Watching business decisions get handed down from on high is always maddening, with the context for such choices being obscured from public view; all that can result is rampant speculation. So it is with the surprising announcement a few weeks ago from the Walt Disney Company that it was shutting down Pixar’s Canadian studio, located in Vancouver, British Columbia. The studio, which employed over 100 animators, had worked primarily in shorts related to preexisting properties, such as the Toy Story shorts Small Fry and Partysaurus Rex, as well as some of the Cars shorts released straight to DVD and Blu-ray. As of now, one of the reasons being bandied about for why the shutdown occurred is that a number of the tax loopholes that existed in the past in Canada have been tightened, giving Disney less profit on this extension of one of their most financially fruitful branches.
The Pixar Perspective on Distinguishing the Backlash
Everything in pop culture that we embrace goes through cycles. Something is introduced to the masses, who fall in love with it, and then, after a requisite amount of time, a backlash arises. This is different from a piece of art, whether it’s a film, TV show, or book, being analyzed and criticized from a subjective point of view. Instead, that which is initially beloved begins to wear thin on some members of its audiences even if they are the ones who changed, not the art itself. (Take, for instance, the current season of AMC’s Mad Men, which has received countless plaudits in the past but is now receiving more unfriendly reactions because it’s inherently the same show, unchanging in its sixth year.) Backlash can be vexing, but it is not uncommon. And so it makes sense that the last couple of years, for Pixar, have been full of such a negative turn.
The Pixar Perspective on The Pixar Moment in ‘Cars’
Quoting the late Walt Disney is fairly commonplace in the world of the Disney theme parks. Anywhere you walk in Disneyland or Walt Disney World, you’ll see a quote attributed to Disney, whether or not the quote is totally accurate. (He may not have said, in so many words, “If you dream it, you can do it,” for example.) One quote that is prevalent and does belong to him can be spotted in a plaque at the gateway between the entrance plaza to the Magic Kingdom (or Disneyland Park) and Main Street, U.S.A.: “Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” In short, if you allow yourself to submit to the cloistered theme-park worlds within, you are essentially engaging in a potent, immediate form of escapism.
The Pixar Perspective on Honoring Walt Disney’s Animated Legacy
Depending on your age and attitude, it has become very difficult over the last month to not be cynical about the state of affairs at the Walt Disney Company. Though Disney appears to be, financially, as high as they’ve ever been, the company is cutting costs left and right, up to and including letting long-time employees go. Some of the more high-profile layoffs have targeted, inadvertently, one hopes, touchstones of many a Millennial child. Last year, people thrilled at the idea that Disney was now in league with the seminal video-game company LucasArts as part of buying Lucasfilm as a whole. A few weeks ago, those same people were depressed to hear that Disney shuttered the company for good, essentially outsourcing future video games. And now, Disney’s axed a number of their most venerated employees in the hand-drawn animation department, cementing the notion that hand-drawn animation is persona non grata at a company that built its reputation on that illustrative vision.
The Pixar Perspective on Humanity in Nonhuman Worlds
Consciously or not, we often look for the existence of the human in the art we consume. Sometimes, that presence is visible, and sometimes it’s just outside of the frame of the filmmaker’s camera or the words on the author’s page or inches away from the artist’s canvas. But we want and expect some form of humanity to be present in what we watch or read. In film, this manifests differently in live-action versus animation, the latter of which has been criticized for the “uncanny valley” effect, when human characters are rendered in such a way that’s off-putting, distracting for perhaps being too realistic, uncomfortably human. Pixar Animation Studios has not yet fallen into the uncanny valley, but it’s interesting to watch the evolution of their computer-animation technology from as far back as their pre-feature shorts up to Brave, in part because so much of their work is infused with the presence of humans even when none physically appear. Except for the films in the Cars franchise.
Disney Holiday Gift Preview 2012: Pixar Merchandise
Yesterday, Disney provided me with an extensive tour of its upcoming merchandise for the next few months. Unsurprisingly, given their popularity, we will be seeing new toy lines from both the Toy Story and Cars franchises. With Monsters University still a year away, the big focus is on Brave merch at the moment, though, as bow and arrow sets continue to sell out across Disney Stores and other retailers. After the break, get a preview of some of the merchandise based on Pixar films you can expect to see at retailers soon. [Read more…]
Cars 2 Clip – Finn McMissile Meets Mater (Continued)
Disney/Pixar has been releasing clips from Cars 2 left and right recently. A little over a week ago, we shared a clip of Mater strolling through Tokyo International Airport and meeting new character Finn McMissile for the first time. It was the first time we saw Finn’s ability to alter his appearance, which can be a huge asset as a spy. Now, we have the continuation of that clip, where Finn shows off a few more of his abilities, and proceeds to become a more awesome character than we thought he could be. Check out the 1:20 clip, “Carmac,” in HD here! [Read more…]
New Cars 2 Still Features Holley and Mater
A new Cars 2 still made its debut online today and it features two characters who will likely be spending a nice amount of time together in the film: Mater and newcomer Holley Shiftwell. Considering the colorful and bright nature of the image, we are likely looking at the part of the film that occurs in Tokyo. Read on to take a look at the dazzling image in hi-res! [Read more…]
