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© DSFC |
TOY
STORY
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| PIXARRIFIC! | ||||||||||||
| by
pat The other day I'm digging through my treasure chest of DVDs, an actual treasure chest in my giant aquarium, mind you, and rather than some slick horror movie, as usual, I decided to watch the original "Toy Story" for the first time in years. What a damn good movie. It really lost nothing. I know that computer graphics have improved since then, but the animation here is still incredible. Effects have improved since "The Empire Strikes Back," but you cannot complain about its effects. "Toy Story" still stands as the true launching ground for the realm of computer animation. Not just as the first feature, though of course that's important, but what was done with it. Fully realized environments, lifelike movement, accurate shading and lighting, they covered it all. What's more important is that instead of using it as a showpiece for what they could do, they established it as simply a tool for telling stories we couldn't easily tell before. Stop motion wouldn't have allowed the movement and action neccesary, or the human interaction. Traditional animation wouldn't have given that feeling of being only a hair removed from reality. Live action? Jim Cameron couldn't raise that kind of budget. The film is a tale about jealousy, fear of abandonment, learning your own worth despite what those around you can do, and finding out that those who seem great, almost perfect, are just as frail as you. All great lessons for kids, and not told in that preachy Afterschool Special way that usually just bores kids until they don't care about your story, less yet your message. Its maturity yet childlike look at the small world around us being the whole world is a combination that makes this truly a family film, something not seen very often for some time until then. Kids can laugh at whatever kids find funny. Is there ever any rhyme or reason to that? Adults can laugh at references thrown in for them, because the filmmakers were aware they'd be sitting there for the same amount of time as the kids, and very rarely was it something you wouldn't be comfortable explaining the joke to the young'uns. Since they'd enjoy it, they wouldn't mind taking the kids back or buying it, hence why "Andre" didn't clear $100 mil. The pattern this set has been successfully followed both by Pixar's subsequent works, and Dreamworks' family films, almost unanimously succesfully. Failing has been Disney's traditional animation division, with such grotesquely kid-unfriendly films as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," to the mind-numbingly simple and cliche "Tarzan," which proved once and for all that kids don't think aging former pop stars doing cartoon soundtracks is neat, since the songs usually still suck. The weird exception was "Break My Stride" creator Matthew Wilder, who did a great job with "Mulan." Part of this rant comes from my only real issue with "Toy Story," Randy Newman. Stop hiring him, please. He's the Garrison Keillor of easy listening music, but with an edge. Pure evil! |
 COWBOYS AND ROCKET ENGINES  HANKS PREPARES TO ACCEPT YET ANOTHER OSCAR  MR. POTATO HEAD FINDS ANOTHER GLOVE AT OJ'S HOUSE  THE CAST DOESN'T REALLY FIND THE NEXT JOKE VERY FUNNY  BUZZ AND SID'S TOYS GO CLUBBING |
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