Why Pixar Isn't Losing Its Touch
Pixar has a reputation for being, to put it simply, beautiful. The animation seems to get more and more advanced with each movie they pump out. Every detail in every scene, every emotional expression of a character, the way they have the sun hit objects just right, makes the experience all the more riveting. Rarely, and dare I say never, are you expected to be anything less than completely fulfilled when the credits roll. Disney Pixar’s Onward, however, caused some fans to have other thoughts on the matter.
Where to start? Don’t get me wrong, the animation was great, the story was good, and it also, of course, had a classic Pixar tearjerker at the end. Personally, when I saw it, I thought it was fantastic. The thing with Onward is that it’s just...nothing special. I mean sure, it is a really solid movie as far as all animated movies go, but when you put Onward next to its’ brother and sister films, such as Toy Story 4, Coco, and Finding Dory, it’s excruciatingly mediocre. I seriously doubt if you ask people in the near future what their favorite Pixar movie is, it’ll be Onward. I doubt it will even be in the Top 10.
Another issue fans had with Onward was how repetitive the character design was with other Pixar movies. The main character, Ian, is a dorky, awkward, clumsy, elf boy who lacks any confidence. Throughout the movie, he does change a substantial amount. However, this sort of character has been done before in a lot of movies. The physical design with the characters, fans said, were also getting more and more similar.
And it’s not just main characters who look similar either, take a look at these moms from Pixar movies.
Same haircut, glasses, face shape, body shape, so I can see where critics are coming from. Onward may have earned less than The Good Dinosaur (another Pixar that gets a lot of hate but is stunning!! Go watch it!) which had previously been Pixar’s lowest grossing film, butall you Pixar fans don’t worry. We all have something to look forward to with the release of Soul, a film in the works.
Soul is coming out June 2020 and hopefully, we will all be able to see it. I need to rant and rave for a second about how amazing this movie is going to be. Soul’s trailer is just outstanding and visually stunning and is obviously going to be a very emotional film. I haven’t been this excited for a Pixar movie since Inside Out. Just by watching the trailer you can begin to understand that this may be an emotional topic for kids. After all, it’s about death, but it’s also about the importance of life. I am almost 100% positive people of all ages will get a kick out of this movie.
Pixar has a dangerous task at hand in 2020 with the release of Toy Story 4 in 2019, closing the sequels to their 2000’s originals. Pixar cannot just piggyback off another idea, they have to make an original, and their reputation is so incredibly high, they have to push further and further with every film they create. Better stories, better animation, better characters, because that’s what everyone expects of them. People were a little harsh on Onward. It was their first original since 2017’s Coco. However, I believe this was just a bump in the road for a new and more spectacular Pixar era.