FINDING DORY: A Tangy Aftertaste

Other Reviews in this Series.

Directors: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane (co-director)
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Victoria Strause
Cast: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton, Idris Elba, Dominic West
Runtime: 97 mins.
2016

There was a lengthy, downright dynastic period of time during which the release of a new Pixar movie meant the release of a new guaranteed classic. We are firmly out of that period. Of the five films released before Finding Dory, only one could be considered great by any significant metric. So it became difficult to care about the impending Finding Nemo sequel, a feeling only exacerbated by: 1) Pixar's increasing reliance on cash-in sequels and prequels, and 2) Director Andrew Stanton's recent career dip with the catastrophic failure of John Carter, an incident that makes transparent Stanton's desire to jump on board with a guaranteed cash-in of his own.

Yet I tried to be hopeful about Finding Dory, even as it kept slipping off my radar. Surely Pixar has created enough cinematic magic to warrant a bit of good faith. Too bad Finding Dory does little enough to reward that faith.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR: The Land Beside Time

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. The Good Dinosaur is Pixar's 16th feature film, a worthy if not especially inspiring entry to their canon.

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Director: Peter Sohn

Writers: Bob Peterson, Meg LeFauve, Peter Sohn, Erik Benson, Kelsey Mann

Cast: Raymond Ochoa, Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Sam Elliott, Steve Zahn, A. J. Buckley, Anna Paquin, John Ratzenberger

Runtime: 93 mins.

2015

A new original film from Pixar is always something to be received with great relish, for they are becoming less and less frequent as the studio's sequel-able properties increase in number. The Good Dinosaur has the added benefit of fashioning for itself a pretty good central concept: What if the meteor that wiped out dinosaurkind had instead missed the Earth, and the course of evolution had continued without interruption? Thus The Good Dinosaur presents a timeline in which dinosaurs have adopted language, and have begun to move past hunting and gathering into agriculture and animal husbandry. This is a richer idea than the typical "what if dinosaurs could talk" animated standby, as it can tackle more interesting questions about the development of a species' culture.

Unfortunately the concept is entirely wasted on this movie, which seems interested in little more than the "dinosaurs talking" business. The entire first act takes place on the farm of young Arlo the apatosaurus, and it is somewhat amusing to see the techniques these long-necked beasts use to tend their crops, but it is also by far the most boring stretch of the movie. It's repetitive and only slightly charming. The characters of Arlo's family are sketched in sand, and for the amount of narrative actually accomplished by this segment of the movie, it certainly could have been streamlined by upwards of 50%. I also reacted poorly to Jeffrey Wright's performance of the little dinosaur's father, the only other member of the family who is at all relevant to the film. It's a performance that perhaps feels warm and welcoming to a child, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Barney was trying to teach me something.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY: E Pluribus Anus

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. We finish out our retrospective in disappointing fashion with the barren prequel Monsters University.

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Director: Dan Scanlon
Writers: Dan Scanlon, Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird
Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi, Peter Sohn, Joel Murray, Sean Hayes, Dave Foley, Charlie Day, John Ratzenberger
Runtime: 104 mins.
2013

In my Brave review, I mentioned that near the climax I wandered out of the room without even thinking about it. During Monsters University, on the other hand, I very consciously spent as much of the runtime as I could doing other things vaguely nearby the television. Of all the Pixar movies I've watched or rewatched for this retrospective, I was looking forward to Monsters University the least. I called Brave "wholly and unflinchingly average." MU takes it one step further and becomes crushingly average. This is a movie that has no reason to exist and never stops reminding you.

To be honest I'm tired of this series. I embarked upon it because I figured I would enjoy critically revisiting some of the great contemporary animated masterpieces, and I have, but the most recent arc of Pixar's filmography is incredibly deflating. Between the Cars movies, the botched diversity of Brave, and now the insipid pointlessness of MU, my personal stock in Pixar is at an all time low (which is still rather high compared to other studios).

BRAVE: A Monument to Compromise

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. This time around we dig into the tragedy behind Pixar's attempt at diversity, Brave.

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Director: Mark Andrews or Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell (co-director)
Writers: Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Irene Mecchi
Cast: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, John Ratzenberger
Runtime: 93 mins
2012

In every fiber of its being, Brave is a wholly and unflinchingly average movie. The character design is slightly amusing. The world is lush but unoriginal. The slapstick is inoffensive and unengaging. The voice acting is cartoonishly Scottish. The dialogue gets the job done. The action is functional. The plot is familiar. The story is a far more typical version of what Disney tried and succeeded in accomplishing a year later with Frozen.

When you add all that up, you can't help but be disappointed to find that Brave is no more nor less than the sum of its parts: a cookie cutter movie about fate and self-determination. I'd be hardpressed to name one truly interesting or groundbreaking choice in the whole movie. During my viewing I was so unimpressed with the paint-by-numbers proceedings that, without even realizing it, I got up and went to do something in another room while the climax was ramping up. I never abandon movies like that.

CARS 2: Porn for Rednecks

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. Join me for another movie I hate it is called Cars 2.

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Directors: John Lasseter, Brad Lewis (co-director)
Writers: Ben Queen, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, Dan Fogelman
Cast: Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro, others, John Ratzenberger
Runtime: 106 mins.
2011

On Rotten Tomatoes, a critical film review aggregate, the first Cars movie sits at 74% positive reviews. This is already perplexing to me for reasons I enumerated in my review of that pile of greasy turds. But the real curiosity is the plummet of Cars 2 down to 39% positive reviews. I have to wonder about the people who felt favorably about Cars, but were let down by its sequel. The second movie is much like the first, but contorted to fit inside the structure of a very typical international espionage thriller. The best scenes in the film involve newcomer British spies Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer). Far more entertaining than watching cars do something they're designed to do (race) is watching them do something they have no business being able to do (covert ops), and this juxtaposition immediately propels the sequel ahead of the first entry in my estimation. Sure, Michael Caine sounds bored, and the plot is cookie cutter stuff that somehow manages to be both simplistic and convoluted, but at least it's something. At times, I felt like I was watching an actual movie, rather than a bunch of anthropomorphic cars farting around and being assholes to each other.

Unfortunately, this being a sequel to Pixar's main merchandising property, the characters from Cars have to be involved.* Unfortunately unfortunately, Pixar has realized that their primary demographic for this franchise are downhome southern redneck conservatives. With that realization firmly in pocket, they upgraded Larry the Cable Guy's tow truck Mater from goof-off sidekick to out and out protagonist.

*During the first scene of the movie, which details Finn McMissile's infiltration of an oil rig, I was blissfully able to pretend that we wouldn't be seeing the likes of Mater and McQueen ever again.

TOY STORY 3: Toy Movie 3 Is the Greatest Movie of All Time

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. Here comes Toy Story 3, a film that many young adults got weepy about.

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Director: Lee Unkrich
Writers: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, Michael Arndt
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Jodi Benson, Blake Clark, Emily Hahn, Laurie Metcalf
Runtime: 103 mins.
2010

As much as any person has ever been a target demographic, I was the target demographic for Toy Story 3. As I relayed in my Toy Story review, Toy Story was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater, and I was obsessed with it during my youth. I owned my own Woody doll and Buzz Lightyear action figure. I had a Rex and a Mr. Potato Head. I grew up with these characters. My fondness for the franchise was something my whole family shared. It wasn't a case of parents tolerating their kids' fixation with some dumb cartoon, as I imagine is the case with movies like Cars. We could pop Toy Story in any time and everyone would enjoy it.

Fast forward fifteen years to 2010. I had just graduated high school and was sliding my way through the last summer I would have before going away to college. That's a terrifying time, full of anticipation both hopeful and anxious. There is a pervasive sense that you are about to take an unknowable leap forward, so you also spend quite a bit of time looking back.

Lo and behold, along comes Toy Story 3, a movie about a grown up Andy getting ready to go off to college, and the trauma faced by his forgotten toys. Andy's arc is relatively minor within the plot of the movie, but it is the emotional underpinning of everything that happens: he must learn to let the toys of his youth go, and in doing so leave them in a more caring environment than he would be able to provide. The final goodbye of Toy Story 3 hit me hard. I know many people felt this, but it was as if the movie was speaking directly to me. This franchise had raised me, and now it was time for me to move on.

UP: Just a Piece of Latex in My Eye

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. As anyone who has watched Up already knows, it is a masterwork in emotional manipulation. And I mean that in the best possible way.

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Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (co-director)
Writers: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
Cast: Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger
Runtime: 96 mins.
2009

Nothing makes me cry. I'm not a tough guy, I've just never had easy access to my emotions. Crying isn't weakness, it's a release valve. One that I'm often envious of. Most of my favorite stories throughout my life have failed to move me to tears. In recent years this has been changing a little bit; as I learn more about movies and the craft that goes into them, it has made me more capable of accessing and understanding the emotions at the center of the story via an intellectual conduit. Maybe that makes me sound like a sociopath, but that's how things are. I have to understand before I can participate.

With that said, I will readily admit that the famous opening montage of Up makes me cry like a fool every single time I watch it. For those not in the know, Up is the story of a curmudgeonly old man who lives alone. The first five or so minutes of the film contain a montage showing his progression through the decades with the love of his life, Ellie. It is one of the most elegant, effectively manipulative feats of emotiontugging that I have ever seen. The story it tells is so simple, as is its montage format. But this sequence of silent glimpses into the lives of this couple--strung along to a tremendously moving Michael Giacchino composition that crops up again and again in the movie, always reminding us of this opening salvo--yanks the rug out from under us so hard, it could almost be considered cruel. Of course, the sequence is not just an exercise in pathos; it also establishes the character of Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) with maximum economy. Thanks to these five minutes, any time Carl is kind of a dick in the movie (which is not uncommon), we can never hate or resent him for it, because we have seen the exact emotional arc that has brought him to this point. Everything he does is out of a bullheaded sense of love, even when his decision making is misinformed.

WALL-E: All About Eve

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. We've arrived at WALL-E, which has one of the great first acts of any movie ever.

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Director: Andrew Stanton
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon
Cast: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, MacInTalk, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver
Runtime: 98 mins.
2008

If we were to only take the first 30 or so minutes of WALL-E into account, it would be a perfect 10/10 movie no question about it. The film opens with the camera roving through the galaxy to the sound of an upbeat old timey song. As the camera moves in on earth, our wonder turns mournful as we are blasted with imagery of an abandoned planet, mistreated and misshapen by centuries of irreversible pollution. It is in this trashy wasteland that we are introduced to our first, central, and for the moment only character: WALL-E. WALL-E is a trash compacting robot given the impossible task of cleaning up the Earth by humans who have long since died off. Yet the relics of humanity remain, and a blissfully large portion of this film plays out like silent slapstick steeped in sentimentalism. WALL-E recovers artifacts that his robot brain cannot easily comprehend, and he utilizes them in whatever charming way suits him. There's something comforting in this little robot gathering the remains of humanity around him in an effort to create an identity for himself in this lost world, and something immensely tragic as well.

Then one day all of that changes. A rocketship drops a drone named EVE, a sleek feminine hyperfuturistic robot whose purpose on Earth is not at first clear. As she sets about her duty, the narrative morphs into a love story, with WALL-E craving the companionship that he had never before allowed himself to admit he wanted. The narrative is at its heart a simple and familiar story, but the way it plays out on the apocalyptic stage makes it feel almost mythic in its gravity. This is spurred along by phenomenal production design. The world may be dead, but the sheer glut of detail parading across every shot makes it feel more alive than any other movie setting I can readily think of. The soundtrack is alternately light and melancholy, a masterpiece composed by stellar Pixar contributor Thomas Newman. The camerawork zooms, pans, and pulls our attention masterfully through the desolate futurescape.

RATATOUILLE: Pasta al Rodente

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. Ratatouille holds the dubious distinction of being Pixar's most underrated film.

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Directors: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava (co-director)
Writers: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Bob Peterson
Cast: Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Peter Sohn, Brian Dennehy, Peter O'Toole, Brad Garrett, John Ratzenberger
Runtime: 111 mins.
2007

When we look at Pixar's stable of repeat directors, currently numbered at four, choosing the best of the bunch may be an impossible task. We can throw out John Lasseter (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Cars, Cars 2) right away. Although he was responsible for kicking everything off with Toy Story, he also claims a hefty portion of Pixar's mediocre entries. We're left with Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc., Up, Inside Out), Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E), and Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille). Such a selection between titans inevitably comes down to personal taste; in my mind the war rages between Stanton and Bird, both of whom have since gone on to direct live action movies, and both of whom are returning to direct Pixar sequels now that their most recent films have flopped financially and critically (John Carter, Tomorrowland). Whether that is good news or bad news, only time will tell. Perhaps the relative successes of Finding Dory and The Incredibles 2 will help me pick a favorite.

As far as I can tell, Brad Bird is not often at the top of people's favorite Pixar director lists. A cursory googling tells me that Docter is typically the favorite. This one even puts Bird at number five. Maybe he gets points docked for starting his career with The Simpsons and The Iron Giant rather than being born and raised in the Pixar system. I'm inclined to think it also has something to do with Ratatouille being the most regretfully underrated film in Pixar's canon.

CARS: Porn for Children

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. Now Cars.

Other Reviews in this Series.

Directors: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft
Writers: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Jorgen Klubien, Dan Fogelman, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, Bonnie Hunt, Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson, Don Lake, Steve Purcell, Dan Scanlon
Cast: Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Paul Newman, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, George Carlin, John Ratzenberger, Michael Keaton
Runtime: 117 mins.
2006

I went into this looking forward to Cars. It's not every day you get to experience a new Pixar movie, and this was one of the two I hadn't seen (Cars 2 being the obvious counterpart). I had no high hopes, just a willingness to be lightly entertained.

Instead I disliked Cars from the very first shot. The psych-up voiceover interspersed with blurred shots of cars zooming past the camera and slow pans across the sleek shiny red metal exterior of the main character. It's meant to titillate, to ingratiate. Already, mere seconds into the film, the cars are presented as fetish objects meant to be worshiped and purchased in small plastic form. What better way to sell merchandise to children than to take something they already love, slap a face on it, and stuff its mouth with witty quips? Note that I do not use the term "fetish object" lightly. Maybe you think my post title a bit harsh, but the definition of pornography is a cultural artifact intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. What's more erotic to a child than the thrill of moving fast, or the noise of a revving engine? Cars is eroticism for children the way James Bond is eroticism for adults. My point is only enhanced by the movie's baldfaced insistence upon cars objectifying other cars, both for their athleticism and their sexual capacity. I'm not even joking, watch this movie again and notice the moments when one car stares at another's ass, or when a car delivers some sexually explicit line of dialogue that confuses you on a purely pragmatic level but also on the meta-emotional level of why is a Pixar movie forcing me to concoct unspeakable images of motor vehicles engaged in coitus???

THE INCREDIBLES: The "I" in Team

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. The Incredibles is one of my favorite superhero movies, and makes a case for being the most entertaining of all Pixar's output.

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Director: Brad Bird
Writer: Brad Bird
Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Bird
Runtime: 115 mins.
2004

Only just now am I realizing that The Incredibles is the only Pixar movie with a single credited writer/director. Typically these movies have at least one co-director and a laundry list of story and screenplay contributors. Bird taking the reins unsupported on the entire creative process is unheard of for such a collaborative organization, but I suppose it's thematically in keeping with the message of the film.

The Incredibles, after all, is a story of Supers. Following in the medium-shattering footsteps of Alan Moore, Brad Bird takes time to set up a world in which superheroes are popular, potent, and praised by police and populace--only to shatter that world with a government edict that makes superheroism illegal, told in slick newsboy-style spinning newspapers and black and white clips. Thereafter we jump ahead to today, and find that our hero Mr. Incredible has become regular old Bob, wage slave at an insurance company and lackluster family man at home. His wife Helen (Holly Hunter), the former Elastigirl, is desperately trying to keep their marriage alive by putting the past firmly in the past. This includes heavy restrictions on their children Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Spencer Fox); they are never to use their powers in public. Life is dull for Bob, but this all changes when his secret latenight heroism sessions with old friend Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) transition into something more involved when he receives a secret message about a secret mission from a secret source.

FINDING NEMO: The Emotion of the Ocean

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. Today it's Finding Nemo, which still maintains its quality and power despite everyone quoting it to death for years after its release.

Other Reviews in this Series.

Director: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich (co-director)
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds
Cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Austin Pendleton, Stephen Root, Vicki Lewis, Joe Ranft, Geoffrey Rush, Andrew Stanton, Elizabeth Perkins, Nicholas Bird, John Ratzenberger
Runtime: 100 mins.
2003

Finding Nemo is Pixar's second stone cold masterpiece, and the starkest departure from their previous film is a visual one. I mentioned in my Monsters, Inc. review that although the monsters looked great, the characters spent most of the movie running around corporate hallways that lacked any visual pizzazz. Almost as if Pixar heard that very complaint and determined to never again allow their films to be accused of visual mediocrity, Finding Nemo is one of the most epic, expansive, gorgeous masterworks of production design ever created by computer animation. The visual landscape is at times populated by Pixar's signature visual gags, like a group of fish popping out of a doting mother fish's mouth, but for a far larger portion of the runtime the picture is dedicated to images that flirt with the sublime. The ocean is vast and full of darkness, terror, wonder, perversion. Finding Nemo captures all of this while still somehow maintaining a G rating.

The story follows overprotective clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) who must cross vast expanses of ocean in search of his son Nemo (Alexander Gould), who was taken by scuba divers and imprisoned in a dentist office's glass tank. Along the way Marlin meets Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a forgetful blue regal tang, and together they encounter all sorts of friendly help and unspeakable hindrance.

TOY STORY 2: Toy Be or Not Toy Be

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. We've reached Pixar's first sequel, Toy Story 2, a film that fought through a trying developmental cycle to become one of the most adored sequels of all time.

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Director: John Lasseter, Ash Brannon (co-director), Lee Unkrich (co-director)
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin, Chris Webb, John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Ash Brannon
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, Joe Ranft, Andrew Stanton, Jeff Pidgeon
Runtime: 92 mins.
1999

Much like the original Toy Story, Toy Story 2 ended up being a much grander finished product than originally intended. Pixar began production of the film as a cheapie direct-to-video release, a model that Disney had begun to use with other films like The Return of Jafar. The production team and budget were limited, and they even stuck them in a building separate from the core Pixar staff, which was hard at work finishing up A Bug's Life. At a certain point, salaries and the cost of computer animation became too much to be financially viable for anything less than a theatrical release, and the work of the team thusfar was also just too good. Production ramped up, and Pixar faced an uphill battle of deadlines and exhausted animators.

The result was a film that became universally adored, for good reason. Toy Story 2 takes the beloved characters from the first movie and recreates them in a way that feels both familiar and progressive. They maintain their well-defined traits while showing that they have grown in the years since the events of the first movie. Mr. Potato Head now has a naggy loving life partner in Mrs. Potato Head. Buzz Lightyear has settled into a comfortable acceptance of what he can and cannot do. Woody gains a whole new cavalcade of friends who broaden his sense of identity.

TOY STORY: Innovating with Style

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Leading up to the release of their new film The Good Dinosaur, I will be going through Pixar's entire filmography at the rate of two movies a week. Our first movie is that very revolutionary work mentioned above, Toy Story.

Other Reviews in this Series.

(If you haven't already, check out my new archive in the corner ---->)

Director: John Lasseter
Writers: John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft, Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, John Morris, Erik von Detten
Runtime: 81 mins.
1995

My mom tells the story of the first time I ever watched Toy Story. She had gotten a handful of free tickets to see the movie through work, so decided to make it a family outing. My dad certainly had no interest in the movie, but he was a good sport about it. My older brother required a great deal of coaxing to see a little kids' rated G film called Toy Story, but parents can be convincing. So the four of us took a trip to the theater. I was two and a half years old. This was my first movie on the big screen. I sat on my mother's lap. I remember none of this.

The movie started, and my mom had no idea what was going on. Imagine growing up with two separate categories in your head: animation and live action. Then suddenly, you're watching toys zoom about the screen in what looks like a real physical child's bedroom... but the toys are alive. Imagine not following the promotion of the film, and not knowing that computer animation was a thing, or what it could look like. Imagine the uncanny wonder of that opening sequence: Andy's bank robbery melodrama.

Of course, she eventually adjusted to the medium shock and discovered the great substance behind it. The whole family laughed throughout the film, and little toddler Ryan sat silent and enraptured throughout its entire runtime.

INSIDE OUT: Sweet Emotions

Twenty years ago Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized cinema with the first full length completely computer-generated film. Two decades later and Pixar is still one of the most consistently groundbreaking studios in the business. Inside Out provided a great opportunity for Pixar to reinvent itself in the wake of a slough of mediocrity.

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Directors: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen (co-director)

Writers: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley

Cast: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan

Runtime: 94 mins.

2015

A scientist believes if you pick a lie to pieces, the pieces are the truth!

-Eugene O'Neill

The idea that your body is one whole and complete object is a lie. The idea that you govern yourself by a unified rational consciousness is a lie. The idea that you are in control is a lie. Inside Out picks this lie to pieces and represents the pieces anthropomorphically. They are Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and any number of other little blobby brain workers skittering through your mind. The five primary emotions live out their lives in the control center (Headquarters). They are literally in control.

Pixar's latest film feels like a discovery. There's a whole world inside of us--more than that, a whole social system. That system is responsible for all the functions of the brain (emotions, dreams, memories, abstract thought...), and when the system is broken, the person is broken. This is the world of Inside Out, where the stakes are of the utmost magnitude: a little girl's happiness.