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How Pixar Lost Its Way

BHK3

Banned
Inside Out was a lukewarm movie, Joy being Pixars unintentional top tier villian is the movies only saving grace. Zootopia was 1200x better.
 

Ricky_R

Member
The consistency ain't there anymore. Everything between Ratatouille (or first part of Wall-E) to Inside Out was weak. Inside Out was fantastic and followed by The Good Dinosaur, Finding Dory, and Cars 3. Who knows, maybe Cars and Thor will have something common and have their first good movies this year.

Also feels like other animation studios stepped it up big time.

Did you forget UP or are you filing it under weak?
 
Using Oscars as a gauge of quality is hardly the greatest thing ever, nor is the amount of sequels Pixar's announced anything noteworthy. Yes Pixar's "greatest run" is probably over, but they're in a transitional change since they're trying to find new talent, without the greatest luck in the world. Plus personally I really liked MU, and I wouldn't call Finding Dory mediocre, I thought it was just as good as the first. I'm really looking forward to Coco & have my reservation's, but am anticipating Toy Story 4.

Plus Disney announced sequels to Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, & Frozen, why is nobody given them grief about that? Ha-ha. There's really nothing with sequels inherently, and Pixar's sequel slew is exaggerated anyway. If this were any other animation we'd have seen a sequel to almost every Pixar film by now.

They've meandered a bit, I guess, although the only Pixar movie I would call truly bad would be The Good Dinosaur.

And even then I wouldn't call The Good Dinosaur bad. The animation is excellent & I appreciate the quiet moments in that film, even if Arlo as a character irritates me a bit.
 

Griss

Member
First of all, the Pixar 'trifecta' was The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Wall-E. Their best films, all in the span of what, 4 years? They weren't just making good animated movies, they were making movies that really should have been nominated for best picture.

So yeah, I agree they've declined. Sequel upon sequel, and their original stuff doesn't hit like it used to. Anyone else see that Dinosaur film? It was bad. And I didn't like Inside Out half as much as many others did - didn't find the core idea that original or clever and far preferred the Psychonauts take on that subject matter.

Disney has been eating their lunch recently, imo.

Zootopia is overrated and kind of boring. Just because it was a blockbuster doesn't suddenly make Disney animation better than Pixar.

No, it's the fact that most of Disney's recent output is far superior to Inside Out that makes Disney better than Pixar.
 

mas8705

Member
While Pixar has had their missteps, they haven't really "lost their way" so to speak. Mind you though that the sequel game is getting old really fast, and you know that the only reason why Cars 3 was made had nothing to do with the success of "Cars 2" (or at least I hope not... Got to sell them Cars, right?)

If they go into the "Original Ideas" route and avoid trying to do what they did with the Good Dinosaur, they will be fine (not to say the film was bad, but when compared to others... it could have been better). Hell knows that we are FINALLY! going to get that sequel that we have been patiently waiting for next year. Something to which I'm sure the OP is probably excited for too if his icon is an indicator.
 

Rodelero

Member
Ignoring Cars, Pixar went on an unbelievable streak that spanned almost a decade: Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. Nothing they've done since can stand amongst these, I don't feel. There are some good films in there, Inside Out, Brave, and Finding Dory are all films that I enjoy a lot, but I can't help but feel the noughties will be considered Pixar's golden era.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Pixar is just fine. Jeez, the drama.

Fine is what some people have issues with, I think.

They expect more than just fine, they expect amazing movies, which is kind of a really hard expectation to meet each time.
 

eso76

Member
Very curious about their next movie, the one that looks like Guacamelee.

Didn't think Good Dinosaur was as bad as people say; it had its charming moments. Sure it was kind of weird to see Pixar develop that into a full movie: it felt like filler, something you wouldn't expect from them.
Then again, neither you'd expect sequels, Toy Story saga aside.

I can't remember anything about UP besides the incredible opening. Means movie was forgettable :p

Inside out was clever, very beautiful and touching at times, but the central part felt rather..dull ? Might have to watch again.
 

Bitanator

Member
In just two years we go from Inside Out one of the most celebrated animated movies ever to "DOOMED"

Pixar now the Nintendo of animation confirmed
 
Eyes moistened at bing-bong's death, and again when Riley breaks down, but damn 45 minutes straight?

Haha probably an exaggeration. For me it struck a bunch of chords about frayed relationships with parents, not meeting full potential in school, gaps forming over time with old friends, and the sort of hopelessness of it all at times.
 

old

Member
The answer is John Lasseter. You can trace the resurgence of Disney Animated Studios to him taking over.

And to be honest, Inside Out was brilliant. Pixar still has it.
 
I do believe Pixar has lost its way, and considering I don't think modern Disney is particularly that good, it's been rough for me for western animation as of late.

Then I think about The Lego Movie and say GOD THAT WAS SO AMAZING and then I think of Lego Batman and urgh
 
Did you forget UP or are you filing it under weak?

Wasn't a fan of UP. Opening montage is nicely done and melancholic, I'll give it that.

Toy Story 3 I'd also say is fine. Lumping UP and that under weak might be going too far. But after putting out some stellar stuff with Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Finding Nemo, they're middle of the road.
 
I didn't dislike Brave nearly as much as critics and gaf seemed to. I thought it was a pretty good movie. The Good Dinosaur and Finding Dory on the otherhand were both snoozers.

Pixar is about 50/50 these days with regards to quality releases. I have high expectations for Coco, but don't expect much from Cars 3.
 
Lost? Nah, more like getting funding for their better projects.
Pixar still is quality, it's just some movies makes gangbusters compared to their other works, unfortunately.
Coco looks to be Pixar's usual quality, though a little cliche with the day of the dead theme.
 

Nepenthe

Member
Disney has had worse spells before, to the point of being on the verge of shuttering more than once. But they always come back.

Animated houses almost seem guaranteed every ten or fifteen years to run out of the steam or magic that marked their golden periods. If nothing else, I knew the moment it got bought up by Disney and they announced sequels that things were about to be a bit fucked. Pixar will eventually find another stride, at least that's what I hope for.
 
I wouldn't say that they lost their way. There was the honeymoon period when everything they touched turned to gold and now things have just normalized. Like every group of creative people, sometimes they hit it out of the park and sometimes they miss the mark, that's all. Finding Dory and Cars might not be great but Inside Out was an absolute masterpiece imo.

Same thing will happen with the MCU, btw. They'll eventually release a movie with a sub 50% RT score and everybody on the internet will lose their minds and call them doomed but then the studio will course-correct.

Nothing to see here.
 

bionic77

Member
Inside out was pretty amazing.

This is just lazy internet critiquing and fatigue from their formula and the law of averages.

Though I don't expect a lot from Cars 3...
 

Sojgat

Member
They peaked with Ratatouille, and then started making too many sequels.

A new Pixar movie used to be a must see event for me, but I think the last one I actually liked was Up. I have high hopes for The Incredibles 2 though.
 
Excellent article. Hit the nail on the head, IMO.

What makes it worse for me is that Disney's in the middle of a resurgence and barring maybe Wreck-It Ralph I don't think their recent output has been that great, although I hacent seen Moana.
 
I thought Inside Out was great but otherwise the decline has been noticeable.
I watched Finding Dory for the first time last month and it was like LOTS OF YELLING: THE MOVIE.
 

fhqwhgads

Member
I feel like they're back in the groove. Will they ever hit their gold standard ever again? Maybe not, but as long as they're not making movies like Brave then I'm fine with Pixar's output.

PS anyone who thinks Inside Out isn't good should have all of their opinions invalidated. Movie completely destroyed me.
 

Exotoro

Member
I don't check for their projects much but I am more pumped for Toy Story 4 than I have ever been for any other Disney/Pixar movie. A love story centered on Woody going after Bo (who unfortunately was lost from the group between TS2 and TS3) is exactly what I wanted when I found out she wasn't in Toy Story 3. I hate when strong supporting characters disappear.
Bo Peep? Strong supporting character? What?
 

Hazmat

Member
They just need to ease up on the sequels. The idea of a world of monsters that power their city with children's screams is an idea that immediately grabs your attention and you watch the movie delighted by the world they've made, but seeing the same characters in college is just passable.
 

Timeaisis

Member
I thought Inside Out was great, and Finding Dory was a good sequel. They aren't at the highest highs of Pixar of the past, but they still know what they are doing, as far as I'm concerned.
 

DOWN

Banned
They just need to stop cranking out sequels and get back to original concepts, which it seems like they will once they get stupid Cars 3 outta their system.
Nope, they have The Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4 on the board too
 
They just need to ease up on the sequels. The idea of a world of monsters that power their city with children's screams is an idea that immediately grabs your attention and you watch the movie delighted by the world they've made, but seeing the same characters in college is just passable.
That was so jarring and the worst part of Monsters University. There needed to be more that added to the world, not make it indistiguisable from ours.
 

Bronx-Man

Banned
I don't wanna get brutal on this but if someone told me they thought Pixar is still at the level they once were, I would seriously call their opinions on animated movies in question. How do you even look at stuff like Toy Story, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, or Up then look at Cars 2, Monsters University, or the Good Dinosaur and think to yourself "Yeah, this is fine."

I mean, I still love them. Grew up on their films and Toy Story is still my favorite movies of all-time. They used to be the gold standard for animated movies, but you gotta open your eyes and accept that the spark isn't there anymore.
 
Even though The Good Dinosaur was extreamley low key I thought it had a excellent heart to it. It did probably did need another scene or two, as the journey was over too quickly but I thought there was a lot to love.

Back on point, the existence of inside out makes this article as irrelevant as the Oscars.
 

brian577

Banned
Plus Disney announced sequels to Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, & Frozen, why is nobody given them grief about that? Ha-ha. There's really nothing with sequels inherently, and Pixar's sequel slew is exaggerated anyway. If this were any other animation we'd have seen a sequel to almost every Pixar film by now.

No, they haven't.
 
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