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I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but I think Pixar has a thing for creating unusual romantic pairings in the majority of their movies, usually by pairing two complete opposites.
Toy Story: Buzz (a spaceman) with Jessie (a cowgirl)
A Bug’s Life: Flik (a lowly worker) with Atta (a high-ranking princess)
Monsters Inc.: Mike (again, a worker) with Celia (a secretary?)
Cars: Lightning (an over-the top racecar) with Sally (a selfless car)
Ratatouille: Linguini (a clumsy garbage boy whom everyone rejects) with Colette (a tough, prominent chef at one of Paris’s finest restaurants)
WALL•E: WALL•E (a dirty, rusty, old trash bot) with EVE (a clean, sleek, high tech probe droid)
Up: Carl (who’s quiet and shy) with Ellie (who’s adventurous and extremely outgoing)
I think the only ones exempt from this pattern are Finding Nemo, because Marlin’s relationship with Dory did not progress into romance (though it’s slightly hinted that she likes Marlin), and The Incredibles, because Bob and Helen don’t seem to be complete opposites to me, considering they’re both fellow superheroes.
Spirit: That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard! I wish I knew a princess
That is weird though. And I agree, Mike and Celia seem pretty normal, but the rest are opposites. I like opposites though, it adds a whole other dimension to the story
Haha JSWeC, that’s actually quite an old storytelling convention!
By pairing people of opposite characteristics, you can generate the most amount of tension and drama! And that makes for more excitement.
A lot of fanfics I read have the Mary Sues be totally compatible with the OC or canon character. Which doesn’t make for very riveting adventures.
When you write a story, you want each scene to have conflict. This doesn’t mean that every time two characters walk into a room, they have to throw fists or plates at each other. But each character has to have a motive, and we usually try to make their motives be as conflicting as possible.
Watch any Pixar scene and observe the characters. There is always some form of conflict going on, be it with an inanimate object (Linguini struggling to drag his bike into his apartment), with another character (practically most of Wall-E) or with him/herself (Carl and his feelings for Ellie when he opens the Adventure Book at the climax).
If a scene has no conflict, there is no drama, and it becomes boring.
So Pixar is really very clever by having diametrically opposite pairings. If the boy and girl are alike and love each other from the start, that wouldn’t be very exciting now, would it?
The great scholar and professor of all things shipping has arrived! XD
I agree with thedriveintheare, this is a regular romance thing. I think people just like two very different people falling in love; its quirky and cute.
If you were referring to me sincerely, thank you for the compliment! I’m by no means an expert in anything… except maybe where to find the best Ramen in Sydney or how to make silly trailer parodies.
Much better for them to be binary opposites. Not just Pixar, but for alot of movies.
Take the Lethal Weapon series for example, there’s no way on this, or any other planet they’d be as entertaining and appealing (imo!) if the two main characters were equals and ‘normal’.
I like how Pixar constatly put a fresh spin on it to. Seeing as alot of the movies where two contrasting allies are very unoriginal in how there characters are - The Other Guys, yawns.
I love the LW series, I have yet to watch the 2nd, but it’s a really great example of ‘buddy cop’ dynamics. Buzz and Woody sort of remind me of Riggs and Murtaugh from time to time with their constant bickering, but at the end of the day, they’re BFFs.
Kinda cheesy, but it’s fun to watch the fireworks!
