Are Pixar really as good as everyone says? • Non-Gaming • Film • Eurogamer.net

Lukus 6 Jan 2018 21:16:41 24,639 posts
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Hear me out...

They're obviously good, with the occasional gem of a film (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3 and The Incredibles are stone cold classics), but I don't think they're quite as fantastic as it has become fashionable to say.

I'm certain half of the prestige simply comes from CG feature films being a relatively new development in the scheme of things, so there's an extra layer of excitement and novelty that used to come with them.

Wall E and Up are good, but their first halves are so much better than their second halves, which just devolve into predictable chase high-jinx.

Finding Nemo was overrated. Monsters Inc was OK... This new film looks pretty shite.

I'd argue in fact that Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon (but not the sequels) are as good as anything that Pixar have produced.

*Braces self*

richarddavies 6 Jan 2018 21:19:54 8,312 posts
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Die hard I'd well better than finding Nemo. How many terrorists does nemos dad fuck up? None, that's how many. Little prick.

Edited by richarddavies at 21:20:06 06-01-2018

Boriska 6 Jan 2018 21:22:42 1,015 posts
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People have different opinions.

up_the_ante 6 Jan 2018 21:49:10 1,574 posts
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All the Cars movies are crap. Well I've only seen the first one and it was crap, and the others are supposedly worse. I'll happily believe that toys come to life when you close the door and a rat can become a chef. But for the whole Cars movie I was thinking why the fuck are they making cars behave like humans? This whole premise of this film is just stupid.

Fab4 6 Jan 2018 21:50:01 8,924 posts
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Ratatouille, Monsters Inc and Inside Out are all excellent.

Dirtbox 6 Jan 2018 21:56:21 92,595 posts
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I hate quite a few pixar films. They're the most divisive, manipulative emotional rollercoasters and I really am not a fan of sentimentality, which is their one sledgehammer that they beat the story to death with. And the stories are all extremely basic.

Can't fault them on the technical front, and I appreciate what they do artistically, but I really don't like their means to tell a story.

Mola_Ram 6 Jan 2018 21:57:57 26,187 posts
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They were spectacularly good until they got bought by Disney and started making more sequels. They're not terrible now or anything (Coco was excellent), but the golden years have passed.

Edited by Mola_Ram at 21:58:34 06-01-2018

Rogueywon 6 Jan 2018 21:59:08 12,387 posts
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They're hit and miss. They've made a few really good ones; the first two Toy Story movies, Ratatouille and Up in particular. They've also made, as Dirtbox says, a few films which are just unsubtle emotional manipulation.

I think they're on a downward trend now. You only stay on top of this game for so long. Even Studio Ghibli are a shadow of their former selves (and barely even a functioning company any more).

That said, some of Pixar's animated shorts are really great. They don't get the attention the feature movies do, but some of them are excellent.

Dirtbox 6 Jan 2018 22:06:18 92,595 posts
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Thinking about it, my single biggest gripe is that they don't bother writing a good story as they just cram as much characterisation and set pieces as they need to distract from it.

There isn't one story that you can't sum up in a 6 word sentence.

up_the_ante 6 Jan 2018 22:18:47 1,574 posts
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Dirtbox wrote:
Thinking about it, my single biggest gripe is that they don't bother writing a good story as they just cram as much characterisation and set pieces as they need to distract from it.

There isn't one story that you can't sum up in a 6 word sentence.

They are for kids remember

Mola_Ram 6 Jan 2018 22:22:56 26,187 posts
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I'm struggling to think of any film story that couldn't be basically summed up in 6 sentences. That's an interesting challenge!

Tonka 6 Jan 2018 22:24:58 31,979 posts
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They were trailblazers and that's why they're so revered. Plus, many of their films are good.

But it's mostly that they were the first to make it big with feature-length CGI movies.

Deleted user 6 January 2018 22:28:05

Their films run the gamut between excellent and a bit poo but it's not unfashionable to call them out on it. Cars drew a lot of ire critically despite being a commercial success and their star has been either waning or waxing in the intervening years.

monkman76 6 Jan 2018 22:28:52 18,987 posts
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@Mola_Ram He said a six-word sentence. That's quite a difference!

Malek86 6 Jan 2018 22:30:58 12,331 posts
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@monkman76 still not that difficult. Most movies can be summed up like that.

Except Ghost in the Shell.

Edited by Malek86 at 22:31:52 06-01-2018

Mola_Ram 6 Jan 2018 22:33:21 26,187 posts
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monkman76 wrote:
@Mola_Ram He said a six-word sentence. That's quite a difference!

Oh. Whoops, don't know why I read it like that. :/

Yeah, that would be significantly tougher. I'd still like to try it for some movies, though.

Dougs 6 Jan 2018 22:41:37 100,414 posts
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I'd add Monsters Inc to the classics pile. University not so much.

oldschoolsoviet 6 Jan 2018 22:43:15 6,968 posts
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Malek86 wrote:
@monkman76 still not that difficult. Most movies can be summed up like that.

Except Ghost in the Shell.

Philosophical introspective* on humanity through cybernetics ?
Eh, *examination or similar might be better.

Edited by oldschoolsoviet at 22:44:41 06-01-2018

Malek86 6 Jan 2018 22:50:06 12,331 posts
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@oldschoolsoviet that's not bad, but I was thinking more like

Turns out humans can't open tanks

Zomoniac 6 Jan 2018 23:01:19 10,628 posts
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I thought they�d lost it completely having put out nothing of much merit save for Toy Story 3 in a decade, but then they went and did Inside Out, which is a masterpiece, but it definitely seems like the anomaly these days.

Given that Disney�s in house CGI team have recently put out Frozen (which I think is overrated but its financial success is unparalleled in animation) and Moana (which may be my all time favourite Disney film) I wouldn�t be surprised if in a few years Disney Studios is seen as the A team and Pixar the B team.

Lukus 6 Jan 2018 23:04:26 24,639 posts
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Frozen is a big pile of wank. Honestly, I tried watching it with an open mind a couple of years back and it's horseshit. The editing is all over the place, there's no sense of the progression of time, it's not funny, the characters are all twats. But at least there's no chase scene. Or maybe there is. I lost interest.

Rogueywon 6 Jan 2018 23:05:29 12,387 posts
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Lukus wrote:
Frozen

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE

LET THE GALAXY BURN

oldschoolsoviet 6 Jan 2018 23:09:21 6,968 posts
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Malek86 wrote:
@oldschoolsoviet that's not bad, but I was thinking more like

Turns out humans can't open tanks

But she/Major/Kusanagi isn't human. Aha ! Or is she, despite being a digital personality in a cyborg body ? Oh, lawd, here we go......

Edited by oldschoolsoviet at 23:10:35 06-01-2018

senso-ji 6 Jan 2018 23:10:12 10,271 posts
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They are big on characters, but that's because they are owned by Disney, who want to squeeze as much merchandising out of each film as they can. If you look at the 'art of' books, it's no coincidence that their designers have a children's book aesthetic (which doesn't always translate to CGI).

I think I stopped watching their films after Brave. The first half was great, but then descended into a bland slapstick comedy. I found out later that the original director was fired halfway through production, and it showed. I guess a film about girl empowerment was too heavy handed for Disney at the time, so they switched it and made sure there was plenty of loud, OT characters hitting each over the head with sticks.

RichDC 6 Jan 2018 23:13:31 9,177 posts
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richarddavies wrote:
Die hard I'd well better than finding Nemo. How many terrorists does nemos dad fuck up? None, that's how many. Little prick.

Exactly as many terrorists as McClane fucks up then.

Dirtbox 6 Jan 2018 23:19:43 92,595 posts
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up_the_ante wrote:

Dirtbox wrote:
Thinking about it, my single biggest gripe is that they don't bother writing a good story as they just cram as much characterisation and set pieces as they need to distract from it.

There isn't one story that you can't sum up in a 6 word sentence.
They are for kids remember

So? You try summing Snow White and the 7 Dwarves up in 6 words. Or Fantasia, or Alice in Wonderland, or Robin Hood or any of the other Dysney classics that were also made for kids.

Deleted user 6 January 2018 23:24:16

RichDC wrote:

richarddavies wrote:
Die hard I'd well better than finding Nemo. How many terrorists does nemos dad fuck up? None, that's how many. Little prick.
Exactly as many terrorists as McClane fucks up then.

Top pedanting!

Rodney 7 Jan 2018 00:00:32 5,029 posts
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Pixar are fairly middle of the road now, I think. They havent made anything great since Toy Story 3/Wall-E

If I had to put together a list of the best animated films in the last 10 years (Lego Movie, Moana) then I don't think it would include any Pixar films

Mola_Ram 7 Jan 2018 00:11:57 26,187 posts
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Rodney wrote:
Pixar are fairly middle of the road now, I think. They havent made anything great since Toy Story 3/Wall-E

If I had to put together a list of the best animated films in the last 10 years (Lego Movie, Moana) then I don't think it would include any Pixar films

Both Toy Story 3 and Wall-E came out less than 10 years ago. So did Up.

IronGiant 7 Jan 2018 00:32:17 6,352 posts
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Inside Out is great, they should have canned Cars after the first one. I'm keen to watch Coco though, looks good.

Regarding the recent Disney movies I was totally bored by Moana.. so were the kids, they would have left half way through if I'd let them. They loved Zootopia and enjoy Frozen, my daughter used to watch it on a regular basis.