We all know how I felt about 'Inside Out', but I also recognize that not everyone is on the same page as I am with it. For those of you who wouldn't necessarily consider 'Inside Out' to be Pixar's resurrection, might I direct your attention to 'Coco'; a Pixar take on Mexican culture, complete with a nice, authentic cast and overall respect for the culture. This film, in particular, focuses on the traditions of Día de Muertos; The Day of the Dead. Before this movie came along, all I really knew about the Day of the Dead was the whole candy skull thing - nothing about them, just that they existed. With narration from our lead, Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), the story begins with a paper cut-out animation, telling of his family's backstory. Miguel's great-great-grandmother, Mamá Imelda (Alanna Ubach) was once married to a man whose passion for music made him leave her and their daughter (Miguel's great-grandmother) Mamá Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía) to pursue a career. As a result, all forms of music were banned from the family, and a totally non-musical shoemaking tradition was established instead. The tradition has carried through the generations right down to Miguel, but he actually has a passion for music, idolizing the great Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), and has to play in secret. On the Day of the Dead, Miguel accidentally knocks over a photo from the family ofrenda (an "offering" consisting of an altar with family photos and other objects for deceased loved ones) representing his great-great-grandmother and great-grandmother alongside a mysterious man with his face ripped from the photo. When he picks it up, he realizes the man is holding de la Cruz's guitar and concludes that he must be related to his idol, and his passion for music over shoemaking suddenly made sense. Against his family's wishes, he runs off to the town square to take part in a talent show - that is until his grandmother finds him and smashes his guitar. Desperate, Miguel breaks into de la Cruz's mausoleum and steals the guitar to use in the show. However, in doing that disrespectful move, Miguel suddenly finds himself invisible to humanity but perfectly visible to people's dead relatives who have come to visit; their photos on their family ofrendas allowing them passage. He locates his dead relatives right away who take him over a bridge to the Land of the Dead in order to figure out how to break this curse. All it takes is a blessing from a relative, but the conditions would remain that he wouldn't be allowed to play music. Frustrated, Miguel stays and seeks out de la Cruz, knowing that his blessing will allow him to play. He has to do it before sunrise though, or else remain in the land of the dead with the rest of his skeletal relatives (skelatives?) Helping Miguel out along the way are a faithful stray dog named Dante, and a mystery man named Héctor (Gael García Bernal) who seeks his help in return so he can cross the bridge to visit his daughter. His family didn't put his picture on their ofrenda, so he's denied passage, and through him we learn what happens to the dead once they become forgotten. In many ways, if you were missing that deep-level Pixar mood, this movie has a generous proportion of it. The film does carry a good sense of humour with it, but what I really appreciated about it was how deep it actually got. I really like the idea that the "forgotten" fade away to somewhere the dead have no answer for, equating it to the fact that in life, we don't know what happens when we die. On top of a cool story, you have a really, really cool setting. If I ever had to pick a favourite Pixar backdrop, it would have to go to the Land of the Dead. If I had to put it in words, I might describe it as a vibrant cityscape that almost looks like a series of treehouses. The whole time Miguel spends in this world is so incredibly dream-like to me that if the film ever brings us back to the real world, it's almost like waking up from a dream. It probably helps that this whole world is loaded with bright, vivid lights and neon-coloured spirit animals that are always very fantastical - Pepita is one badass looking creature. Of course, the film has a lot of heart as well, and much like with 'Up', you'd be hard-pressed not to get a little misty-eyed in the end. 'Coco' would earn Pixar its ninth Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and the film's music would give it one more for the song 'Remember Me'. One might suggest that in the animated category, its competition wasn't the toughest. But with that said, considering the setting, the animation and the look at Mexican culture and traditions alone, this was definitely my favourite animated title of the year and if I had my own award show, there wouldn't have been a contest. In my humble opinion, this is one of the most beautifully made films in Pixar's library. 5/5
0 Comments
I still remember seeing the teaser for 'Toy Story 3' and thinking to myself something along the lines of surprise. At that point, we were in 2009, watching the trailer ten years after 'Toy Story 2'. It made me wonder what it was gonna be about, and of course, the eventual trailer would answer that. I was immediately fascinated because it looked like it was going to be a pretty deep movie, telling us whatever would happen to Andy's Toys. Andy (John Morris - and huge kudos to him reprising his role) is 17 now, and getting ready to go away to college. All of our favourite toys make one last effort towards playtime with Andy. Of course, it falls through, and soon every toy but Woody (Tom Hanks), who Andy decides to take with him, is put into a garbage bag, headed up to the attic. Mistaking the trash bag as actual garbage, Andy's Mom (Laurie Metcalf) takes them out to the curb, giving Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Slinky (Blake Clark, replacing the late Jim Varney), the Potato Heads (Don Rickles/Estelle Harris), the Pizza Planet Aliens (Jeff Pidgeon), and Barbie (Jodi Benson) the impression Andy thinks they're trash now. The toys escape, and Jessie suggests they climb into the donations box Andy's Mom is about to take over to Sunnyside Daycare. Woody, having seen everything and knowing they were destined for the attic tries to convince them not to go, and accidentally ends up in the box with them. The toys are donated, and find themselves amid what could be a paradise, however Woody remains loyal to Andy and tries to go his separate way, eventually meeting Bonnie (Emily Hahn) who finds him and takes him to her house to play with a whole new group of toys. Meanwhile the other toys are shown around the Daycare by Lotso-Huggin Bear (Ned Beatty), and are shown the Caterpillar Room where they'll be staying. Soon, the toys figure out just how much of a nightmare playtime can be when the room is flooded with toddlers, and just to cut down on more exposition, things eventually kinda-sorta turn into our third "escape and get back home" movie - but this one is so much more fun in my opinion. As for Woody, despite the idea that he could have a new home with Bonnie, he chooses to go back and help his friends and get back to Andy. The whole movie ends up being a fun parody of 'The Great Escape' (or at least that's how I take it), and parts of it have certainly grown up with the audience. My ages upon the release of each movie at this point were, respectively, 13, 17 and now, approaching 28; so I was certainly in the older area of the audience, but it's interesting how these films become a bit more reflective for me than watching them in more of a real-time situation, growing up with Andy. Still, this was a film that once again hit me right in the feels, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the combination of moods it had going through it. It's got dark fun, it's got cute fun, it's got joy, it's got sadness, it often has a sense of dread, adventure and dammit, it's got a Spanish-speaking Buzz Lightyear. Maybe it's just me, but dammit, Spanish Buzz Lightyear cracks me up. Anyway, of the three films, it was easy for me to see this one as the tip-top of the pile. The first two were always more on the fun level, but this had a certain "grown-up" style to it I couldn't help but appreciate, and at this point, Pixar was very high on a pedestal for yours truly. Their track record was just amazing at this point, and 'Toy Story 3' would be their sixth Best Animated Picture Oscar winner, and second nominated for the Best Picture category. I tote the Oscar history of these films more to keep track of the stereotype that says "Pixar will win the Oscar indefinitely". Up to this point, a fairly accurate assumption considering their track record since the Best Animated Picture category came into play. They have only lost the Oscar twice, first 'Monsters, Inc.' to 'Shrek' (which was the first year of the category, 2002), then 'Cars' to 'Happy Feet'. Otherwise, Pixar seemed untouchable, and with good reason. Watching Pixar meant watching a quality story that had humour, adventure, and above all else, a deeper meaning. They could be a kid's movie that any adult could still get a lot out of, but more than just something cute and fun... but then again... we have what Pixar cranked out next. But just to dwell on the wonderful movie that is 'Toy Story 3' a bit longer, and more on my personal take, it was fascinating to watch this now, with the knowledge of 'Toy Story 4'. At this point, I was convinced they were done with the way things end here, and I still think that it makes a very well-rounded, almost perfect trilogy. I really did love 'Toy Story 4', but in a way, its existence makes the ending of this a touch less impactful than it once was. They go out on a high note here, and I'm fairly convinced that when I saw this in theaters, there wasn't a dry eye in the audience. Regardless, I still hold this film close to my heart, and yet again, it makes for one of my all-time Pixar favourites - a category that now feels redundant but true. 5/5 As far as Pixar environments go, one of my all-time favourites is the oceanic world of 'Finding Nemo' (and 'Finding Dory' for that matter). The year was 2003, so all in all, this was pretty impressive in its showing off of what CG animation could do for the time. Everything Pixar creates certainly touches on providing varying environments, but there's something massively impressive about the detail of this underwater world, right down to being able to see blurry distortions and light ripples in the water, among other details. As the film opens, we are introduced to Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Coral (Elizabeth Perkins), who are just starting a family, and keeping a loving eye on their eggs. They've recently relocated themselves to a new sea anemone home on the Great Barrier Reef, and life is good. However, in true Pixar fashion, we learn that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows just because this is a cartoon. The nest is attacked by a barracuda, and Marlin loses Coral in the struggle. All is lost except for one lone egg, housing a fish with a deformed fin, decidedly named "Nemo", based on a name Coral liked. That's right folks, for as much praise as we give 'Up' for its heart-wrenching opener, 'Finding Nemo' certainly did the attention-grabbing tragic beginning first. As time passes, Nemo (Alexander Gould) grows to be a young boy, eager to start school. Marlin takes him to school where, unbeknownst to him, Nemo is to go on a field trip to "The Drop Off" - where the reef ends and the dangerous deep blue ocean begins. When Marlin finds out where they're going, his overprotective manner makes him chase down the class, as he knows first hand how dangerous the Drop Off can be. This embarrasses Nemo to the point of frustration, and just to show up his Dad, Nemo swims towards a nearby boat just so he can touch the bottom of it and prove to his Dad that he worries too much. However, this leads to Nemo's capture from a scuba diver (Bill Hunter) who brings him to a fish tank at his dentist office, under the impression he's rescuing him on account of his deformed fin. Now, Marlin must overcome his fears of the dangers of the ocean, and begin a journey to find his son. He's soon accompanied by everyone's favourite, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres); a royal blue tang fish, suffering from short term memory loss. Meanwhile, Nemo meets a variety of fish in his new tank home; Bloat the puffer fish (Brad Garrett); Peach the starfish (Allison Janney); Gurgle the royal gramma fish (Austin Pendleton); Bubbles the yellow tang fish (Stephen Root); Deb the black & white humbug fish (Vicki Lewis); Jacques the skunk cleaner shrimp (Joe Ranft); a visiting pelican named Nigel (Geoffrey Rush) and Gill the moorish idol fish (Willem Dafoe), who is plans to use Nemo's size for an elaborate escape plan that should get them all back into the ocean. Between Gill's plan and Marlin's long journey with Dory, the father and son do everything in their ability to find each other and reunite. One thing I appreciated this time around that I didn't fully take in before was that it's cool that they decided to go with two very different extremes of underwater environments for the film. This gives the CG I've always admired here an extra boost. On one hand, you have a fish tank, where the water is a little more crystal clear, and you can see what's going on outside of the tank. It lends itself to various types of distortion, the atmosphere is altogether bright and this is where a lot of the comedy relief comes from when Dory isn't on screen. On the other hand, you have the deep, dark ocean, where everything Marlin and Dory run into is something new and uniquely animate when you really think about it. Things like the jellyfish swarm, riding the current with the sea turtles, and the deep dark trench with the lanternfish offer quite a lot of variety. I never gave it any thought before, but they really played with the animation in this movie, making it, as far as Pixar films go, easily one of the most beautiful to look at. I had to admit so much to myself upon this viewing that I took for granted the several times I've watched before. When I really think about it, this movie actually has everything I like about Pixar within it, but for some reason, I never picked up on it before. It provides the viewer with beautiful CG environments, a lot of likable characters done with solid voice acting (and yes, John Ratzenberger comes back again, keeping his ongoing track record), it gauges every emotion (especially with its opening), and it's a solid family adventure that manages to providing morals for both kids and adults. The film is thoroughly good enough that it would win Pixar its first Oscar for Best Animated Feature, beating Disney's other big entry that year, 'Brother Bear'. But this was only the beginning for Pixar. From here, as most of us know, they would eventually become the epitome of Oscar bait animation. 5/5 I'm not going to lie; when this first came along, I wasn't entirely interested. I thought it was playing too much on cuteness, and there wouldn't be much more to it. Upon finally watching it at a friend's house, I turned out to like it more than I thought I would. I've come back to it a handful of times over the years, it grows on me with every viewing. At first it was cute and fun, but nowadays I see it as one of the most creative Pixar films in the entire library. It's seldom that I go into a movie with low expectations only to have me come out of it saying "that was actually pretty awesome." 'Monsters, Inc.' could be considered a sort of electric company, located in the Monster World. A few monsters known as "Scarers" harvest "scream energy" by going through a system of doors that lead to closets of children all over the world. This "scream energy" is essentially their version of electricity - it's pretty much what makes their world run. However, a problem had arisen in recent years involving a world full of children who are much harder to scare than they used to be. This is largely due to various media violence and horror largely desensitizing them, and as a result, the Monster World experiences things like rolling brownouts. 'Monsters, Inc.' looks for a solution, but the best they really have is to just continue scaring, and hope things can get better. The top Scarers are Sulley (John Goodman) and Randall (Steve Buscemi). Randall is a strong competitor for Sulley and his assistant Mike (Billy Crystal), but Sulley and Mike seem to always come out on top. Late one night, Sulley finds a door in the "ready" position. Curious, he opens the door to see if anyone is doing some late-night scaring, accidentally letting in a toddler who Sully would eventually name "Boo" (Mary Gibbs). Children are known as being extremely toxic in the monster world, so Sully and Mike soon find themselves having to hide her until they can get her back through her door. In the meantime, Randall is working on a project that could improve upon scream energy, and since Boo is running around the Monster world now, she could very well be in danger. Due to Sulley's newfound feelings towards Boo, the film becomes something of an "Escort Mission" - get her to her door while dodging Randall and whatever his plans may be. While I wasn't exactly wrong about the movie playing a lot on cuteness, there's much more to it that I seemingly took for granted when I first saw this advertised. My appreciation for this movie largely goes towards the concept of the Monster world and how it runs. It's a simple enough idea when you think about it (and to be perfectly fair this is after 'Little Monsters'), but certain details about how things work are super creative. For example, I like the idea of the real world's mystery monsters (Bigfoot, Nessie, etc.) being monsters who have been banished from the Monster World. The example is done here with the Yeti (John Ratzenberger, now at four Pixar movies and counting). I also really enjoy the idea of the world's closet doors in a factory setting. Think something along the lines of a gigantic warehouse of dry cleaning racks, but holding closet doors instead of suits. In 'Little Monsters' it's just a super cheap looking set of boxes and stairs. Funnily enough, another highlight of the film is the very thing I was worried would ruin it for me - Boo. Anyone who has ever seen this movie can agree that she is one of the most adorable characters ever created. Boo is the heart and soul of this movie, and despite the fact that she's just a little gibberish speaking toddler (voiced by a real one), Sully and Mike actually end up learning a whole lot about humans through her. You get a lot of good laughs from her, but you end up really feeling for her all the same. She's not JUST put there to be cute, as I thought she might be. She's put there to represent children in general. She finds solace in one monster while being terrified of another, and a lot of this is, as you may have guessed, about overcoming fears. The catch here is that the fear works in two different ways. Kids can watch this and relate to Boo's experience in that she simply fears the monster in the closet. Generally speaking, a kid's first fear will probably have to do with something that goes bump in the night, leading them to imagine something under their bed or in their closet. That makes the film universally relatable to children. On the other hand, adults can see the fear the monster society has about Boo and the rest of human society and, I daresay, could stand to learn a thing or two as well. A part of what makes this such a solid movie is that even though it looks like a kid's movie on the surface, there's a certain depth to it that speaks to a more grown up audience as well. It's not just a movie you'd watch with your kids to have fun with, this one actually has something to say, and it does it pretty subtly as well. My takeaway from this film is a positive message about understanding the unknown instead of fearing it, and it's timing or release was impeccable. This just so happened to be released the November after 9/11, so may very well have been seen as one of the first family movies trying to teach kids and adults alike that a society as a whole isn't something to be feared, but in some cases it doesn't hurt to be cautious. Sulley and Randall make the perfect characters for that message. This was the first of many Pixar film get an Oscar nomination for 'Best Animated Picture', and with good reason (beyond the fact that the category hasn't existed until now). It may have lost to 'Shrek', but the results must have been pretty damn close considering the underlying subject matter in "understanding" was very similar. Personally, I'd consider 'Monsters Inc' to be just a touch more timeless. 5/5 While I admire the 'Toy Story' saga being so good altogether, this is probably the one I manage to get the least out of. It's still a great movie, but I'll get to my various nitpicks about it later. It otherwise introduces new characters who develop with the rest of the toys we already know, plays with new ideas, and certain things follow through from the original. For example, Andy now has a dog, and Mrs. Potato Head has now come into play. One of the best things about the writing of these movies is the way things stay consistent, and for that, I admire this one along with all of the others in their own way. It all starts when Andy (John Morris) starts getting ready for Cowboy Camp. He's playing with Woody (Tom Hanks) and accidentally rips his arm. As a result, Woody is left behind, and placed on a shelf where he runs into Wheezy (Joe Ranft); a penguin squeeze toy with a broken squeaker. He talks to Woody about being a "forgotten toy", and when Andy's Mom gathers some of Andy's old stuff up for a yard sale, she takes him, prompting Woody to try to rescue him. In the mix-up, Woody is discovered, and stolen by a greedy collector named Al McWhiggin (Wayne Knight), who the other toys actually recognize from an ad where he dresses up like a chicken. The other toys, lead by Buzz (Tim Allen), then begin a search and rescue mission for Woody, using the "Al's Toy Barn" ad to help them find where Al probably took him. Meanwhile, at Al's apartment, Woody meets the rest of a set he had no idea he belonged to; "The Roundup Gang". Said gang includes Woody's horse, Bullseye, a cowgirl named Jessie (Joan Cusack), and Stinky Pete, the still-in-the-box Prospector (Kelsey Grammer). Jessie has a real problem with claustrophobia; a fear triggered when Woody expresses his desire to get back to Andy. As a set, they are to be put on display in a museum to be admired, but if Woody leaves, that means being put back into storage for Jessie and the others. She also suffers from the trauma of being a forgotten toy, so Woody's desire to get back home is much to her chagrin. Woody is now faced with a choice; find a new home as part of a display collection, or get back to his home knowing the day will eventually come when Andy has to move on. This choice of Woody's is actually part of my issue with this one. He can eventually be forgotten, donated or left behind in some way as an eventuality that may not even really come to pass, or he can be shelved permanently anyway with his Roundup gang and live a life behind glass forever. The choice seems pretty obvious to me, but to the film's credit, Buzz does point out how silly the latter choice seems. Beyond that, I do have a certain pet peeve when it comes to animated family films like this involving a closing musical number. 'Shrek' did it, and suddenly "everyone" seemed to have to follow suit. I think this is the one and only time Pixar does it, but they also do it here along with the animated outtakes we got from 'A Bug's Life' which nowadays seems kind of corny to me. To be fair, however, this was still very early for Pixar, and they were trying new things. With all of that said, there's still so much to like about it. The good absolutely outweighs the bad here as far as storytelling and character development goes, and I won't deny that when Jessie sings her song about being forgotten, it provides the old Pixar heartstring puller - and probably the first one that really exists in the library. We all know that Pixar has a way of getting to your emotional core, but the previous two movies in the collection were much more fun than they were deep. This was something that actually made you think and even feel for the characters involved. Although it follows the infamous "Toy Story Escape" trope, the underlying ideas here are very different. While the first film is very much about getting back to Andy, this one, though basically the same idea, actually offers Woody a choice in the matter, and has him think about his potential future as Andy's favourite toy. 'Toy Story 2' is a very good balance of serious and silly, balancing Woody's more dramatic side of things against he comedic mission of Buzz and the other toys from the original. The search and rescue mission gets very funny at points, some of which includes Andy's Buzz Lightyear facing off against a store-shelved Buzz and even his nemesis, Emperor Zurg (Andrew Stanton). We get more of the other toys here than we got in the first, and they really add to the fun of it all. It's interesting to think of 'Toy Story 2' being the peak of emotional response in the Pixar library at one point, but it would have nothing on its eventual sequel, ten plus years (and eight more reviews) down the line. In the meantime, Pixar would expand its universe into some really memorable moments - many of which completely dethrone Jessie's song here as the big emotional Pixar moment. We can, however, at least give Jessie credit for being Pixar's tear-jerking pioneer! 4/5 |
Writers and Directors
All
|