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’."
"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be that is who Disney market the films to, but I think this idea that a Pixar film is a children’s film stems from the outdated view that animation is for children.
Ms. Chadha immediately lost all credibility when she put Shrek and Pixar in the same category. And with all due respect to Ms. Chadha and the shrink who is quoted, their main contention is a huge load of cow crud. I’m the father of two young girls, and it’s the kid-oriented movies and TV shows (inane and brainless) that are the problem. A parent’s main job is to prepare their children for mature adulthood. G-rated adult-oriented flims (such as Pixar films) help that process, or at least do not hinder it. The kid-oriented crud does NOT help that process — instead it encourages children to be perpetual juveniles.
I gagged on this statement in the article: “Her criticism follows accusations by US psychologists that Disney was making toddlers grow up too fast by exposing children as young as three to teenage concepts such as love and revenge.” So, Disney forces the kiddies to watch, do they? Must be. Couldn’t possibly be the parents’ fault for planting their kids in front of the TV and not caring what they watch. Of course not — blame Disney instead.
And I can’t help but laugh at the irony of the title of Ms. Chadha’s latest film: “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.” Yeah, that’s some great kid-oriented filmmaking there. Fits right in with all the other garbage out of Hollywood.
Pixar’s got it right.
There’s nothing to add, Splashman i agree totally with you…
Agree that this lady is making a pathetic argument. Good storytelling is something we should all celebrate, not condemn as Chadra appears to be doing. Pixar is the best film studio on the planet, literally, considering it’s track record of producing hits and winning awards. As a parent of a 5 year old, I can proudly say my daughter has seen and enjoyed every single Pixar film made, including the short films DVD.
Personally, I find Ms. Chadha’s viewpoints and opinions to be quite idiotic. When I first saw “Toy Story” in theaters (at the age of six), a good percentage (if not every one) of the adult-oriented gags and suggestive comments flew right over my head — all I cared about was the witty humor, engaging story line, memorable characters, and familiar thematic elements and environment. If anything, that film aided in keeping my childhood fresh. And then, of course, when I reached adolescence I caught on to the mature jokes, which I laughed at just as much as the “tamer” gags. Either way, the film was (and still is) enjoyable from a child’s point of view and from a teenager’s/adult’s perspective.
The fact that more animation studios are attempting to cater to both children and adults these days is, to me, more comforting than anything else. Animated films are not just for youngins, and such companies as Pixar, Studio Ghibli, and even Blue Sky Studios have proved that. If a parent is too concerned about their kids’ exposure to pop culture and/or similar themes, then they are perfectly within their right(s) to hinder their child/children from immersing themselves in those things.
That aside, I agree with Splashman‘s comments on the matter.
Ms. Chadha, kids have already lost innocence and imagination already cause they’re watching saturday morning madness, meeting with pervs on MySpace, and making imaginations worse with seeing Dreamworks Animation’s CGI features and playing Xbox and stuff.
well i don’t agree with this woman how can she dare to compare the shrek films with the pixar films, is obviously that the shrek films are made 4 everyone, but hey! it has sexual content and some of violance. But pixar god, yeah disney have to make films 4 everyone but it doesn’t mean that have to contain adult things, and neither the animation 4 kids only.
well i don’t agree with this woman how can she dare to compare the shrek films with the pixar films, is obviously that the shrek films are made 4 everyone, but hey! it has sexual content and some of violance. But pixar god, yeah disney have to make films 4 everyone but it doesn’t mean that have to contain adult things, and neither the animation 4 kids only.
I don’t see how anything Pixar has done is different from what’s been seen in past kids films.
Okay, there is a difference between Dreamworks movies and Pixar movies. They both cater to adults and children but they both rely on different modes. Dreamworks relies on cheap humor and dirty humor adults can understand. Pixar relies on storylines and humor that EVERYONE can enjoy.
How ignorant of her! All that needs to be said has been said so I’ll leave it at that.
She doesn’t know what she’s talking about…
She wasn’t comparing Dreamworks to Pixar. She merely pointed out that both Shrek and Pixar movies are geared toward older audiences, yet are marketed to kids.
That said, she is still way off base! What she needs to do is sit down and watch a bunch of the old Disney classic animated films. Snow White, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and so on. Guess what? Walt Disney included a lot of mature themes and elements into his stories. Stuff that was quite clearly “geared at adults”. Stuff that made several of his movies and short films controversial at the time of their release. But this doesn’t make these movies inappropriate for kids by any means! The mature content blows right over the kids heads, yet provides a richer experience for older audience members, and leaves more to be discovered for the kids as they grow older and show the movies to their kids. It’s why, years later, just as many (if not more) adults are fascinated by these so-called “kids movies” as the kids themselves.
The reason kids’ movies are perceived as being innocent is that we were innocent when we first watched them. But animated movies haven’t “changed focus” at all. The animation medium has evolved over the years, but the maturity of a good animated film is on the same level that it’s always been. In fact, if anything, animated movies are MORE kid-appropriate than they used to be. However, if Gurinder Ghada wants to make a 90-minute Barney & Friends style movie, be my guest! But I know I sure won’t be first in line to see it!
Fairy-tales are now considered to be “for children” as well, and yet they we’re always meant to be for every public, and some of them are even quite violent and dark. Animation’s main goal has been expressing and entertainment from the very beggining, so I can’t see when either of them became “child-aproppiate”.
When it comes to Pixar, I can’t give it any higher praise than looking at my 16 year old brother, always the Disney-Grinch – fascinated with Toy Story, the Incredibles and Wall-E, from the moment each was released. That proves that their stories and their characters are something a three-year old and sixteen-year-old can equally enjoy, relate to and love, and are therefor fulfilling one of their main purposes: entertainment.
… I agree with what MB1000 said: “if Gurinder Ghada wants to make a 90-minute Barney & Friends style movie, be my guest!”. But yeah, I dare her to find a single screening where the children won’t grow restless at that. One can barely stand twenty minutes of underestimation, let alone a main feature.
“You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.” –Walt Disney
“I just make what I like – warm and human stories, ones about historic characters and events, and about animals. If there is a secret, I guess it’s that I never make the pictures too childish, but always try to get in a little satire of adult foibles.” –Walt Disney
“Part of the Disney success is our ability to create a believable world of dreams that appeals to all age groups. The kind of entertainment we create is meant to appeal to every member of the family.” –Walt Disney
Enough said
Amen on the Shrek thing Splashman.
Pixar films have NEVER been kid’s films, they’re everybody fiilms. Always have been. On Toy Story 2 commentary, hey talked about how on Toy Story 1, first they tried doing kid’s stuff, and in a last ditch effort to impress Disney, they did a film. THEY’D like Being an everybody film doesn’t mean you have to lose your innocence.
Heck, anybody heard of Veggietales? Totally clean, Christian programming, but so full of jokes the older folks will get that I still watch it at age 17 for fun.