Pixar Goes Back To School With Monsters University

First up - I have not seen Monsters University which Disney - Pixar released today nor do I have any intention of seeing Monsters U. in the next week or so. These are the days when showings are packed with 6 year olds who may or may not be entertained by a 90 minute movie in a darkened theater. Sometimes it works. Sometimes - not so much and you walk out of the movie saying "never again". Anyway, I'll see it eventually

 

As for the movie's reception, Monsters University is getting the thumbs up from about 3 out of every four movie critics and about a 90% approval rating from us poor schleps who pay money to see it and that's pretty good. For some reason, many critics skip past the Academy Award winning Pixar effort Brave and go right back to Cars 2 for comparison to Monsters University and in that regard, Pixar returns to a winning formula after the incredibly lazy effort put into Cars 2, easily Pixar's worst film. Monsters University delivers an entertaining enough story and eye-popping visuals that is sure to please a wide audience.

 

Of course, critics have been quick to point out that while Monsters University is a fun movie, it is in no way comparable to the best of Pixar when the bar was set very high with Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. Still this movie is going to do gang busters business at the box office and audiences are going to enjoy the ride all the way. Don't forget to buy the assorted toys and merchandise. Disney is counting on it.

Disney Movie Releases for 2013

I seemed to have spent a lot of time writing in this blog about why I am not standing in line today to to see Disney's Oz The Great and Powerful. I have no interest in seeing it. When it comes to home video - maybe, and that's only a maybe. But there are Disney (or Disney owned) movies I am looking forward to seeing in 2013.

Must See Disney (or Pixar, or Marvel) Movies:

Iron Man 3 (May)

Monsters University (June)

Thor: The Dark World (November)

Saving Mr. Banks (December)

Disney Movies I Have Little or No Interest in Seeing:

Oz The Great and Powerful (March) - I'm just not an Oz fan

The Lone Ranger (July) - The trailers seem very unappealing 

Planes (August) - This was supposed to go direct to video but someone saw $$$

Undecided:

Frozen (November) - Once known as The Snow Queen

Hmmm.....Interesting...... Of the 4 movies I really want to see only 1 (Saving Mr. Banks) is made by Disney Studios; 2 are made by Disney owned Marvel Studios and 1 is from Pixar Animation Studios.

Of the the 4 movies I have no interest in seeing (or in the case of Frozen, I just don't know yet), all are made by Disney. Which kind of leads to the thought that the movies that are most highly anticipated (by me anyway) are mostly made by film studios Disney has purchases rather their own productions. That looks like  trend that needs to change.

Disney Puts Up A Brave Front At The Oscars

Brave promotional poster - Disney / Pixar artwork

Well, it wasn't exactly Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln last night at the Academy Awards where Oscars where handed out. Steven Spielberg's epic film Lincoln (a DreamWorks release but distributed by Disney's Buena Vista Pictures in the U.S.) was suppose to come up big but instead went out with a whimper with only Daniel Day Lewis's performance as the great president getting the film its only major award as best actor. And since Lewis is the first man to get a third best actor Oscar in its history, he might very well be the best actor - ever. (The extremely serious and somewhat reclusive actor also had the funniest line of the night as he accepted the award from perhaps the greatest female actor ever, Meryl Streep.) Somewhere Walt Disney sheds a tear as the president he most admired and even built an attraction to honor him got pretty much stiffed by the Academy. From what I have read, many believe Spielberg's Lincoln will stand up better over the course of time. Once can only hope as Disneyland will once again on Wednesday of this week, halt the performances of its grand Lincoln attraction and spend a day showing the film Peter Pan in its place. Peter Pan will fill every seat of every showing, the animatronic Lincoln? Not so much.

Disney's Pixar once again flexed its muscle with the Academy with Brave getting the Oscar for best animated picture. This award was a shoe-in for Disney as Brave's main competition was its own Wreck-It-Ralph and Frankenweenie. I pretty knew Brave had it in the bag as the level of detail (and the high production costs) of Pixar films really shows through on the screen. Even the dreadful Cars 2 was visually eye-popping.

Disney also pulled off an Oscar for best animated short film with something called Paperman. I would assume its good but I never heard of it until last night. When I think of Disney short films I think of Mickey and Goofy and Donald but that's just me. Nothing else matters.

With a theater full of celebrities there was one head shot of Disney CEO Bob Iger sitting in the audience going into commercial break. Why? Disney's ABC network pretty much runs the Academy Award telecast though if they want to continue to attract an audience to watch, they had better put on a better show. The three and a half hour telecast was excruciatingly uneven and sometimes dreadfully boring. They now have a year to figure out how to make the show smoother, classier, and funnier. It shouldn't be that hard. 

And don't get me started on that Red Carpet pre-show. There couldn't be a worse 60 minutes of television time ever. I only watched because Mrs. DisneylandTraveler came in the living room and said we had to watch because she likes that sort of celebrity nonsense. Even she got up and left about 20 minutes into it.

Brave, Frankenweenie, and Ralph - An Oscar Showdown

Disney executives woke up to a pleasant surprise a few mornings ago. All three of their 2012 animated releases were nominated for an Academy Award as best animated film. At least I think it was pleasant surprise. All 3 were well received by critics though not quite the lofty status of Pixar's best efforts like Toy Story 3 or Wall-E. The public came out in good numbers to see Brave and Wreck-It Ralph but stayed away from Tim Burton's Frankenweenie (which uses stop-motion animation as opposed to being completely computer generated like the other two films). And while both Pixar's Brave and Disney Animation's Wreck-It Ralph turned nice profits, they weren't the over the top type of numbers again like Toy Story 3 which was a billion dollar box office smash. So there isn't really a clear head and shoulders winner of the three and maybe Disney's nightmare is they split the Academy's vote and another animated feature swoops in and picks them off.

I'm certainly not the one to pick a favorite because I haven't seen any of them. I never felt compelled to do so. I passed on Brave because well, I'm sorry to say, it just looked too much like a girls movie. I could be wrong about it but that's the way it is. It's been available on video for a couple of months and I still haven't seen it. I passed on Tim Burton's Frankenweenie because it just looked too weird and seeing a beloved family pet being dying only to be brought back to life is just not a subject matter that appeals to me. I've had far too many pets pass away in recent years so that is kind of a touchy subject. Besides I thought Burton hoodwinked me with his Alice in Wonderland, an enormously popular movie that I absolutely hated. 

Which brings me to Wreck-It Ralph, a movie I really wanted to see but just never got around to it in the theaters. I still want to see it so the home video is one I really look forward to picking up in another month or two when it hits the stores. This movie just looks like a lot of fun and that's the main reason why I want to go to the movies.

So I really don't have a horse in this race. As of now, I just don't care who wins and who loses. If I were I betting man (and I'm really not) I'd put my money on Brave simply because Pixar has a way of combining all animated movie elements (technical craftsmanship, story, music, editing, etc.) into eye popping, dazzling films if we can excuse the horrid Cars 2 (which I never will because it was such lazy effort after a string of great, great movies). I don't know but I would also think that Brave costs as much to make as the other two movies put together. Maybe that's my clue. If Brave goes out and wins and Academy Award, it might be worth my while to actually sit down and watch it.

Monsters Inc. and the 3D Experience

Disney Pixar's Monsters Inc.

During this holiday season Disney / Pixar is returning Monsters Inc. to the big screen in a theater near you - now remastered in 3D. Disney has had good success re-releasing the classic Pixar films to theaters a few weeks ahead of their 3D home video release on Blu-Ray discs. 

Most Pixar fans already have Monsters Inc. in their home video collections so the decision is if they think they want the 3D experience in their homes with the new video release and have the equipment that supports 3D viewing at home. Given the choice, I'll see a 3D version of a film in a theater. At home? That's a different story. I just don't think I want 3D in my house. In a darkened theater with your attention focused on the screen, 3D enhances the movie experience in most cases. At home, where assorted distractions abound, 3D just doesn't seem to be something that's necessary.

As for Monsters Inc. the movie. I've mentioned this before in this blog but its always been a hit or miss movie for me. It's really strange. I can sit down and watch Monsters Inc. and enjoy it thoroughly. Other times I've put it on and can't remember why I liked it so much. 

Monsters University, which comes out next June, is a movie I am really looking forward to seeing though.

Looking Ahead To Attending Monsters Univiersity

A look the Monsters University Campus
Disney / Pixar's Monsters University website

The release date for the Monsters Inc. prequel - Monsters University isn't until June of next year but this past week, Disney / Pixar launched a Monsters University Campus website that somehow looks like a cross between Cambridge in England and certain Northeast Ivy League schools her in the U.S. Generally, the information is presented pretty straightforward like most college and university websites but beneath it all seems to be the university "store" where assorted Monsters University merchandise is now for sale.

I have had an interesting relationship with the original Pixar Monsters Inc. film. I think I have seen it four times. Twice I enjoyed the movie and twice - not so much. Guess it depended on my mood at the time. Anyway, here is a Disney / Pixar peek at the Monsters University movie...

Monster's University Campus
Disney / Pixar's Monsters University website

Resurrecting Nemo - In 3D Of Course

If I'm not mistaken, Finding Nemo is Pixar's second most profitable movie release behind Toy Story 3 (and allowing for inflation, the two are pretty much equal). When I did my ranking of Pixar films (link here) from least favorite to favorite, I had Finding Nemo near the bottom with only Cars 2 being more insufferable along with A Bug's Life simply because I can't remember that movie even though I know that I have seen it. The reasons for my disliking Nemo are simple. Pixar, through many of the films, uses the some premise - a lovable misfit in peril. None of their movies embodies that formula more than Finding Nemo. It seems more formula and less creative originality than many of their other films. That and Ellen Degeneres's incessant chattering voice just plain annoys me.

But I am in the minority and plenty of people will be out in droves to see Finding Nemo in 3D for the next couple of weeks out ahead of its 3D home video release. Good for them. Considering most of the garbage movies that are out right now, a revisit with Nemo may be an improvement, maybe even for a curmudgeon like me.

I follow Albert Brooks, who voiced Nemo's dad in the movie, on Twitter. He is a bright and funny guy along with being a fine actor (like Steve Martin, Brooks was an inventive comedian long before he to took acting). Albert Brooks tweeted last week that the Nemo 3D looked so good at its premiere that he thought that he needed a wet suit. High praise indeed. Enjoy Finding Nemo 3D but I think I'll pass.

Taking A Pass On Pixar's Brave

I wrote a few weeks back (link here) that after seeing previews in 3D of Pixar's newest film Brave at the theaters, I was all in about getting to the local multiplex to see it when it was released, which was yesterday. Now no one should ever let professional critics be the barometer as to whether or not you should make a decision to see a movie. Critics are writers stating opinion, it's the film's viewers that matter. So with that, critics are pretty much on board with Brave as being a quality movie, beautifully animated and with wonderful music. And then we get to the story. Ooops.

Here is where things get a little complicated and opinions vary greatly. I think the bottom line for most, both critics and regular people who have seen the movie, the story is good but not great and the film as a whole is nowhere near the best of Pixar and that for me is kind of disappointing. After the horrid Cars 2 story (though once again, an impressive visual spectacle) I was hoping for Pixar to return to glory, return to the storytelling of what was probably Pixar's best run of films  - Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 3, all Oscar winning films. Almost universally, most will tell you that Brave doesn't run in that category of Pixar films. It's more middle of the pack or below. 

I have mentioned before, the older I get, the less I am inclined to go to the theaters to see a movie. I have a nice set up here at home - large screen TV, blu-ray player, 5.1 surround sound, and a pause button. I really got to want to see a movie to go to a theater and it's not about the ridiculous price it costs to see a movie in the theaters these days, espcecially in 3D or IMAX 3D. For me, unless the audience is small, quiet, and well behaved, I can get terribly distracted about what's going on around me. Not to mention in a filled theater, I get claustrophobic. Case in point is The Avengers which I had to see (along with millions of others). I saw The Avengers twice. The first time Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I saw the movie it was in a 3D theater on a Monday afternoon with about a dozen other people. Perfect, great, outstanding. The second time we took The Boy with us. Also in 3D, the theater was probably close to three quarter full right at the tipping point where claustrophobia begins to set in. And a couple of seats down from 4 teenagers took up residence. They talked through the entire movie, not loud enough to where I could here what they were saying, but loud enough to where I just heard a steady stream of distracting background noise in my ear from their constant whispers. Oh, and every 15 minutes or so, one of them would get a text message, the number one reason why going to theaters has become a whole lot less fun in recent years.

So with the reviews of Brave being good but not great, with another common complaint about the movie is it seemed more like a good Disney Princess story than a Pixar original, I think I've decided to wait for it to come to video. Of course, I can always change my mind or Mrs. DLT can change it for me.

Betting On Pixar - A 'Brave' Prediction

Merida from Pixar's Brave - A Disney Parks Blog Photo

I can't say that I have been particularly impressed with the still publicity photos and YouTube trailers for Pixar's new Brave movie which will open June 22nd. That changed yesterday when I saw the 3D preview in front of Marvel's The Avengers. The trailer was stunning and convinced me that Brave will be a winner. Brave marks the return of Pixar in bringing an original story to the screen. We last had the dreadful Cars 2 and previous to that was the astonishingly well made Toy Story 3 but Brave marks Pixar's first original film since Up. And if were I betting man, Up would be a good benchmark for Brave as would Ratatouille. A lot is made of animated movies that feature female leads and their relative success. I believe Merida from Brave will transcend that bias or at least put up a good spirited fight.

Up brought Pixar its customary Oscar for best animated film (Cars 2 was not even nominated). It was a solid box office performer with global appeal. So that is where I kind of seeing Brave ending up and that certainly isn't a bad place to be. When all is said and done, I think Pixar and Disney will pat themselves on the back for this film. A great story, beautifully filmed, with memorable characters is always the best place to start. I couldn't say it before yesterday but now I am looking forward to seeing Brave come to life on the screen.

Oh! By the way, Disney announced it was putting in a Brave Meet and Greet with Merida and friends over by it's a small world in Disneyland and adding a Brave promotional segment to World of Color in Disney California Adventure. This should come as a surprise to.... nobody.

Home of the 'Brave'

Disney Parks Blog posted last week that a new Meet & Greet will be constructed in Fantasyland for Merida, the title character of Pixar's upcoming film Brave which will hit the screens June 22.  Knowing the popularity of these promotional meet & greet's there's probably 8000 kids with their parents planning to be first in line. 

There have been a few TV trailers for Brave but I haven't seen enough of it to form any preconceived opinions one way or another.  The only thing I am sure of is that after the absolutely abominable Cars2, there is only one way for Pixar to go.  Cars 2 was so bad that I heard the Academy Awards asked John Lasseter to give one of his Oscars back as penance.  Anyway, with Brave being sandwiched in between Cars 2 and Monsters Inc 2 its appreciated that Pixar is once again producing an original story for which they have set a very high bar for themselves.

But here's the question.  It's not a sexist thing, but can a female lead carry a Pixar film to box office glory?  The Princess label has been batted around Disney offices for a few years now.  Many at Disney blamed the word Princess for causing the film Princess and the Frog to under perform at the box office.  That later forced the re-titling of Rapunzel to Tangled to make it seem like less of a 'girls' movie.  Here is the thinking, whether its true or not is subject to debate - its not hard to get girls to see movies about cars, toys, houses floating in the air with balloons, or cute little robots - it is hard to get little boys to go see movies about girls.  Just saying, not trying to pick a fight.

So Brave is going to be an interesting case study for Pixar on many levels.  I have a feeling its going to have fine success.  But I also could be wrong.

Ranking Pixar Films - 2012

There are probably a couple of thousand of the lists like this one on the Internet in various blogs and web pages.  With Cars Land set to open and Pixar characters firmly entrenched in Disney California Adventure (along with Buzz and Nemo over in Disneyland), here are my rankings for the 12 Pixar films that have been made over the years.  It should be noted that all Pixar movies are successful and have made money (lots of money) but not all of them have exactly been works of art as the very best of them are.  So here is my list from worse to first.

12) A Bug's Life:  I saw the movie - on video - I don't remember a thing about it.  Not the movie's fault it came in last, more my fault (memo for the To-Do List - see A Bug's Life again).

11) Cars 2:  Visually stunning but one of the most lazy disappointing efforts I have ever witnessed from a group of people who should know better.  I am on a personal quest to rid Larry the Cable Guy and his buffoonery from show business.

10) Finding Nemo:  Along with Toy Story 3, Nemo is Pixar's most profitable movie. Never has the Pixar formula of cute little misfit in peril put more prominently displayed. I just didn't like it.  Ellen Degeneres voice annoys me (but not as much as Larry the Cable Guy).

9) Monsters Inc.:  My opinion of Monsters Inc. seems to waver.  I saw it in a theater and liked it a lot.  I remember being sick at the time so the movie was much better than I was.  When I saw it on video the first time, I didn't like it.  Then I watched it again last year and enjoyed it thoroughly.  I guess it depends how I feel.

8) Cars:  Mrs. DisneylandTraveler drug me to the theater to see Cars - she had already taken The Boy to see it and loved it - she thought I would too.  I was kicking and screaming all the way.  But guess what, I enjoyed the original Cars movie though I did think it was a little too long.  Cars had more Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, and Holly Hunter and less Larry the Cable Guy - a very wise choice.

7) Ratatouille:  This one may have been one of Pixar's best efforts with an Oscar to show for it and I did like Ratatouille.  Its just not a movie I can watch over and over again. Maybe its too good.

6) Toy Story 2:  Even the weakest effort of the Toy Story trilogy is a very, very good movie just not quite as good as the other two.

5) Up:  I kink of put Up in the same category as Ratatouille.  Excellent movies, great stories, and a visually stunning.  But like Ratatouille, I just can't watch Up over and over again.  It is a bit too emotionally fetching and yes, maybe too good.

4) The Incredibles:  Now you're talking.  A Pixar super-hero story.  A Pixar movie that doesn't intentionally try to make you cry.  Just good, fun, entertainment.

3) Toy Story:  I saw Toy Story in a movie theater and walked out in amazement at what I had just seen.  Pixar set the bar high right from the get go and created a truly American film experience with its Toy Story Franchise.  Having Tom Hanks in the lead doesn't hurt.

2) Toy Story 3:  Supposedly the TS trilogy ends here and if it did, it went out in grand style.  The ending of Toy Story 3 is about the most beautiful ending for a movie I have ever seen.

1) Wall-E:  If Toy Story 3 soared off into the sunset at the end, Wall-E blew me away from the beginning.  The love story of Wall-E and Eve is one of the greatest in movie history.  This movie did not need any of the humans that showed late in the movie.  The hearts of Wall-E and Eve, two robots, are greater than 99% of everyone on this planet. This movie did not need a spoken word to convey the richness of all emotions. Wall-E is one of the greatest movies of all time.

Lots-O-Huggin' the Bear, Let's Buy a Creep

This has been bothering me for awhile now. I guess I'm easily bothered. When we last saw Lots-O-Huggin' the Bear in the great movie Toy Story 3, he was plastered to the front of a garbage truck and deservedly so. You see Lotso, for short, was a creep, evil to the core, completely incapable of any sort of redemption. Voiced by the great character actor Ned Beatty (who I still hear in my nightmares from maybe the creepiest movie ever Deliverance) Lotso is really a fully developed character but beyond any doubt, the character is all bad. He was creepy even at the beginning of the movie when you thought he was the kindly old grandfather type.

So what should Disney do now that they have such a reprobate character like Lotso? Well back when the Pixar Play Parade ran in Disney California Adventure, you give him a a spot on a float and make him smell like strawberries. Let's take a walk through some of the larger Disney retail stores around the resort. What's that lined up on the multitude of shelves of stuffed animals? Why its kindly ol' Lotso.

So what's the moral of the Lotso story? Kind of like Duffy the Bear, no matter how so short-sighted, if he's huggable for a kid, slap a price a price tag on him and make a few bucks. Some day the kid will realize they are hugging a creep of epic proportions.

Are You Sure About This Cars Land Thing?

Disney has got several hundred million bucks invested in this Cars Land expansion and without a doubt the pictures that are still coming out of the soon to be opened land (June 2012) show a level of detail that is second to none. A reasonably close rendition of Radiator Springs will spring to life but is Disney sure about hitching something that is supposed to last generations to the Cars movie franchise?

I watched Cars 2 on blu-ray last night. Without a doubt, it is the worst thing from Pixar that I have seen (my previous Pixar low water mark was Finding Nemo). Now to be fair, the computer generated graphics and especially the use of color, light, and reflection are eye popping but there is a movie behind dazzling colors and that movie isn't very good. I could go on and on about why I didn't like it but it comes down to too much Larry the Cable Guy and taking the simple charm of the original Cars on a globe trotting spy chase almost seems like something that would come out of an old copy of Mad Magazine.

It was fun to see the Radiator Springs on the screen (what little of it there was) and compare it to what is being built in Southern California but building a land on the movie franchise where its last effort was horrid seems a bit of a head scratcher. The original concept of Cars land wasn't based on the movie at all but the original Route 66 that wound its way half way across this country once upon a time. But Disney in their never ending quest to tie their brands and franchises together in profitable packages moved into the Pixar Cars realm. Hopefully Cars Land comes together better than Cars 2 the movie.

An Evening With The Incredibles

I believe as far as the box numbers go, Pixar's The Incredibles ranks 4th out of the 12 films the studio has released to this point (Toy Story 3, Finding Nemo, and Up all had bigger grosses). I never saw it when it was released in theaters because let's face it, I'm far too busy of a guy. I did see it once on DVD and remember liking it. Saw parts of it while visiting other people and remember liking the parts I saw there as well.

It was out of my radar but Disney released a Blu-Ray version of the film a few months ago and I just happened to notice it was available from Netflix, so I plunked it in my queue and it showed up a few days ago in the mail. So on a quiet evening here on the home front, I spent some time with the Incredibles.

It's a bit different from many of the Pixar films because it is entertainingly accessible. It doesn't go overboard trying to pull at your heart strings like many of the other Pixar offerings which often try to manipulate you into the story. Is the Incredibles one of Pixar's better movies? Not really, Wall-E and Toy Story 3 top my list. But it is also far from the worst where I have the annoying Finding Nemo. What The Incredibles is turns out to be a family story, a fun story, and a superhero story all rolled into one entertaining package.