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Discussion: Pixar Films Need To Be Kids Films?

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I was sent a link to an article today by UP reader Will from the Telegraph newspaper. The article is informatively titled, "Children’s films ‘losing their innocence in a bid to please parents’." 

The article is written by Aislinn Simpson and she talks to Bend It Like Beckham director, Gurinder Ghada and her views on why companies need to start making for films children with less focus on pleasing their parents.

"One of the head guys at Disney categorically said to me, ‘We don’t want to make children’s films any more. We want to make films that are going to appeal to all quadrants’, hence you have films like Shrekfilms like Shrek and all the Pixar stuff, which is designed to suit everybody."

said Chadha. As Andrew Stanton recently said, “The day we start thinking about what the audience wants, we’re going to make bad choices." The only people Pixar design their films to suit is themselves. They make movies they want to see. I personally think it’s unfair to say that any Pixar film is a children’s movie. Sure, the movie may be suited to children because of it’s rating, and it may be that is who Disney market the films to, but I think this idea that a Pixar film is a children’s film stems from the outdated view that animation is for children. 

Chadha says that children may "lose the innocence and the wonderment." from these films due to the adult aimed gags have to be "knowing", and children can pick up on that. Well as above, Pixar films aren’t necessarily children’s films, they are films made by Pixarians that Pixarians want to see. 
Will has written his own response to Chadha here. Chadha mentioned that her next film is going to be aimed specifically at children to which Will says, "Which makes me wonder if overtly making a ‘proper Kids’ film’ in response to other films that go for "all quadrants" is as shallow as the very thing she’s responding to."
What do you think about Chadha’s views? Leave a comment below and let us know. 

Last modified: July 15, 2008