Browsing around my usual entertainment news sites I've been seeing more and more buzz about Disney and Pixar's latest computer-animated concoction Ratatouille. I'm somewhat susceptible to internet hype, but there was something about this movie that was bothering me . . . then I realized it.
Pixar is not perfect.
Pixar is the studio that is single-handedly responsible for the motion picture industry's phasing out of traditionally animated films. Toy Story was absolutely out of this world when it debuted in 1995, but was it as mind-blowingly awesome as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937? Probably not. And call me old fashioned, but I was a little sad when Disney put thousands of Korean sweatshop workers out of a job and completely stopped producing traditionally animated films. Especially when its last attempt was the abysmal Rosanne Barr-voiced Home on the Range . . . . but the traditional vs. computer-animation debate is one for another time.
Like many of you out there, when I think of Pixar, warm memories of the first time I saw Toy Story on the big screen, the amazing animation techniques used in Finding Nemo, and the decidedly grown-up approach they took with The Incredibles are recalled. These thoughts make it easy to neglect the more forgettable attempts that the uber-successful studio has thrown at us over the years.
A Bug's Life was Pixar's sophomore entry into the world of full-length animated films. The technology had come a long way since Toy Story, but that did nothing to help the film. A Bug's Life ended up being an unimpressive take on the Seven Samurai plot, remembered more for its competition by another computer-bug flick Antz than its own merits. Ask anyone to make a list of their favorite Pixar movies, and unless they're a entomologist or a retard A Bug's Life will most assuredly be at the bottom.
Then along came Monsters Inc., which had the misfortune of following up the near-perfect Toy Story 2. Conceptually it was pretty cool. Taking the "there's a monster in my closet" idea and focusing it on friendly monsters that harvest children's screams to power their city. And they even managed to get Billy Crystal away from Academy Awards hosting gigs and Analyze This sequels long enough to lend his voice to it. But even a cool concept and a washed-up comedian couldn't save this film. The single best part was Boo, the child character that was literally voiced by a child spouting nonsense into the microphone. One viewing was enough--and it's anybody's guess as to how it went on to make $250 million. I'm thinking it was the lack of cg-toon competition back in 2001.
And finally we have Cars. A movie that trailered so poorly that I never even bothered to see it. But I didn't really need to, because I was sure I'd seen these characters before. Oh, that's right . . . they're complete knock-offs of the Chevron Techron cars from an ad campaign that first debuted over 10 years ago. Seriously, what the fuck? After The Incredibles proved to audiences that animation can have a narrative with the sophistication of a live-action film and the heart of a family film, this G-rated fluff piece was an abomination.
This brings us back to Ratatouille. A movie that, from what I gather, is about a rat that dreams of being a chef. The sad thing is, the plot of the movie is SO BAD, that it must immediately be followed by, "it's the new movied from Pixar!" in order to spark any sort of interest in it. Which is what brings me to my original point: Just because a movie is stamped with the Pixar logo, it does not mean that it is an immediate classic worthy of your $8.75.
People need to get away from having a pleasure-induced seizure every time a studio or director with a semi-consistent track record releases a new movie. I was happy as shit when the over-advertised, over-done, overly-long, complete waste of time and talent that was Grindhouse tanked at the box office. It had Quentin Tarantino's name on it, but that didn't mean I couldn't smell a rat . . . or in this case a Ratatouille (sorry, I couldn't resist.)
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