I was just sent this interesting post that compares Pixar to The Beatles. That is WALL•E is to Pixar as what Rubber Soul was to The Beatles, Help! was Ratatouille. The writer, Daniel Thomas, looks at how we are coming to point where technological advancement in CGI movies will plateau and we will have to rely on developing our stories and characters.
Pixar broke open the boundaries of computer graphics animation with Toy Story, and this is where their Phase Two begins. This movie is the archetype that all CGI cartoons still model themselves after. Really, is it possible to imagine any Hollywood animated movie without Toy Story?
says Thomas.
Pixar are now firmly into Phase Three, their Rubber Soul period. It’s much like the Second Miles Davis Quintet, which spanned the middle to late 1960’s.
Thomas then talks about how Western animation is seen as a surrogate baby sitter for parents. I’d say I have to agree. We have it firmly fixed in our minds that animation is just for children. Only now are we starting to realise it’s not just for children. It’s taking Miyazaki and Ghibli to show us this and Thomas goes on to talk about them too.
Hey, thanks a lot for mentioning my Ghibli blog. I appreciate all the attention, especially from animation freaks. Perhaps I should be writing about Pixar more, eh?
Daniel Thomas MacInnes
http://www.ghiblicon.blogspot.com