-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
How Pixar Lost Its Way
- Thread starter entremet
- Start date
So, just how exactly Pixar lost its way? Bought by Disney, but still retain the key studio figures and relative independence, toy lines and theme parks are distractions on their business side, but not the creativity side. So, what really happened exactly? Did they have a playbook with 10 brilliant ideas and they used all up?
My uncle used to work for Pixar. He told me it was in decline before the fall actually happened. It's pretty simple really- Disney bought Pixar- John Lasseter and the rest Pixar's top talent transferred to work at Disney Animation Studios.
Pixar is now Disney's B team. Yes they still make fine movies, but nothing compared to what they made like 10 years ago. Whereas Disney is now making hit after hit because they brought over the Pixar people.
Pixar is now Disney's B team. Yes they still make fine movies, but nothing compared to what they made like 10 years ago. Whereas Disney is now making hit after hit because they brought over the Pixar people.
Certinty
Member
They really lost their way after Toy Story 3. Since then I haven't found a single movie of theirs great. Saying that Inside Out was fairly good.
But compared to Disney Animation Studios since 2011 with Frozen, Big Hero 6, Wreck It Ralph and Zootopia there's no real contest there. They're completely wrecking Pixar a new one.
But compared to Disney Animation Studios since 2011 with Frozen, Big Hero 6, Wreck It Ralph and Zootopia there's no real contest there. They're completely wrecking Pixar a new one.
Mossybrew
Member
I don't know, I think nostalgia can be a hard thing to fight. Sure most of those first movies were classics, and totally rewatchable. But, A Bug's Life? Cars? Brave? There has always been mediocre (by Pixar standards anyway) movies sandwiched between the greats.
Anyway as my kids are now teenagers, a new Pixar movie is certainly not the event it used to be. Maybe due to some decrease in quality, maybe just my tastes have changed over the years. Inside Out was really good, but I haven't even bothered to watch The Last Dinosaur. And Finding Dory found me doing something I never thought I'd do - turning a Pixar movie off out of sheer boredom.
Anyway as my kids are now teenagers, a new Pixar movie is certainly not the event it used to be. Maybe due to some decrease in quality, maybe just my tastes have changed over the years. Inside Out was really good, but I haven't even bothered to watch The Last Dinosaur. And Finding Dory found me doing something I never thought I'd do - turning a Pixar movie off out of sheer boredom.
The idea that Pixar lost their way is incendiary and incorrect; the reason they don't dominate the industry is because their efforts helped make it more competitive. Their movies are still wonderful and exceptional (Inside Out is Top 3 Pixar, and is even used in college Psychology classes), but now other studios are finally competing and delivering great movies as well.
WhiteRabbitEXE
Member
Current Disney Animation is greatly overrated. To be fair, I haven't seen Zootopia and Frozen, but while Tangled was okay, it was no where near as good as peak Pixar, or peak Disney for that matter. Big Hero 6 and Wreck It Ralph were fun, yeah, but not in the same class as Inside Out. Moana was a massive disappointment. They're all way better than the shit DreamWorks puts out or the highly disposable Illumination films, but that's not the highest bar in the world.
SporeCrawler
Member
nah marnie was robbed
They still make "good" movies, but they don't make the quality it was expected of them when they were on their prime.
lexluthorwrong.gif
boiled goose
good with gravy
Inside out is their best movie so ... yeah.
The only ones that come close are toy story 1 and 3.
Wreck it Ralph??? Not even remotely on same level of creativity and genius as Pixar's best work.
The only ones that come close are toy story 1 and 3.
Wreck it Ralph??? Not even remotely on same level of creativity and genius as Pixar's best work.
Fancyarcher
Member
You're right, my bad they haven't actually announced a sequel. The creators have talked about it though, similar to what was said before Frozen 2 was actually announced, so I have no doubt it's going to get made sooner or later.
old manatee
Banned
Their movies are still well-made and polished, but they settled into a formula and aren't very inspired anymore.
I watched Inside Out on an airplane, and honestly couldn't finish it. Idk, maybe I wasn't in the mood?
I really loved Pixar's other work tho, besides Cars 2.
Wall-E was great, Up was charming, Ratatouille was magical, and I really enjoyed the original Cars.
Hopefully they'll keep making amazing films.
I really loved Pixar's other work tho, besides Cars 2.
Wall-E was great, Up was charming, Ratatouille was magical, and I really enjoyed the original Cars.
Hopefully they'll keep making amazing films.
Disney's acquisition of Pixar has played a big part in their quality drop. It's obvious Lasseter is putting most of his focus on Walt Disney Animation. At the very least I'm glad Pixar can still churn out good movies like Inside Out, and I'm looking forward to The Incredibles 2.
Oh cool, yet another one of these articles.
Where Pixar is a loser because about half its slate is sequels and the upcoming original films are clearly doomed to be cynical commercial enterprises. And where WDFA is praised for its originals that also yield tons of products and commercialization, and their upcoming sequels to those films are conveniently not discussed or similarly demonized.
Give these dumb black-and-white hot-takes a rest.
Where Pixar is a loser because about half its slate is sequels and the upcoming original films are clearly doomed to be cynical commercial enterprises. And where WDFA is praised for its originals that also yield tons of products and commercialization, and their upcoming sequels to those films are conveniently not discussed or similarly demonized.
Give these dumb black-and-white hot-takes a rest.
Read the whole piece, I largely agree with it. After 15 years of near non-stop success, Pixar has definitely stumbled lately, Inside Out not withstanding. Stuff like Cars 2, Brave and The Good Dinosaur are way below their previous standards. And while I liked Monsters U and Finding Dory to a certain degree, I'd also group them with the other three. Is it merely a coincidence that this downward slope started just when Disney bought 'em out? Eh.
paragonpro
Banned
Good dinosaur was bad in every way except the visuals
Cars 3 -> Brave -> Monsters University -> Inside Out -> The Good Dinosaur -> Finding Dory is not a "downward trend."
And I think we can have faith in Incredibles 2 being fantastic.
Pixar has a goat legacy. All possible expectations have already been exceeded, and we were lucky and fortunate enough to have gotten as many good movies as we did. I think they're still capable of hitting a home run, and at the very least the solid foundation will help keep employing a ton of people to make consistently quality films.
Without question.
Ok, cool. Personally, I think Toy Story 3 is their best movie (Ratatouille being a close second), although not too original or unique, for obvious reasons. I didn't like UP too much, but I thought it was pretty great. Cars 2 and Brave were mediocre, definitely.
Anyway, I wouldn't consider them (UP and TS3) as middle of the road.
Yeah I found that a bit funny. 'Inside Out' doesn't really support the article's thesis, so the author quickly brushes it aside with barely a sentence to mention it. He also writes off 'Finding Dory' as 'mediocre' without going into why, as if it's just a common knowledge fact.
If they want to argue Pixar is losing its way, that's fine. 2008-2010 may very well be the pinnacle of overall quality for that studio. But this article feels like a lot of complaining about the volume of upcoming Pixar sequels (I don't know how The Incredibles 2 will turn out, but I'm willing to give it a fair shot before criticizing it for being a sequel), complimenting other studios for improving their output of great animated films (which isn't wrong as a lot of recent non-Pixar animated films have been excellent), but not a whole lot of analysis into what the author thinks is wrong with recent Pixar films like Inside Out or Finding Dory.
The fact that the article literally doesn't even mention Coco makes it come off as very disingenuous.
Yes, it's an absolute masterpiece.
Rent it right away!
ComputerBlue
Member
Pixar is still on point, if they make mediocre movies for the next 5 years you can say they lost their way, but everyone is bound to make some stinkers and their worst movie so far in my opinion is Cars 2. The past 5 or so years they've been great...I haven't seen Inside Out or The Dinosaur yet but MU, TS3, Brave and Finding Dory were amazing movies.
Agreed!
I like it better than the original.
Agreed!
I like it better than the original.
In combination with ignoring all of the merchandizing, sequels, and other commercialization opportunities for WDFA's recent output, yeah... it's a bunch of very convenient blindspots in order to craft an ephemeral take to grab some clicks. Of Disney's current renaissance, two already have sequels on the way and another two have TV show spinoffs/sequels. But that doesn't support the thesis that they've somehow stolen Pixar's magic and less cynical motivations over what they greenlight.
starchild excalibur
Member
Never shared the love for Wreck-It Ralph as many people did and I'm a John C Reilly fan, even. But I can't deny Zootopia was great.
Pixar just needs to ease off the sequels for a little while, which I believe they already announced they'd be doing sometime next year once their in-development stuff was done.
Pixar just needs to ease off the sequels for a little while, which I believe they already announced they'd be doing sometime next year once their in-development stuff was done.
I think most people did.
Really? I thought The first one would be the most popular.
I don't believe Pixar made those two.
The emotional level is light years (no pun intended) beyond the other two.
A lot of people people were kids when they watched Toy Story. They could relate to Andy leaving to college, etc. At least that's how it was with me and my friends.
disappeared
Banned
I've managed to enjoy Pixar's output on a pretty consistent basis by simply avoiding their sequels (Toy Story 3 being the exception) and sticking with their original stuff. Up and Inside Out are two of the better animated films - by Pixar or not - made in the past decade.
KernelPanic
Member
Thought i was the only one.
Wreck It Ralph wasn't that bad but it was pretty forgettable.
Big Hero 6 though, I will legit fight you, fisticuffs at 20 paces, noon, behind the toilets, be there
uncelestial
Member
Not really. Commercially, sure, but Disney movies are markedly more childish and less adult-friendly than Pixar. There is a lot to chew on in movies like Up and Wall-E -- for adults. When Frozen and Moana roll their credits, you can pretty much shrug and conclude "well, I certainly consumed that media."
I think Pixar and Disney are pretty different. Not saying that's good or bad.
Gentleman Jack
Member
Man people have just lost the art of nuance in their opinions haven't they. If it's not the GOAT it's a turd. Use your words. You've spent a lifetime learning them. I wouldn't classify any of the 3D films Disney have released since 2010 bad at all. They're well animated, have a clean, memorable aesthetic and more often than not create a decent emotional attachment between the primaries and the audience. But in every single one of those years I'm glad they had at least one major competitor in the space where I can honestly claim I enjoyed it as much if not more than the Disney offering. Startlingly, it wasn't always the Pixar flim that got that spot. The problem of course is that at awards time, nobody in charge is thinking about anything other than those which topped the box office or got the biggest marketing budgets, so they fall through the cracks and end up in cult classic status, making the narrative needlessly about Disney vs. Pixar. In this last decade I can't credit either studio with taking more than one risk every 3-4 films and while I can go to them for an enjoyable time, I can't count on them for movies which actually stimulate the intellect. Everything expensive is a superhero movie now.
I'd have to disagree with you there, I'm not actually a fan of Zootopia but it had a lot more depth to it than a popcorn flick, Moana too I came away from surprisingly moved by.
You could cherry pick from either catalogue too, Cars, The Good Dinosaur are examples of Pixar childish films.
uncelestial
Member
We're going to have to disagree.
It happens. I could be older too; my Pixar shout outs are from awhile back. Maybe I should stop going to animated films until I have kids.But I really do think Disney doesn't bother, at all, with adding a second layer to their films that adults can enjoy. Aladdin had that going on, but that's largely because Robin Williams was improvising all the time and they left it in. I truly think Pixar makes films for families and Disney makes films for kids.
Similar threads
- Locked