Pixar kills the competition: how’d it all begin?

The brief story of Pixar reads like a trajectory of inevitable success. Starting life as the computer department at George Lucas’ Lucasfilms, being bought out by the creator of Apple and then merging with Disney, who could ask for a better Hollywood pedigree? But the real story of Pixar is much more turbulent than it would first seem. Although the late 70s early 80s were heady days for the founders of Pixar, pioneering what they knew to be a brilliant invention and what these days we take for granted, CGI (computer generated imagery) animation took the rest of us a long time to cotton on to. In an industry that favored cel and stop-animation, CGI was the underdog of the genre for a lot longer than the creative boffins that invented it could have anticipated.

After being bought out by Apple’s Steve Jobs, the founders of Pixar went from collaborating with Lucasfilms’ Industrial Light and Magic team, in what must have been the ultimate period of boys playing with toys, to designing hardware for government agencies and the medical industry. To make matters worse, these computers didn’t even sell, so just as the company looked like it was going out of business, the animation department resorted to producing animated commercials for products such as Listerine. These visionary animators must look back on that time now with bemused glee as they polish the Academy Awards spilling out of their closets.

Lucky for the rest of us, Walt Disney must have liked Listerine, and along with Walt, came an animated feature film production deal which meant the 3D photo-realist CGI heart of Pixar went on beating. It is fair to say that Toy Story (1995), Pixar’s first animated feature was a runaway success, grossing over $350 million worldwide. While it has been a rocky road that Disney and Pixar have traveled down together since, no one could argue the partnership isn’t working. Just look at the number of box office and critically acclaimed hits in the Pixar catalogue: A Bug’s Life (1998), Monsters Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2004), Ratatouille (2007), Wall-E (2008). In 2001 the Academy Awards created a new award category for Best Animated Feature Film. All 6 Pixar films made since 2001 have been nominated for the award and 4 have won it.

‘Up’ looks to be another hit

So what is it about Pixar films that make even grumpy adults go a bit gushy? The latest Pixar feature ‘Up’ makes it crystal clear how this company manages time and again to transgress the genre of the children’s film. It is too simplistic to say that like all good children’s films Pixar films operate on two levels, providing something for the adults on one and the kids on another. There are many common threads that link the Pixar films: adventures of mythic proportions that often involve saving the world or a small part of it; a strong bond that develops between two unlikely main characters, such as a kitchen-hand and a mouse, or a monster and a child; and they always give a nod to the problems faced by the modern world, such as the shortage of power in Monsters Inc., the pollution of the oceans in Finding Nemo, and the poaching of endangered species and the treatment of the elderly in ‘Up’. But it is none of these elements that has audiences coming back for more.

Rather than writing stories that are meant to teach children about the adult world, Pixar films are more often than not, about what adults can learn from children. There was Mr. Incredible stuck behind his desk at the insurance agency longing to relive his glory days of the past while missing out on his current life and that of his family. There was Sulley the monster, clocking into the Monsters Inc. factory day after day to scare little children, content to be worshipped in the corporate machine that he thrived in rather than question whether what he was doing was right.

‘Up’ is no exception. Mr. Fredrickson has dreamed of becoming an adventurer since he was a little boy, but after the death of his wife, he is content to stay put in the house that they built until he dies. The modern world makes it clear that they no longer want him. Everyone except Russell, a Wilderness Explorer who knocks at his door wanting to help Mr. Fredrickson so he can get his “helping the elderly” badge. When the time comes for Mr. Fredrickson to choose to succumb and go live a quiet life somewhere out of the way or do something out of the ordinary, Mr. Fredrickson chooses both. He will go and live a life out of the way, but he will take his house with him. He attaches thousands of helium balloons to his chimney, turns his house into a blimp and sets sail for South America. Only soon he discovers he has a stowaway- Russell is along for the ride. His quiet life out of the way suddenly becomes a lot less quiet, but together, Mr. Fredrickson and Russell manage to do something quite out of the ordinary. Like all Pixar films, it is an uplifting film- puns aside. While an indictment of the treatment the modern world dishes out to those who have given us life, ‘Up’ also pokes fun. A highlight of the film is the most comical “elderly” fight scene witnessed on the big screen since Yoda threw off his robe in the Star Wars prequel and unleashed his force.

‘Up’ will make you want to attach some helium balloons to your belt and float to work, make friends with a technicolor animal, or just say hello to your elderly neighbor, and you never know, it might even make their day. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you unleash that inner child within first.