Little things in Pixar films that make you laugh :)

As Pixar fans, we have a tendency to have a love so big that people who aren’t fans, or aren’t fans to our extent, don’t get us. And one of those things that I think is often the case is when we laugh at something in a film that is a background joke, or a somewhat “ordinary”-sounding line, or just the way something was spoken. I recently did this when I was watching The Incredibles on Saturday and I saw a gag that was so subtle, you’d never notice it. Well, maybe some of you have. Anyway, it was the scene when Kari is reassuring Helen that Jack-Jack will be fine in her capable hands. If you watch Jack-Jack during this scene, you’ll see that he’s sitting in his highchair playing with an orange, then he knocks it off the table. Annnnnndddd thennnnn Kari picks it up off the floor and puts it back on his table… and within a second, Jack-Jack is sucking on the orange :laughing: I hope it’s not weird that I found that ridculously funny… you can see the irony in it, right? So… what little gags or jokes or even something like random expressions the characters have that you land on unexpectedly when you pause the movie make you just burst out laughing? :mrgreen:

I would say some of the adult humor Pixar sneaks in their films. When Woody calls Buzz “Lightbeer” always gets a laugh from me.

Oh, there are sooo many of those little gags and background things most people wouldn’t notice that I love… especially when it’s a certain way someone moves or something in the background that an animator just threw in for fun. :mrgreen: I know what scene you’re talking about there with Kari and the baby… I thought that was so funny the first time I saw it and I had to rewind and watch it over a few times. It’s just one of those little hidden gems of animation that populate the Pixar films. :sunglasses: Another of my favorites that I can think of right now is in Ratatouille when Skinner is yelling at Linguini and Remy is hiding in the strainer… Remy starts inching away in the background and then Linguini has to reach over and stop him. I’ve always loved that scene. :-D) The Iron Giant is another movie that I absolutely love mostly for these little subtle things, and though it’s not a Pixar film, it was directed by Brad Bird and many of the people who are now top Pixar people worked on the movie. The main scene I loved was the part where [spoil]Kent Mansley came over for the first time to use the telephone, and Hogarth was trying to get the Giant’s hand out of the house.[/spoil] That part always cracks me up, it’s so hilarious. 8D

I love things in the background, and I was also about to name Jack-Jack gestures and sounds as one of my favourite ones.

I’m not sure if I can think of specific examples, but Pixar is one of the best animation studios when it comes to subtle little quirks and jokes cleverly integrated into the animation. :slight_smile: Those things make me smile.

This is truly why i love Pixar so much! I can name many of these things from any movie not only the animation or things in the background, but also many quotes making me laugh.

example: I loved the scene in Toy Story 2 where Buzz and the other toys are on the block and Buzz is talking about the first movie:

Buzz: Come on, fellas! Did Woody give up when Sid had me strapped to a rocket?
Other toys: No.
Buzz: No! And did he give up when you all threw him out of the back of that moving van?
Mr. Potato Head: Oh, ya had to bring that up

Love it!

The little thing that always makes me laugh also defines the brilliance of Pixar for me. It’s Hamm’s line in Toy Story 2: “Oh, I seriously doubt he’s getting this kind of mileage.”

There is so much superior cinematic skill in that whole scene, it might as well define the genius of Pixar. The pace, timing, compositions, and editorial cuts as the toys commandeer the Pizza Planet truck are all sublime. The humor of Hamm’s line juxtaposes a sense of jeopardy as aliens go flying out the window. Most of all, Hamm’s line is perfect because it’s in character, it’s relevant to what’s happening, it proceeds logically from the rapid-fire series of events, and at first viewing it’s entirely unpredictable. Even now, after dozens of viewings, the sense of surprise and freshness of that scene, especially as punctuated by Hamm’s one-liner, is palpable for me. Brilliant, perfectly crafted, and funny as all get-out…that’s Pixar.

^What a perfect post.

I must agree that the good timing of Pixar’s memorable one-liners always gets a laugh from me, even on my 3483th viewing. 8D It’s easy for a witty one-liner to feel like a throwaway comment just added for kicks, but I appreciate Pixar’s very character-oriented humor.

In general, I think Toy Story’s cast is really perfect. It’s dynamic and diverse without feeling too chaotic which is an easy thing to do when you’re working with a broad group of characters.

I gotta say i do love it when Pixar manages to sneak in a little adult humor, tho on a sillier note, anytime Mike yells out in pain in Monster’s Inc never fails to amuse me. Also the face that Woody makes after he flips open Buzz’s helmet and Sheriff’s face after Lightning reveals who Doc is always make laugh.

I’ll tell you one thing that makes me laugh: The toy rivalry in Toy Story.

Te-he :laughing: … You pretty much summed up my thoughts… I love the adult jokes. Toy Story (the first one) seems to have the most of any Pixar film. And I think The Incredibles is next in line. And I love those…

I think Up make me laugh more than most of the Pixar films, mostly because it jokes about serious things. Like when Carl was imagining putting Russel on a rope and lowing him to a building, and he dropped him :laugh: … That was hilarious!

Adult humour always does it for me. Jokes that the kids wouldn’t understand, like in Toy Story 2 where Al wakes up after the TV is turned on and mutters “no officer, I swear!” sort of like a drink-driving reference. :laughing:

Everyone in the theater erupted with laughter at that part! One of my favorite Pixar gags still.

Agreed. That gag is greatly directed.

I use it as one of my examples in one of my classes and I always get a good laugh from the students.

There are always little things in Pixar movies that make me crack up. One thing is after the whole “Strange Things” montage, when we see Buzz is Andy’s current favourite toy and Woody is thrown in the toy chest, we arrive at morning and suddenly that shark toy pops out of the toy chest with Woody’s hat on and says, “Hey, I’m Woody! Howdy, Howdy, Howdy!” That one cracks me up all the time.

Another is in Toy Story 2, when the whole crew goes to find Woody and they reach the street. Cars woosh by on the busy street as the toys stare on, dumbfounded. After a moment of silence, Rex contently says, “Well, we tried!” 8D

Another one… when watching Woody’s Roundup, there’s that scene where the forest animals flee to Woody in Snow-White-like fashion and make some incoherent chirps and chatters for two seconds, and Woody goes on in an elaborate speech of what happened to Jessie and Pete. I’m laughing just remembering it.

Pretty much everything Dug says (“It is funny because the squirrel gets dead.” “STOP, you dogs!”) in UP makes me laugh.

When Wall-E taps Eve and points to the screen, and Eve just discombobulates the screen without a second thought. :stuck_out_tongue:

Monster’s Inc. has me laughing about 2/3rds of the time. Mike Wazowsky’s “Here, kid! Send me postcard!” Sully’s facial expressions when he thinks Boo was in the garbage cube.

Remy putting the blindfold back on Linguine when whatever was on the frying pan flew out the window and caused some kind of commotion in the traffic below. XD

Rex and Ham are always particularly amusing. “Now I have guilt!” and in Toy Story 3, “Make a move, porky!”
Toy Story has a lot of humourous things. Buzz, commenting on Sid, “I don’t think that man’s ever been to medical school.”
Those are a few that come to mind. I’ll post more when I can think of them.

I especially love the looks on some of the characters faces when they recieve a surprise, or have been offended. And yes, that scene from Up when Carl drops Russell always makes me laugh. :smiley: Also when Francesco loses it during Cars 2. Poor guy. Trying to focus on a race and a tow-truck with a rocket just speeds by with McQueen hanging on for dear life… I don’t blame him for bugging out, i would have done the same thing!

Another is when Holley (Cars 2 again) asks Mater if they can go somewhere more private (At the Tokyo Party before the race) . I love it when Pixar sneaks in Adult Humor!

In the incredibles when Syndrome uses his Zero-Point energy on Bob, Helen, Dash and Violet and he exclaims, “You married Elastigirl?! And got Bizaaay!”

In Toy Story 3 when Barbie ties Ken to the ping pong paddle and starts ripping his clothes to shreds. :laughing:

I could go on forever so i’m just gonna leave it at that. :slight_smile:

The thing that immediately comes to my mind is Buzz’s line in Toy Story 3, where he says, “Star Command! I’ve been taken hostage by my own prisoners!”

Oh yeah! That was funny! I also loved when the toys were outside on the slide and Mr. Potato Head’s boddy is a cucumber and hes like, “You would not believe what I’ve been through, tonight!”

One thing in Pixar’s movies that always gets me to laugh is how involved the actors always seem to be with their characters! I know it sounds cliche, but they always perfectly embody the character they play. It’s so funny, especially when their voice goes over the top. :laughing:

I love the little expressions everyone makes in Toy Story, very realistic looking. So when Mr. Potato Head is making fun of Slinky Dog for sticking up for Woody, it’s pretty funny.
What about when Woody says “Hey, these guys are professionals. They’re the best! C’mon, they’re not lying down on the job.” And then what do we see? The green army men lying down on the job literally! 8D 8D 8D . Here’s another one:
Hamm: How about a ham sandwich? With fries and a hot dog.
Rex: What about me?
Hamm: Eh, you can be the toy that comes with the meal.
I like how the other Buzz Lightyear jumps out of Al’s car and makes all these crazy laser poses before he runs towards the elevator. I also like the names he comes up with for Andy’s toys: Stretchy Dog (actually this was first Buzz Lightyear who also came up with…), Lizard Man, Slotted Pig, and Vegetable Man!
Oh yeah, and in Monsters, Inc. when Mike’s face is always getting covered up in advertisements, but he doesn’t notice and just can’t get over the fact that he was actually on TV or on the cover of a magazine!
I also like when Dory plays the “I Spy” game with Marlin which just goes to show how long they’ve been wandering into nowhere.
It’s funny when Sarge salutes the flag with his antennae in Cars as well.