Pixar used to be Special

"A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest." - C.S. Lewis

Did everyone forget they used to show the most creative shorts before every pixar film? AND THEN JUST STOPPED

Fun fact, most of the peak Pixar movies were made from just random conversation ideas they had.

imagine a universe where pixar said “no” to disney’s offer and went on to make more mature and poignantly written animated features with studios like warner bros or columbia pictures edit: yes, now warner bros wouldn't be a good place to shop pixar to. you all seem to forget that the disney/pixar buyout happened in 2006, which was before zavslav was ceo.

“Animation is not a genre” -Albert Einstein

i don't think pure grit is what allows these pixar films to be so memorable, it's the fact that they allowed their characters and their worlds to be flawed and layered just like our own. Grit alone can be as equally hollow as the familiar sappy emotional beats Pixar's been going through with their movies.

Hey remember Toy Story 3 where all the toys were about to accept their fate and die in the fire? Gosh how did Toy Story 4 top that? By making Woody leave Bonnie and destroy everything he used to believed in.

The problem of "every character is perfect" is a problem in a lot of media now. It's part of the reason why they removed the "misogyny" of Sokka even though that was a big part of his development. "Good guys" can't have damning qualities. They have to be perfect so I can self-insert my perfectly shit self onto them. Villains are suffering from the opposite a bit, where they're just one dimensionally evil for evil's sake or to make thinly veiled political points like "racism bad" or "colonialism bad."

Pixar feels like the "gifted" kid. They were so much better early on and were praised so much that now that things have gotten hard they don't know how to actually try and they give up and coast while everyone around them flies past them

When the Merger with Disney happened it totally destroyed their entire production line. So many staff were moved from Pixar to Disney and so many from Disney to Pixar. The blurring of the lines wasn't just in the movies, it was in the creators. People who had previously been technicians or animators were now promoted and put in charge of writing and were collaborating with the same people from Disney who specialized in rehashing old ideas instead of actually writing original content. The brand changed because the teams behind the movies changed.

31:30 You're kinda on point, though it wasn't really the cynicism that differentiated Pixar from the pack but rather the fact that their movies never sugarcoated shit. Even in it's more goofier movies they all moments that genuinely felt grounded in reality. Every protagonist and villain had a genuinely realistic motivations and goals the average person could get behind and for that reason it made people actually care about the films a lot more. Incredibles was about a aging father chasing his glory days and a mother trying to protect her family from her and her husband's past. Cars was about a young, cocky racer being humbled for his arrogance and learning a thing or two by normal everyday people. Ratatouille is (practically) about two guys trying to find their place in the world while dealing the stressful reality of being a chef for a high class, respected restaurant. They're all simple premises but effect because the audience can relate to it. I feel like these newer movies are more focused on giving people an adventure to watch rather than a story to tell. They can be good, they can fun, but in terms of lasting impact they're a flash in a pan...

The Incredibles is one of the most mature movies ever made, especially once you grow up and have a family. Those conflicts presented on the movie hits so much harder.

The failure of Brave was largely a directorial problem. The studio decided to replace the director with a guy who straight-up did not understand the point of the movie and so halfway into the film the original plot basically gets thrown out the window and it becomes "Oh no, My mom is a bear" and it just kinda spiraled from there.

28:40 This is a common sentiment, and it's happened to Disney animation studios as well. Villains are barely a thing anymore, instead it's the personal journey or flawed main character or family dynamic that's the antagonistic force

The reason that Pixar started slipping and Disney started to get good at the same time is because once Pixar got bought out almost all of their senior talent got moved into Disney Animation to lead the helm there. The actual talent left and the people holding the bag had to continue on without any of the Founding Generation talents or spark to guide them. People make art and entertainment, not brands. Once the people making quality movies at Pixar left, Pixar stopped making quality movies.

This reminds me of the rant videos you made when you first started moving away from YTPs.

I definitely missed this kind of video. Your new stuff feels very impactful, it's like a documentary level quality that I must set aside time to watch and take in properly. This feels a lot more cozy and relaxed

oh my god its another pixar YTP

The main thing you miss in this video is that it's less the "filmmakers" (which is extremely vague) who don't want to take risks in their stories, but it's "the mouse" (which is also pretty vague). The non artists who are the ones who greenlight pitches, who get to make final decisions on the story, the style, character designs, the script anything and everything that goes into a movie, they're the ones who refuse to take risks. They're too concerned about money and don't have faith in their audiences, that they don't allow their artists, the actual filmmakers to craft good stories.

It's a shame because Peter Sohn (the director of Elemental) is an animation veteran, working a long time with Pixar and even branching to other projects (he voices Miles's roommate in Spiderverse). Hearing the way you described the film, as touching on elements rather than delving deeply, makes me wonder if he had a much more substantial film before it was corporately neutered