While it may seem that I am the ultimate fangirl, who jumps on any bandwagon that happens to be passing by, there are actually very few things that I get really excited about. All things Disney and all things Pixar are two things (one thing?) that I jump up and down about.
I was first introduced to the world of Pixar when I was 15. I was watching the news with my Dad and there was a piece about Toy Story- the first movie to be completely animated by computer. Interesting… Then a clip from the film was shown; the bit where Buzz falls “with style”. Intriguing… The more I heard about the film, the more excited I got.
By this point in my life, I had already had a long standing love affair with Disney. I saw The Little Mermaid at the age of nine and was enthralled. Here was a princess I could see myself in; Ariel is fairly isolated (I am sort of an only child – long story) and best of all, she had red hair! This is the first time I can remember being able to wholly identify with a character on screen. Sure, there had been Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit the year before, but she was a siren and I was an awkward eight year old. I saw none of myself in Jessica. When I interviewed John Musker – one of the directors of The Little Mermaid – 20 years later for The Princess and The Frog, he caught sight of my long red hair and said “Look! it’s Ariel!”. My inner nine year old was overwhelmed.
After The Little Mermaid came Beauty and the Beast, which led to me sobbing uncontrollably in UCI Coolock while trying to hide from my friend Cailíosa because I was afraid she would think I was a sap for crying. I learned later that she was also bawling and trying to hide from me. Next up was Aladdin. I’d had a crush of admiration on Robin Williams since Hook, and this was the first film I was allowed to go and see on my own. It was also my first visit to the Savoy Cinema in Dublin, which – with it’s red velvet curtains and plush seats – was like no other cinema I had ever seen. Of course Aladdin transported me to another world; this was the first time I remember walking out of the cinema and being disappointed with real life. I remember seeing The Lion King at a cinema somewhere on Abbey Street (was the Adelphi still open in 1994?) and singing the songs for days afterwards, driving everyone around me to distraction.
By the time I finally saw Toy Story, I was fit to burst with anticipation. I walked out of the cinema after 80 glorious minutes, completely in love with Buzz Lightyear. Yeah, Woody was cool, but Buzz was the toy for me. Before you ask, no I was not lucky enough to get a Buzz Lightyear that famous Christmas, but it’s OK, I have two now.
The appeal of Toy Story has been analysed many times over the years; for me, the appeal lies with the characters. I never believed, as a child, that my toys came to life when I was not looking – not really – but the fact that these toys did, and they loved their owner Andy so much that they would do anything to get home, was something that really spoke to me.
The subsequent Pixar films – from Monsters Inc., to The Incredibles, to Up – have followed through on Toy Story’s promise to create fantastic worlds that are both extraordinary and incredibly familiar at the same time. Pixar films turn our beliefs on their heads; lost toys want to get home to us as much as we desperately want to find them, monsters are more scared of us than we are of them and some rats just want to cook. As the audience grew and developed, so did Pixar’s characters and storylines, which have always been the main draw for Pixar films.
This focus on the story is what makes Pixar unique. Yes, the look of the films get better and better each time, but there is not much point in having a technically perfect film that has no emotional impact. Why would an audience care that Sully’s fur was created with the most advanced technology to date, if we had no reason to identify with him as a character? Pixar excels at getting the delicate balance between innovative technology and engaging story just right. Mike in Monsters Inc. spoke a little too much; in contrast, the film Wall-E broke new ground by removing dialogue from most of the movie. Truthfully, a story does not need to be babbled about in order for it to be understood and the team behind the last robot on earth – Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter – were very aware of this. Wall-E broke hearts; the film engaged with the audience on an emotional level (as opposed to an intellectual level) due to it’s lack of dialogue, as did the film that followed; Up. I defy anyone to watch the opening sequence of Up and not cry. The short films operate on the same principle; they are – for the most part – silent and they are enough to melt anyone’s heart; funny, sweet and hugely relateable. How can you not love the pompous birds from For The Birds or the hard working stork from Party Cloudy?
Pixar began with the central characters being toys or insects who were trying to find their way home. Fairly heavy stuff for children’s films, but themes that everyone – regardless of age, gender or social standing – could relate to. We have all been the kid chosen last (haven’t we?) and we have all been lost in supermarkets. As time went on, however, the themes went slightly deeper and darker; following your dreams, finding your place in society, love, loss and death began creeping into the movies and the stories featured humans more and more. The sentient robot is cute in his fascination with all things human, but what is more human than the heartbreak of a man who promised his wife an adventurous life, but she died before he could give it to her?
Pixar is a studio that is led by the film maker. There are no mandatory notes, and if the team behind a film do not agree with internal feedback, they can dismiss it. I have not been to Pixar, but I have been to the Disney Animation Studios after John Lasseter took over the reigns. Creativity in Disney (and one would assume, Pixar) is encouraged. Your space is yours, and if it would help for you to stick your desk to the ceiling, then you are invited to do so. The space is as wide open as the creative process, everyone works together. These people love their jobs and it shows in the work they bring us. They are passionate about the medium, the technology, the story and they find a way to make these all fit together.
Pixar films bring out the child in all of us and remind us what it is to be young. Do you remember when you thought there was a monster under the bed? Or your parents’ car looked like it had a face? Or that your toys came to life when you weren’t looking and had a wonderful life of their own? Pixar do and, through their films that are beautifully animated and simply told, they remind their audiences of mysteries and magic that are, sometimes, long forgotten.