Pixar, the best production company ever...discuss

[STARSCREAM]

Never really thought about it but now that you mention it their run thus far is incredible. The two best have to be Lucasfilm and Pixar.

[Good Intentions]

Pixar can definitely be called the best production company of this generation. Everything they touch turns to gold. Sorry to all the Lucas fans, it is no longer the 20th century.

[GORT]

Originally Posted by cembros

didnt lucasfilm release howard the duck???

Lucas created Pixiar.

[cembros]

Originally Posted by GORT

Lucas created Pixiar.

he created the technology, had nothing to do with any of the movies

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by cembros

he created the technology, had nothing to do with any of the movies

His point was he created the company, had he not created the company none of these films would have been mande (or would have been made in a significantly different fashion).

Originally Posted by cembros

Theres no reason why a movie cant be nominated and win in the best picture and the best animated picture. Right?

You can't be nominated for both, if its an animated feature it can only be nominated for best animated picture.



As everyone seems to be listing there favourite Pixar films:
1) Ratatouille: 10/10
2) Wall-E: 10/10
3) Toy Story 2: 9.5/10
4) The Incredibles: 9/10
5) Monsters Inc: 9/10
6) Toy Story: 8.5/10
7) Finding Nemo: 7.5/10
8) Cars: 6/10
9) A Bugs Life: 6/10

If anyone cant tell, I really like Pixar movies and have only been let down twice (by the bottom two films), though I still enjoyed them a lot. Can't wait for Up. (I actually thought that because they are now realesing a film a year the quality would decrease, but its just gotten even better ).

[Ernest Rister]

You can't be nominated for both, if its an animated feature it can only be nominated for best animated picture.

That's not true. There is no Academy rule that states an animated film that receives a nomination for Best Animated Feature cannot also be nominated for Best Picture.

[Monkey]

Ratatouille is my favorite by far.

[cembros]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

His point was he created the company, had he not created the company none of these films would have been mande (or would have been made in a significantly different fashion).



You can't be nominated for both, if its an animated feature it can only be nominated for best animated picture.
.

ya i see his point, but lucasfilm has still made some duds while pixar has not. And are you sure about the academy rules

[assydingo]

Well I didn't like Wall-E because of how it switches to save the earth in the middle... but it was really well made. And Ratatouille didn't appeal to me a lot but still well done and maybe if I watched it a second time I'd like it

Still a very strong record and never really bad movies, just movies that not everyone loves.

[Joe Cain]

Originally Posted by cembros

ya i see his point, but lucasfilm has still made some duds while pixar has not. And are you sure about the academy rules

There's nothing specifically disqualifying an animated film from nomination for Best Picture; the rules for nomination govern the film's qualifying theatrical run, length, and film or digital format.

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

That's not true. There is no Academy rule that states an animated film that receives a nomination for Best Animated Feature cannot also be nominated for Best Picture.

Originally Posted by cembros

ya i see his point, but lucasfilm has still made some duds while pixar has not. And are you sure about the academy rules

I'm not sure about that statement though i'm fairly confident, I remember a comment made by ebert and roeper regarding this when they reviewed Finding Nemo. Even if it is not, I would argue at the very least that it is an unwritten 'rule'.

I agree about Lucasfilms, its very, very good, but when its been around as long as it has, its bound to have some duds.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times

I'm not sure about that statement though i'm fairly confident.

You're wrong. There is no rule.

I remember a comment made by ebert and roeper regarding this when they reviewed Finding Nemo. Even if it is not, I would argue at the very least that it is an unwritten 'rule'.

The problem with having the category "Best Animated Feature" is that it makes it harder for animated films to receive votes in the Best Picutre category. There is no rule, unwritten or otherwise, that prohibits an animated feature from landing in the Best Picture Category. Remember Life is Beautiful winning Best Foreign Language Film and also landing a Best Picture Nod? Same thing.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Thing is, this medium of CGI feature animation is so young, there's no telling what we'll be seeing when people grow tired of the funny talking animal shtick. People will eventually ask, is there more? It will be interesting to see how the CGI studios answer that question.

I already have. With the limitless boundaries of CGI, there can only be much, much more to come.

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Everyone here, for the most part, can acknowledge that there is a level of genius at Pixar that has yet to be matched in their niche. A couple things I often ponder about Pixar are...

1. Could/would/should they step outside of their comfort zone? They are masters at the kid targeted, adult pleasing, happy family movie. But we all know that animation can be just as powerfull when telling a story as live action. Waltz with Bashir, Akira, Grave of the Fireflies, Persepolis and Paprika are just a tiny example of what is available. Could Pixar make a serious drama...and should they?

2. Hire more talent damn it. One movie per year isnt cutting it for me. If Pixar could recruit more talent and produce two movies per year, would they lose the magic? Can upper management keep the vibe right if the shop gets too big?

I'd like to see them take a stab at a serious movie and I would love 2 movies per year.

Am I the only one? If you think its a bad idea, please share, and why.

Please discuss.

[Gaius Marius]

Originally Posted by ckent22

I hope that one of their films will soon get a Best Picture win at the Oscars. They deserve it as much as anyone.

I thought WALL-E was a deserving candidate, but I'm afraid that won't ever happen. The closed minded academy created the "Best Animated Feature" to seperate the "mere cartoons" from the true "best picture" contenders. For some reason, animation just gets the shaft in this country. I guess it is still viewed as children's entertainment. It is a real shame as Pixar's movies are better than most "best picture" winners.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Pixar is on a different level, and are certainly making a run for history. I wonder sometimes if John or Ed ever take a look at Bambi, The Three Caballeros and Fantasia, and wonder if they could make sustained films without taut, focused narratives. The fierce devotion to story has surely put their modern competitors to shame, but I'm not sure if they can be called the "best of all time" when they haven't really tried to tackle any abstract, non-linear material in the mode of Fischinger, Disney or Miyazaki. I can't tell you how excited I was in Ratatouille to see Remy's joy of smell expressed in Fantasia-Intermission-esque color and moving form. Can Pixar make films like Fantasia, Caballeros, My Neighbor Totoro? No doubt they could. Question is, I suppose, is if they should. Until then, I'm more tempted to compare them to the Termite Terrace boys than I am the ecelectic Disney studio under Walt, or the more theme-and-character centric films of Miyazai.

Thing is, this medium of CGI feature animation is so young, there's no telling what we'll be seeing when people grow tired of the funny talking animal shtick. People will eventually ask, is there more? It will be interesting to see how the CGI studios answer that question.

You know, while Pixar has yet to do anything in the vein of Fantasia, I still think they do take some risks worth acknowledging. For one, I thought what they did with Wall.E was pretty risk taking by telling so much of the story with virtually no dialogue. While this is certainly not revolutionary, it is considered a risk seeing as how Pixar's largest demographic is still children. I could see a risk in that kids could get bored with this brand of story telling. The same could be said about Ratatouille. The movie tackled the subject of cooking with a surprising amount of detail and intellect. A subject in which I would say most kids are not that interested in.

[Steelmaker]

Here's how I would rate the Pixar movies up to this point....

1.) Wall.E - 10/10
2.) Finding Nemo - 10/10
3.) The Incredibles - 9.75/10
4.) Ratatouille - 9.75/10
5.) Toy Story 2 - 9.5/10
6.) Toy Story - 9/10
7.) Monsters Inc - 9/10
8.) A Bug's Life - 8.5/10
9.) Cars - 8/10

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by toefer

Weird, someone else that actually likes Cars.

Hey I really enjoyed Cars. It's probably Pixar's single biggest "sell out" movie in their catalogue. There's more pop culture references and lame one-liners in this movie than any other Pixar movie. I'd say this is why it falls under heavy criticism. Plus it focuses on Nascar which is perceived by many in this country (unfairly) as the sport of choice for white trash. Never the less, it was still enjoyable and fun. Plus I LOVE the whole homage to the Tex Avery cartoons in the way the cars are designed! Anyone remember the old cartoon about the little taxi cab that wanted to be a race car? The design of the cars is taken directly from that cartoon!

[PH3AR]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Here's how I would rate the Pixar movies up to this point....

1.) Wall.E - 10/10
2.) Finding Nemo - 10/10
3.) The Incredibles - 9.75/10
4.) Ratatouille - 9.75/10
5.) Toy Story 2 - 9.5/10
6.) Toy Story - 9/10
7.) Monsters Inc - 9/10
8.) A Bug's Life - 8.5/10
9.) Cars - 8/10

gonna have to agree with you on WALL-E at #1 but i think Toy Story should be #2 and i think that was their first too!

[cembros]

Originally Posted by PH3AR

gonna have to agree with you on WALL-E at #1 but i think Toy Story should be #2 and i think that was their first too!

i would have to say that finding nemo is my top pixar film, followed by toy story in a close seccond

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Plus I LOVE the whole homage to the Tex Avery cartoons in the way the cars are designed! Anyone remember the old cartoon about the little taxi cab that wanted to be a race car? The design of the cars is taken directly from that cartoon!

The design of the autos was inspired by Walt Disney's Susie, the Little Blue Coup