Here's the deal about Pixar from what I understand. They were their own thing. They did their movies, Disney released them and stuck their logo on the product, and the revenue went straight down the several-acres-of-grey-area middle. It was the cinematic equivalent of An Uncharacteristically Good Book by James Patterson & The Actual Author.
The Little Mermaid started Disney's renaissance which carried it through Tarzan, although the real goldmine arguably ran out with The Lion King, i.e. the Frank Wells period that Michael Eisner was getting credit for. Post Wells, Disney's monopoly on animated films was starting to show its fatigue, mostly as each progressively more disappointing direct-to-video sequel was painting a picture that Eisner really didn't understand the nature of the company he was driving.
DreamWorks was showing signs of life but not quite emerging as a challenger. FOX was beginning to dabble, and every once in a while Don Bluth would do...something, but it wasn't until Pixar came out on the playing field that anything interesting started to happen. And when Disney began dropping the ball, Pixar was there to recover it.
It was an interesting experience working at Disney World in the early 2000's, in part because I got to see the inside the mouse house reaction to Pixar's rise to prominence. Cast members were turning against their own company on this issue, insisting that Pixar was a totally separate entity from Disney, and a much better (pretty much infallible) one at that. This of course was a reflection on Eisner's administration more than anything else, but between how perfect Finding Nemo was and how worthless Home on the Range was, it's difficult to remember which opinion held the most passion among Disney employees (only one of which is valid, by the way).
So let's scroll through the Pixar menu and see if the company really is the four star restaurant it's credited to be. I'll be skipping non-Toy Story related sequels, as Cars 2 left no impression and I never bothered with the Monsters prequel.
Boy Story
This movie was going to be a hit regardless of its quality. It was visually stunning before we all got used to computer animation. Yes, the story was lifted from 1986's Jim Henson production The Christmas Toy no matter how much Pixar doesn't want to admit it. But what really holds this movie together is how solid the characters are. Woody has a good heart, but he's also allowed character flaws. He feels pain, jealousy, guilt and despair, all without ever losing the audience's sympathy. This is one of those movies where I really can't think of a weakness.
A Bud Lite
I've never heard anyone refer to A Bug's Life as their favorite Pixar film. It's entertaining enough, but Flik never comes across as particularly well defined protagonist, more of a trope. And none of the other characters stand out either apart from their most basic identifying traits. Antz may have been nothing more than a dick-move from DreamWorks, but I have to say their characters were much stronger. Although A Bug's Life has to get credit for Hopper's death by cute chicks. Note: this was the first Pixar movie to have that god-awful trend of fake outtakes that forced parents to take their kids to a second viewing.
Tolstoy 2
If you don't know, this was meant to be a direct-to-video sequel. Then somebody realized it was good enough to be released in theaters (an adulation that later was mistakenly bestowed onto the Peter Pan and Jungle Book sequels), which led to some real tension between Pixar and Disney (read: Eisner) about their contract fulfillment. Fun stuff. Anyway, the Toy Story sequel is the perfect example of what a sequel needs to accomplish in order to match and/or top its predecessor. It develops some of the favorite periphery characters and deftly throws the spotlight around so everybody gets their moments. New characters are introduced so flawlessly that the original film now feels their absence. And Jessie's back story still makes me cry to this day.
Matisse ITC
This one was creative, but a tad overrated. There's a charm, and it's a really fun ride. Yet somehow I just never attached to the characters the way I was essentially told to. Perhaps it was a misfired idea to have Boo played by an actual infant instead of a child actor, because her character comes across more as a plot device than a real character. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a really good movie. But I've always felt the heart of it is being told to us instead of shown, and the dialogue is almost compulsively snappy and hyperactive that the movie keeps us out of it.
Finding Waldo
This was where the cracks in Pixar began showing and nobody in my circles wanted to admit it. Dory was a great character, and I loved Nigel the pelican. Nobody else in the movie really came across as anything more than merchandising, least of all Marlin. This is problematic, because we're talking about Albert Freaking Hank Scorpio Brooks. 'Worried dad' is not an inherently strong archetype, but Marlin never conveys anything beyond that. By the end of the movie I've learned nothing about him that wasn't in the opening scene. The animation is drop dead gorgeous, but the (huh-huh, yeesh) hook isn't really there.
The Uncreditedables
There are a lot of ideas in this movie that don't really play together well. A superhero having to fit in with office life is really interesting, and Syndrome's motivations are pretty impressive, but I just never cared about the super kids or the evil lair or all the damn robots. It starts off with the promise of actually being about something but gradually devolves into a typical superhero story with very little to distinguish it from an entry in the Fantastic Four. I don't get why people are so fond of this movie.
Carbs
As much as I wish the character of Mater had been erased from the hard drive, Cars wound up being one of my favorite Pixar films. A lot of it really had to do with the climax, which made Lightning McQueen's journey up to it way cooler. McQueen isn't an inherently selfish character, he's just on the high of a winning streak. When you're on top of the world, it's easy to forget that the world wasn't made for you. And it's not until that climax, when everything that he didn't realize he was learning, all coalesces into a beautiful lesson to teach kids; some things are more important than winning.
Rigatoni
The Toy Story franchise was a series of buddy pictures, but it's ultimately Woody's story. Monsters Inc. was Sully's story. Ratatouille can't make up its mind, and it hurts the overall picture. I think if they had picked one (probably Remy's story) to be the driving force, and abbreviate the other the movie would have been much stronger. But they tried to have it both ways, and the story just felt cluttered. The Anton Ego story arc was well done. That could have benefited from a bit of an upgrade.
WILE-E
This is another one with the same problem. It starts as one movie and then becomes a different one after the first act. WALL-E's story was just fine on its own. I don't know why it had to turn into this massive allegory about human birth. They could have done one of two things: either solidify one damned story arc to serve as a single backbone, or do an anthology film around the central theme of the future wasteland. Yes, the robot's cute. That's not enough to ignore the glaring chasm in development.
Yup
This one honestly feels like it's for the adults, and there's a magic here that I've only seen in a few Miyazaki films. Now in all fairness I don't know how necessary it was to have a villain in the picture, but that aspect was really just an excuse to explore the metaphor of holding on too tightly to the past. Carl Fredricksen may be Pixar's most complete character to date, and Up is one of those films that just stays with you even when you don't realize it.
Toy Storage 3
Okay, credit where it's due. The fact that this movie came together at all after such a long wait is impressive on its own. And there are some standout moments that really make an impact (Barbie and Ken, Woody's fight with the monkey, the incinerator climax). But something about this sequel never entirely won me over. It may have been the character of Lotso. The pain he was carrying was understandable, but I felt his transition into straight up villain was a little forced. I also think there were a few too many new characters thrown in. Toy Story 3 is a good movie, but I politely disagree with the people who say it's the best of the series.
Brava
I've got to get this off my chest. When you do a movie with a female protagonist, just DO the movie. Quit shining every spotlight on how progressive you're being. With that out of the way, I felt about Brave the way I felt about How to Train Your Dragon; I remember feeling very positive about the movie experience but I don't really remember much about the story. The Merida/Elinor relationship was really well done, and I liked the witch, but none of the other characters came across as more than just placeholders for the plot. I'd file this one under the 'worth watching' category but probably not the 'worth owning'.
Insidi-Ous
And finally, the film of the evening's drive-in. First off, the short before the movie (Lava) was the first Pixar short that I can honestly say was dumb. Don't believe me? Watch it again and pretend it's from any animation studio other than Pixar. Yeah, see? Power of the name.
Now the real movie. I thought it was absolutely beautiful, and I say that knowing full well that I'm agreeing with what everybody is already saying; non-conformity is too hard anyway. I think anyone who goes through the process of therapy is going to be referring back to the concepts so cleverly metaphor-ized in this impressive story. Emotion is everything in story. Even when nothing is at stake, it has to feel like something is at stake. Inside Out hits all the right buttons at all the right times, arguably making this the best written story from the artists at Pixar.
In conclusion: Pixar is still the one to beat in animation. No, they don't always hit a home run, but the overall quality of their films hasn't exactly diminished either. Even overlooking the ideas lifted from other sources, Pixar maintains a solid creative energy that puts the film elements together in a fresh way. Here's looking forward to seeing their take on We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story.
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