It’s not so much of a cycle as an inevitability. We all know animation is a medium, not a genre. So to compare Kung Fu Panda with WALL-E is no different than comparing oil paintings by two different artists. One artist may be a master and be able to create new ways of working with light, shade, color, strokes, and the like to end up with a true work of art that belongs in a museum alongside Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and so on. Another artist may take those same oil paints and create a poster, or something more suitable for an advertisement in Times Square.
Obviously I’m a bit biased, but you catch my drift, right? In my estimation, WALL-E was the more artsy movie, and Kung Fu Panda suited more for the common moviegoer, because not everyone is into artsy movies. And, of course, the Academy could do a lot worse than to recognize the art of WALL-E, and they could do a lot better than the past and give WALL-E the Best Picture Oscar.
I agree. I believe it’s silly to compare the two so vehemently, but on the other hand I can also see why they are compared and like I said, I compare them sometimes too. People who follow animation will compare animated movies to each other no matter what. It’s just what we do. Like you, I prefer more ‘artsy’ films… but I still like other films. I loved WALL-E, I liked Kung Fu Panda too… I just think WALL-E is all around a better film.
People compare Dreamworks to Pixar because they really are the two biggest animated film makers, and their movies always seem to be in competition for the box office… but also, I personally compare the two simply out of habit. I remember the good ol’ days when Dreamworks actually made movies I loved as much as Pixar’s films, and in comparing their new films with Pixar’s it’s kind of in hope that Dreamworks will suddenly decide to make great movies again and maybe I’ll feel that their movies are a worthy competition for Pixar. People often make the mistake of thinking that I’m anti-Dreamworks and just inherently hate their films and will love whatever Pixar puts out. In reality I still have hope that Dreamworks might turn around…
But I guess all of this is a little off topic isn’t it?
I just think Lou is a little smarter than this comment we’re debating over sounds. He works for Pixar, I highly doubt he has some vendetta against one of their films.
Whatever. If he did say that, I find it hard to believe he’d come right out and make that publicly known. It takes guts to go against yer own company. Most people at least wait until they’ve left their job before they start publicly saying things against it. But I too find it hard to believe that he would even think KFP was superior to WALL-E.
I don’t find that as hard to believe as I do him blatantly saying that Pixar could actually learn something from Dreamworks. Not saying Pixar knows everything of course, but actually writing a public post about it just seems like something some random poster biased against PIxar would do.
Unless you can get Cartoon Brew to verify which IP address submitted that comment, it could have been written by anyone. I would think that Lou wouldn’t have the time to go writing comments like that, but it’s possible.
Do I think Lou said that? No. I don’t think anyone from Pixar, especially a well-known Pixarian like Lou, would openly say that a Dreamworks film is better than a Pixar film. We all want WALL•E to sweep the Oscars, and for it to at least be nominated for Best Picture. If WALL•E at the Oscars doesn’t have Lou’s support, then that’s a bit sad.
However, if he did say that, well, then that’s his opinion. Yes, he works at Pixar, but he is his own person and he is well within his rights to say it. I don’t mind Pixar praising Dreamworks because it shows them to be the bigger company, not too proud to praise and support competition. There will always be room for great stories, no matter who tells them. I would personally like it if Lou did support WALL•E over Kung Fu Panda, but if not, and that comment is true, then that’s only his opinion. Maybe he did truly like KFP more. The only way to get a straight answer would be to email him, or maybe he will clarify things on his blog.
But I don’t see what the big deal is about Dreamworks “trying something different.” Woop-dee-doo! Pixar have been doing that all along, as Dreamworks should have been (instead of stealing ideas all the time). I don’t see why they should be praised for something that seems so blatantly obvious: to push your boundaries. And I do agree with others that KFP is a safe film. There were some quite funny moments, thanks to Jack Black, but the ending was a bit of a fizzler. It was better than Bee Movie, but it certainly was no Pixar film. (Ok, maybe on level with Cars, but that’s it.)
Yes, this is an old thread - but I thought this new piece of info might be related.
Just found out that Lou Romano has left Pixar for Laika (studio that made Corpse Bride and Coraline). Not sure when, but the wiki said he left in 2009.
This thread was the first thing that popped into my head when I read that.
He might have been disgruntled for a while. I wonder what happened… I do hope this isn’t a bad sign of things at Pixar. With Lasseter gone, Bird and Stanton working on other projects outside the studio, not sure what’s going on up in Emeryville…
there wuz some thing in the comments there that he quiut pixar early last year before up was done. The film lookd great without him though. IMDB lists about a lot of arttists working on the film for Ricky Nierva the head designer.Production Design by
Ricky Nierva
Art Direction by
Ralph Eggleston
Bryn Imagire
Harley Jessup
Daniel Lopez Munoz
Don Shank
Art Department
James S. Baker … storyboard artist
Josh Cooley … storyboard artist
Stephanie Hamilton … art coordinator
Erik Langley … production coordinator
Bobby Rubio … storyboard artist
Peter Sohn … storyboard artist
Veronica Watson … story coordinator
It does seem a bit fishy, but if you take into account that he left Pixar in the middle of Up’s production, it may not be far from the truth. Not saying anything bad about the guy, but something seems to be grinding his gears or something. I mean really, why would a long time Pixarian like Lou just up and leave Pixar like that? Why would ANYONE want to leave Pixar? Sure there are some creative differences that could spark controversy, but I would have to be out of my flipping mind to actually walk out of such an incredible place, honestly. I think something’s up with the man that we don’t know about, and may never find out about.
I agree. I think there were office politics and stuff. Pixar has geniuses in animation world. What he leaves Pixar is a one thing that Pixar staff to be concern about. I can smell something…negative.
LOL ffdude1906, you reminded me at Chef Skinner. LOL
I agree. I think there were office politics and stuff. Pixar has geniuses in animation world. What he leaves Pixar is a one thing that Pixar staff to be concern about. I can smell something…negative.
LOL ffdude1906, you reminded me at Chef Skinner. LOL
I agree. I think there were office politics and stuff. Pixar has geniuses in animation world. What he leaves Pixar is a one thing that Pixar staff to be concern about. I can smell something…negative.
LOL ffdude1906, you reminded me at Chef Skinner. LOL
It’s sad that he left, and personally if I worked at Pixar and left I’d have to be out of my mind to leave, but maybe he’s just looking for new surroundings, fresh new faces. Pixar is an amazing studio, but perhaps he’s just looking for some new experiences.
Or, the disagreements perhaps, like you guys said. We may never know unless he or Pixar themselves makes a statement.
Honestly I’m more concerned about Pixar losing its atmosphere that promotes happy employees than I am about Lou Romano suddenly going nuts…
I read on the head of the Animator’s Union’s blog (animationguildblog.blogspot.com) that Pixar employees are not paid as much as other studios and that Dreamworks and Blue Sky workers seem to have better morale. Take that with a grain of salt though - he could be biased because Pixar’s animators are not Unionized , so he could just be reporting only the bad stuff that he hears coming out of Emeryville because he’s biased against non-union workplaces.
That said, I hope Pixar doesn’t lose any more major talent. I remember being sad when I heard Jan Pinkava left. I think I’d be real worried if someone like Peter Sohn, Ronnie del Carmen, or Doug Sweetland left as well.
“He did the storyline art mind you. And…I care. He was one of my inspiration in animation. But now he left Pixar, what can I do.? What can we do?”
No he was only one of many who did did art for the film, following the lead designer. Any look at the book shows that. No worry about what to do, there are many artists as and more talented at Pixar! Ronnie Del Carmen, Bob Pauly, Harley Jessep, Jeff Pigeon.
Wow, not trying to be rude or anything CartoonBoy, but you’re being awfully apprehensive about this. There’s nothing wrong with us wondering why he’d quit Pixar, we aren’t even completely sure if this claim is legitimate yet; It could just be some Dreamworks fanboy trying to start some controversy for all we know, or it could be real.
All I’m saying is that it seems strange that someone who’s been with Pixar for so long would just leave the studio to work for someone else. I don’t think any less of Lou if he thinks Wall•E is inferior to KFP, he’s still entitled to his own opinion, regardless of who he works for, it’s just a bit out of the ordinary.
I don’t think Lou exactly went nuts about anything, he just made a really surprising decision, we don’t know the circumstances. It happened, and there’s really nothing that worrying about it is gonna help. Take it for what it is, and move on. At most there won’t be any more cameos, and there may be some very slight style differences, but besides that I don’t expect too much to change. I do think that the studio he moved to just gained a valuable asset though.
