Pixar: The Artists of Our Generation

evanescentiz | Jun 7, 2011 |

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Everybody loves a movie, especially a good one. There’s nothing that compares to going to a cinema and watching a movie with some friends, or sitting at home and renting a movie with your family and watching it there. It’s just an experience we all enjoy. Animated movies have been increasing in popularity over the years, and with technology today, animated movies have become incredibly competitive. My sister and I watched Pixar’s 2009 Box Office hit, Up last night and I just couldn’t help but marvel at what a master piece it was. I felt the same way when I watched toy story 3 last year, and Ratatouille a few years back. Pixar really do have a magic formula for making brilliant animated flims, we’ve seen it in the past with the Toy Story films. There are some films that, while being quite enjoyable, did not live up to the high standards of Pixar Films. However, in the last few years they seem to have perfected their recipe for the Animated feature. For the past 4 years, The Academy Award for “Best Animated Feature” has been given to a Pixar Film. Is this a coincidence? No, it is merely a testament of their brilliance.

They say a great artist can tell a story perfectly without using many (if any) words. By that definition, the boys and girls at Pixar are definitely great artists. If you’ve seen many of their short films, you can agree with this. The best feature film example of this is probably Up. Carl Frederickson probably speaks the least throughout the whole movie, but he’s the character we know the most about. The 5 minute scene dubbed “Married Life” where his life with his wife is depicted without a word being said is simply beautiful. Pixar have become masters of handling demand. They know just what people want, and know just how to hand it to us. But here’s the trick, they do it in an original way that takes us completely by surprise.

There are some ridiculous story lines amongst Pixar Films. A group of toys escaping a house, then escaping a daycare centre; A rat teaching a human being to cook; A man flying his house to Brazil using helium filled balloons. It’s absurd. But isn’t that what animated films are there for? To capture our wildest fantasies and put them in a story; to let us flirt with our imaginations where the constraints of reality have failed us; To Dream. Pixar seem to be understanding this, and they are implementing it into their movies.

Animated films used to be aimed at children only, however watching films like Up and Ratatouille, there is plenty of content for adults to appreciate as well. And for me, that’s where the true genius lies. The ability to make a film that appeals to the imagination of a child, and the emotions of an adult simultaneously. Each film comes riddled with implicit meanings, hidden life lessons, and funny gags and pratfalls to keep everybody feeling good in the end.

Cars 2 comes out later this year, and it will be interesting to see how Pixar will handle the increased competition from Dreamworks, and even Nickelodeon Studios this year. The creators at Pixar seem to be moving from strength to strength with their films, and you get the feeling there’s more to come. More fantasies that we couldn’t possibly think up, more characters that touch our hearts and come into our homes, and more story lines that are, simply put, absurd. But a wise man once said, “He who never attempts the absurd, will never achieve the impossible”. Pixar Animation Studios, I salute thee.