Well, both. Soccer was big this year in the US so it's a kill two birds kinda thing.
― Evan, Thursday, 11 December 2014 21:39 (nine years ago) link
brave was painfully conventional, occasionally beautiful
monsters u was by-the-numbers hackwork
still lots of goodwill attached to the brand but they need a legit Pixar entertainment aoon
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Friday, 12 December 2014 00:32 (nine years ago) link
monsters inc prequel was fun, I don't hold that against them. not so sure we need Nemo 2 since Nemo is one of their absolute highlights. Brave was fine, I think it's a much better film than the woeful Frozen.
― akm, Friday, 12 December 2014 18:37 (nine years ago) link
Despite the quality of any given Pixar movie overall, their animators still consistently come across as the most imaginative and best at timing/expressions/mannerisms/etc of their characters & worlds.
― Evan, Friday, 12 December 2014 18:55 (nine years ago) link
Oh yeah, the animation in that trailer is sublime.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Friday, 12 December 2014 19:00 (nine years ago) link
Yes, but Pixar should remember that DreamWorks animation is also very pretty, but underneath lies a vacuous void with the heart of a hyena (a cowardly hyena's heart).
― Mr. Bojangus (Old Lunch), Friday, 12 December 2014 19:45 (nine years ago) link
Cars 2 was the beginning of the slide.
― Brio2, Friday, 12 December 2014 20:35 (nine years ago) link
Pixar's sequelitis is a little surprising, as even Disney proper has avoided that to a pretty large extent (either shipping that garbage straight to video or dumping it on a lesser studio, a la Planes). I think the critical and commercial success of the Toy Story series went to their heads and suggested that the rest of their library could carry subsequent installments.
― Mr. Bojangus (Old Lunch), Friday, 12 December 2014 20:39 (nine years ago) link
true, but so far, the only terrible sequel is Cars 2. I still stand by Monsters U.
― akm, Friday, 12 December 2014 20:42 (nine years ago) link
Monsters U was fun but Cars 2 good lord
― Brio2, Friday, 12 December 2014 20:49 (nine years ago) link
but it's true they really haven't tried anything ambitious or critic-friendly anyway since Up
― Brio2, Friday, 12 December 2014 20:52 (nine years ago) link
I guess Brave had its fans actually
― Brio2, Friday, 12 December 2014 20:53 (nine years ago) link
xpost Which is baffling, since up to that point (IIRC), each subsequent movie did better both critically and financially than the one before. Why mess with that formula?
― Mr. Bojangus (Old Lunch), Friday, 12 December 2014 20:55 (nine years ago) link
Cars was WAY too big of of an incentive from a merchandising point of view for them to not do. I can imagine a push in very early phases of writing Cars 2 to "expand the universe" with that in mind. And imagine the pressure after Up to produce another good merchandising opportunity.
― Evan, Friday, 12 December 2014 20:56 (nine years ago) link
Are you kidding? Those Carl dolls are still flying off the shelves five years later.
― Mr. Bojangus (Old Lunch), Friday, 12 December 2014 20:59 (nine years ago) link
haha
― Evan, Friday, 12 December 2014 21:06 (nine years ago) link
Ha - yeah and my kids did not dig Up at all. Maybe they were put off somehow by their parents weeping within the first three minutes.
― Brio2, Friday, 12 December 2014 21:07 (nine years ago) link
worth mentioning that the people who made pixar A Thing are currently focused on making disney A Thing again.
― (HOT CHICK FROM BAR 2008) (Will M.), Friday, 12 December 2014 21:17 (nine years ago) link
Good bit of recent discussion ITT about that very Thing. I hope Lassiter stays in a position of power at Disney for a long time to come.
― Mr. Bojangus (Old Lunch), Friday, 12 December 2014 21:18 (nine years ago) link
ah my bad - i figured that already came up. i just assume that's the reason pixar seems to be treading water at the moment.
weirdness of that trailer aside though, what i've read about that brain movie seems pretty promising.
― (HOT CHICK FROM BAR 2008) (Will M.), Friday, 12 December 2014 21:25 (nine years ago) link
Well, usually their storytelling is pretty good. That trailer was just establishing the world. Same with Monsters U- Pixar did a nice job with the story and it was a fun movie, but the similar trailer just showing the characters as college versions doing Animal-House-but-not-humans was also really shitty looking initially (though I'm not saying it came close to the legacy that ended with Toy Story 3).
― Evan, Friday, 12 December 2014 22:54 (nine years ago) link
It was one of them, considering they devised it as a means to marketing toys to boys, though the irony is that it was totally Lasseter's baby because he likes cars. But I think the breaking point was giving up and greenlighting Toy Story 3 after Disney threatened to start making straight to video sequels on their own and Pixar capitulated.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 12 December 2014 23:07 (nine years ago) link
Nothing wrong with Toy Story 3 though imo
Stays true to the magic of all the other classics.
― Evan, Friday, 12 December 2014 23:15 (nine years ago) link
Is anyone else excited for the movie about people's emotions being anthropomorphized? Looks like it might be pretty good, IMO.
― Frobisher, Saturday, 13 December 2014 00:32 (nine years ago) link
"greenlighting Toy Story 3 after Disney threatened to start making straight to video sequels on their own and Pixar capitulated"
this happened with Toy Story 2 actually
― akm, Saturday, 13 December 2014 03:06 (nine years ago) link
wasn't making Toy Story 3 one of the required terms of the Pixar/Disney buyout deal?
― Nhex, Saturday, 13 December 2014 03:32 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, this may be right, or at least closer. I think Toy Story 2 was going to be straight to video, but they decided to make it a feature. This is back when Pixar worked more or less independently from Disney, while Disney handled distribution. They split profits 50/50, but Disney retained character/sequel rights. Regardless, Toy Story 2 is perfect, so worked out OK. Last several Pixar, starting with Cars, have been erratic or otherwise disappointing, while Disney (under Lasseter) has cleaned up, creatively and commercially. Again, no coincidence that we are in the middle of the longest stretch yet between Pixar films, many of which have had creative conflicts/changes and/or have been delated (Brave, Dinosaur).
Intrigued about the return of Andrew Stanton post John Carter. It's too bad it's for Finding Dory, but Finding Nemo may be my Pixar fave. Definitely up there.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 December 2014 03:56 (nine years ago) link
u r all cray monsters u was a by-the-numbers betrayal of everything that made the first one worthwhile
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Saturday, 13 December 2014 04:15 (nine years ago) link
I disliked Monsters U. I thought it was lame and unfunny and I was shocked they went with the boilerplate slobs vs. snobs set-up. Iirc it saved all its few jokes for the fuzzy guy. Monsters Inc, is one of Pixar's formative masterpieces.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 December 2014 04:26 (nine years ago) link
All I meant (speaking for myself) was that it had a nice charm to it and that it would have been a very strong Dreamworks film. But yes against the earlier Pixars it was disappointing for sure.
― Evan, Saturday, 13 December 2014 04:32 (nine years ago) link
I kinda want to say that The Lego Movie was fantastic and better than anything Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks has put out for the past few years, to my shock
― Nhex, Saturday, 13 December 2014 05:10 (nine years ago) link
both toy story 3 and the recent toy story holiday special have a heavy handed judeochristian subtext that feels both subversive and somewhat underhandedly delivered all at onceand yet the former had gleams of brilliancei agree with you on the lego movie; that was a dozen times better than it would've been. only wish they hadn't cast will ferrell.
― a stupid red mute juggalo (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 13 December 2014 05:16 (nine years ago) link
Everything I've heard suggests that becoming integrated into the Disney corporate machine has affected not only the quality of Pixar's output, but also the working conditions as well. You just have to look at how many directors have been fired from their own projects in the last decade, at least three that I'm aware of. It just doesn't sound like a healthy working environment at all.
Also just been reading about how the current president of the company has basically fucked all his employees over through years of wage fixing. Lassetter was also apparently aware of what was going on and supported it.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/business/pixars-ed-catmull-emerges-as-central-figure-in-the-wage-fixing-scandal-101362.html
― Pheeel, Saturday, 13 December 2014 08:50 (nine years ago) link
Lasseter is a fool and a moron.
― Raccoon Tanuki, Saturday, 13 December 2014 17:13 (nine years ago) link
http://cdn7.staztic.com/app/a/2569/2569756/rj-over-the-hedge-wallpapers-9-2-s-307x512.jpg
― Number None, Saturday, 13 December 2014 18:04 (nine years ago) link
That's a little heartbreaking for me tbh, I love Lasseter
― Nhex, Saturday, 13 December 2014 18:16 (nine years ago) link
he hugs everyone like a madman. watch that day in the life he did. gimme a break stop hugging me. he even hugs miyazaki like crazy. everything with him during directing is "great job, just fantastic, brilliant, now let me go finish decorating my office"
― Raccoon Tanuki, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:42 (nine years ago) link
Yeah I remeber a clip of him and Miyazaki on the red carpet and Lasseter was clowning like a buffoon, and there was this sheepish grin on the very diginified Miyazaki's face which seemed to say "I'm kind of glad I don't speak English right now".
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Monday, 15 December 2014 17:25 (nine years ago) link
Is this our general Pixar thread? Anyway, reviews of Finding Dory not encouraging.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 16 June 2016 13:59 (eight years ago) link
They did Toy Story justice but it seems otherwise like they need to cut it with the sequels.
― Manspread Mann (Old Lunch), Thursday, 16 June 2016 14:16 (eight years ago) link
Well, Good Dinosaur was not a sequel and they fucked that up. Inside Out was original, too, and those were just in the last 12 months. But yeah, their sequels are pretty meh, though I understand that was a big negotiating tactic Disney used to keep them onboard. Basically, stay with us, Pixar, and do sequels, or we will do them ourselves. Which is ironic, because Disney proper has been killing it: Zootopia, Frozen, Wreck It Ralph, Big Hero 6, Tangled ...
Next up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6PbWhWGUrY
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 16 June 2016 16:31 (eight years ago) link
Well, with Lasseter in charge of the whole of Disney animation, I think he shifted his emphasis to the larger playground. It's just my feeling that his stewardship is largely to thank for the uptick in Disney's output, but the timeline seems to support that.
― Manspread Mann (Old Lunch), Thursday, 16 June 2016 17:06 (eight years ago) link
"Anyway, reviews of Finding Dory not encouraging."
which ones? it seems overwhelmingly postive on rotten tomatoes so far. I'm seeing it tonight so I'll report back.
― akm, Thursday, 16 June 2016 22:17 (eight years ago) link
I read the Chicago Tribune one, which was 3 stars but mostly a modest review, heard the NPR one, which was pretty meh, AVClub gave it a meh B- ... Most for the same reasons - Dory is annoying, the contained setting is not as expansive as the first one - which is not reassuring.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 16 June 2016 22:19 (eight years ago) link
Blurbs on Meteoritic - and these are the mostly positive reviews:
It’s not Toy Story or Inside Out or even Nemo. What it is is a perfectly enjoyable family film that’s comforting, familiar, and a bit slight, like one of those serviceable Lion King spin-offs that Disney used to ship straight to DVD back in the ‘90s.
In deciding not to stray far from the first film in plot or tone, it makes for a pleasant, familiar, cheerfully unassuming fish-in-her-water tale.
Even the more positive Times review strikes a similar chord:
What “Dory” lacks in dazzling originality it more than makes up for in warmth, charm and good humor.
Iirc the Good Dinosaur reviews were sort of similar, along the lines of "It's a simple story, perfect for families, nothing special, but its heart is in the right place and it's nice to look at."
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 16 June 2016 22:23 (eight years ago) link
those serviceable Lion King spin-offs that Disney used to ship straight to DVD back in the ‘90s.
lol they were putting those lion king movies on VHS in the 90s not DVD do your fucking research you gormless noob and you call yourself a "film" "critic" you make me SICK
― a simba man (Will M.), Thursday, 16 June 2016 22:42 (eight years ago) link
lol
― Nhex, Friday, 17 June 2016 05:28 (eight years ago) link
fwiw i thought Good Dinosaur was totally underrated. not up to the best of Pixar but still a really good children's film in my eyes
― Nhex, Friday, 17 June 2016 05:29 (eight years ago) link
Saw it last night, it's very very good, certainly not a trifle. It's true that resetting this story in what's basically the MOnterey Bay Aquarium takes some of the open-ended fascination of the ocean out of it, but they already did that story. It's absolutely better than the Good Dinosaur and has no dead parents. It's not as good as Nemo but most films aren't.
― akm, Friday, 17 June 2016 11:41 (eight years ago) link
also Dory herself is not annoying, who would say that?