Pixar Animation Studios

[Inkling Cooper]

So, the teaser for Finding Dory is out. Thoughts? 

 

 

 

[Johnny Boy]

I'm super excited for this movie. Though I'm curious how they're gonna be able to swim from Austrailia all the way to California.

[pppp]

Saw The Good Dinosaur today. Very good movie, not great, but nearly. True, we've seen this story before, but its execution here makes this one definitely on par with older movies with these themes, and since kids from 5 to to 10 aren't gonna go out of their way to watch a 20 year old movie, this is a perfectly fine childhood movie for them with these themes. The emotional scenes in particular really shine. The last 7 minutes or so are entirely dialogue free(Well, aside from like the very last minute but you get my point), which gave the animation and the music the chance to end the story with a powerful finale.

Leave your cynicism at the door and you'll enjoy it.

[DarkLight]

I saw the film myself on Friday. Not as good as Inside Out IMO, but goddamn it did manage to get me crying at the end, something Inside Out didn't do at any point.

There were some predictable moments since the plot was your typical 'hero's journey and learning to overcome fear' fare. Hell, they pulled a Disney Death with the Dad near the beginning. But one thing I was genuinely surprised at was them separating near the end (which did make me cry BTW). I kinda expected them to live together when they got home. However even that I'd find questionable since I don't see Arlo's family taking it Spot since from their POV, he's still a critter who took their food regardless of learning what good he did for Arlo. Realistically, it'd be like taking in the same wild squirrel who snuck in your house and chewed up electric wires as a pet.

And the short was great too.

[...]

Came across this tribute for Pixar's 20th anniversary this year. I highly recommend you watch it, actually made me tear up.

[Kevin]

Finally got the opportunity to see The Good Dinosaur:

 

Overall, it was very good. Not as good as Inside Out in my opinion, but it has both its adorable and emotional moments. Some scenes including the ending, which I personally didn't see coming managed to get me teary eyed.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Kevin

[...]

The Good Dinosaur dropped -$60.4% on its second weekend, the largest second weekend drop for a Pixar film. That's even more than Cars 2.

Honestly, I'm not surprised by this. Film's way too thematic for children, there's been tons of competition during the Thanksgiving season and the response to the film has been lukewarm at best. I saw it myself this Saturday and really didn't like it much myself. Visuals and music are fantastic, everything else is trite. Easily one of Pixar's weakest, I even liked the first Cars movie much better than this.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Felix

[dabbido]

Well that's sad to hear, to me it was definitely not one of Pixar's finest films, but still.. it was visually breathtaking, very emotional and just a lot of fun overall.  To me at least xD. I'd definitely place it above Cars 1 & 2 , Bugs Life and Brave.

[Johnny Boy]

60%? Sheesh, at this rate it'll be lucky if it breaks even domestically. And I doubt that'll happen with Star Wars right around the corner.

[Nepenthe]

I feel like Pixar is in a quagmire where their pedigree ensures they can't do simpler stories without being accused of having instead screwed up. The Good Dinosaur is simple, but that simplicity is inoffensive and instead compliments the focus on meeting weird people, each of whom exist to service the theme of fear, and addressing the vast landscapes Arlo finds himself lost in. My absolute biggest complaint is that they actually didn't go far enough in letting the audience immerse themselves in the wilderness, more akin to some of the stuff out of Interstellar or a Miyazaki film. I would have enjoyed some little time for the film's pacing to be slowed down through contemplative shots of just wind blowing through the grass or clouds moving, and how Arlo and Spot are kind of making due within it.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Pixar's awesome reputation can be a weakness sometimes. People expect every film to be a masterpiece. For example, I thought Brave was really good myself, but it seems to be judged much more critically based on people's expectations of Pixar.

I'm not sure if I'll watch TGD since I'm not much of a movie person anyway. Maybe when I can get it on DVD from the library

[pppp]

One thing I don't hear anything talk about is how great the score is:

The Danna brothers(One of them won an oscar and a golden globe for the score of Life of Pi) are 2 of the most underrated composers out there, their music is drenched in atmosphere.

[Gabz Girl]

Here's why TGD is underperforming at the box office; marketing was almost non-existent and said marketing didn't appeal to anyone (including myself, sorta). Could also be word of mouth.

So here's my short review of the film. It was...eh, alright. I would give it 3.5 stars but now I'm considering just 3 after thinking about it for a week. Visually, the landscapes are breath taking while the dinosaurs themselves often look out of place due to their cartoony designs. I know what they're going for, but Arlo and his family look so fucking awkward. Spot looks fine though! The music is also very nice and Arlo and Spot's relationship is really sweet.

Acid trip scene came out of nowhere though, I mean wtf.

Besides that, I can't think of anything else positive to say. Story is a bunch of clichés stolen from The Lion King and The Land Before Time, the whole "what if?" scenario of dinosaurs and humans living together goes absolutely nowhere and the characters, besides Arlo, Spot and even the T-Rex family at a push, have BARELY any personality! Also, what's with the lack of interesting dinos in this film? There's only like...five species. And whyyyy do Apatosaurus keep chickens? WHAT FOR? And why did Arlo

give Spot away to that human family? I know they wanted to adopt him, but couldn't they have made some kind of pact to see each other again? And why does Arlo put his foot on the silo when he didn't earn his blabla cliché thing?

And WHY IS THE FILM CALLED THE GOOD DINOSAUR

Yeahhhh this isn't great. I think it's more enjoyable to watch than Brave, but it's definitely in the low mid-tier of Pixar films for me. It's alright, but I won't re watch it for a long time.

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by Gabz Girl

[Agie]

I was gonna see this with my nephews and siblings...but one nephew got scared while watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and there was concern that this film would be too intense for him.

So we showed them the Peanuts movie instead, since the showing they were supposed to have with other family members didn't work out.

Edited December 11, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[ElectricAngel]

So I watched The Good Dinosaur yesterday, and I thought it was really good! I don't see why some people are hesitant on watching it or giving it bad reviews? I think Pixar did a fantastic job with the visuals and music. I was scared the CGI would not blend well, with the super realistic environments and the cartoony dinosaurs but it ended up meshing well. The story also wasn't something new or different, but the way they told it I think made up for it's sameness. This film knows when to be silent, and how to explain certain things to the audience with just music or just visuals. I'm talking more about the ending scene, where in most movies like this they would've gone a very typical, overplayed route, but Pixar went the Pixar route, if you know what I mean.

I will say that it wasn't like Inside Out where I was constantly involved and trying to guess what they would do next, and just loving every moment, but that doesn't mean The Good Dinosaur is bad by any means. One thing I will congratulate Pixar on is the fact that they took risks. They were not afraid to show just how cruel the dinosaur world can be, and I'll admit some scenes startled me a bit, gave me goosebumps and just feelings of "Ewewewew. Noooo!" and I can see some younger kids getting a little disturbed or scared at times. But I still see that as a good thing. They're not downplaying the story or fluffing it up for kids like Walt Disney Animation Studios these days. They're taking risks, and that's something I've been waiting WDAS to do for a while now. 

Now, the short film that played before the film was... alright. I didn't see anything particularly special in it. The art style was okay and the CGI was nice. I even got some Wind Waker vibes out of one scene where they had it cel-shaded. It's.. something, I guess. It was cute how it was based off a (mostly) true story and to honour two people, but I can't say it impressed me much. But that's me with every Pixar short film. I just can't get too much into them. 

But anyway, would I recommend this movie? Absolutely. It's Pixar! They hardly ever go wrong. The Good Dinosaur is miles better than Cars 2 and Brave, and although the story is simple, it still takes enough risks and manages to show us some beautiful animation and a provide a well-fitting soundtrack, that I think it's worth watching.  

[pppp]

One thing I will congratulate Pixar on is the fact that they took risks. They were not afraid to show just how cruel the dinosaur world can be, and I'll admit some scenes startled me a bit, gave me goosebumps and just feelings of "Ewewewew. Noooo!" and I can see some younger kids getting a little disturbed or scared at times. But I still see that as a good thing. They're not downplaying the story or fluffing it up for kids like Walt Disney Animation Studios these days. They're taking risks, and that's something I've been waiting WDAS to do for a while now.

You're forgetting how in Tangled we see Mother Gothel stab Flynn and we even see the blood. I also don't see how a studio that has been making nothing but original movies in recent years and is gonna keep doing it despite the Frozen sequel, is taking less risks than a studio who had their first truly original film since 2009 this year(I enjoyed Brave, but its a collection of Disney Princess movie cliches), and is gonna make nothing but sequels for the next few years.

[ElectricAngel]

You're forgetting how in Tangled we see Mother Gothel stab Flynn and we even see the blood. I also don't see how a studio that has been making nothing but original movies in recent years and is gonna keep doing it despite the Frozen sequel, is taking less risks than a studio who had their first truly original film since 2009 this year(I enjoyed Brave, but its a collection of Disney Princess movie cliches), and is gonna make nothing but sequels for the next few years.

Well I'm not talking much about disturbing scenes. I'm taking more about advancing animation. Should've been more clear. With Pixar, every new movie has a noticeable advancement in CGI. But with Walt Disney Animation Studios, ever since Tangled I've only noticed a small advancement in the hair. :L And they're not really experimental like Pixar. They're playing it safe with both the type of models they use in their movies and with the animation. 

[pppp]

Well I'm not talking much about disturbing scenes. I'm taking more about advancing animation. Should've been more clear. With Pixar, every new movie has a noticeable advancement in CGI. But with Walt Disney Animation Studios, ever since Tangled I've only noticed a small advancement in the hair. :L And they're not really experimental like Pixar. They're playing it safe with both the type of models they use in their movies and with the animation. 

Meh. Story's more important, Brave looks absolutely gorgeous but nobody cared about that cause it was bland. I appreciate that unlike Pixar(Again aside from Inside Out) Disney focuses more on giving us refreshing concepts like Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia over making their movies look prettier visually. Yes Brave and The Good Dinosaur look beautiful, but nobody even thinks about Brave anymore and the same thing will unavoidably happen with The Good Dinosaur. On the other hand, Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph are still remembered and beloved by many despite CGI being inferior to Brave and TGD. Story is what will make movies stand the test of time, and sadly TGD and Brave don't really have a good enough story for that. I think TGD will be a very good childhood movie for children of this generation, but once they grow up and find out about Land Before Time and The Lion King(Not a fan of that movie and I do prefer TGD, but I admit TLK is more memorable) they're probably gonna forget about it. Another great example from Pixar themselves is Toy Story 1. It looks primitive by today's standards, but people still remember it, rewatch it and talk about how they love the characters and the creative story, and kids today who see it love it too. Nobody really talks about how bad the humans look cause they're engaged by the story.

What Pixar needs to do is start focusing on making refreshing and memorable stories first and advancing CGI second, cause clearly doing the opposite with Brave and now TGD clearly isn't working out. Look how much more money Inside Out made, there's a reason, people saw how unique and interesting it looked and went to see it. With TGD they saw how it looked like many other animated movies and just skipped it.

[Dantemustdie00]

Yeah, I thought Brave was the weakest out of all the Princess themed movies.

And damn, too bad for TGD, honestly I was never interested in the movie at all, seemed rather "meh" compared to the movies before it just from the trailers.

[pppp]

Yeah, I thought Brave was the weakest out of all the Princess themed movies.

And damn, too bad for TGD, honestly I was never interested in the movie at all, seemed rather "meh" compared to the movies before it just from the trailers.

And here's living proof of what I'm saying.

[Nepenthe]

Story can be considered somewhat secondary to marketability if we're talking strictly about box office sales and memorability. The most discussed CGI movies that have come out of Disney recently have simply been the ones with the most significant marketing campaigns. Tangled is fondly remembered but not actually all that merchandised and talked about, despite being a much better movie and musical than Frozen (which, I need to remind people, is the most profitable fucking animated film of all time). The reason for this is because Disney changed Tangled's name and was ashamed of showing off a movie with a female protagonist so much because "omg boys" that no one even knew it was a musical until they went to see it. But Frozen Fever has been and is still inescapable; there's a new Olaf toy coming out every week it seems.

Compare Inside Out to Good Dinosaur in a similar vain. Inside Out was everywhere in terms of just the TV ad space alone. Disney even made reaction videos to Star Wars featuring the emotions. Meanwhile, Good Dinosaur had like...one Subway ad that I remember...and a few toy commercials. S'bout it. I told my mom the first time I went to the theater that that was what me and my friend were going to see and she was like "Huh? The Good Dinosaur?... There's a new Pixar movie coming out?!" If Disney can catapult Frozen- again Frozen- to the status of the best-performing animated film of all time, then there's no reason TGD shouldn't have made its money back easier.

Let's take this outside of Disney to hammer the point home. While Frozen is the first highest-grossing animated movie of all time, Minions is in the number 2 spot. 

Minions.

Guys.... Minions.

Are you going to sit here and tell me that fucking Minions is a better movie than The Good Dinosaur?

[pppp]

Minions made alot of money cause toddlers who still have no standards love them. That and some old people love them too and took their grandkids. I meet alot of senior people in my job and alot of them like alot of crappy kids movies cause it doesn't take a lot to amuse them, plus they get to take their grandkids to it. My mom for example loves the Minions and she's in her 50s.

It's like the Bayformers movies, they take advantage of people that don't know any better or just don't care and just want silly nonsense that makes funny noises.

[Nepenthe]

Which goes back to my point that a a story's quality doesn't directly correlate with financial success, thus attributing The Good Dinosaur's lacking performance to its story and nothing else isn't particularly deep insight.

[Agie]

I've seen too many great works get outsold by less-deserving stuff, so I agree, Nepenthe. I agree all to much...

Edited December 15, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[pppp]

The Good Dinosaur stands in a middle ground between Inside Out and Minions: It's not daring or sophisticated enough to attract grown up animation fans(Aside from the Pixar faithful like myself), and it hasn't enough fart jokes, cute characters doing funny noises and wacky shenenigans to appeal to the dumb crowd. Because of that it alieanated most movie going audiences.

Edited December 15, 2015 by pppp