In 1995, people were asking if an audience could tolerate a feature-length film of computer-generated images. Members of the press literally asked if it was possible to watch a CG movie without getting motion sickness. I was ten years old and knew it was a dumb question. I saw Toy Story, thoroughly enjoyed it, but didn’t think much of its implications towards the direction of movie animation. 2D was dead; long live 2D.
Rather, after a string of poor and under-performing traditionally animated films, the Powers That Be deemed computer animation to be the way of the future. Of course, CG imagery is just a tool and doesn’t make bad movies good. "Computer generated" is itself a misleading term – as if a few clicks and taps of the space bar conjures up the digital computer god to make a movie from nothing; it takes an army of engineers and artists with computers as their sometimes-tool to make a CGI movie.
I recently watched Toy Story again for the first time in many years, and was surprised by how good it is. The technological limitations of 1995 computers did nothing to limit the story and vision of the film, and most of all, its characters. It holds up to repeated viewings and I can now see the subtle homages that were far over my head in '95. Most of all, Buzz and Woody and their friends have been inducted into the Disney pantheon of heartwarming characters.
The years have gone by, my cynicism has ebbed and flowed, the world has changed, and yet Pixar has virtually owned American feature-length animation for thirteen years. I say that from a critical perspective, rather than with box-office performance in mind. Money has been made by many.
With the studio's newest film, WALL-E, directed by the company's ninth employee and Nemo-helmer Andrew Stanton, not only do they continue to dominate, but they are reinventing what an animated film can be, and, possibly, are changing the perception of animation as a mere child's genre into the film medium that it is.
WALL-E needs to get a nomination for best picture of the year. Not just best animated film. I was just astonished the entire time. In that there is such sparse dialogue is it unique, in that there is such heartfelt emotion is it a success, in that it makes no compromises to mainstream pop-culture animation is it a Pixar film. And, in between a dozen layers of universal appeal, it perfectly captures the difficulty of being a romantic geek in a very big world. Not that I would know anything about geekiness.
Just go watch when you get a chance. It's about robots and love and the faults of consumerist-driven humanity and I don't care to say more or less than that. The opening short Presto alone is worth the ticket.
If you want to hear about the film's faults, its weakness is really any time WALL-E is not central to the narrative – the other characters are never quite as interesting or endearing as he, and so you can't help but wait until he returns to view. But he's never off-screen for too long.
Nonetheless, Pixar has a new badge, Disney has a new character, and the film vaults will long hold this one dear and safe. I, myself, will return to WALL-E repeatedly, in the theater, and over the years.
-As charming as the lead and Eve are, my heart went out to M-O, the ship's cleaning robot. Few actors, live or animated, play an intention so beautifully.
-The closing credits sequence was in some ways my favorite part of the film. I won't go into detail why (since you have to basically give away the story to do so), but it's a solid piece of animated storytelling in its own right. It was directed by Jim Capobianco (who directed the short film "Your Friend The Rat" on the RATATOUILLE DVD, which in some ways is the most innovative and challenging movie Pixar's ever given us) - one would love to see Capobianco go nuts on a feature.
My only concern with Pixar's admittedly terrific output is that they're all basically the products of the same process - each movie is worked on for years, through the same process. Granted, the final product is solid indeed, and Pixar is a very reliable brand (at the very least), but it would be gratifying to see them playing a little faster, a little looser.
Yeah, MO is great. I also love the massage robot who's gone haywire, and now is a clobberin' bot.
And yes! the end credits were wonderful. So many computer animators are educated in 2D, so it's great to see their expertise put to use. And I agree, 'Your Friend the Rat' was great. It was very much in the image of old Disney shorts like Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom, which I'll embed here!
Anyway, I don't know if I want to see Pixar play fast and loose, but they've got some off-the-wall projects coming up, like Brad Bird's live action/CG movie about the 1906 quake (...called 1906), and Stanton is currently writing a screenplay for John Carter of Mars.
I agree. WALL-E deserves a nomination for Best Picture. I'm sure it will be one of the rare cases of a film being held back by the thing that defines it-- being an animated film. The amount of work put into creating some of the visual atmosphere (rust, space dust, even WALL-E himself) is just amazing to me, but the resounding love story is what does it for me. Much like Short Circuit 2 (screw the first one) WALL-E has my heart strings tuggin'. I will definitely be picking it up when it arrives on DVD.
Reading about WALL-E harkened many good memories about animated films that came out in the previous year, particularly Persepolis (GO. SEE. IT. NOW!) and Ratatouille.
I had the pleasure of living in Paris when I saw both films so not only did Ratatouille resonate in a way that it otherwise would not have if I were living in the U.S., I actually recognized specific shops and streets from the very real version of Paris. These guys at Pixar did their homework. Remember the rat exterminator's shop with dead rats hanging in the shop window when Remy's dad provides proof that humans are not that wonderful? This shop exists in reality, in the 1st arrondissement. I've seen it with my own eyes, gagged a bit, before continuing on my merry way to visit friends.
As for Persepolis, it's really a shame that it didn't register with American audiences. Fire that PR team because Persepolis didn't require any effort to sell it.
The film is in gorgeous black and white. There's a scene of snow falling softly on a hut in a fairytale landscape that is forever etched in my mind.
And the three generation of Iranian women in this autobiographical telling of Marjane Satrapi's life swings between dry seasoned wit (mostly from the elegant yet salty grandmother) or rambunctious teen humor (mostly from the young Marjane). You really can't go wrong with this film.
My heart was torn during the Oscars this year. I really wanted there to be a split vote and have both Pixar and Satrapi on that stage. This might be pure hearsay but I heard that Satrapi exclaimed, "I can't believe I lost to a rat!"
