The Guilty Pleasures Of Pixar Films

Most of the Pixar movies have obsolescence as a main theme. I believe this is probably because the young artists who worked on these films and certainly the older artists who came from the traditional 2D animation world thought hand drawn animation was going to be their life's work. Most people who got into animation did so because they liked to draw, not program computers. After all, the "magic" of animation, as defined by Disney, was in watching drawings come to life.

The look of computer animation is much more akin to model animation or Claymation which ironically experienced a resurgence of popularity after the rise of computer animation. One would think it would have been model animation, which computer animation so closely resembles, that would have been replaced, not hand drawn animation.

So many of the great Pixar movies are about the old giving way to the new. Among the many examples are;

Toy Story - Old, wooden toy Woody the cowboy, is threatened by the arrival of shiny, new, plastic toy, Buzz Lightyear the spaceman.

A Bug's Life - A group of down and out theater troupe bugs get a chance to play heroes and save their livelihoods and their lives.

Monsters, Inc. - The old way of collecting energy through screams is eventually replaced by collecting laughter.

Finding Nemo - Dad proves his usefulness and his love by searching for his lost son.

The Incredibles - A whole "industry" of super heroes are put out of work and fall out of fashion.

Cars - A small town bypassed by a new highway gets rediscovered for its nostalgic charm.

Ratatouille - This must have been a reaction to America's annoyance with France over the Iraq war since it tries to associate French cooking with swarms of rats. Not a good example of obsolescence and a rare WTF?! moment for Pixar.

WALL-E - The whole planet is trashed. Robots do the clean up. Obsolescence to the extreme.

Up - An old man with no reason to stay simply flies away.

Pixar films are extremely well made on all levels and they've also been noted for their heart. It is the bitter sweet knowledge that the old must make way for the new that gives these films their sentimentality and that probably stems from the subconscious guilt Pixar must have for so completely replacing the traditional and beloved animated cartoon.

Neal Warner is an artist, writer, musician, member of the multimedia band, The Tooners, founder of Director's Clip, The Music Video and Internet Video Sponsorship Site ( http://www.directorsclip.com/ ) and Rock & Roll Rehab, The Satirical Self Help Program For the Control of Rock & Roll ( http://www.rocknrollrehab.com/ ).

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My Favorite 3D Animation Company: Pixar

In the world of 3D animation production, of course everyone has their favorite 3D animation company that they turn to for inspiration as they seek to pursue what it means to participate in 3D animation excellence. Though I have only been in the industry for a few years, I am of course no exception. Like many others in my generation, I grew up with only one name of a 3D animation company in my head, and that company was Pixar. Maybe this is not the most revolutionary opinion ever, since Pixar has made some of the top-grossing animated movies of all time, but really, when you're thinking of 3D animation studios to be inspired by, I always say, why not learn from the best?

My favorite movie of all, which really changed the face of 3D animation for me forever, was Toy Story. When I was young and saw this film for the first time, I was so impressed by how the animators could create such precise renderings of the environments through which the characters moved, while at the same time creating such effective character animation and lip syncs for imaginary creatures.

It was this in particular that blew my mind...how could it be that the animators were able to make the lip sync effective for TOYS, when no one could really know how they might move? It was through these questions that I first began to understand that 3D animation was a world that involved both creativity and precision, and it was the desire to participate in work that would bring these two passions of mine together that led me to pursue a degree and later a career in this field. Now working on precise lip sync and positioning actors in front of a green screen are key parts of what I do, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

These days, we can only expect the CGI movies and animated films (for children and adults) out there to get better and better in terms of quality graphics, realism and level of quality filming techniques. Soon we won't have the need for actors on camera, only their recognizable voices. That would be a scary day and I hope it doesn't come to pass.

How about you? What studio's work inspired you, either when you were a young child, or now? It doesn't matter whether they are well-known or relatively obscure...all that matters is that we learn from the best!

Mark Hurst is really a famous critic and profitable designer of 3D animation. He at present writes about his 3D animation company and what every day life is like in the area of the studios of 3D animation studios.

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