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I heart Pixar (kind of)

Monday, 30 June 2008 05:56 PM

EDITOR'S BLOG: Pixar makes good animated films, but markets them the wrong way The summer movie season is upon us and anyone wanting to escape life in two-hour intervals is feeling the financial pinch. Like many overworked students, I look forward to the fight scenes, car chases and training montages present in the big budget action blockbusters. When I need to calm down from all the adrenaline, I tend to break up my summer must-see schedule with a mindless children’s film or two. This summer I realized how much I miss classic animation. A brief look into the season’s animated offerings demonstrates how far the industry has fallen into the trap of quick, sloppy computer-generated flicks. Among the great cinematic triumphs in theaters this summer are: Kung Fu Panda, WALL-E, some unfortunate project called Space Chimps and, of course, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I choose not to comment on George Lucas’ latest attempt to wring money out of a franchise he ought to retire. It’s embarrassing. The only animated feature that looks worthy of the $4 Tinseltown matinee is WALL-E, though it hails from the studio that basically killed hand-drawn animation. Don’t get me wrong. I love Pixar films. Pixar’s attempts at storytelling are at least artful in comparison to the competition. There’s usually a moral, good characterization and dazzling visuals that Dreamworks and Fox simply can’t match with their best attempts. Although Pixar has obviously done a fine job of beating down the competition, the marketing is all wrong. The vague trailers tend to depict scenes not appearing in the film, unfinished character designs and hints of plot that may or may not influence the story. Instead of advertising individual movies, Pixar turns out trailers for the next movie, “From the creators of Cars,” or, “From the people who brought you Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.” The marketing reduces Pixar films to afterthoughts and tagalongs from past successes rather than worthy pieces of cinematic entertainment. Obviously it’s successful. It makes Pixar money. But it seems to suck even more life out of the medium than the move to computer-generated animation. Like any good moviegoer, I intend to see WALL-E. Pixar will undoubtedly treat us to a vague teaser for its next film, which will still be in post-production at the time. That film won’t come to theaters for at least another six months, but the folks at Pixar aren’t worried. They still have profit to squeeze out of their last few films. Views: 1813 | E-mail   Be first to comment this article Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com All right reserved

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 August 2008 03:11 PM )

 

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