Up: The Spirit of Adventure

Tomorrow, Pixar's new movie, Up, will be released. I was fortunate enough to win tickets to a free pre-screening through Ain't It Cool News (thanks Capone!), and once again, Pixar has proven that they are one of the best movie studios out there. The story is deceptively simple, but there is so much going on that I actually wanted the movie to be longer to delve into things that were hinted at, but I mentally extrapolated as the movie was playing. The first 10 minutes or so show us the life of Carl Fredricksen; as a boy, his hero was adventurer Charles Muntz, and Carl wanted to be just like Muntz. One day, Carl was walking past a dilapidated house, and heard someone speaking Muntz's catchphrases. It was in that house that he met Ellie, his wife and lifelong best friend. Throughout their lives together, they wanted to go on adventures, but life got in the way of living. In an effort to fulfill their dreams, Carl bought two tickets to South America (it's just like America, only south!), only to have Ellie fall ill. After Ellie died, Carl spent his time avoiding the world that was changing around him and protecting his house (the same one he met Ellie in) from developers.

Eventually, everything came crashing down. After he accidentally smacked someone on the head with his walker (I think this was the first Pixar film to depict blood), a court ordered Carl to move into a retirement community. However, Carl decides that the time has come to have his adventure; he was a balloon salesman at the zoo where Ellie worked, and he took his remaining stock and attached them to his house so that he could take it to Venezuela. But Carl wasn't alone; Russell, a Wilderness Explorer, was scurrying around under Carl's porch in an effort to earn his "Assisting the Elderly" merit badge. The first theme/plotline that I thought would be explored in more depth was Russell's approach to wilderness and adventuring. There were many times during the movie when Russell showed that he has more of a modern outlook on exploring; he had a GPS device, he had never camped outside before, and he was more interested in the results of his efforts (earning merit badges) than the experience of them. I thought that Carl would address this and contrast it to his idea of exploring new places with the bare essentials, but this was left more to our imagination.

In Venezuela, Carl and Russell met Kevin, a large and colorful bird (who is actually female), Dug, a dog outfitted with a color that translates his thoughts into English, and Charles Muntz, Carl and Ellie's childhood hero. When Carl and Ellie were kids, Muntz brought back a skeleton of a bird of Kevin's species, but scientists believed it to be a fake. Vowing not to return to America until he caught a live specimen, Muntz returned to the jungle to make good on his promise. Unfortunately, Muntz's time in isolation (he only had his dogs to keep him company) has twisted him; we aren't sure if he was always like he is in the movie, but the Muntz that Carl and Russell meet is deranged and obsessive. Of all the Pixar villains (that I've seen; I still have not watched Cars), Muntz is one of the most dangerous, matched only by Syndrome from The Incredibles and Hopper from A Bug's Life (maybe Sid from Toy Story belongs in this category because of his relative dangerousness). When Muntz meets Carl and Russell, he welcomes the company and is happy to meet someone who's heard of him, but when Russell reveals that they have found what Muntz is looking for, Muntz turns on them and tries to take Kevin. This was another plotline that I thought would be developed more, but we were left to make our own interpretations; the movie never explicitly states why Muntz was so villainous, but obsession and dementia are strongly hinted at. Various things he says and does show that he has no desire or care besides proving that he was right. My friend who went with me pointed out that he also likely suffered from egomania; the impetus for his quest was being labeled a fraud, and he could not accept that.

So much about this movie was done well; it was very funny, but very dramatic as well. The sequence of Carl and Ellie's life together was done without dialogue, and it was one of the most moving scenes in a movie in the last few years. And the climax with the derrigible was incredibly well done; the stakes were high (as was their position), and the action was exciting. Also, biplanes! Biplanes! Piloted by dogs! Muntz had a canine army, and they were always a delight to watch. Muntz created the translating collars, and Dug was one of Muntz's dogs, but when he met the much nicer Russell, he joined them. Dug cracked me up in the trailers, and he did not disappoint in the movie itself. His lines were absolutely hilarious, as were his mannerisms, like his squirrel obsession.

I don't know how Pixar can keep making such great movies year after year. Not only do they make great movies, the films continuously make tons of money. I really hope that Joss Whedon returns to Pixar one day (he did script doctor work for the first Toy Story).

Up next: Buffy #3...

WALL-E: A New Space Odyssey

Just four days ago, Pixar released its ninth feature-length film, WALL-E, and for the ninth time, we have been treated to a film that is nearly perfection. Time will tell if it will be as commercially successful as Pixar's other films (it is certainly on its way), but it will certainly be remembered as one of the studio's greatest. The simplest explanation for the plot is that it is a love story, but to call it that is to miss all the nuances of the film. Yes, the love story is the driving force of the movie, but there is so much more going on.

In addition to the love story between WALL-E, a nearly 700-year-old robot designed to make Earth habitable again after consumer culture has left it a polluted wasteland, and EVE, a new probe sent to determine if the job has been completed, the film examines our dependency on technology (and succeeds much better than Sarah Marshall's film about a deadly cell phone ["How could a mobile phone have an agenda?!"]). Cinema fans will notice more than a few parallels to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, notably through AUTO, an autopilot computer with a red "eye" (also, the first half hour or so is nearly dialogue-free, with the exceptions coming from live-action segments, the first to appear in a Pixar film).

When WALL-E meets EVE, he is thrilled to have a companion, since he has spent 700 years on Earth alone. In that time, he has found relics of humanity, including a VHS cassette of Hello Dolly! that has taught him a few things about how to be human. But when EVE is called back to her ship, WALL-E follows her and meets the last remaining humans. When he arrives there, the audience learns a few things about the state of humanity. Most horrifying is that the most human character in the film is WALL-E. The ship that has housed humanity for the past seven centuries is a sort of luxury space cruise ship that is owned by the Buy 'N' Large corporation, which seems to own everything nowadays. Robots do all the work for humans, including motion. Every man, woman and child is equipped with a kind of hovering lawn chair, assuring us that no one will ever have to walk again. All food is provided in liquid form (cupcake in a cup!), and a bombardment of advertisements tell everyone exactly what to do. Every person looks and dresses alike, and due to self-propulsion being eliminated, the entire human race is morbidly obese. It never ceases to amaze me just how fine the line between utopia and dystopia really is.

Pixar's technology seems to visibly increase with each movie. Even the polluted and desolate Earth has a kind of sick beauty to it. But as usual, this movie's true greatness stems from its characters. WALL-E is a joy to watch, and not just because he has a tendency to get knocked around. He has ambitions to become more than what he was programmed for, and he conveys these through his actions. Meanwhile, seeing the gradual reemergence of humanity within a select few humans is inspiring.

If you don't believe me that this film is incredibly moving, listen to this; when I saw the film, a kid broke down crying. Now you may be thinking that he was just a baby and needed feeding or something, but that is not the case. He began to cry when something worthy of that emotion happened, and continued until he no longer had reason to.

And so there you have it. Pixar Studios may be the greatest studio in the history of movie-making. They are less than two decades old, but they have an unblemished record.

Up next: The list...

The Incredibles and Ratatouille: The Genius of Brad Bird

After five consecutive hits (I know that I didn't post about A Bug's Life, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't see it), along came a movie that, in my opinion, took everything to a whole new level. The previews for The Incredibles intrigued me, but didn't eve scratch the surface of what was to come. I was a freshman in college when the movie was released, and my interest in complex stories was truly starting to take off (I had started watching Buffy and Angel only a little over a year previously, and before those shows, I mostly watched lame sitcoms). With this film, Brad Bird, a longtime writer for The Simpsons, finally got the respect and attention he deserved from the mainstream public. Five years prior to The Incredibles, Bird made a movie called The Iron Giant that was appreciated by critics, but no one else. Now, with the Pixar powerhouse to give his story life, beauty, and financial backing, Bird's tale of the everyday lives of a superhero family was able to shine.

Possibly the most complex Pixar film to date, The Incredibles was definitely the most adult (it was the first to be rated PG, but ratings alone don't indicate maturity level). The movie deals with life and death situations, identity issues, the loss of innocence and the breakdown of marriage. And it tackles all of these issues with pitch-perfect metaphors used to mesh them with a larger-than-life superhero story.

Ever since it was released, The Incredibles has reigned as my favorite animated movie (though there is stiff competition from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut and now WALL-E), and with good reason. Every aspect of this movie works. If you weren't convinced from my previous posts that the movies that Pixar produces are something special, let this movie be the one to convince you.

Cars remains the only Pixar movie I have not seen. I probably will someday, but for now, I'm fairly ok without having seen it. The next movie was Ratatouille, which also became a Brad Bird film through chance and merit. Although this movie was not a brainchild of Bird's, when the original director left the project, Bird was called in to direct, most likely because of his superb work on The Incredibles.

Ratatouille is the story of two misfits, a man and a rat, who come together because of the mutually beneficial relationship that is produced; the man, Alfredo Linguini, needs a job, and the only place left that will take him is a restaurant that belonged to his mother's dead lover. The rat, Remy, has aspirations of becoming a chef, but can barely enter the restaurant's kitchen without being attacked. With Remy guiding Linguini's actions, the two each get what they have always desired.

This story is a much tougher sell than anything else that Pixar has presented us with before. And yet, just like everything else, it works beautifully. This being a Pixar film, part of that beauty is in the picture; the depiction of a slightly romanticized version of Paris is the first time a real life city has been rendered by the company, and it is dazzling. But this wouldn't be a Pixar film without an incredible story to tell. It sounds fairly simple, as do the plots of nearly every Pixar film, but the "simplicity" of story allows for complex characters to thrive. The characters drive all the action here. Their decisions, flaws, desires and quirks provide the narrative.

Hopefully, these two films will allow Bird to keep making more films, hopefully, but not necessarily with Pixar.

Up next: Dystopian wonders...

Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo: Setting Records

Pixar had its first huge hit that wasn't about toys with Monsters, Inc, a seemingly cut and dried movie about a monster world and a little girl who accidentally comes to visit. However, the movie proved to be much more than that. In addition to Monsters being incredibly beautiful (much praise was given to the way the hairs were animated on the character of Sulley), it had a wonderfully touching story. So far, Pixar's movies had received heaps of praise for not only appealing to all ages, but to satisfy all ages. There are too many movies today that talk down to kids and appeal to them through "cool" visuals and/or music, while completely alienating adults and teenagers due to the half-baked content. Monsters, Inc. was a hit with all ages. I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but I was in high school when it was released, and EVERYONE I knew who saw it adored it.

Next came Finding Nemo, which proved to be an even bigger hit. The movie broke box office records for animation in its opening weekend, and the gross income it made compared to all movies was none too shabby either. I still remember talking about this movie with two friends and comparing it to The Matrix Reloaded, which had been released around the same time (this was the first Pixar movie that I did not see in theaters; however, I have still never seen the entire Cars). At that point, only one of us had seen Finding Nemo, while all had seen Reloaded. Myself and the person who had seen this movie were disappointed with Reloaded, and he stated the numerous reasons why Finding Nemo was a better film. The drama, acting, and visuals were all superior in his opinion. And remember, we were teenaged men who had been awaiting a sequel to The Matrix for years. Speaking of not seeing this in theaters, I wish that I had. Each successive Pixar movie seems to outdo the last one's groundbreaking visuals, and I wish that I could have seen certain of Nemo's sequences on the big screen.

These two movies gave Pixar their fourth and fifth CONSECUTIVE hits. For most film studios, to have three consecutive hits is incredible. As of today (the day Wall-E was released), they've had eight, and it looks like they will soon have a ninth.

Up next: Brad Bird's contributions...

Toy Story 1 and 2: The New Era

In 1995, Pixar Animation Studios released the first feature-length computer-generated movie. Special effects had been made by computers for a while by then (Terminator 2!), and there had been short films (Luxo, Jr. is the origin of their lamp logo), Toy Story was the beginning of a new era. Every single frame was completely computer-generated, and aside from a few awkward-looking human characters, the film looked beautiful. Oh, and the story was amazing as well. With a script written by Pixar powerhouses John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, as well as Joss Whedon (!!!), the story a cowboy doll used to being the favorite toy and the new spaceman who could overtake his throne was proof that something viewed as a children's medium could compete with more adult fare.

Four years later, Toy Story 2 was released, and the sequel was not only great, but it was an improvement on the original. By then, it was clear that computer animated films were here to stay. Toy Story 2 was actually Pixar's third movie; their second, A Bug's Life, was critically acclaimed, but was probably the lowest-grossing of the eight movies released as of today (the ninth, Wall-E, comes out in three days).

In both movies, the characters are the most important aspect; characterization is never sacrificed for the sake of plot, and everyone/thing is fleshed out. Woody and Buzz Lightyear are more real than many live-action characters. They each make decisions based on their beliefs and convictions; Woody, a good-natured cowboy goes to extreme lengths out of fear, while Buzz's misguided idea of being the "real" Buzz initially drives him, while his developing sense of friendship begins to command his personality. And while most of the toys' identities are tied into their models (Hamm the piggy bank is a little greedy and the Army Men have military knowledge), but they all have free will to make their own decisions. And the stories in each movie are wonderful. Toy Story is one of the best buddy films ever; it takes the tried-and-true story of two different people coming together to overcome their differences and adds heart (wow, that sound cliched). And Toy Story 2 is even better, with a story of dealing with loss.

These two films, along with A Bug's Life, helped launch one of the greatest film studios in recent history (if not the entire history of films).

Up next: Breaking records...