What are some of your core memories? I know one of mine is going to my aunt’s house on Sundays to eat her delicious home cooking and afterwards the whole family would gather to watch a movie. One of the first movies I remember watching as a family was Finding Nemo. That was the start of my obsession with Pixar. As a toddler, and even currently to a certain extent, it was difficult for something to keep my attention for a long period of time, especially a nearly two-hour movie. But there was something about the colours, the adventure, the distinctive characters and their designs, the comedy – everything hit for me! But the most important aspect of the movie for me at that point in my life was the father-son relationship between Marlin and Nemo. When I was two years old, my dad permanently moved to the UK to pursue his career, while my mom and I stayed in Barbados. My dad still visited us quite regularly and vice versa, but I didn’t get the chance to fully experience a relationship him until recently. Seeing Marlin’s determination to find his son was something that I instantly connected with and yearned for, to say the least. There was a completely different feeling that I got from Finding Nemo than any other kids’ film at the time. This was Pixar’s speciality; key word – was.
Take another Pixar movie with a story about father-son relationships and an adventure narrative – Onward. The story takes place in a world where magic exists and was a widespread practice until technological innovation came about and was accepted as an easier lifestyle. Two brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, go on an adventure to find a magical stone that will bring their deceased father back to life for one day. The younger brother, Ian, who is sceptical about the existence of magic never got to meet Daddy Lightfoot while older brother, Barley, a magic fanatic, has ‘four memories’ of him. The last memory of his dad was when he was on his deathbed and he couldn’t bring himself to say goodbye. At the climax of the film, when Daddy Lightfoot appears for a few seconds and Barley finally gets to say goodbye while Ian, who has been yearning to talk to his dad his whole life, is unfortunately confined to a stone prison, that reminded me of the old Pixar. Genuinely, I think that is one of the realest and most endearing scenes in recent Pixar history. So, why is the movie so utterly forgettable then? It’s because the journey to get to the climax is bland and uninspired. Also, most of the jokes do not land in this one, mainly because Barley is such an obnoxious character that is clearly only written for small children to enjoy. Even the other disappointing Pixar films, like Brave or Monsters University are at least funny. The movie feels like three hours rather than an hour and a half and I constantly took breaks to regain my energy.
That honestly breaks my heart to say because no studio could compete with Pixar in terms of their output quality when I was growing up. Pixar used to push boundaries with every release, starting with Toy Story (1995) being the first 3D animated feature ever. The team at Pixar didn’t have any intention of making a sequel to Toy Story but after the critical acclaim and financial success of A Bug’s Life a year prior, Disney forced them to make it. Though Disney approved of the initial storyboard draft, the team at Pixar didn’t and they tried to push back the film’s release, but to no avail. Pixar held themselves to a higher creative standard so instead of releasing something mediocre, John Lasseter, the former CEO of Pixar cancelled his vacation to finish the movie in nine months. The rest is history, and Toy Story 2 is now considered a Pixar classic. This dedication to the craft is something that I feel like Pixar has been missing for the last decade. They just seem like another money hungry studio without any creative integrity whatsoever. In fact, the only person at Pixar that seems to still care about making great films is Pete Doctor. There’s a sense of relief when Pete Doctor is in the director’s chair, churning out classics like Monsters Inc., Up, and Inside Out and his most recent film Soul. Although the latter is significantly less popular than the rest, Doctor manages to capture the magic of Pixar’s Golden Age. Not only is it beautifully animated, which is the least you expect from a Pixar film, it is funny, has a great soundtrack, the two main characters are relatable and their journey feels earned. It seems to me that Pete is the 'doctor' Pixar needs to cure them of the drab, unoriginal, nonsensical messes they puke out each year.
So, what’s the solution? I would honestly love to see Pete Doctor take on a more prominent leadership role in the company so that he could oversee future projects. Most importantly though, I’d like for them to stop with this new “quantity over quality” model they’ve been adhering to. This year we’ve had Turning Red, an interesting exploration of puberty in young girls that falters in the third act, and then we’re gonna get Lightyear, an anthology movie about Buzz Lightyear. It looks like it could be a very fun movie, but I worry that it won’t feel like a Pixar film. I’m hoping it goes the Incredibles route where it’s a good balance between action and heart. On the other hand, maybe this expectation from fans has been detrimental as well. It is possible that they’ve been thinking about going in a different direction with their stories and animation for a while but every year we expect, nay, demand complex tear-jerkers. It is a fair assumption but when they have set the standard so high with their output from 1995-2010, you can’t blame us for acknowledging the drop in quality every year.
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