By this point, Pixar had pretty much proven themselves successful enough to the point where their name became synonymous with quality animation. Basically, if it was gonna be Pixar, it was gonna be good, especially after 'Finding Nemo' would earn Pixar their first Oscar for Best Animated Feature. They would continue this trend with, 'The Incredibles', which became, arguably, the best superhero movie of its time. It was interesting back in '04, asking people how 'The Incredibles' compared to other superhero titles like 'Spider-Man 2' and some people suggesting it might even actually be "better". For me, that was a little mind-blowing because as far as I was concerned, at the time, 'Spider-Man 2' was easily one of the best. Remember, this was four years prior to 'Iron Man' coming along to breathe new life into what would become an eleven-year story. The time had come where superhero movies were faltering, but would still have the odd hit. There was just enough there to keep fans hanging on, so Pixar decided to come up with their take on the whole superhero thing. It was a huge success, meeting the expectations that come with a superhero movie all while being almost completely original. To this day, people will often call it "the best 'Fantastic Four' movie that has ever been made" (but patience, friends. An MCU version is on the way). The beginning of the film, interestingly enough, tackles something most superhero movies don't touch with a ten foot pole. We first meet the likes of Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson); a hero with the power of super strength, and Elastigirl (Holly Hunter); a hero with the power to stretch, doing the normal superhero thing in a big city called Metroville. As a result of the collateral damage left behind by "supers", however, the public turns against them, often suing them for doing things like accidentally harming them during rescues. Supers are then made to live their lives in secret, never using their powers to save people. Fast-forward fifteen years, and Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) and Helen (Elastigirl) are married with children, Dash (Spencer Fox), who has super speed, Violet (Sarah Vowell), who can turn invisible, and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile/Maeve Andrews) who doesn't have any powers anyone knows of. Growing tired of the whole suburban setting, Bob will occasionally go out in secret to "relive the glory days" with his ice-powered friend, Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), moonlighting as vigilantes. Eventually, Bob receives a message from a woman calling herself Mirage (Elizabeth Peña) who calls him into action, and he accepts. But little does he know that the path he's headed down will reveal a lot of secrets behind the sudden disappearance of his old superhero friends. Ultimately, it will lead him to face off against a begrudged former fan of his who calls himself Syndrome (Jason Lee); a guy who wants to take all of the superhero glory for himself, even if it means offing other superheroes in the process. In the meantime, superhero outfit designer, Edna Mode (Brad Bird) sees potential for a new superhero uprising, and it would all have to start over again with the Parr family. For me, this is a lot like 'A Bug's Life' in that I didn't find anything too deep or profound about it, or a lot of subtext, but it does make for a cleverly written, fun movie. I have to admire the originality to this story, and the idea that it tackles what a lot of people might really think about the superhero type. While some would think you're amazing, many others are bound to find you destructive, and this is a movie that tackles the subject in a most interesting way - aside, of course, from 'Civil War', or 'Watchmen', both of which this movie actually beat to the big screen and had no original comic to adapt from. I also just enjoy the family as a whole - there are no truly unlikable characters, and you definitely get that sense of a typical family dynamic with this bunch. All in all this is a very solid action adventure movie that keeps families in mind. One might say it's how to do a PG-rated superhero movie right. While 'The Iron Giant' certainly made a name for writer/director Brad Bird, it would ultimately be 'The Incredibles' that would make his name blow up. Today, people will watch 'The Simpsons' and suddenly spot his name in the credits when back then, he seemed to be just another name. His film here would earn Pixar its second Best Animated Feature Oscar, beating 'Shrek 2', and levelling the playing field a little after 'Shrek' beat 'Monsters, Inc.' a few years prior. I would probably consider this the real beginning of Pixar becoming a sort of "Oscar bait" name. It seemed at this point that Pixar could do no wrong, and I looked forward to seeing whatever they'd come up with next - that is until I saw a bunch of cars with faces talking to each other; but more on that soon. 4/5
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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 I tend to be a little bit disconnected from this particular Pixar title for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. It's not by any means "bad", portrays plenty of likable characters, and it's an underdog story, which I usually tend to eat up. I can't very well argue that it's more directed at kids, because so was 'Toy Story', which I obviously have a love for. Perhaps it's just a simple matter of not being able to reach me on that deep level, as there's nothing particularly deep about this one. It doesn't really make you think so much as it's a simple underdog vs. bully story, which I've obviously seen done before. Taking place on "Ant Island", a bustling colony works to gather various bits of food to appease a gang of grasshoppers led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey). Everything is going okay until an outcast ant named Flick (Dave Foley) knocks over the offering, resulting in the grasshoppers demanding twice as much food for compensation. It all must be done before the last leaf drops in Fall, or the grasshoppers will destroy the colony, including the Queen (Phyllis Diller), her eldest daughter, Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and youngest daughter, Dot (Hayden Panettiere). With no hope in sight, Flick makes the suggestion to seek help from stronger bugs who dwell in the neighbouring city. Seeing it as more of an opportunity to get rid of their "problem", the colony gladly sends Flick on his merry way, not believing he'll be able to come through. On his journey, Flick comes across a group of recently fired circus performing bugs; Slim, the walking stick (David Hyde Pierce); Francis, the ladybug (Denis Leary); Manny, the mantis (Jonathan Harris); Gypsy, the moth (Madeline Kahn); Rosie, the spider (Bonnie Hunt); Dim, the rhino beetle (Brad Garrett); Heimlich, the caterpillar (Joe Ranft); and two fleas named Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane). Flick mistakes these circus performers as tough bug heroes, and brings them back to the colony to fight the grasshoppers. However, the performers are under the impression Flick is a talent scout, looking for an act. It could turn out to be the dumbest thing Flick has done yet, but it could also turn out to be a happy accident, with the right mindset. I've always enjoyed this movie for the fun, underdog adventure that it is, but there's nothing all that special about it to me. To try to find a deeper meaning to this one is like trying to find the gold at the end of the rainbow. As mentioned earlier, it's quite simply your average underdog hero vs. bully, or 'David and Goliath' story, and the big takeaway is really just that the smallest person can make a difference, or not to judge people too quickly as they may serve a bigger purpose than you think. To be perfectly fair, however, Pixar was still a very new thing, and as it's trying to speak to a whole new generation of kids, so my "brush-aside" opinion on the film should be taken lightly. If you want a good underdog story you can show your kids, I'd still consider this a good place to turn. Regardless of the old idea behind the plot, there's still quite a lot to enjoy about this movie. The voice acting is well-played, and the side characters here are generally likeable. By the way, I forgot to mention John Ratzenberger (who we recently say play Hamm in 'Toy Story') comes back to play P.T. Flea (head of the circus who initially fires the performers). Beyond that, however, technically speaking, this pushed what CG animation could do forward a little bit. One interesting thing about exploring early CG titles is their somewhat ground-breaking takes on environment, and if there's anything I can really give to this movie, it's the world these bugs live in. If you were to zoom out, it would only be a few hundred square feet, according to sources; yet in the movie, it's a whole world. It's interesting to think of things taking place in an area no bigger than say, perhaps your living room. At the end of the day, 'A Bug's Life' isn't as impactful as 'Toy Story' was, and it's not as impactful as a lot of the titles to follow, but it is still a lot of fun for what it is. I very much appreciate the environments, and a lot of the different and interesting ideas that take place in a bug world - for example, using lightning bugs to light up billboards (I hope they get paid well). I believe this was also the first animated film to contain bloopers in the end credits for a funny way to cap things off. At times it's just dumb toilet humor, but others are fairly clever in their execution. Either way, animated outtakes were something new and different for the time, and still pretty entertaining. For as much as this one is only just "decent" to yours truly, there's bound to be plenty here others might like more, so I still recommend giving it a look for yourself, if only for a fun time. 3/5 Back in 1995, at the age of 13, I was pretty fascinated by CG animation. It all started for me with 'Reboot' on YTV, circa '94. Coincidentally enough, the show was generally preceded with a bumper series called 'Short Circutz', among which was my first glimpse of Pixar animation; Jon Lasseter's 'The Adventures of André & Wally B'. At this point, Pixar was still known as The Graphics Group, originally under Lucasfilm, but would eventually break off and create cinematic history with 'Toy Story'; the very first in an eventual long line of full-length CG animated films. 'Toy Story' starts out on a kid named Andy's (John Morris) sixth birthday. Much to the dismay of Andy's favorite toy, Woody (Tom Hanks), Andy unwraps a new action figure known as Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) who poses a potential threat to replace Woody as Andy's new favorite toy. In an attempt to try to get rid of Buzz, Woody knocks him out of Andy's bedroom window, and when Andy grabs Woody to go with him to a restaurant called Pizza Planet, Buzz hitches a ride (having fallen outside). Eventually the pair's squabbling leads to their disappearance from the family car, and capture from Andy's neighbor, Sid; a kid who delights in torturing, disfiguring and destroying any toys he can get. Now it's up to Woody and Buzz to set their differences aside and try to work together in order to get back to Andy in time for moving day, so they won't get left behind. This would admittedly become the beginning of the 'Toy Story' formula in that they all seem to involve an escape from somewhere, and the need to get back home. Although there's a truth to that, I wouldn't say it stifles the creativity too badly. Each time these toys are trying to "escape", although it's for the same reasons, there's always a difference in what fuels their need to escape. In the first chapter's case, it seems as simple as survival. It's quite literally "get back to Andy, or die." It's topped with Woody's love for Andy, but it doesn't seem nearly as obvious here as it is in the sequels. Of course, we're also introduced to a handful of other toys along the way. Among the favorites are a Piggy Bank named Hamm (John Ratzenberger - who will be in a lot of these reviews), a T-Rex named Rex (Wallace Shawn), a Slinky Dog named Slinky (Jim Varney), Mr. Potato Head before he became a problem (Don Rickles) and Woody's apparent love interest, Bo Peep (Annie Potts), an Army of little green soldiers (lead by R. Lee Ermey), and a group of Pizza Planet aliens (Jeff Pidgeon). Pretty much all of these characters are mainstays throughout the series, each representing various strong personality types, and they all add a little something to the mix. It's neat to know I actually had some of these toys in my childhood, like Mr. Potato Head, and most kids my age had some sort of toy dinosaur. In a way, that expands the nostalgic factor of the movie beyond it just being from my youth. One of my reasons for the big Pixar marathon is to see if there's a deep, personal takeaway from each of them like I found with 'Soul', late last year. In the original 'Toy Story', I think the trouble they run into is basic enough that the takeaway isn't necessarily deep or profound. Woody has to cope with his jealous feelings for the "new kid in town" and Buzz has to really come to terms with reality, but while realizing reality can be a good thing too. He even ends up doubting himself, thinking he's insignificant, but Woody has to convince him he's still loved and wanted by Andy. We all have moments like that, especially in our youth, and this is a film that gets the right message across in that regard - you are not as insignificant as you might think you are, because someone out there still loves you. Speaking for myself, I still don't find this one quite as deep as any of the three chapters that follow it, but in many ways it's still a very solid film. On a technical level, it's a massive achievement, and something like plastic toys was a great way to go when it came to early CG. I'd say this is one of the more fun movies in the Pixar library, and it doesn't leave you thinking and pondering so much as leave you with a smile on your face. It brings a lot of nostalgia to the table for me, in more ways than one. In fact, of the Pixar library, I would probably consider this one the go-to for nostalgic purposes altogether. Sometimes you just need to take a trip down memory lane, and between the portrayal of one's carefree childhood days, and simply being there for something cinematically groundbreaking, it serves that purpose well. 5/5 |
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