Pixar Animation Studios

[Disonoid 3000]

It seems like jumping the gun to get excited over Pixar returning to form after one movie.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I generally got the impression Pixar wasn't so well known for being awesome because they occasionally made a fantastic movie, it was because they made fantastic movies every single time. Inside Out is sandwiched between the mediocre/bad, and the unknown. And said unknown involves Cars 3, Toy Story 4, and Finding Dory. 

 

If they earn heaps of praise for those (and the other upcoming films) then I'll be more open to the idea Pixar's back. 

[nintega137]

I'm in complete agreement there.

[...]

Agreed. People need to calm down with Inside Out getting a great reception then jumping the gun and automatically claiming Pixar is back. For all we know, The Good Dinosaur and the films which follow it could very well be underwhelming. But eh, they're not released yet. We'll see. I just hope that Pixar gets another golden streak of quality rather than just having a diamond in the rough once in a while.

[pppp]

*looks around*....I guess I'm the only one who thought Monsters University was pretty great.....Any kids movie that has the balls to have that message is a winner in my book.

[Disonoid 3000]

Also, and this is probably a more controversial opinion, I don't think Pixar can really, truly be be back to what they once were until they stop the sequels. Again, I could be wrong, but I'm also pretty sure originality and freshness, with some riskiness thrown in every once in a while, was another part why people liked them so much.

 

 

*looks around*....I guess I'm the only one who thought Monsters University was pretty great.....Any kids movie that has the balls to have that message is a winner in my book.

 

I'm sure I'd appreciate the moral better if it wasn't smacked on a pile of cliches.

 

I should never have to see a movie where the amount of times I guess what will happen next is higher than the amount of times I laugh.

[DarkLight]

*looks around*....I guess I'm the only one who thought Monsters University was pretty great.....Any kids movie that has the balls to have that message is a winner in my book.

[Nepenthe]

Why are people acting like their golden streak was impeccable before the buyout? Remember, we had A Bug's Life which has aged noticeably (although I still like it) and the original Cars which- while it isn't a bad film- was simply mediocre and cliche' at every turn upon release, probably on par with Brave and undoubtedly worse than MU- a prequel. It was the outlier in their portfolio at the time, sandwiched right between The Incredibles and Ratatouille- Brad Bird's masterpieces. Yet no one gave a shit about either film when it came to discerning their record and quality at the time, and indeed no one still gives a shit about it because we have a habit of acting like these two films don't exist while waxing poetic about the good ol' days where Pixar was seemingly perfect and capable of cranking out timeless masterpieces without effort. It smacks of cognitive dissonance to be nostalgic to that degree while simultaneously acting like people- even the critics who have seen Inside Out and are telling us it actually is a return to form (which isn't a phrase that reflects the long-term output of something, btw)- are being irrational about dubbing it as such.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Nepenthe

[Disonoid 3000]

I originally had an "Except for Cars" aside in that post somewhere, I guess it got left out after the seventh or so time I rewrote it, my apologies. A Bug's Life's hard to judge the general opinion of because it's generally kind of ignored (though if we want to go the simplified Rotten Tomatoes route it's a 92%).

 

The point still stands, though. They got their reputation because the few failures were the rarity. Which is also the reason why people focus on the recent stuff more; it's kind of hard to worry that Cars is a sign Pixar's slipping when we know their next four movies turned out much, much better.

 

This problem seems entirely based around people interpreting a claim two different ways. I don't think anyone is doubting the critics when they say Inside Out is an amazing movie (I'm definitely not, I came to that conclusion long before they said it), just that one of the interpretations of what they said stretches beyond whether or not it is an amazing movie.

 

And, in the realm of opinions, I liked Cars better than MU. At least Cars was funny. 

[Nepenthe]

It's ignored as part of Pixar's pantheon for a reason. A Bug's Life has had a lessened reputation in recent years simply because of how formulaic its central themes are.

 

I would also say that hindsight is 20/20. Cars comes out and is mediocre, completely disappointing as a following act from Incredibles, and afterwards people are getting news that Ratatouille is going through excessively troubled development, rewrites, and dismissal of directors in an attempt to try and save it. I wouldn't blame anyone who followed the industry to any degree to not be concerned about its quality and subsequently the future of the company, as they had already been bought out by Disney which was still in its shitty sequel phase at the time.

 

I also didn't mean to posit that people were doubting Inside Out. My argument was that I don't see why people being excited that the film is apparently good enough to be called a "return to form" by the critics are being particularly irrational or jumping the gun. "Pixar's Spirited Away" sounds like a "return to form" to me, even though it's not indicative of their future output anymore than Brave was indicative of how Inside Out was going to turn out.

[Disonoid 3000]

Again (kind of...again...I don't remember if I said this before the edit), I think it just comes down to "Return to form" being vague and in this instance being taken to mean two different things. I read it and interpreted "Pixar as a studio is back to the level it used to be on", you read it and seem to have interpreted "Pixar made a good movie again". 

[Nepenthe]

I'm interpreting it as Pixar are back to the level they used to be, because the level they were at was only secured by excellent movies. If Inside Out is their Spirited Away, then the phrase is warranted either way.

[Gabz Girl]

I do think critics are being a bit OTT when they say Pixar is back and all that since we still got Toy Story 4, Finding Dory and *shudder* Cars 3 to "look forward to" but judging from trailers I can already tell that Inside Out is going to be something very special and I'm still looking forward to seeing it this summer.

 

Agreed. People need to calm down with Inside Out getting a great reception then jumping the gun and automatically claiming Pixar is back. For all we know, The Good Dinosaur and the films which follow it could very well be underwhelming. But eh, they're not released yet. We'll see. I just hope that Pixar gets another golden streak of quality rather than just having a diamond in the rough once in a while.

 

Yeah it could go either way; Ratatouille was praised by critics ad nauseam while Brave got mostly mixed reviews. Both of these films had problems during development including removing the original directors (Jan Pinkava and Brenda Chapman respectively), so The Good Dinosaur could go either way. Previews from Cannes seem pretty positive though, so I'm hoping for the best even though I can't stand the dinosaur designs. =P

[Disonoid 3000]

I kind of feel bad for the Good Dinosaur. If Inside Out truly ends up being as good as some people have been claiming it to be (I have no doubt it'll be great, it's just that some comments are claiming it's literally the best Pixar movie of all time), it's going to have a hard time not coming off as inadequate by comparison. Especially since it doesn't even have a year break for everyone to cool down from the last movie.

 

Though, that didn't stop most of the other movies following great ones, so...

 

I'm interpreting it as Pixar are back to the level they used to be, because the level they were at was only secured by excellent movies. If Inside Out is their Spirited Away, then the phrase is warranted either way.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I'm not writing Finding Dory or Toy Story 4 off yet, especially when we haven't gotten a trailer or anything yet. Toy Story 4 may be unneeded but at least wait until a trailer before you write it off and decide its crap.

Plus Incredibles 2. Enough Said.

[Emperor Robrainiac]

I'm not writing Finding Dory or Toy Story 4 off yet, especially when we haven't gotten a trailer or anything yet. Toy Story 4 may be unneeded but at least wait until a trailer before you write it off and decide its crap.

Plus Incredibles 2. Enough Said.

 

Why Incredibles 2, though? We know as much about that as we know about Toy Story 4... Nothing.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against a sequel for The Incredibles... But at the same time, I'm not all for it, seeing as how Pixar is making so many sequels, and I'm probably the only one who doesn't understand why everyone wants an Incredibles 2.

[Disonoid 3000]

I'm not writing Finding Dory or Toy Story 4 off yet, especially when we haven't gotten a trailer or anything yet. Toy Story 4 may be unneeded but at least wait until a trailer before you write it off and decide its crap.

Plus Incredibles 2. Enough Said.

 

I don't think anyone said anything about writing them off (except for Cars 3. Cars 3 I'm looking forward to in the "Can't wait to read the negative reviews" way). Just that people are worried. And quite frankly we have every right to be, we might not have trailers but we do know that Toy Story 4's been confirmed to do away with the very important child-toy connection (and is directed by John "Clearly lost his touch and has no one willing to tell him when he has a stupid idea" Lasseter), and Finding Dory is a finance based decision that not even Andrew Stanton wants to do.  Those are both pretty horrible first impressions. 

 

Yup, that other thing that didn't need a sequel. Enough said. And no, having the potential to have a sequel does not mean a movie needs one. 

 

Why Incredibles 2, though? We know as much about that as we know about Toy Story 4... Nothing.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against a sequel for The Incredibles... But at the same time, I'm not all for it, seeing as how Pixar is making so many sequels, and I'm probably the only one who doesn't understand why everyone wants an Incredibles 2.

O.O Finally, another person who doesn't get it! 

[Nepenthe]

What's not to get? It's a superhero franchise with a great cast of characters, and it ended on a hook for more shenanigans. It has the most potential for sequels out of the rest of the films.

[Sean]

People have been wanting Incredibles 2 before Pixar became the fucking obnoxious sequel whore that it is now. I tend to give that one a free pass.

Also Monsters University was just as amazing if not better than Inc. so I'm okay with that existing too, however I was very skeptical of it before it came out and wasn't sure if I would enjoy it

aaaaand I'm looking forward to Finding Dory only because I think Dory is amazing

[Hero of Legend]

I just want my damn A Bug's Life 2! Where is my A Bug's Life 2 Pixar?!

 

Yeah without like 5 of the voice actors (of Heimlich, Manny, Gypsy, The Queen, and Mr. Soil. God bless their souls. ), this is not a likely thing anymore.

[Disonoid 3000]

I'm not sure if you're joking about wanting that or not. Either way, A Bug's Life probably still wouldn't be a likely thing even if every single voice actor was still alive and doing Ellen levels of begging. Not enough money to grab from it. 

 

What's not to get? It's a superhero franchise with a great cast of characters, and it ended on a hook for more shenanigans. It has the most potential for sequels out of the rest of the films.

 

Never get the point with the ending. It's not like it's the only Pixar movie that ends with possibilities ahead, people seem fine letting the others go. And I may be getting what "hook" means wrong, but if it's meant as in they were purposefully trying to set up more stuff happening, I'd once again like to point out the sheer improbability of Bird baiting a followup and then taking ten years to even start writing it. 

 

That said, I jumped at that reaction too quickly. I do understand it, the same way I understand every other fan request for a sequel. The claim it's a thing that needs to happen, as I see around other sites, is the one I don't understand. 

[Nepenthe]

It's not that there's no other Pixar movie that ended without enough world building to technically make a sequel. It's that Incredibles does the best job of establishing franchise potential through presenting continuing conflict in the form of superheroes and arch-nemeses, whereas basically every other Pixar film ends with not only the character arcs being tied up but the world being returned to a state of bliss, even if said world was different than before. This is partly why people are so annoyed with the sequels and prequels. Each story was neatly wrapped up that there was no overwhelming need for further explanation. But The Incredibles throws the Underminer at us out of nowhere, meaning they're going to keep fighting. And we know we can keep going in a reasonable manner: aside from superhero serials just being a thing (Marvel), the kids have to grow up as well.

 

Does it need to happen? No. But if we were going to have non-Toy Story sequels, Incredibles should've been the obvious choice long before Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc., and especially fucking Cars.

[Hero of Legend]

I'm not sure if you're joking about wanting that or not. Either way, A Bug's Life probably still wouldn't be a likely thing even if every single voice actor was still alive and doing Ellen levels of begging. Not enough money to grab from it.

 

I'm actually serious, I loved that film and do really want a sequel.

[Rucdose]

 

I captured the spirit of the characters pretty well, I think.

[Failinhearts]

 

I captured the spirit of the characters pretty well, I think.

 

Still better than my drawing skills.

[Disonoid 3000]

Good Dinosaur's teaser is out!

 

 

 

 

Looks nice. Not much to go on, but that's to be expected this early. Got me pretty excited.