4 ms·

> a creative spree that peaked with the end-of-the-two-thousands hat trick of “wall-e” (2008), “Up,” and “Toy Story 3.” I've never understood the love given to

> a creative spree that peaked with the end-of-the-two-thousands hat trick of “wall-e” (2008), “Up,” and “Toy Story 3.” I've never understood the love given to "Up". Everybody remembers the fantastic opening sequence but seems to forget that it ends with dogs flying airplanes. As great as Toy Story 3 is, I would've put Pixar's peak at Ratatouille and Wall-E.

cm2012 3y ago
Coco is my favorite pixar work
- tzs 3y ago
  OT: If anyone here is up on Mexican folklore, I've got a question about "Coco" and "The Book of Life". They both are built around the Day of the Dead holiday, so of course are going to have certain similarities. The stories they tell though are massively different, and they have quite different takes on what the land of the dead is like. For the most part the similarities are mostly what naturally comes from focusing on the same holiday. Except for one. Both of them feature a boy who wants to be a musician but grows up in a family that has a traditional family business and strongly disapproves of their kids becoming musicians. I'm wondering if that was just a coincidence, or if "kids wants to be musician, family disapproves" is a theme from Mexican folklore or something like that that both films happened to use.
  - arrakeen 3y ago
    [dead]
echelon 3y ago
> I've never understood the love given to "Up". Everybody remembers the fantastic opening sequence but seems to forget that it ends with dogs flying airplanes. The flying house with balloons wasn't too unrealistic? ;) Up tugs on a lot of heartstrings. It's front-loaded with tremendous loss, but that emotional punch isn't lost as it transforms throughout the film into Carl opening up to protect someone new. The film is cute and full of emotion. And despite the fantasy, it's well written. It's my favorite Pixar flick by a wide margin. Ratatouille and WALL-E are fantastic, though.
- parpfish 3y ago
  my complaint isn't about the realism. the image of the balloon house was great and the core of the story about moving on is great. but it feels like they buried that potentially great story under a bunch of efforts to make sure it came off as sufficiently "kid friendly" (e.g., dug constantly shouting squirrel, that other dog with the high pitched voice). the magic of the best pixar movies has been telling stories that kids like without having to pander to them.
  - tourmalinetaco 3y ago
    I mean, Pixar made it big with Toy Story, literally focusing on kids toys coming to life. I don’t really feel that talking dogs is any more pandering. Especially since it follows the general Pixar formula of taking something a child can relate to (toys, superheroes, monsters under the bed, etc), add in some heavy themes related to that (loss, insecurities, fear), add in some humor/lighter elements, and finish it off with a feel-good ending showing that if you continue to try and work together, you’ll always succeed. They’ve always “pandered”, it’s in the job description. They do make movies for children after all. They just used to make movies with enough depth that adults could enjoy them too.
jrflowers 3y ago
> …[Up] ends with dogs flying airplanes. … >… Pixar's peak at Ratatouille… The latter is a movie about a rat that drives a human around like a mech, what’s the issue with dogs flying airplanes?
- c_crank 3y ago
  The answer is not as simple as the analogy suggests, but the principle of the problem is that the conflict resolved by the rat driving the human around is central to the theme and the characters, while the dog flying the airplane is not. I used to have a high opinion of Up, having originally seen it when it came out in theaters. It was only on a re-watch that I was shocked by how much of that opinion was based on what is essentially only 15 minutes of the total runtime. Ratatouille is fundamentally about a ratty artist overcoming his background and prejudices. Up wants to be about an old man managing to move past his grief, but the climax (and most of the movie) involves a stupid bird and a stupid kid that only detract from the experience.
ufo 3y ago
I think Up nailed how dogs would behave if they could talk.
- meepmorp 3y ago
  Dug sounded exactly like how I imagined my childhood dog would talk if he could've.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
duxup 3y ago
Yeah I felt like UP started strong and then after the start was pretty generic and totally disconnected from the opening.
- tzs 3y ago
  The first time I saw "Up" I came across it while channel flipping, and missed everything up to shortly before they encounter the bad guy. I had no idea what I was watching and it didn't even cross my mind that it could be a Pixar movie. My guess was that it was something from one of the studios that mostly does goofy kids TV animation trying their hand at a bigger budget TV movie.
bee_rider 3y ago
The movie is strong enough that we all forgot about the dogs. I feel like this is not very uncommon, for example, the second half of Stripes was mediocre but the movie is overall good. I think a really strong premise and first half can overshadow some weaknesses, including an even a bad ending.
Closi 3y ago
> Everybody remembers the fantastic opening sequence but seems to forget that it ends with dogs flying airplanes. That’s not the end of the story - that’s the start of the third act. It actually ends grounded in reality - a return back to the world they started in, without fantastical creatures, and the boy getting his explorers scout patch back in New York City. It ends with Carl giving him a bottlecap badge which has a sentimental link to his dead wife. A return back to reality from an unknown/mythical/magical world is basically the fundamental basics of the hero’s journey “mono-myth” (transition from the known to unknown) so purely from a structure perspective I can see why it resonates.
ravenstine 3y ago
Yeah, it kinda blew my mind how people I knew insisted the whole movie was great. It's like, sure, it's OK if you like dogs flying in airplanes, but the first few minutes of the movie is the only thing that has any staying power. I'm pretty sure most people at this point who haven't watched the movie in a long time don't even remember what the rest of it was about. In contrast, I haven't seen Toy Story in 15+ years, and I can still describe to you roughly what happens act for act. Granted, I watched Toy Story as a young boy, so I'm biased. As much as I think Wall-E was an excellent film, I consider The Incredibles to be Pixar's peak. It was a great story with a perfect balance of humor, child characters actually in peril, subtle mature themes (infidelity, "you didn't save my life; you ruined my death"), well stylized humanoid character models, a father character who isn't a deadbeat, a theme around having to hide who you are, etc. Lots of great stuff in there. Wall-E might have had a grander message and an artsier vision, but The Incredibles IMO has way more rewatch value. Monsters Inc. was pretty great, too! For me, Pixar failed to make another film that came even close to Monsters or The Incredibles.
- D13Fd 3y ago
  I agree The Incredibles is peak Pixar, but Inside Out was very good too (which only shows that it’s a slow decline).
yuppie_scum 3y ago
If you can watch the first half hour without crying, you have a heart made of stone.
roydivision 3y ago
I disagree, Up remains probably my favourite Pixar film. It’s originality is so refreshing. Yes it’s weird, try explaining the story to someone, but the world it constructs is consistent and not weird for the sake of it (kooky). And through that the film carries some age old themes, exploration, friendship, individuality that everyone can relate to. I yearn for more such originality.

cm2012 3y ago

Coco is my favorite pixar work

tzs 3y ago
OT: If anyone here is up on Mexican folklore, I've got a question about "Coco" and "The Book of Life". They both are built around the Day of the Dead holiday, so of course are going to have certain similarities. The stories they tell though are massively different, and they have quite different takes on what the land of the dead is like. For the most part the similarities are mostly what naturally comes from focusing on the same holiday. Except for one. Both of them feature a boy who wants to be a musician but grows up in a family that has a traditional family business and strongly disapproves of their kids becoming musicians. I'm wondering if that was just a coincidence, or if "kids wants to be musician, family disapproves" is a theme from Mexican folklore or something like that that both films happened to use.
- arrakeen 3y ago
  [dead]

echelon 3y ago

> I've never understood the love given to "Up". Everybody remembers the fantastic opening sequence but seems to forget that it ends with dogs flying airplanes. The flying house with balloons wasn't too unrealistic? ;) Up tugs on a lot of heartstrings. It's front-loaded with tremendous loss, but that emotional punch isn't lost as it transforms throughout the film into Carl opening up to protect someone new. The film is cute and full of emotion. And despite the fantasy, it's well written. It's my favorite Pixar flick by a wide margin. Ratatouille and WALL-E are fantastic, though.

parpfish 3y ago
my complaint isn't about the realism. the image of the balloon house was great and the core of the story about moving on is great. but it feels like they buried that potentially great story under a bunch of efforts to make sure it came off as sufficiently "kid friendly" (e.g., dug constantly shouting squirrel, that other dog with the high pitched voice). the magic of the best pixar movies has been telling stories that kids like without having to pander to them.
- tourmalinetaco 3y ago
  I mean, Pixar made it big with Toy Story, literally focusing on kids toys coming to life. I don’t really feel that talking dogs is any more pandering. Especially since it follows the general Pixar formula of taking something a child can relate to (toys, superheroes, monsters under the bed, etc), add in some heavy themes related to that (loss, insecurities, fear), add in some humor/lighter elements, and finish it off with a feel-good ending showing that if you continue to try and work together, you’ll always succeed. They’ve always “pandered”, it’s in the job description. They do make movies for children after all. They just used to make movies with enough depth that adults could enjoy them too.

jrflowers 3y ago

> …[Up] ends with dogs flying airplanes. … >… Pixar's peak at Ratatouille… The latter is a movie about a rat that drives a human around like a mech, what’s the issue with dogs flying airplanes?

c_crank 3y ago
The answer is not as simple as the analogy suggests, but the principle of the problem is that the conflict resolved by the rat driving the human around is central to the theme and the characters, while the dog flying the airplane is not. I used to have a high opinion of Up, having originally seen it when it came out in theaters. It was only on a re-watch that I was shocked by how much of that opinion was based on what is essentially only 15 minutes of the total runtime. Ratatouille is fundamentally about a ratty artist overcoming his background and prejudices. Up wants to be about an old man managing to move past his grief, but the climax (and most of the movie) involves a stupid bird and a stupid kid that only detract from the experience.

ufo 3y ago

I think Up nailed how dogs would behave if they could talk.

meepmorp 3y ago
Dug sounded exactly like how I imagined my childhood dog would talk if he could've.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

duxup 3y ago

Yeah I felt like UP started strong and then after the start was pretty generic and totally disconnected from the opening.

tzs 3y ago
The first time I saw "Up" I came across it while channel flipping, and missed everything up to shortly before they encounter the bad guy. I had no idea what I was watching and it didn't even cross my mind that it could be a Pixar movie. My guess was that it was something from one of the studios that mostly does goofy kids TV animation trying their hand at a bigger budget TV movie.

bee_rider 3y ago

The movie is strong enough that we all forgot about the dogs. I feel like this is not very uncommon, for example, the second half of Stripes was mediocre but the movie is overall good. I think a really strong premise and first half can overshadow some weaknesses, including an even a bad ending.

Closi 3y ago

> Everybody remembers the fantastic opening sequence but seems to forget that it ends with dogs flying airplanes. That’s not the end of the story - that’s the start of the third act. It actually ends grounded in reality - a return back to the world they started in, without fantastical creatures, and the boy getting his explorers scout patch back in New York City. It ends with Carl giving him a bottlecap badge which has a sentimental link to his dead wife. A return back to reality from an unknown/mythical/magical world is basically the fundamental basics of the hero’s journey “mono-myth” (transition from the known to unknown) so purely from a structure perspective I can see why it resonates.

ravenstine 3y ago

Yeah, it kinda blew my mind how people I knew insisted the whole movie was great. It's like, sure, it's OK if you like dogs flying in airplanes, but the first few minutes of the movie is the only thing that has any staying power. I'm pretty sure most people at this point who haven't watched the movie in a long time don't even remember what the rest of it was about. In contrast, I haven't seen Toy Story in 15+ years, and I can still describe to you roughly what happens act for act. Granted, I watched Toy Story as a young boy, so I'm biased. As much as I think Wall-E was an excellent film, I consider The Incredibles to be Pixar's peak. It was a great story with a perfect balance of humor, child characters actually in peril, subtle mature themes (infidelity, "you didn't save my life; you ruined my death"), well stylized humanoid character models, a father character who isn't a deadbeat, a theme around having to hide who you are, etc. Lots of great stuff in there. Wall-E might have had a grander message and an artsier vision, but The Incredibles IMO has way more rewatch value. Monsters Inc. was pretty great, too! For me, Pixar failed to make another film that came even close to Monsters or The Incredibles.

D13Fd 3y ago
I agree The Incredibles is peak Pixar, but Inside Out was very good too (which only shows that it’s a slow decline).

yuppie_scum 3y ago

If you can watch the first half hour without crying, you have a heart made of stone.

roydivision 3y ago

I disagree, Up remains probably my favourite Pixar film. It’s originality is so refreshing. Yes it’s weird, try explaining the story to someone, but the world it constructs is consistent and not weird for the sake of it (kooky). And through that the film carries some age old themes, exploration, friendship, individuality that everyone can relate to. I yearn for more such originality.