Disney Movie Eras: Pixar to 2010
This month continues a new series of blogs for fans of popular culture. Whereas in the past explorations of Walt Disney films we highlighted individual works, we will now be talking about the larger groupings of movies, and the various artistic and commercial visions sought for and achieved from said movies.
A quick run though of the eras:
The Golden Age: 1937-1941
Wartime: 1942-1949
The Silver Age: 1950-1967
The Bronze Age: 1968-1988
The Renaissance: 1989-1999
Post-Renaissance: 2000-2009
Revival: 2010-Present
As you can see, the various eras are inspired by historical art movements over the year, as well as comic books. You can draw the parallel, for instance, between the Italian Renaissance, or between the iterated variations of popular superheroes like Batman and Superman.
We will also be covering Disney live action films. The list of films owned by the Walt Disney Corporation is quite expansive because it includes multiple studios and production companies, such as Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, and more. And for good measure, we will also cover animated films that released without the official Walt Disney Pictures branding, as well as films that only released via television or Disney +.
So buckle up everyone as we retread the Disney films of years passed:
Buckle up for another multi-part segment, for the Pixar films! Hard to think 2010 was fifteen years ago! We will be covering the first three Toy Story films, A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-e, and Up.
The history of Pixar is an interesting one for sure. The company itself dates back to 1974 and a lab at the New York Institute for Technology. Not too far removed from the birth of video games, experts in the computer technologies field realized that, given enough time and enough resources, computers could eventually be designed and marketed to create animation.
The founder and first five employees worked with a $15 million dollar investment, but creating suitable animation graphics was difficult, even on state of the art computers. The group later met director Francis Ford Copolla, who put them in touch with his good friend and rising star, George Lucas. The employees joined Lucasfilm as part of The Graphics Group. The team worked in Lucasfilm conducting work on computer graphics, but even then the work met only limited success. The group was included in the foundation of Industrial Light and Magic, Lucas' spun off company that specialized in special effects. ILM would become a huge company all on its own, and even with the eventual buyout by Disney in 2012, ILM remains an industry leader in special effects, contributing to films across Hollywood.
Eventually, one John Lasseter would join The Graphics Group, and rise to become a leader. Lucas was not entirely satisfied with the performance of the group, though their technical success would help lay the foundation for the advanced graphics later seen in the Star Wars Prequels. In 1981, several of the employees lunched together, including Lasseter, and supposedly the origin of the name Pixar dates here. The group, now numbering nearly 40 employees, would be spun off into its own company. One of the first accomplishments of the new company was the design of a new computer specialized in computer animation graphics, simply dubbed the Pixar Image Computer, which they sold to other companies, as well as the federal government.
While Pixar was turning a profit with their computer, the company did changes owners again, briefly coming under control of Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and one-time owner of Chuck-E-Cheez's. Bushnell didn't do much with the company though and in the end sold to a new upcoming technology investor: Steve Jobs. Under Jobs, Pixar finally stabilized and had better access to computing technology. While Jobs remained highly involved with Apple, he also proved a dutiful steward of Pixar as they navigated profitability and their future. The company eventually came to the attention of Disney, and in 1986 signed a contract to assist in future films. And thus, a partnership was born.
The Pixar Image Computer, as well as some new software, was quickly put to work and used for the first time with The Little Mermaid and The Rescuers: Down Under. CAPS, the Computer Animation Production System, would be used in virtually every Disney film released thru 2004's Home on the Range, and would be involved in some of the most notable scenes in these films, ranging from the Ballroom in Beauty and the Beast, the Hun army in Mulan, and the jungle in Tarzan, to name but a few.
Over time, Jobs invested more and more money into the company, until he eventually purchased all of the shares and became sole owner. As owner, Jobs would ink a new contract with Disney in 1991 to produce three CGI films on behalf of Disney, for $26 million.
One of Pixar's earliest short films was a story about a tin toy, which garnered acclaim (and ultimately brought Pixar to Disney's attention). Originally, Disney approached Pixar with the intention of making a full length feature of their Tin Toy short film. The company did set out to do just that, but disagreements arose over the direction of the story, and the intended audience. In short order, Pixar decided to make a story of rivals turned friends, set among the concept of 'what toys did when people weren't around'. The toys themselves would become dramatic characters and get voices of their own. Pixar did not stop there, but they continued to improve their own programs and animation, making the film as impressive as impossible. And to go with this improved animation and budget, the company would also include big-name talent, and there were few names more prominent in the early 90s than Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.
Toy Story itself could justify an entire article to itself; entire books and documentaries have been published just about this one film, that would go on to become the very first computer animated feature film. The landmark was an easy attraction to various artists and actors, though not all were convinced the film would be profitable. Several toy companies were more than interested in partnering with Pixar, for instance, but the biggest surprise was perhaps the refusal of Mattel to include both Barbie and G.I. Joe. Regardless, the film included several notable toys, and the franchise would become a proverbial toy chest full of toy references.
Toy Story beat all predictions, becoming one of the top films of 1995, earned over $350 million at the box office, and won a special achievement award at the Academy Awards.
One of Pixar's other contracted films would be an adaptation of the Aesop fable The Ants and the Grasshopper. A Bug's Life would be a more complex film, with more characters, more developed personalities and side stories, and a LOT more background activity. Everything quickly appeared to suggest the film would be another unmitigated hit for the company, but dark clouds bloomed on the horizon. At Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg left the company following a disagreement with Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney. Katzenberg had been instrumental in signing the deal between Disney and Pixar, but Katzenberg desired more control and acclaim. When the Disney board refused, he left, and went on to make his own revival studio, DreamWorks.
Allegedly, Katzenberg had access to Pixar's office and discussed the creation of Pixar's next film in the pipeline, A Bug's Life. Following conversations with Lasseter, Katzenberg set his company to produce a rival film, Antz. We'll talk more about that film in depth eventually, but supposedly Katzenberg first received the pitch for the story back in 1988. Regardless, both Lasseter and Jobs were not enthused by the prospect of a competitor film about ants being released the same year! Jobs, Lasseter and Katzenberg would remain feuding for several years.
In spite of this, A Bug's Life was a hit, and paved the way for future films.
The original plan for Toy Story 2 was for a direct-to-video follow-up. This was a calculated move on Pixar's part, as, per contract, most of Disney's cut came from distribution and marketing. When Toy Story finally released in 1995 to a monumental $350 million haul, Disney was quite firm in insisting on a theatrical sequel. More so, Disney also had contractual right of refusal when it came to sequels, so Pixar had little choice but to make the film as the customer demanded.
Most of the work on the film was initially completed by a separate staff, but as 1997 aged, production leaders in both Disney and Pixar were unsatisfied with the way the film was turning out. Though technology had already drastically improved since 1994, the team was forced to self-handicap in order to maintain the original atmosphere and vibe of the first film, in spite of improvements. Lasseter again headed the project, which released in 1999 to another round of near-universal acclaim. In the meantime, Jobs inked a fresh deal with Disney for a further five non-sequel films.
And most humorously, Mattel wasn't about to walk away a second time. After Toy Story made it big in 1995, the company made sure to be included in the sequel. Disney obliged.
The earliest pre-production of Monsters Inc. began in 1996, at a lunchtime cafe where several Pixar employees brainstormed ideas (along with what would become Finding Nemo, Cars, and Ratatouille). The film had a much longer production time compared to most of the other early Pixar films, though work was light until late 1999. Midway through production, the entire company moved to a new location, vacating the three separate buildings they had been working in at the time in favor of a new campus. Advancements in computer technology continued to improve, with the most notable one being in the new lead character, Sulley, a giant furry monster with horns. Sulley's fur was incredibly advanced for the time, and remained an example of one of the most realistic looking hair details in computer animated films for years.
Monsters. Inc released in 2001, ultimately to the tune of $577 million, making it (at the time) the second biggest gross of an animated film ever, after The Lion King. And Pixar was only improving.
As mentioned above, production of Finding Nemo essentially began in 1997, and became the studio's fifth film and fourth franchise. Pixar was very quick to solidify the plot and the starring characters, Marlin and his son Nemo, clownfish. Lasseter was inspired after seeing the fish in magazines and at an aquarium. In a nod to similar practices at Disney, Pixar brought in an ichthyologist to educate the animators on fish anatomy and swimming behavior. The film was the most technically advanced Pixar work to date, and would arguably remain the technical highlight for several years.
The film was a massive success, breaking further records. It became the first Pixar film to win the Academy Award for best animated film, and would go on to earn the record for the most DVDs sold of all time, a record it still comfortably holds to this day.
For their sixth film, Pixar recruited outside talent to head production, in the person of Brad Bird. Fresh off of The Iron Giant, Bird and several of his coworkers led the studio in this new film, the first of several that would prominently feature human characters. It is notable, with some humor, that the human models of Pixar's early short films and theatrical releases weren't necessarily the most anatomically accurate. New production techniques were created and implemented for the film, which more than ever had to pass off its characters as believable. More than believable, simply put, they had to feel human.
The Incredibles released to an even more eyewatering $632 million, the biggest yet.
At first glance, Cars bears a certain similarity to the very popular Chevron commercials of the 90s and early 2000s. While both feature talking cars, the Pixar design team made a very conscious choice with their characters: move the eyes to the windshield. It's a simple but profound change that made the cars feel more personable and person-like. Though without legs, arms, ears or hair, the Cars feel very much like actual people, even before you mention the many clear references to specific character tropes or known people.
Cars also spawned the second biggest franchise within the company. While the first is of course Toy Story (there are a lot of short films we just aren't gonna bring up), Cars spawned an admirable two further films, two spin off films, a few shorts, and two television series.
Who could love a rat? Rats are often lamented as less than likeable creatures. In spite of this, Remy is a charismatic fellow with a heart of gold and a passion for cooking. Ratatouille was the second film to be helmed by Brad Bird, and the second notable film to feature numerous human characters, now drawn in more realistic proportions, compared to the highly stylized 50's retro aesthetic of The Incredibles. By 2007 when production of this film wrapped up, Pixar's animation hardware was over a thousand times more powerful than had been used during the production of Toy Story. The company had come a long way, and yet despite all their success, they were still just artists. For most of the crew, this was a film about themselves.
Ratatouille was also the end of an era. During the early 2000s, Disney and Pixar negotiated various film deals to ensure continued cooperation and character marketability. That came to a halt in 2006 when Disney bought Pixar. Ratatouille was the last film Pixar produced before the purchase took place.
Pixar studio films tend to come packaged with a message or motivation. None are perhaps more blatant than Wall-E, which wears environmentalism on its sleeve. Yet another film conceived at that infamous lunch table discussion, Wall-E began production fairly early on, but not much besides the story and script got finished before 2006. The film was attractive to many of the artists at Pixar, yet it remained quite the challenge for the graphical department. The animation on Wall-E himself has never been exceeded in the studio's history, and arguably in all of Disney, and some of those early scenes are difficult to distinguish from reality.
The film is doubly noted because it remains the only Pixar film to actually include live action footage as part of the film itself. Scenes from the classic film Hello, Dolly! are included as scene queues to help humanize Wall-E's character growth. Additionally, one character, the original president of Buy and Large is played by a live-action actor Fred Willard. Predictably, the film performed well at both the box office and among critics.
Up is a poignant film. Initial script work did not occur until 2004, making it one of the first 'newer' Pixar films to be conceived and produced. The overall concept, as well as the character of Carl Frederickson, were decided very early on, while Russel was added much later in production. It is also rather noted for exploring the concept of a 'film within a film', where the opening montage of Carl's life with his late wife Ellie is shown. Ordinarily, such a story would've been the entire movie, or a whole television series, but Pixar played it as one quick adventure, all to establish Carl. This is intentional, because Carl spends most of the movie convinced that his 'adventure' is already over, only to rediscover life worth living by the end credits.
Needless to point out, Up was a hit especially with film critics, receiving stellar reviews, particularly about that opening montage. The film was nominated for Best Film at the Academy Awards, a rare honor for animated features since 1992.
The final film in our discussion is also slightly older than expected. In the early 2000s, amidst the pending contract termination between Disney and Pixar, and conflict with Eisner, Disney made the bold move to pressure Pixar by way of producing Toy Story 3 on its own. Supposedly, the original plot centered on Buzz Lightyear being recalled by the company that made him, with Woody and the gang attempting to rescue him. Disney sought out a 3rd party for animation and had a whole script and advertising available. Before animation began however, the contract negotiations came to an abrupt halt with the purchase of Pixar and the removal of Michael Eisner. Catmull and Lasseter received promotions to head of Disney animation, but Pixar retained its autonomy, allowing it to continue as it ever did, just under new ownership.
Consequently, all existing plans for Toy Story 3 were cancelled and Pixar was given free reign to do what they wanted. The result was the, at the time, finale of the franchise. The film got an entirely new plot revolving around Andy growing up and going to college, the toys destined for the attack but mistakenly winding up at a daycare run by the despotic Lotso-Hugging-Bear. During production, Pixar had issues recovering the original character data from the first film, necessitating the creation of entirely new (and much updated) models for everyone. As such, Toy Story 3 is notably more advanced than the first two films. The biggest stride, in comparison, are the human characters; building off the groundwork laid in The Incredibles and Ratatouille, the human character models look better than ever, no longer quite as unsettling or lifeless looking as in the original Toy Story.
Toy Story 3 was the first Pixar film to exceed $1 billion in gross sales, and the final film to be nominated for Best Picture.
That wraps up this month's discussion. Stay tuned for next month when we cover the Post-Renaissance. We are firmly in the new millennium now!
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