As I reported after seeing Pixar’s animated feature ‘UP’, it is a very adult film with adult concerns (love, loss, anxiety, quests left unfinished) and humor thrown in for the kiddie’s sake. What I failed to see was how this is a trend in Pixar’s films that echos the earliest of Walt Disney’s feature animated works.

But it all became clear to me after finding Michial Farmer’s two very insightful posts on the dark existential dream of early Disney Feature Animation and how Pixar appears to be recapturing that anxiety.

First, moved by watching ‘UP’, which Farmer considers the darkest animated film ever made by Disney or Pixar, he looks back at the early Walt Disney classics and the dark topics they explore.

Here, in other words, is what makes Pixar in 2009 closer to Disney in 1941 than Disney in 2009 or even 1992. All of the early Disney features—for our purposes, let’s define “early” as prewar, which would allow us to work with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi—are shiny and beautifully drawn, but all of their prettiness only serves to hide the deep, existential dread at their cores.

That all changes with the post World War II optimism and never lets up.

In his second post, Farmer looks at Pixar’s films and delves into how anxiety, a dark portion of the human condition, is the focus of the central conflict in each film. After brief consideration of the earliest Pixar films, Farmer starts with Monster’s Inc.:

which taps into a very specific but universal childhood fear: the monster in the closet. Never mind that most of these monsters turn out to be essentially good people—the operative point is that there’s a deep-seated need in Monstropolis for children to be afraid. If anxiety is defined (as it is by Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and others) as fear without an object, that’s certainly what we’re dealing with in the world influenced but outside of the movie. Children are afraid of monsters, which deep down they know do not exist—therefore, they are afraid of nothing, of an empty space in their closet. Monsters, Inc. plays off of this fear, exploits it before finally putting it (no pun intended) to bed.

Many people have said that the secret to Walt Disney’s success (other than his massive amounts of hard work and dedication to his dreams and ideals) was his ability to tap into the American gestalt. To intuitively know what audiences would want to see because that was what he wanted to see. The story trust at Pixar has been said to have the same talent. If Pixar is tapping into this sense of anxiety felt across America, what does that say about where America is right now?

See also this Pediatrician’s take on ‘Up’. It’s not a rant against the film, per se, but rather that reviewers aren’t doing their jobs warning parents about the very adult themes in the film Although I disagree with the severity of her claims, you have to know the limits of your own child.

Defying analyst expectations, Disney/Pixar’s UP has come in first in the box office battle yet again. This time with $44.2 million barely beating out “The Hangover” and totally trouncing “The Land Of The Lost.” That brings the animated feature to $137 million domestic total.

I finally was able to see ‘UP’ myself last night. It ranks up there with the best films from Pixar. It tugs at the hearts strings, tells a simple but effective story, and is technically masterful. But it was slow in the middle, enough that my son wanted to leave early, and I felt it enough plot holes and cliche’s to fill a zeppelin.

This is not a big criticism, but ‘UP’ is certainly the most adult film of Pixar’s stable (although there might be some argument for Wall-e there). I think it’s asking a lot of kids to understand the nuances of a life of love and losses and how it affects a person.

update: just wanted to add this thought — Pixar is moving into a new area of animation story telling. Before humor was directed at kids with a wink to the parents to keep their attention. Now the story is for the parents and the humor/action is added to keep the kids attention. It makes for a very different film than classic animated features. Even from Pixar’s earlier works. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues and if it keeps producing big attendance numbers for the The Lamp.

That said, if you haven’t yet seen ‘UP’ go ahead and get to a movie theater. You’ll find yourself moved and amused as only the story masters at Pixar can do. Plus, ‘UP’ deserves another great weekend at the Box Office, don’t you think?

The countdown to Pixar’s next film ‘UP’ is on. It opened Cannes film festival to much praise, the Hollywood premiere was this weekend, and the reviews are coming in (so far 100% positive on Rotten Tomatoes). Meanwhile, the rest of us wait until May 29th to get our chance.

For those who like a little behind the scenes magic with their animation, check out this article in the NY Times. It looks at the inspiration behind some of the films most major characters and provides a rather nifty interactive feature with some concept art and audio from Ricky Nierva, one of the films designers. Definitely worth your time.

Humor, as they say, is the best medicine. If that’s true then Dom DeLuise (wikipedia) was a miracle cure. Sadly, he died yesterday at age 75.

For all the animation voice work DeLuise did, he was in surprisingly few Disney properties. He voiced Fagan in “Oliver & Company” and Bacchus in “Hercules.” Of course, he also had a few memorable moments with The Muppets as well.

By all accounts Dom DeLuise was a comic genius who could make funny like no body else. I wish I could pay him better tribute, but perhaps it is enough just to say, he made me laugh like no one else.

The MTV Movies Blog was there when Director Robert Zemeckis let loose that he’s been thinking of a return visit to Toon Town and the world of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Apparently the lure of 3D and motion capture technology has him thinking about what he could do with the property.

With Disney soon to be distributing Dreamworks, that means Steven Spielberg is potentially onboard too. This could happen folks!

(hat tip: Blue Sky Disney)

One of the few aspects of living in the Los Angeles area that I miss are the terrific events hosted by the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Next up is Disneynature’s “EARTH” for a limited engagement. The gala premiere was held there just the other night.

The El Capitan engagement will run from April 22nd through May 26th, and will also feature a live stage show called “Animals From Around the World,” spotlighting wildlife experts sharing the unique characteristics of exotic animals in their care.

Plus, for every moviegoer who buys a ticket to the opening week of the movie, Disneynature will plant a tree on their behalf in the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil. And, exclusively, during the run at the El Capitan, audiences will have a chance to see the new 4000-square-foot painting inspired by the film, “EARTH,” and painted by Wyland, the world’s best-loved environmental artist. Wyland is world renowned for his monumental Whaling Wall mural project (viewed by an estimated 1 billion people each year), his activities through the Wyland Foundation, and for being a leading advocate for marine resource conservation.

The El Capitan is also teaming up with Southern California Edison and Greenlite Lighting Corporation to “CHANGE the world” by providing energy efficient CFL lightbulbs for home use. For a minimum donation of 25 cents, guests will receive a CFL bulb which uses 75% less energy than standard bulbs.

Tickets are available at the El Capitan Theatre box office (6838 Hollywood Blvd.), on line at www.elcapitantickets.com, or by calling 1-800-DISNEY6

The full press release is below the cut:

[Read more →]

Race to Witch Mountain found its target at the box office this weekend bringing in the number one spot for Walt Disney Pictures with $25 million. This was also the second largest opening for a film with Dwayne Johnson at the lead (Scorpion King did $36 million). There’s little new competition next weekend, so Disney might strike gold a second time.

I mentioned this was being considered by Disney the other day, now we know the details. Disney has chosen December 11th for the wide debut of its next feature animated musical “The Princess and The Frog”. The movie will actually open on November 25th in limited markets (LA and NY) to build buzz for the wider open.

This is a very good move on Disney’s part and will prevent another ‘Twilight’ occurance (this time against Alvin and the Chipmunks, I know, but why take any chances).  It will also allow some families to take advantage of winter break to pack the theaters during the week to see this return to Classic Disney Animation greatness. In fact, I would expect Disney to do even more limited screenings between Thanksgiving and December 11th to build the buzz. Perhaps open to D23 members only.