters Inc. (Original story, but i didn't quite laugh my ass off much)

5. The Incredibles (Good story also, but not very funny)

6. A Bugs Life (Had 1 funny scene: 2 bugs are eating. Bug 1 "This tastes like crap". Bug 2 "Really? Let me try some........ hey, it IS crap. Not bad")

7. Ratatouille (Sucked. Didn't neither like the story or the boy. And it wasn't funny.)



Haven't seen "Cars" and "Wall.E".

[crabapple]

I actually liked most of their films. But that Ratahootie film, that was poop nuts. Confused and muddled story points. It looked great (they all do!) but the story fell very flat for me, unfortunately.

[Phalanx]

Toy Story is still a favourite of mine...not just on account of the revolutionary animation it made use of at the time, but it honestly had one of the better storylines I'd ever seen in a kids film...to this day, the scene where Woody and the "freaks" take on the bully, the whole "so. play. nice." bit makes me laugh my ass off...

A Bugs Life - Didn't dislike it, wouldn't think it a bad idea for a kids collection when I get around to having one, but yeah, the characters...whatever.

Toy Story 2 was fine, but I preferred the first one...probably one of the better disney sequels ever though, some definate effort went in here - it had a lot to live up to, and I think it pulled it off pretty well.

Monsters Inc. - This is the one everyone else seems to love...I personally don't.
No real reason, just didn't appeal to me. If anything I'll give it credit for the leaps and bounds it improved upon the previous pixar films, in terms of animation and textures.

Finding Nemo - This is REALLY the one that I don't get. I could barely even sit through it...the characters were just annoying.

The Incredibles is in my personal opinion the best pixar film. Funny for all ages, great animation, a GOOD storyline...and yknow what? Did the superhero thing better'n most actual existing comic-based films. Great fun, this one deserves a sequel more'n the rest, but I'd be severaly dissapointed if they fucked it up.

Ratatouille, is surprisingly one I've yet to see - being into both cooking and rats, ha. I'll catch it at some point I'm sure.

Wall.E, made me smile...took me into that universe...did it well. More a visual journey of a love story than a movie, how much it conveyed without words surprised me a lot. I was glad to see the lonely little fella make his way.

Cars - Haven't seen, don't really want to.

I will say this though...these kind of films are great with kids, but I still feel haven't got shit on (aside from better animation, 'natch) the kids movies that were out in the 80's.
Dark Crystal, Caravan of Courage, Labyrinth, the first Neverending Story.
LOVED that shit right there.
Sorry for the derail.

[ferretchucker]

Not at all, ad a very valid point. Dark Crystal was stunning, as were the others you mentioned.

[Roderick Usher]

WALL E is by far the most challenging and impressive film to come from Pixar - a studio with a very high bar for excellence in story, character development and crafting action sequences.

But WALL E is something alltogether different. It dares to show a terrifying dystopian future in which our planet is destroyed by our own inability to stop living a life of disposable pleasures... and what has ecome of the humans is even more horrible.

And agianst this is a tale with little dialog, big ideas, amazing visual storytelling and a ton of heart.

I usually HATE robot movies, becasuse the inevitably feel soulless, but WALL E has the soul of a peot, findsing beauty in the chaos and will abandon everything he knows to pursue love and companionship.

One of the very best films of the year.


That said I loved THE INCREDIBLES an TOY STORY. I wasn't so hot on A BUG'S LIFE and I disliked CARS.