Pixar keeps coming up in several threads, and is a recurring topic in the Disney thread. Maybe its fine there, but there's enough movies and history to it, and enough upcoming films I figure it could use its own thread.
*shorts
*Toy Story 1, 2, & 3
*Bug's Life
*Monsters Inc. 1 & 2
*Finding Nemo
*The Incredibles
*Cars 1 & 2
*Ratatouille
*WALL-E
*Up
*Brave
*The Good Dinosaur
*The Untitled Pixar Movie that Takes You Inside the Mind
*The Untitled Pixar Movie About Día de los Muertos
oFTfAdauCOo
Continues to look just alright. But you guys are discussing, Pixar trailers can be deceiving.
Pixar rankings:
1)Ratatouille (the artist mindset and the romance and the music)
2)Incredibles
3)Monsters Inc.
4) Toy Story 3 (needs a few more viewings and time to sit)
5 (tie) Toy Story 1 and 2
7)Wall-E
8)Up
9)Cars
10)Finding Nemo
11)Bug's Life
Slots 4-8 can fluctuate pretty radically depending on the day. Cars I find going up for me over time.
I may need to see TS3 a few more times before I can fairly judge, but I think it actually is my definitive favorite of that trilogy.
And totally a Brad Bird guy. Throw Iron Giant into that list as an unnoficial Pixar film.
1. Toy Story
2. Toy Story 3
3. The Incredibles
4. Monsters, Inc.
5. Wall-E
6. Ratatouille
7. Finding Nemo
8. Toy Story 2
9. Up
10. A Bug's Life
11. Cars
Six through eight could be switched around any given day. Probably five through eight now that I think about it.
A Bug's Life just never caught me that way the others have. Cars, now, Cars I did understand, but I still rank it lower than the rest.
Up, well, I think I've made it clear over the past year or so what my problem with UP is.
@RobbyBevard:
No Monsters Inc for you Cyan?
Knew I was forgetting something.
I think its telling that you can have a top 10 Pixar films list… and then have to ask the question "Wait, what did I miss?" Since they all belong.
Hard to tell if that'll keep up with two more sequals coming in the next two years, but its hard to argue with that track record. (And I think Brave and Monsters Inc 2 are BOTH slated for 2012 currently?)
1. Toy Story 3
2. Up
3. Monsters Inc.
4. Toy Story 2
5. A Bug's Life
6. Toy Story
7. Incredibles
8. Finding Nemo
9. Ratatouille
10. Cars
I have yet to see WALL-E. I've got netflix, but anything that's not on instant queue might as well not be there. After 5 is kind of iffy as I haven't seen any but Toy Story in a long time.
I guess I'm the only one who doesn't like Toy Story 2 here.
@RobbyBevard:
(And I think Brave and Monsters Inc 2 are BOTH slated for 2012 currently?)
Correct, and I think that's all they have down right now.
Alongside Cars, which nobody likes, Wall-E is the only other Pixar film I don't really like. It's an incredible film until Wall-E gets to the space station.
I found the rest well-done, but working with weak material that brought it down extensively. Only Pixar could keep it a watchable movie, but the premise was still ruined by injecting it it with the fat assholes plot. It didn't need any of that.
And yes I get that the rest is what kept it marketable as a children's film. It was still dumb.
Also, for all the flack Ratatouille sometimes gets, it's a very solid film. It's basically Pixar just working with a less "Pixar" subject matter that's more akin to your average, generic CG studio.
The first half of Wall-E is fantastic, as is the space ballet. But the rest of the second half is pretty weak. The live action human footage is lame too. Really, pretty much anything with actual people felt eh. (Though that may be a side effect of them not appearing till the second half and having no screen time.)
My biggest problem with Up comes in the last bit too. Fantastic start, those first 10 minutes alone pretty much make the movie… but the second the villain shows up it gets iffy. Especially because he was so INSISTENT on being a villain, he would have worked a lot better as a more ambiguous adversary who found a better path at the end. Though looking at the deleted scenes, apparently the Pixar guys from the very start insisted he die at the end... they had like four other deaths for him, him turning over a new leaf or being more three dimensional was never in the cards.
The actual message of "wait on your dreams, you can always do them after its too late" is a little off too.
They're both cases where a 10 or 20 minute short would have been enough. And they're basically silent too. Makes me wonder what Pixar could do with a Fantasia style movie... not that they'd ever consider it, since Fantasia 2000 flopped just a few years ago and it had the name on it.
Some parts of UP were really off, yeah.
Things like the talking dogs just felt… amateur. Like, how the Alpha Dog's voice module was high-pitched. That's just such a cheap attempt at a laugh and it was painful to watch. The only dog the movie needed was Dug. The part with the dogs piloting planes was also really dumb.
A lot of the things that kept Toy Story's narrative brilliant (that continued in the subsequent films in its series) tend to be missing in Pixar's stuff. Things like having to inject a traditional animated "villain" in UP kept it down.
At least UP still has its first half. Which is just so remarkable. The flashbacks with Carl that it opens with are basically the best thing they've animated, to me.
@RobbyBevard:
The actual message of "wait on your dreams, you can always do them after its too late" is a little off too.
That wasn't the actual message was it? I thought that was an acknowledged mistake that Carl made. What about the bit at the end where his wife's telling him to not be weighed down by the past and to live his own dreams.
Anyway, my list:
@Holy:
A lot of the things that kept Toy Story's narrative brilliant (that continued in the subsequent films in its series) tend to be missing in Pixar's stuff. Things like having to inject a traditional animated "villain" in UP kept it down.
The Alpha dog voice joke worked… as an initial surprise. It shouldn't have been its introductory voice... and he probably shouldn't have kept it so long. Let alone got his menancing voice back... and then lost it again immediatley. Plus Emperor's New Groove did the same thing with Yzma. But it WAS funny and surprising, it worked to that end.
But there was really no reason the main villain had to be such...a villain. Him wanting to kill the bird and the kid wanting to save the bird was enough conflict. He didn't have to be "I'm crazy and I've killed other adventurers and I'm destroying your house intentionally and shooting at you and have dogs that can pilot airplanes" evil. A lot more subtlety would have worked so much better, especially when the rest of the film was so nuanced.
The dogs piloting airplanes was kind of wtf too, actually. Especially since up till that point they'd basically only done real dog things.
That wasn't the actual message was it? I thought that was an acknowledged mistake that Carl made. What about the bit at the end where his wife's telling him to not be weighed down by the past and to live his own dreams.
I suppose at the end of the day it was the message, but not until the end, and not until it was too late.
My ranking:
1. Toy Story
2. Toy Story 3
3. Toy Story 2
4. Monster's Inc
5. Ratatouille
6. Up
7. Finding Nemo
8. A Bug's Life
9. Cars
10. Wall-E
11. The Incredibles
If there's one significant short Pixar made, it's Geri's Game. A classic.
What happened to Newt? Heard they canceled it. Sad, the premise seemed pretty cool.
http://www.movieline.com/2010/09/pixars-abandoned-newt-mourning-the-adorable-potential.php
1. Monster's Inc
2. Toy Story 3
3. Toy Story
4. Toy Story 2
5. Ratatouille
6. Wall-E
7. Finding Nemo
8. The Incredibles
9. Up
10. Cars
11. Bug's Life
My favorite short is the one with the rabbit and and the wizard. That's like, classic Bugs Bunny comedic timing right there.
What happened to Newt? Heard they canceled it. Sad, the premise seemed pretty cool.
http://www.movieline.com/2010/09/pixars-abandoned-newt-mourning-the-adorable-potential.php
Apparently it was having significant story problems during pre-production. (It might be the premise only really works for 20 minutes, the fact that other similar cgi films are coming out, or that ultimately, its a sex comedy, or a combination therof. Has "Alpha and Omega" already come and gone?)
Stuff that far down the pike getting cancelled isn't uncommon, it happens to Disney films ALL the time, we're only aware of it because it was announced SO far in advance.
What happened to Newt? Heard they canceled it. Sad, the premise seemed pretty cool.
They just didn't think it would work well.
And while we're on the topic of bad things in good movies. Am I the only person who found Lotso/ Bib Baby/ Chuckle's flashback ending kind of odd? They find Daisy and find out that Lotso's been replaced. Lotso makes everyone go. Yeah Lotso's bad. But Chuckle gives him no sympathy "actually Lotso, you're screwed, we're fine. See you later.". Chuckle tries to completely turn his back on Lotso. For some reason he doesn't follow through, but just calling him on it seems kind of weird to me.
TOP 10's
Films:
1. Toy Story 2
2. Toy Story 3
3. Toy Story
4. Monsters Inc
5. Up
6. Wall-E
7. Cars
8. A Bug's Life
9. Finding Nemo
10. The Incredibles
Shorts:
1. Luxo Jr
2. Red's Dream
3. Lifted
4. Presto
5. Tin Toy
6. Knick Knack (dat music)
7. Mike's New Car
8. Dug's Special Mission
9. BURN-E
10. One Man Band
never seen Ratatouille. Cannot actually stand Boundin'.
Oh, so we're doing Ratings?
1: Toy Story 3
2: The Incredibles
3: Up
4: Monsters Inc.
5: Wall-E
6: Toy Story 1 & 2 (Tie)
7: A Bug's Life
8: Finding Nemo
9: David Moo as Sanji
10: Getting a Root Canal
11: Breaking a Bone
12: Cars.
I'm REALLY looking forward to Monsters Inc 2. I loved the First one, and I think they can really go places with the new one.
Switch Friend Code: SW-1795-2519-1884 • Click Here to check out my Twitch Channel
@Cyan:
Vastly underrated Pixar masterpiece.
I was trying to list things I liked better than Cars
Switch Friend Code: SW-1795-2519-1884 • Click Here to check out my Twitch Channel
1 wall-e
2 incredibles
3 toy story 3
4 toy story 1 or 2
6 ratatouille
7 monsters inc
8 finding nemo
9 up
10 bugs life
Things like the talking dogs just felt… amateur. Like, how the Alpha Dog's voice module was high-pitched. That's just such a cheap attempt at a laugh and it was painful to watch. The only dog the movie needed was Dug. The part with the dogs piloting planes was also really dumb.
A lot of the things that kept Toy Story's narrative brilliant (that continued in the subsequent films in its series) tend to be missing in Pixar's stuff. Things like having to inject a traditional animated "villain" in UP kept it down.
pixar remembers it makes children's cartoons
 
Pixar Ranks:
1. Toy Story 3
2(1). Toy Story 1 & 2
3(4).Wall-E (Love the soundtrack)
4(3).Ratatoille
5.The Incredibles
6. Bug's Life
7. Up
8.Monsters Inc.
9. Finding Nemo
10.Cars
Shorts:
1. Luxo jr.
2. For the Birds/Geri's Game
3. Day and Night
4. Presto/Knick Knack
5. One Man Band
6. Burn-E/Jack Jack Attack
7. Partly Cloudy
8. Boundin'
9. Mike's new car/Lifted
10.Your friend The rat
>PS: Click picture to begin adventure in a hard-boiled manner.
On the subject of Cars 2: either Pixar is embracing the ludicrousness of the franchise and just having a lot of fun with it, or they are deliberately trying to make a terrible movie.
It's either one or the other.
And the lamb lies down on Broadway
On the subject of Cars 2: either Pixar is embracing the ludicrousness of the franchise and just having a lot of fun with it, or they are deliberately trying to make a terrible movie.
It's either one or the other.
As long as Cars 2 has a plot that is original and isn't a COMPLETE Ripoff of another movie, it trumps the first one readily.
Switch Friend Code: SW-1795-2519-1884 • Click Here to check out my Twitch Channel
Jumping on the ratings bandwagon.
1. Up
2. The Incredibles
3. Ratatouille
4. Toy Story 3
5. A Bug's Life
6. Wall-E
7. Finding Nemo
8. Monsters Inc.
9. Toy Story 1&2
10. Cars
They're in no solid order though and I don't view none of them as bad. A Bug's Life is somewhat special to me, having seen it so many times as a kid and knowing it by heart. It's also the only Pixar movie where I prefer the Finnish dub over the original, but again this is probably caused by the fact that I didn't watch the original until this summer.
Mine's gotta be something like
1. The Incredibles
2. Monsters Inc.
3. Toy Story 3
4. Ratatouille
5. Toy Story 2
6. Up
7. Toy Story
8. Bug's Life
9. Finding Nemo
10. Cars
For some reason I don't like Finding Nemo as much as everyone else I know.
1. The Incredibles
2. Toy Story 3
3. Up
4. Wall-E
5. Toy Story
6. Toy Story 2
7. Monsters Inc.
8. Bug's Life
9. Ratatouille
10. Finding Nemo
11. Cars
My list, from least favorite to favorite:
A Bug's Life
Monsters Inc.
Finding Nemo
Ratatouille
Up
Wall-E
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
The Incredibles
I still haven't seen Toy Story 3 yet, but I do plan to in the future. As for Cars, I'm not even gonna bother with it. So, obviously I'll sit the sequel out, too. The trailer certainly doesn't help, either. With all those explosions, it's pretty much what would happen if Michael Bay joined the Pixar team.
pixar remembers it makes children's cartoons
maaaaan they were like
bad children's movie stuff though.
I love Pixar. Everytime I hear there's a Pixar movie I gotta see it. The exception is Toy Story 3 as I never watched Toy Story 2 because I thought it would suck because it's a sequel. What a fool I was-_-
Anyway my top favorites are definitely Up, Wall-E, Monster's Inc, Incredibles and Ratatouille. The rest are pretty good though. Never saw Cars though and probably never will.
Ratatouille makes you so hungry. The scenery is fantastic. Paris is gorgeous.
For me, Toy story's 3 ending was one of the best moments in their studios. You realize that kid movies can be appealing to adults as well.
To everyone refusing to see Cars ever based sheerly on principal and your preconceptions… at least WATCH it once before you forever assume its terrible.
Its one of Pixar's weakest and wierdest, (And I dislike Larry the Cable Guy) but there's a lot of good stuff to it too. The visuals, the scenery, the music, the core fish out of water story, and the ending gets me every time. The world of living cars freaks me out too, but there's a fairly solid film there and a lot of little things in it. Its slowly climbed from my least favorite to my third least with repeat viewings.
It may absolutely not be your thing, and its considered by most to be Pixar's worst... but that's still better than most movies out there. Had it been a movie about an actual human race car driver, with a human cast, but exactly the same plot otherwise for the most part...
Well then it would be Doc Hollywood. But there's stuff there to appreciate if you can get past the freaky designs and world that makes no sense.
Its actually the film that convinced me Pixar could do no wrong. I went in assuming I was going to HATE it... and while I didn't come out loving it, I came out satisfied by it. I've made it a point to hit all their theatrical releases since.
I think Up was my least favourite Pixar so far.
I did not get in the atmosphere much especially when they are in south America.
@Holy:
maaaaan they were like
bad children's movie stuff though.
talking dogs flying fighter planes (in a DOG fight lol)
it's not something i really liked, but it's silly and kids like it
as much as i'd like pixar to churn out TRIPLETS OF BELLVILLE type things, pixar is first and foremost a children's animation studio. talking animals and goofy villians are their bread and butter :3
THIS is a bad children's movie
! -F_VAUOEHNY
 
talking dogs flying fighter planes (in a DOG fight lol)
it's not something i really liked, but it's silly and kids like it
There's making things accessible to kids and then there's just adding things for the sake of adding them. Sometimes it works to the benefit of the movie and sometimes to the detriment. The dogs were pretty much the latter since kids are going to eventually outgrow that sort of thing and become annoyed with it. The Incredibles, on the other hand, is never going to age that way.
THIS is a bad children's movie
! -F_VAUOEHNY
Nah, that's a mediocre children's movie. Even a terrible outing for Don Bluth still has quality animation. Now, THIS is a bad children's movie:
BxHNztg0X3s
Complicating things since 2009.
Sometimes it works to the benefit of the movie and sometimes to the detriment. The dogs were pretty much the latter since kids are going to eventually outgrow that sort of thing and become annoyed with it.
That's not entirely true, since I've talked to many adults who liked Dug (i mentioned THE SQUEAKQUAL in a bad way once and my aunt and uncle both swore that it was a good movie)
there is nothing wrong with the dogs in up
 
Dug was a good dog, the other dogs sucked.
That's not entirely true, since I've talked to many adults who liked Dug (i mentioned THE SQUEAKQUAL in a bad way once and my aunt and uncle both swore that it was a good movie)
there is nothing wrong with the dogs in up
Dug was okay and even funny at times though the advertising around him got annoying. Even Alpha and the other two were alright, but they went too far with the bit overall. I was actually referring to the dogs in airplanes gag in particular anyway.
Dug was okay and even funny at times though the advertising around him got annoying.
that's why i avoid watching commercials and promos and junk lol
the biggest problem with UP was that the film was set in the middle of a jungle without people, which limited the number of human characters to 3
given you've got a house and a bird who don't talk, there's not much communication going on on the hero side of things, and a slave army of dogs isn't going to say anything worth hearing
frankly i'd rather the film have been about ellie and carl going on whirlwind adventures, since ellie is probably the best pixar female lead since … jessie i guess
 
that's why i avoid watching commercials and promos and junk lol
Yeah, it's always a good plan and you can't fault the film for it anyways, really, since marketing is unrelated.
frankly i'd rather the film have been about ellie and carl going on whirlwind adventures, since ellie is probably the best pixar female lead since … jessie i guess
I was thinking about it once and if you hypothetically stripped "marketable" and "have something for the kids" from a film like UP, the end result sounds pretty awesome.
Imagine an Up where the flashback to Carl's life actually stretches throughout the entire film, with slight modifications.
It's a testament to Ellie's characterization that the small time we see with her was easily the film's strongest pieces.
Of course hypothetical because that'd never happen BUT IT'S NEAT TO DREAM
@RobbyBevard:
To everyone refusing to see Cars ever based sheerly on principal and your preconceptions… at least WATCH it once before you forever assume its terrible.
See, I've seen this movie. I see every Pixar movie in the theaters at least once. And I've seen it several times on the Premium Movie channels (they play the hell out of any movie they get)
I soundly hate that movie.
@RobbyBevard:
It may absolutely not be your thing, and its considered by most to be Pixar's worst… but that's still better than most movies out there. Had it been a movie about an actual human race car driver, with a human cast, but exactly the same plot otherwise for the most part...
Well then it would be Doc Hollywood. But there's stuff there to appreciate if you can get past the freaky designs and world that makes no sense.
THAT is my problem. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'd seen Doc Hollywood before I saw Cars, but when I went in there and saw, POINT-FOR-POINT The EXACT same plot as Doc Hollywood, I was so disappointed it's not even funny. Pixar. The people who made Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Monsters Inc. just stole an entire plot of a movie from someone. From a company whose motto was always "Story First", it just upset me so much.
For any of you who haven't seen Doc Hollywood, let me recap the plot for you:
Hotshot young doctor wants to head fo Beverly Hills for a better, more showy life down there as a plastic surgeon. (Hotshot young racecar wants to head to LA for a big race that will get him a better, more showy life with Dinoco as his sponsor)
As he's leaving to head down there, we find out he has no friends in the form of them giving him a cake that calls him an Asshole. (As he's heading down there, we find out he has no friends in the form of having nobody go give his tickets to)
He crashes his car in the heartland, destroying parts of the town. As Penance, the judge of the town sentences him to community service working in their hospital. (Same, but "Fixing the Road")
He's initially upset, but as time goes on, he begins to come to appreciate the small town, and begins to fall in love. (This is the exact same in Cars)
A Boy ends up sick and he doesn't treat the kid's problem right. He was about to have the kid air-lifted to a different hospital for surgery when the Doctor in the town offers a simple solution and says "Just give the kid a Coke". Michael J. Fox thinks the guy is crazy, but when they do it, it ACTUALLY works. (He ends up being a bad racer, and doesn't know how to turn on dirt. when Doc Hudson offers a simle solution "Turn right to go left". Lighting McQueen thinks the guy is Crazy, but when he sees it done, it turns out it ACTUALLY works. Even if he failed the first time)
He finishes his community service and reluctantly heads out to California (same in both)
He is surprised to find, LO AND BEHOLD, the doctor from the small town was somewhat of a bigshot. He's sent in a letter of reccomendation that got Michael J Fox the job he wanted. (He is surprised to find, LO AND BEHOLD, the Judge from the small town was the "Hudson Hornet", a big shot. McQueen needs a pit crew and chief to run the final race, and so he's come and is acting as McQueen's Pit Chief)
In the end, he decideds to go back to the Small town.
It's almost exactly the same movie. Which disappointed me about Pixar. The only other time they even got CLOSE to doing that was A Bug's Life. The basic Setup of A Bug's Life is the same as Three Amigos. Entertainers are mistaken for heroes and are asked to save a community from jerkwads trying to mess with them. But after the same basic setup, the movies' plots go in DRASTICALLY different directions.
In Three Amigos, the Amigos actually try to fight the bad guy (Thinking they're just acting) and accept their praise when they succeed in scaring (confusing?) them away. In Bug's life, they come out as being frauds to Flick almost immediately after they figure out what's going on. In this film, the entire colony finds out they're fakes before Hopper even shows up. And the general plot takes a completely different direction.
Not so with Cars, it's the exact same movie. And I expected a lot more out of Pixar.
@RobbyBevard:
Its actually the film that convinced me Pixar could do no wrong. I went in assuming I was going to HATE it… and while I didn't come out loving it, I came out satisfied by it. I've made it a point to hit all their theatrical releases since.
Funny, it's the film that convinced me that the Law of averages affects everyone, including Pixar. They had to make a bad movie eventually. I just see it as them getting their one bad movie out then.
Switch Friend Code: SW-1795-2519-1884 • Click Here to check out my Twitch Channel
I just saw Toy Story 3 and Up, terrific films, as always. Only Pixar film I'm not caught up with at this point I believe is WALL-E.
Toy Story 2 > Finding Nemo > WALL-E > Toy Story > Monsters Inc. > Up > The Incredibles > A Bugs Life > Cars >> Toy Story 3 >>> Ratatouille
I used to rate the original TS pretty low, but after rewatching it I've discovered it's a good film. A very good film in fact, far better than Bug's Life.
Cars isn't as bad a film as I originally thought, just…completely predictable, and somewhat cheesy.
I'm impressed by the sequel's trailer, though.
And about the TS3 rating - I don't feel this film should have even been made. It wasn't as imaginative as the previous two films, and was boggled down by the same "Pixar problems" of WALL-E and Up. I'm not going to let the powerful emotional bits excuse the film from being weak overall.
You can also make a case for Lion King simultaneously being a rip off of Hamlet AND Jungle Emporer Leo.
King Kong is a remake of… King Kong. 10 Commandments is a remake of... 10 Commandments. Little Shop of Horrors to Little Shop of Horrors. But they bring different things to the table, different effects, ideas, characterizations, actors, action, music, editing and so stand on their own. Even the movies that follow the exact same beats and basic story can be incredibly different.
EVERY story has been told, its about what you bring to the table to make it your own that's interesting. And in Cars' case... making them cars and focusing on racing and stunning visuals is what they brought to the table.
And Bugs life owes about as much to Seven Samurai as it does Three Amigos.
gLHwbukUU3c
