Why is Pixar so much better than Dreamworks at CGI films?

[tron3]

Story, plot and people. Period. While I enjoy that bit of edgy "adult" material Dreamworks uses, Pixar just tells a better story. CGI wise, they both do a great job.

I believe Pixar just has a soul. I like the celebs and character voices much more. They just seem more, well, human. Dreamworks has great voices too, but when you have a tool like Jack Black (albeit, a talented tool) doing the voice of a cute Panda, the movie just is missing something.

Scumbag celebs doing "family friendly" movies just doesn't fool my gut reaction. I like Shrek a whole lot, but almost anything Pixar is most desired by me. Anyone like Dreamworks better?

[CampbellzSoup]

Dreamworks is like McDonalds, and Pixar is more of a 5 star resturant.

There seems to be no quality control over there.

[sdenfeld]

Originally Posted by CampbellzSoup

Dreamworks is like McDonalds, and Pixar is more of a 5 star resturant.

There seems to be no quality control over there.

That is one of the best analogies I've ever heard! Sometimes you are in the mood for McDonalds, but you usually feel unfulfilled or even a bit sick afterwards. And after the 3rd time eating the same thing at McDonalds, you really start to feel bad (I'm looking at you, Shrek 3).

[BirdManJr]

Well dreamworks also does movies.

i liked madagascar and part 2 looks good...My son always runs around the house saying (i like to move it move it) lol i always get a kick out of that,
We also like to watch Antz alot.

kung fu panda....shrek 1 and 2...not 3...
shark tale was ok.
I did like bee movie somewhat too.

But cars, finding nemo and incredibles blow all that away.

Movies my son has in rotation

cars
ice age 2
antz
madagascar

Pretty much those 4 over and over until i hide them and he has to pick something different.

[Tsmith13]

Cars, Ratatouille, & Meet the Robinsons

Some of the best Blu-Rays if not theee best out.

[Batman00]

Originally Posted by Tsmith13

Cars, Ratatouille, & Meet the Robinsons

Some of the best Blu-Rays if not theee best out.

Meet the robinsons is Disney not Pixar, but still an awesome movie

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by tron3

Story, plot and people. Period. While I enjoy that bit of edgy "adult" material Dreamworks uses, Pixar just tells a better story.

You know, piss, dick, and fart jokes aren't really "adult" or "edgy" -- more like late 3rd grade to middle school.

CGI wise, they both do a great job.

Pixar *buries* Dreamworks when it comes to character animation, with possible exceptions of Madagascar and Over the Hedge, both of which featured some wonderful work.

I believe Pixar just has a soul.

I call that "sincerity". That's the distinction. DreamWorks is like a 15 year old trying to act more grown up than he is, so emotion and sincerity is viewed as borderline anathema...PIXAR is like a college graduate who could care less about trying to look cool to the tweener and high school crowd -- they make films from the heart, and they connect.

[alexakajeff]

Pixar is best with animation. Nobody can top Pixar.

[jmlalit5]

Originally Posted by alexakajeff

Pixar is best with animation. Nobody can top Pixar.

Yeah, the animation just comes naturally to them. As for plot, they themselves say at Pixar "Story is king" and I'm so glad they get that. Any movie can be great visually but it takes something truly special to make a great plot with characters that are so full of life.

[reginaroadie]

You know, I was actually thinking about this recently. I'll agree that Pixar is without a doubt on the top of the animation mountain. And they always say that at Pixar, "story is key". And it's gotten to the point where in terms of what their weakest films are, it's all subjective and comes down to personal taste. While everyone is big on THE INCREDIBLES and WALL-E, I personally think FINDING NEMO is their best work, hands down, no substitutions.

But the thing with Pixar is that genius is always the order of the day. And for me, personally, it's starting to get a bit predictable. While everyone liked WALL-E, I found it to be average. I really didn't need all the group of robots as Wall-E's entourage. And the "biting satire" of the story is something I've seen before. I kinda had the same problem with THE INCREDIBLES, in that it was basically a G-Rated version of WATCHMEN. Plus, in comparison to PERSEPOLIS, it's "ballsiness" seemed quaint in comparison. But luckily, I get the sense that even the Pixar people themselves seem to sense this, and of the various projects announced and their plans, I really would like for them to do something new. I'd love to see them do a 2D animated film. I'd like to see them do JOHN CARTER OF MARS or a live action film.

Now with Dreamworks, they're hit and miss. More misses than actual hits. But when they do hit, they hit hard and make something truly memorable. I was more impressed with KUNG FU PANDA then I was of WALL-E this summer, maybe because my expectations were lower. I think we were all expecting another SHARK TALE, but they had a film with a real story, the celebrity voices actually gave the characters identity and depth, as opposed to just "guess the voice", the action sequences were amazing, and the humor was based in character and story and not pop culture gags. I think it was their most accomplished work since the first SHREK, which even after the third film, still has power. Just think of the montage that uses Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" so perfectly.

[mikejet]

Pixar makes movies with LOVE. It's true.

[mustang-gt-2002]

I'm 38 and I LOVE TOONS. yes pixar is the best of all. they have the best storys of all. I cant think of one movie I dont like by pixar. now disney CGI is the worset of all THE WILD was horrible I dont have it. but some times I want somthing bad. I mean adult humor funny bad. I did not like shrek 2 it was to soft and slow. I liked shrek 1 for the adult humor. I have a total of 22 animated movies out of my 51 Blu-rays the reast are mostly SCI-FI.

[dinoslino]

Why is Pixar so much better than Dreamworks at CGI?

Maybe because of 10 years head start

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pixar_films

Cheers

[Verbal]

Two words describe Pixar:

Story first.

[Verbal]

Originally Posted by reginaroadie

You know, I was actually thinking about this recently. I'll agree that Pixar is without a doubt on the top of the animation mountain. And they always say that at Pixar, "story is key". And it's gotten to the point where in terms of what their weakest films are, it's all subjective and comes down to personal taste. While everyone is big on THE INCREDIBLES and WALL-E, I personally think FINDING NEMO is their best work, hands down, no substitutions.

But the thing with Pixar is that genius is always the order of the day. And for me, personally, it's starting to get a bit predictable. While everyone liked WALL-E, I found it to be average. I really didn't need all the group of robots as Wall-E's entourage. And the "biting satire" of the story is something I've seen before. I kinda had the same problem with THE INCREDIBLES, in that it was basically a G-Rated version of WATCHMEN. Plus, in comparison to PERSEPOLIS, it's "ballsiness" seemed quaint in comparison. But luckily, I get the sense that even the Pixar people themselves seem to sense this, and of the various projects announced and their plans, I really would like for them to do something new. I'd love to see them do a 2D animated film. I'd like to see them do JOHN CARTER OF MARS or a live action film.

Now with Dreamworks, they're hit and miss. More misses than actual hits. But when they do hit, they hit hard and make something truly memorable. I was more impressed with KUNG FU PANDA then I was of WALL-E this summer, maybe because my expectations were lower. I think we were all expecting another SHARK TALE, but they had a film with a real story, the celebrity voices actually gave the characters identity and depth, as opposed to just "guess the voice", the action sequences were amazing, and the humor was based in character and story and not pop culture gags. I think it was their most accomplished work since the first SHREK, which even after the third film, still has power. Just think of the montage that uses Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" so perfectly.

I do love how, in this post, you scorn Pixar for doing things with WALL-E that you've "seen before", and yet the decidedly derivative Kung Fu Panda gets a pass in that respect.

I found Kung Fu Panda to be entertaining, but ultimately it was nothing more than a toned-down version of Kung Fu Hustle with a fat panda in the lead role.

WALL-E, on the other hand, was entertaining, intelligent, timely and extremely moving.

[VHS4Ever]

Originally Posted by reginaroadie

You know, I was actually thinking about this recently. I'll agree that Pixar is without a doubt on the top of the animation mountain. And they always say that at Pixar, "story is key". And it's gotten to the point where in terms of what their weakest films are, it's all subjective and comes down to personal taste. While everyone is big on THE INCREDIBLES and WALL-E, I personally think FINDING NEMO is their best work, hands down, no substitutions.

But the thing with Pixar is that genius is always the order of the day. And for me, personally, it's starting to get a bit predictable. While everyone liked WALL-E, I found it to be average. I really didn't need all the group of robots as Wall-E's entourage. And the "biting satire" of the story is something I've seen before. I kinda had the same problem with THE INCREDIBLES, in that it was basically a G-Rated version of WATCHMEN. Plus, in comparison to PERSEPOLIS, it's "ballsiness" seemed quaint in comparison. But luckily, I get the sense that even the Pixar people themselves seem to sense this, and of the various projects announced and their plans, I really would like for them to do something new. I'd love to see them do a 2D animated film. I'd like to see them do JOHN CARTER OF MARS or a live action film.

Now with Dreamworks, they're hit and miss. More misses than actual hits. But when they do hit, they hit hard and make something truly memorable. I was more impressed with KUNG FU PANDA then I was of WALL-E this summer, maybe because my expectations were lower. I think we were all expecting another SHARK TALE, but they had a film with a real story, the celebrity voices actually gave the characters identity and depth, as opposed to just "guess the voice", the action sequences were amazing, and the humor was based in character and story and not pop culture gags. I think it was their most accomplished work since the first SHREK, which even after the third film, still has power. Just think of the montage that uses Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" so perfectly.

Totally agree with you. Wall-E was meh. Not one of their best.

[VHS4Ever]

Originally Posted by Verbal

Two words describe Pixar:

Story first.

Some of their animated movies are great but sometimes they get too cocky. Met one of their lead animators and all he did was brag about how great Pixar was compared to the other studios. He also criticized a lot of the other studios too. I think Pixar is pretty good right now but Dreamworks and Disney are catching up pretty quick.

[Verbal]

Originally Posted by VHS4Ever

Totally agree with you. Wall-E was meh. Not one of their best.

You are of course entitled to your opinion, but I thought it important to point out how strongly the critical consensus (and that of the moviegoing public) disagrees with you...this film has scored an 8.7/10 on the IMDb (30th on their Top 250 list) and is the top-reviewed major motion picture of 2008 on Rotten Tomatoes.

The IMDb rating alone shows the public feels it is by far Pixar's best film ever...their next-highest-rated film is Ratatouille, with an 8.1/10 and a rank of 142nd on the Top 250.

[Verbal]

Originally Posted by VHS4Ever

Some of their animated movies are great but sometimes they get too cocky. Met one of their lead animators and all he did was brag about how great Pixar was compared to the other studios. He also criticized a lot of the other studios too. I think Pixar is pretty good right now but Dreamworks and Disney are catching up pretty quick.

Ummm...Pixar is Disney.

In fact, Pixar is essentially running Disney, with John Lasseter (one of Pixar's founders) having been named Chief Operating Officer of both Disney and Pixar in early 2006. Lasseter has been instrumental in reviving Disney's 2-D animation studios.

As for Dreamworks Animation, as long as they keep putting out garbage like Shrek the Third, they're not fit to clean Pixar's toilets. It's a shame too, because the first Shrek was actually quite good.

[Seretur]

Well, there's a reason why Pixar is running Disney NOW, isn't it?

...and why Jeffrey Katzenberg isn't, by the same token. It's all actually quite amusing.