Topic: Disney/Pixar Discussion

Fans reacted to the news with what can only be described as uncertainty, taking to Twitter to wring their hands in worry. Most people, including many within Pixar, felt Toy Story 3 was a perfect close to a beloved trilogy, and are hesitant about anything that might sully that legacy.

Echoes my feelings. I'll wait and see how it develops, if Inside Out (which I have high hopes for) is really good, then I'd feel more optimistic.

I just got back from Big Hero 6. I absolutely love it. The humor was spot on, even throwing in a really good drunk joke and a puberty joke in there. Hiro is probably the most complex protagonist I've ever seen in an Animated movie. Better than Mr. Incredible, better than Woody, better than Simba, and better than Wreck-it Ralph. I can't say more than that without spoiling anything. Though he sounds like an adult, and he can't say his own name right (It's a Japanese name, the "r" in "Hiro" sounds like a hybrid between an "l" and an "r").

And no joke, I want my own Baymax. He's so adorable, and absolutely hilarious, despite technically not having any emotion. And having no love story is a refreshing change of pace for Disney.

But the movie is far from perfect, Hiro's friends that become part of the team are incredibly flat and one-dimensional. The villain isn't particularly special, and the pacing near the end gets a bit sloppy.

Because of that, I'd say it's not as good as Wreck-it Ralph, which I'd say is a near perfect film from beginning to end, but still absolutely worth watching.

Of the animated movies released since and including Toy Story 3, here's how I'd rank it.

1. Toy Story 3
2. Wreck-it Ralph
3. Big Hero 6
4. Monsters University
5. The LEGO Movie

Just saw Big Hero 6 as well, and yeah, it's a very good movie except for the trite superhero stuff, although I thought it was nice that the villain was in some way a mirror image of Hiro so that good and evil weren't totally oversimplified. I think Feast is the best short I've ever seen: it's almost worth your money just to see that.

I don't even like dogs, and I loved Feast.

Late to the party, but I finally watched Frozen.

Now THIS, is the Disney I remember. A part of me felt like I was a kid sitting down watching The Lion King, Aladdin, or Beauty & the Beast for the first time, and that's certainly a good thing. I'll say that I'm still not a big fan of CGI (I think it lacks something "magical" that 2D animation has, no pun intended), but it was a good looking movie (especially the snow/ice effects), and I'll definitely watch it again when I get the chance.

Hopefully it makes it into Kingdom Hearts III.

Despite its flaws, I truly loved Frozen and find the hate it gets to be annoying tbh. Mostly because its blatant antihype garbage.

I don't hate Frozen, but I'm genuinely confused why people thought it was such a great movie. It falls for every princess movie trope in the book, tropes that tend to be ridiculous and juvenile (mixing around roles doesn't make it any better). The pacing was atrocious, the villains were lackluster, and there were a number of big holes. I'd even go as far as to say that, as princess movies go, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast, Frozen doesn't measure up. I felt that the former two had really memorable characters, an enjoyable villain, and an introductory premise that makes a bit more sense. Frozen's not bad, but if I had to pick a modern era Disney movie to say it's on par with, I'd say it's about as good as Lilo and Stitch.

Between 2012 and 2014, there simply were so many more good animated movies that actually deserved the lavish praise Frozen got. Monsters U, Wreck-it Ralph, the LEGO Movie, and Big Hero 6, to name the ones I've watched.

I actually didn't watch Frozen until summer 2014 when my little sister asked me to watch with her. I was genuinely disappointed.

I'll grant you 3 and maybe 2 but my rebuttle to 1 kinda addresses my current opinion on movies as a whole. The pacing is perfect for a movie. It is quick, goes through every story element in the exact time it needed to, never stopped to waste your time (...well, almost) and it did exactly what I would want out of it to make it feel quick while still being memorable. I love slower paced stuff but I don't want that in movies more often than not and I just felt it knew what it was doing all the way through. The villians are lackluster but that simply wasn't a problem for me because the villains weren't the focus in the first place. Like 75+% of my enjoyment of the movie came from the relationship of the two sisters and I genuinely thought it was fantastic at that, so the fact that the villain was more of a plot point was almost a non-issue. Lastly, I don't care about plot holes the same way I do for other mediums in movies. I'm much more interested in movies as an emotional experience and Frozen did that really, really well. And if there are huge plot holes, then it's because you didn't care about what was going on more than that being a definitive failure of the movie. I mean it is an issue, possibly a major one, but I...don't care in this case. If a movie can get me carried away by the emotions of the characters, it no longer really matters.

And it really is the emotion that makes this movie. I love this movie because I cared more than I do for most fictional stories and characters and could forget anything else, and for that the movie has my eternal respect.

The thing I like most about Frozen, was that it was sort of a return to form with Disney animated films presenting something a bit more majestic, like many of their 90's films were (even if it had issues, I prefer it over most of the CGI cartoons, pretty much ever).

Pixar's films have always been fun for what they are, but I've always been a bigger fan of the traditional tales (both fantasy & sci-fi) that Disney used to put out. That said, I am interested in watching Brave, as it sounds like the Pixar film I'd be most likely to get into, but I haven't heard exactly great things about it.

As for Disney themselves, sometime after 2000, they decided to go CGI themselves, AND try to make Pixar like movies (Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, Chicken Little), except they weren't as good at it... Luckily, it seems like they've been getting their groove back as of late, as Wreck it Ralph was a good time (though admittedly a more guilty pleasure than anything, with all the classic gaming fanservice), and Frozen being great. I'd still like to get around to watching the Princess & the Frog and the 2011 Winnie the Pooh as well. I'm pretty excited for Big Hero Six, as well.

As for Dreamworks, most of their stuff seems to be a complete deconstruction/parody of classic fantasy (when they do fantasy films) which I'm not a big fan of, and other than that, they do Pixar style films, which again, I'm just not as big a fan of. Also, they're much more likely than Disney (and Pixar) to use gross out fart humor, which I'm not a big fan of.

Frozen was modernized, but it did so while still having that majestic feel.

I totally agree with iKhan, but I don't find the film emotionally gripping either. I have a sister I never really spent time with and I don't feel like Frozen helped us get along. The development of the sisterly relationship feels rushed and the tension between Anna and Elsa is resolved unrealistically and unsatisfyingly easily. If anything, it made us bond because we both thought the movie wasn't really that great and we shared a couple of our thoughts on it, rather than our enjoyment of it or anything it taught us. It's got some good jokes and a couple of good songs, and I think it's fine, but I don't think it's nearly as deep or inspiring as most people seem to.

Also, kinda unrelated, but I really hate Let It Go in-context. Out of context I think it's good, but in-context it's more about Elsa running from her responsibilities than moving on from past issues. She just froze Andrelle and, according to the lyrics, doesn't care about fixing that. Elsa never really goes out of her way to fix her mistakes later and pushes away everyone that tries to help, yet still gets a happy ending, which is my biggest issue with her. If she acted so naively, but then worked towards fixing her mistakes or admitted she needed help, I would find her to be a more sympathetic character (Wreck-it Ralph did the guilt part well- Ralph's guilt scene after he returns to FIFJR has always been one of my favourite from the film). It's a realistic flaw, but that's such a huge problem she caused and since she never works for her happy ending, it doesn't feel satisyfing.

@RR529 I don't know why Brave got such mediocre reviews: I like it more than the Toy Story movies even. Thematically it just seems much more relevant to me the issue of how much you have to give yourself over to fulfilling a certain role in society, whereas the concerns of toys becoming obsolete are harder to relate to or glean much from.

New Inside Out trailer

I'm not sure how I feel about this movie. Right now it's reminding me more of the more kiddy pixar movies, like Finding Nemo and Cars.

Better than the original trailer for it, but it still doesn't really sell me on the idea. Maybe the trouble is emotions are too abstract, and they still seem somehow generic even after they try to personify them.

The other night I caught The Little Mermaid on ABC Family.

I'm sure I've seen it as a kid, but it's been so long that I really forgot most about it (I forgot she even went to the surface at all, for example), so it was like watching it for the first time.

It's showing it's age a bit animation wise in a few places, but overall it has aged gracefully, and looks beautiful.

Story is charming & feel good, with a number of catchy musical numbers. A really fun watch.

I watched Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (Netflix) today, as I liked it as a kid, and it made me miss the days of Disney using Mickey & the gang in "all ages" cartoons. Nowadays, they only seem to be used in their early childhood programming...

@NintyMan, is Twice Upon a Christmas 2D or CGI?

I was thinking about watching that one as well, but the promotional material made it look CGI. While I'm not against CGI per sé, it ages a lot faster than 2D stuff (especially smaller projects like these), and the thought of that kinda put me off...

I caught an old Walt Disney Presents documentary late last night on TCM, and it was quite interesting.

It was from 1959, and chronicled the filming of a Disney film inspired by the story of the 3rd person to succeed in climbing the Matterhorn. They actually filmed on location in the small village at the base of the mountain. What's astonishing is the fact that Disney himself wanted the main actors & film crew (who had no experience rock climbing) to climb the mountain & film at the summit. Sure enough they succeeded (I think they said this was the first time anyone had filmed video from the summit). It was really quite cool, and really makes me appreciate Disney's creative vision more.

Finally watched Frozen. My sister gave me the DVD/blu-ray for Christmas.
I absolutely adore it. I've watched it three times already. Idina Menzel is amazing! For some reason, I wanted there to be some kind of conflict between Anna and Elsa though. I don't know why, and I don't know what I would have wanted it to be. I didn't want them to have a big showdown or anything. It just felt like that was missing.

I'm all for the alleged sequel, considering Disney has proven to be pretty competent and has had more hits than misses with sequels (unlike Dreamworks).

I have to ask, aside from the music, what did you like about it? I watched it with my sisters again, and it doesn't even focus much on Elsa and Anna's relationship. They say they love each other, but I don't see a reason beyond "they're sisters that played as kids".

I found Tadashi and Hiro's relationship in BH6 far better. They actually feel like brothers who care about each other, so the conflict and themes fit a whole lot better.

If anything, the idea of true love is just shoehorned into Frozen because it's a Disney Princess movie (but even Aladdin and Mulan avoided that)

I don't know. I found it to be a charming movie. But I would agree, there's very little focus on Anna and Elsa's relationship as adults (hence why I feel like there needed to be some sort of conflict or something between them). I felt like there was something missing from the film. They were pals when they were kids, and then they have little contact for many years and suddenly they're best pals again?
I kind of wish we'd have seen a little more of Elsa for some reason. Like, what does she do up in that ice palace all alone? Does she get bored? What does she eat? I understand that it's a Disney movie, so you're not supposed to ask those questions... but still....

One thing I liked about the movie was that it wasn't "true love" in the classic sense that saved the day. It showed that profound love can come from places other than a love interest. Though I wish it would have been fleshed out a little more.