5. Ratatouille (2007): Nikki Finke severely underestimated the commercial possibilities of a movie with a rat named Remy as the main character, opining that it would be difficult for Disney to sell the accompanying barrage of toys. Rats aren’t cute. Turns out, director Brad Bird knows this and never attempts to make Remy cute at all.
The production design of the kitchen where Remy works his magic is amazing. A trademark of the Pixar movies is the set pieces and action sequences which are fluid, efficient, and move the story along as opposed to stopping it for the sake of action. Bird expertly introduces a theme — anyone can do anything if they just try — that I don’t think he completely believes. In this case, that anything is, of course, cooking. At best, I’m left believing that Bird believes that anyone can cook but it takes a special talent to excel at cooking.
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4. Toy Story (1995): The one that started it all — on the feature side, at least. The very premise is simple, unpredictably obvious, and original — all of which are qualities infused into the story itself. By 1995, Disney feature animation projects had very suddenly become stale. Sure, 1994’s “Lion King” was huge, but it felt like they would never top it — not because of its quality, but because the formula had just about been worn down to a nub.
While Disney’s 2-D run would continue for a few more years, “Toy Story” signaled a change in style and the abandoning of formula. Filled with characters, both human and plastic, that were instantly likable and easy to relate to, “Toy Story” swims in imagination. The story unfolds at a dizzying pace, jokes flying left and right, new characters and situations are introduced — fully formed and developed the moment they speak. It seemed staggeringly impossible that the Pixar crew could top this absolute masterpiece.
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3. Finding Nemo (2003): Arguably the most visually amazing Pixar movie — which is like saying one of my kids is more awesomer than the other — “Finding Nemo” is, shocker, another masterpiece. The rich, inventive characters, and, again, the jokes-jokes-jokes coming at us a mile a minute, make Marlin’s journey to find Nemo the most touching of any Pixar movie to date.
The intercutting between Nemo, imprisoned in a dentist’s fish tank, and Marlin, teaming with a forgetful fish named Dori, works to perfection. When we leave the ocean for the fish tank prison, we’re disappointed. But a split second later, we’re so engrossed that by the time they cut back to the fish tank, we don’t want to leave the ocean. As in Toy Story, new characters are introduced and fully developed the moment they open their mouths, if not sooner. Except for…the Seagulls who are mindless, soulless idiots with no concern for anything but their next bite of food. But even this under-development is a stroke of genius that makes total sense. Pixar refuses to over-think the obvious.
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2. Toy Story 2 (1999): During Woody’s nightmare when Andy says, “I’m never going to plaaaaaay with you again,” before dumping Woody in a trashcan, I thought: “You gotta be kidding me. Is this actually going to be better than Toy Story?” And. It. Is. Remarkably, miraculously, insanely, inexplicably, it is. But at the same time, it’s not like the original is diminished in any way just because part two is the best movie ever. In fact, they’re both so good that they’re as inseparable as Woody and Buzz. Part two is filled with strokes of genius; from introducing another Buzz to the revelation of Woody’s back-story. And yes, again, hilarious.
One of my problems with the evolution of Disney’s 2-D product during their 1990’s Golden Age was the way the movies were sold to audiences. We were constantly told that [insert name of Disney animated movie here] was a little bit darker and may go over kids’ heads. It felt phony because the movies, for all their charm, were never really aimed at adults — only sold like they were.
They were, for my money, always cartoons, and never transcended the genre, even at their best. With the Pixar movies we don’t get any of that hype because it isn’t necessary. These are not cartoons, they’re real movies told through animation. They’re not kids’ movies and they’re not grown-up movies. They’re just fun, clean, well-crafted films with great stories that people want to see. They don’t talk down to kids and they don’t punch adults in the ribs with inside jokes. “Toy Story 2” exemplifies this quality. Nothing goes over kids’ heads because of the content but can because of the complexity. My kid saw this once again after a few years and was amazed at what he’d missed.
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1. The Incredibles (2004): I was a projectionist in Atlanta when Brad Bird’s under-rated “Iron Giant” was released. We got the teaser poster — the actual one-sheet — and the film print on the same day — which happened to be the day before the movie was released. Basking in the thud of its release, writer-director Brad Bird decided; “To hell with it. I’m just gonna go out and make THE BEST MOVIE EVER. Who’s with me?” Pixar replied, “Alright, let’s do it.”
The intro, where we meet Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Frozone, and Syndrome, is nothing less than astonishing. From there the heroes are sidelined by a bunch of gratuitous lawsuits — a plot device that doubles as a commentary on contemporary America and makes absolute perfect sense. Bird peppers the movie with similar commentary but things never gets preachy. It’s completely organic to the story and the characters.
In many ways this is the most cinematic of Pixar’s movies. All Pixar movies are beautiful to look at, and this is no exception, but Bird packs “The Incredibles” with virtuoso camera moves, like the one where Syndrome watches Mr. Incredible fall down the cliff into the water below. Or any of the camera work during the sequence when guards chase Dash through the jungle.
It’s a superhero movie with an equally impressive awareness of its genre and the real world. Woven throughout are elements of other adventure movies like the Bond series (huge bad guy hideout, for example). Pixar always has great set-pieces, but this one boasts the greatest they’ve achieved thus far.
Less jokey than their other movies, but far from humorless, “The Incredibles” is the first of Brad Bird’s masterpieces, and something tells me we should expect a few more.