Pixar Marathon

I rarely talk about movies on this blog if even at all but today I decided to have a Pixar marathon. It was actually a long time coming and something I’ve always wanted to do. I just had to procure “A Bug’s Life” which I had continually kept putting off. Not that I didn’t like it but I was hoping to find it for a little less then 20 dollars. Anyway I ended up splurging for it about a month or two to go and now I have all of them including the excellent Pixar Short Films collection.

I love these films. All of them (maybe minus Cars) are excellent films. They actually put together smart and clever stories that aren’t made for cheap laughs and money (well they are made for money but you know what I mean). Pixar prides itself in making films that at first have an excellent story. They have been influenced by classic Disney (when Walt was around), Miyazaki, and timeless themes. There is even an extremely strong adult following and each film looks better and better.

So with a whole day with nothing to do, and no much money to spend I decided today was the perfect day to do this. So this morning starting at ten I started with Toy Story and slowly going through all nine films on dvd (and the short films afterward). So I’ll be done a little early in the morning.

The best thing is watching the animation and stories mature as Pixar finds its footing and evolves. I kind of currently see Pixar films several generations. The first three are classic Pixar films. The animation and style in Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2 are all similar. The humor is the same and the themes are relatively simple. It is also amazing how much the animation and details improv from just Toy Story to Toy Story 2. These movies are really where Pixar founds its footing and proved they could make unique and strong characters with relatively similar themes like a Buddy Flick or an old Aesop Fable.

Pixar took the next step with Monster’s Inc and a huge incredible jump with Finding Nemo. The details and animation really improved plus the story has become even more incredible and heartbreaking. The storytelling really improved. Pixar took what they learned from Jessie’s song in Toy Story 2 and really liked to tug at heart strings and take a darker turn with more adult themes. The ending to Monster’s Inc and the beginning to Finding Nemo come to mind. Finding Nemo is continually at the top of most people’s favorite Pixar films. Finding Nemo deals with loss of life, friendship, and letting go. I’m sure the film spoke more to adults then it did to kids. However that is what Pixar does best it can cater to children as well as to adults.

I would put Incredibles and Cars in the same generation as Monster’s Inc. and Finding Nemo despite Cars having incredibly more advanced and detailed animation then Monster’s Inc. The Incredibles really is catered toward slightly older boys then any of the previous Pixar films and is a little bit more directed at a certain type of viewer. I think the best thing about it is how it deals with themes of despair and trying to relive glory days. Plus it the adult theme of infidelity at one point.  It was during these fours movies that Pixar earned its reputation as the leading animation studio and one of thew few studios with continually box office success.

With Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up I think Pixar took an even bigger step in the story department. Ratatouille is an extremely strong film, that I unfortunately skipped over until DVD because of Cars. Like the Incredibles I think it works better with an adult audience then a children’s audience. The story is just a little bit to complicated for younger children. It still appeals to children but I think all of the restaurant politics go over their heads. Plus it doesn’t have the usual action climax that all the other movies have. It just has huge production values and took Pixar movies to the next level. Wall-E is the same thing dealing with adult themes and deals with love, loneliness, and even pokes at consumerism, obesity, and environmental issues. The first 30 minutes also don’t even have an words except for the occasional Hello Dolly song.

I haven’t even talked about Up which is a mix of Pixar’s new advanced storytelling but reminds you of the fun of Finding Nemo. Plus even the scoring has become more mature.

Anyway I am incredibly excited to continue to go through these films and I am so glad I did this marathon.