By the early noughties, Pixar had made a name for themselves
for having usurped the throne of Disney as the king of animated storytellers.
Ever since the ground-breaking Toy Story in
1995, Pixar’s success was inevitable; their plots were more sophisticated, and
their characters bore more depth than the average, schmaltzy Disney princess,
serving to broaden the target audience for the standard feature-length
animation. Indeed, this affirmed their role as a key player in the maturity of
the animated film – a development that had both progressive and regressive
effects on the company’s output.
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| Up (2009) |
From the look of things, many are still in denial about
Pixar’s decline. Since the success of Wall-E
(2008) and Up (2009), Pixar seem
to have focussed more on appealing to its adult fan-base than ever before. Up is an example of an animated film
done right. It balances the light and breezy, and heavy catharsis with
irrefutable aplomb. It’s a fun, visual delight for the kids, and an emotional
rollercoaster for adults – perfectly fitting for a general audience. By
comparison, their following film, Toy
Story 3 (2010), is quite possibly the darkest film they have ever released.
It’s permeated with tense, scary imagery and maintains a rather gloomy and
lugubrious tone throughout. This is, however, justified by its appeal to a
mature audience who grew up with the franchise. Subsequent efforts don’t have
this appeal, which is why they fall flat.
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| Toy Story 3 (2010) |
Take Brave (2012),
for example: a film whose cold opening was indicative of so much promise that
sadly never came to fruition. Many of the character designs are (intentionally)
ugly, and the film is littered with slapstick and occasional crude humour that
is far from the norm in a Pixar film. And let’s not forget Mordu – one of the
most visually terrifying creations ever to come out of Pixar. It’s clear they
were attempting to reach out to a more mature audience, but its plot lacked the
complexity and, indeed, the maturity that had come to be associated with Pixar,
rendering it little more than your standard Disney princess tack. In fact,
story-wise, the film is a shambles, but that aside, the film’s marketability is
uncertain at best. The Good Dinosaur (2015),
too, suffers from a similar problem, with cutesy, cartoonish designs and some
surprisingly violent scenes, including a fairly intense death scene. Just what
kind of audience were they hoping to reel in?
 |
| Toy Story 3 (2010) |
I’m sorry to say that even Inside Out (2015) falls into this uncertain category. By all
accounts, it’s a tremendously clever film, but at the same time one might argue
that it’s too clever for its own good. Not only is it too sophisticated for a
young mind to comprehend, it’s also profoundly depressing. That doesn’t make it
a bad film by any means, but its colourful cast of characters and contrastingly
upbeat teaser trailers render it a disturbingly misleading experience. Conceptually,
Inside Out is a standout masterpiece
in Pixar’s canon, which, given their generally high standards, is a remarkable
feat. But its target audience remains something of a mystery.
 |
| The Good Dinosaur (2015) |
Aside from Inside Out,
Pixar’s latest output has lacked thoroughness. In terms of story, there are
significant problems, and with films such as Brave and The Good Dinosaur,
even the titles are obscure. There’s nothing remotely ‘brave’ about Merida, and
there’s nothing overly ‘good’ about Arlo (he is, however, repeatedly called up
on his lack of bravery, funnily enough). And the absence of a definite target
audience is a problem of equal magnitude. In these films, the plots are not
engaging enough to be considered ‘adult’ or ‘mature’. Alternatively, they run
the risk of simply being labelled depressing and inappropriate. I’ve made my
stance on broadening the appeal of the animated film clear in previous posts;
I’m a strong advocate of adult animation and I’ve never considered animation to
be strictly for younger audiences. But some of Pixar’s recent efforts are, at
best, obscure, both thematically and in terms of content. My concern is that
they’re more likely to alienate their current audience than attain a new, more
mature one. In that sense, Pixar hasn’t grown. Rather, it’s true what they say:
what goes Up must come down.
Image Sources:
Toy Story 3. (2010)
[DVD] Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Burbank, California.
Up. (2009) [DVD]
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Burbank, California.
YouTube: The Good Dinosaur Official US Trailer 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daFnEiLEx70. Accessed 04/12/2015.
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