Originally Posted By DAR I've never an film, animated or live action that dealt with the themes of growing old, friendship and what it's like to not be wanted anymore in such a mature and poignant manner as Toy Story 3.
Originally Posted By DAR And from an emotional stanpoint Toy Story 3 just destroyed me and I may shed a tear or two. TS3 left me a blubbering mess where I had to stay in theater to compose myself. The only movie that tops TS3 in that area was Marley and Me.
Originally Posted By dshyates Hmm, weird. I thought the end of TS3 was touching, but I didn't shed a tear. And I thought the part where they were headed into the incinerator and they all joined hands was hokey. If TS3 tore you guys up I suggest avoiding The Elephant Man and Sophie's Choice. Those films are emotionally BRUTAL.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Another interesting comment from John Sanford, in response to this comment from Anonymouse regarding Pixar: "What in the world is going on over there? Is this coming from up higher above or are the old Pixar guard just not as comfortable with change and giving newer artists freedom as they said they would be? Is Chapman leaving for greener pastures? I mean, this has got to sting." Sanford's response: "All of the above Anonymouse. All of the above. Not sure about what Brenda will do. I just hope she’s okay. She’s an amazing talent. She’s too good for that place." I get the sense that John knows something that isn't being mentioned publicly, that Brenda is intending to leave Pixar. Should be interesting to see what happens in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised to see her leave after losing Brave like this.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I've never an film, animated or live action that dealt with the themes of growing old, friendship and what it's like to not be wanted anymore in such a mature and poignant manner as Toy Story 3.>> Funny that you could replace TS3 with Up and it would still read the same. I still think that Pete did a better job of conveying those messages with Carl on Up than TS3 did. That isn't to say that the ending of TS3 worked - it certainly did although I must admit that I did think that the incinerator was a little cliched but there is no doubt that when Andy leaves the toys at the end that it was a tremendous well-crafted finale. I've never held the Toy Story movies in particularly high regard - good entertainment but they never resonated with me in the same way at Monsters, Inc. or Finding Nemo.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I wouldn't be surprised to see her leave after losing Brave like this.>> Thanks for all this skinnerbox. I understand from some folks that she has effectively gone and is waiting for the pay-off on her contract to be resolved. A tremendous loss - another incredibly talented director that Pixar should be retaining. The callous way that Lasseter is running Creative at that studio is heart-breaking. Pixar was supposed to be the mold-breaker - instead it is following in WDFA's footsteps. Truly upsetting.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox No problem, Lee. Glad I could help. Thanks for the update on Brenda. I feel terrible right now. I hear about the changes inside Pixar from my friends, and it breaks my heart. This piece of news, however, is truly the worst. Brenda was exactly what that studio needed. Her film was going to be a game changer for American feature animation. But now... it'll be watered down and made palatable for male audience members who don't like "chick flicks." Yeah, like that's the only demographic that goes to the movies. I'm certain the Twilight producers would highly disagree. You know... the film that supposedly killed Bolt at the box? Morons. You're correct about Pixar following in WDFA's footsteps, leemac. At the time the acquisition was announced, everyone believed that Pixar was going to influence WDFA, that Burbank would be saved from a string of failures by adopting E-Ville studio principles. From what I can tell almost five years later, however, it's the other way around. Pixar now wants to play it safe, just like WDFA has been doing for eons. Maybe if John and Nancy Lasseter had produced a daughter or two instead of only sons. Then Brenda might still be working on Brave.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox In light of John Sanford's comments on Cartoon Brew regarding Tangled, I thought I'd take a peek at the old Brave article on CB, for any new posts. Here's an interesting one from earlier today about Lee Unkrich's interview at Animation World Network: "Lee Unkrich the director of Toy Story 3 talks about Brenda being replaced on Brave. <a href="http://www.awn.com/articles/3d/unkrich-talks-toy-story-3-going-blu/page/2%2C1" target="_blank">http://www.awn.com/articles/3d...ge/2%2C1</a> BD: And it’s painful when directors have to be replaced, which just happened [with Brenda Chapman being replaced by Mark Andrews on Brave]. LU: Yes, and it’s happened several times in our history, sometimes publicly and sometimes not, but it’s always the last resort. In the end, the movies are going to outlive all of us and so we need to do whatever we can to make [them] great. Our egos can’t be a part of that. We have to do what’s right for the movie, and sometimes, yes, we’ve been in situations where we’ve had to make some very difficult choices, and we’ve all worried about it happening to ourselves. I would be lying if I didn’t think there were certain times on this movie when I worried about being taken off it, so you do what you need to do." *sigh* Even though I still firmly believe that the comments on CB from "redrum" were made by Lee Unkrich, this public comment comes as no surprise. It's pretty much what I'd expect from someone who wants to continue being a director at Pixar. But for those of us who still have friends inside E-Ville, we all know that reality is far from the public image. Pixar has fundamentally changed since the acquisition. It's no longer "Pixar" as we came to know and love it since the first Toy Story in the nineties. It's "Disney's Pixar" now. And that's the game changer. No more risk-taking. No more innovation. Play it safe to maximize the bucks. Whoop dee freakin doo.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <It's "Disney's Pixar" now.> You mean "Disney Pixar." Like Disney California Adventure.
Originally Posted By redrum Yes, I am months late to this discussion. I don't spend much time on the various Disney message boards (actually, none). I only found this topic when I googled "redrum cartoon brew" to find the comment that I left on that conversation when Brenda was fired. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I am flattered, but no, I am not Lee Unkrich. Just wanted to clear that up.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox If you're not Lee, perhaps you're Teddy? Just how many Shining fans are there in E-Ville? 8^D BTW... has Brenda left yet?
Originally Posted By leemac <<BTW... has Brenda left yet?>> I saw her a couple of weeks ago and she was still on a "leave of absence" from Pixar.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <---is definitely not Vlad Tytla, no matter WHAT you've heard. Nyet, nyet, nyet!!
Originally Posted By basil fan To harp on Brave's character design some more-- The trailer was designed very cleverly. You see the cloaked character going through some action-y moves, a bear enters the picture and--freeze! The hood drops! Gasp! It's a girl!! That big reveal would've been an excellent hook for folks who didn't already know the film was about a female, if only the character looked cool. It's your first peek at the main character, the one you're supposed to care about. She should've looked so unbelievable you got your socks knocked off. Compare to our first glimpse of Pocahontas in the movie--breathtaking! It's probably still a good film, but the poor design will have to be overcome by the quality of other elements.
