Tag: Pixar

Review: Lightyear

It has not gone unnoticed that Disney-Pixar have been releasing some of their most original work in years under adverse conditions. From Onward through Soul and Turning Red, the animation powerhouse has managed a four-film streak of original concepts that have debuted on, or at least been fast-tracked to, Disney’s streaming service. As Pixar returns to cinemas, they only do so with the more familiar branding of the Toy Story universe.

Well, sort of. LIGHTYEAR is not so much a solo Buzz Lightyear film as it is the origin story of the character that inspired the toy line. An opening title card tells that in 1995, a boy named Andy received a Buzz Lightyear toy based on his favourite movie. This purports to be that movie. So, what we have is an in-universe feature, one that follows Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) as he and his crew become stranded on a distant planet thanks to his own hubris.

While trialling an experimental power source to get them all home, he inadvertently gets flung four years into the future. After repeated flights, a dejected Buzz finds that not only have the survivors built a fully-fledged civilisation, but they are fighting Zurg’s (James Brolin) robot invaders. Together with Izzy Hawthorne (Keke Palmer), the granddaughter of Buzz’s best friend and commanding officer, he tries to put a past wrong right.

Director Angus MacLane (Toy Story of Terror, Finding Dory) and co-writer Jason Headley’s film works best when it plays this concept straight. Between the call-back lines and winking to the camera, which are prolific in the first act, there’s a throwback action film that’s light on subtlety but big on thrills. Even before the title drop, there’s a massive set-piece action sequence that seems to set the tone for the rest of the film. At least until it all shifts radically.

With the introduction of Izzy comes companions Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi), a clumsy cadet, and ex-con Darby Steel (Dale Soules), the film becomes a tale of a ragtag group written as comic relief. It’s as if Buzz not only crash lands in the future but in another film entirely, as MacLane and Headley lose faith in their own premise (or Disney wasn’t quite ready for a wholly dramatic feature yet). That said, robotic cat Sox (voiced by Peter Sohn) — a utilitarian twist on Up‘s Dug — is a source of unrelenting joy.

On a technical level, there’s nothing to quibble about. Every Pixar production ups the ante on animation, and this time the visuals are leaps and bounds (lightyears even) ahead of anything else out there. While maintaining some of the familiar character designs, the influence of ILM gives us realistic spaceship designs and effects to evoke the films of the 80s and 90s. Of course, no film in 1995 looked this good.

A fun albeit straightforward animated caper, LIGHTYEAR is the kind of meta-commentary one gets when all the cinematic influences exist in a closed-loop lifecycle. Pop doesn’t just eat itself here but continues to create whole meals out of its own brands. There is no apparent irony, after all, that this is literally meant to be a major release that inspired toy sales. Just as they did with live-action remakes of their own animation, Disney have opened the door to more in-universe origins to infinity (and beyond). Surely, Woody’s Roundup: The Motion Picture can’t be far behind?

2022 | USA | DIRECTOR: Angus MacLane | WRITERS: Jason Headley | CAST: Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 110 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 16 June 2022 (AUS), 17 June 2022 (US)

June 15, 2022
Review: Turning Red

It’s been an odd couple of years for Pixar. While they have been on a streak of original films since Onward, the impact of the pandemic has made the former box office Goliath a staple of Disney’s streaming service. TURNING RED continues that trend, debuting directly to homes around the world, but breaks new ground in so many other ways.

In fact, it’s weird to even have to type this in 2022, but director Domee Shi’s debut film is Pixar’s first all-female led film. Not just in terms of its delightfully crafted set of characters, but the creative team behind the scenes as well. Shi is best known for her charming 2018 short Bao, also the first Pixar short to be directed by a woman, and here she teams up with playwright and television writer Julia Cho for a unique spin on a coming of age comedy.

Set in 2002 in the Chinatown district of Toronto, Meilin “Mei” Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) is a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who, despite her mother’s (Sandra Oh) expectations of academic perfection, wants to march to the beat of her own drum, wrap herself in the warmth of friends’ love and swoon over boy band 4☆Town. Yet when she discovers the family curse — transforming into a large red panda whenever she experiences heightened emotions — she tries to balance all of her responsibilities and desires in a surefire recipe for catastrophe.

You don’t have to go too deep into the well to guess what this film metaphorically represents. It’s right there in the title. Disney even allows the subtext to be made text, with Mei getting a brief explanation of pads and tampons from her mother. It might be a simple thing, especially at this juncture (don’t make me tap the calendar again), but a major animated film having multiple shots of Maxi Pads is a positive step from the studio. Disney sure has come a long way since the 1946 educational short, The Story of Menstruation.

There’s another equally important piece of representation here. It’s not just the thoroughly intimate Asian-Canadian experience, something Shi seems to effortlessly weave into a traditional Pixar structure. (There’s the emergency arrival of the aunties, for example, that any number of families are sure to relate to). This is important, and continues on from Raya and the Dragon and Shang-Chi in the studio’s attempts to be more inclusive. Yet the other moments of ‘being seen’ here are the ways in which Shi takes fandom completely seriously. 4☆Town might be the epitome of late 90s/early 2000s cheese to us, but they are a way of life to this group of misfits. If the musical Fangirls taught us anything, it’s how formative, supportive, life-changing and valid fandom is during one’s teen years.

It’s a shame that TURNING RED wound up debuting on the small screen, as then lush animation and innovative style screams for a cinema release. There’s the almost invisible magic, like the phenomenal textures on animal fur, the details from the streets of Toronto, or the veritable feast of lovingly rendered food porn as Mei’s dad cooks. Like Mitchels vs. The Machines last year, Shi also uses the hyperkinetic language of comics and cartoons in a series of non-sequiturs, fourth-wall breaking narration, speed-lines and anime-inspired cutaways for wide-eyed emotional reactions. In a word, it’s just fun.

When Pixar next returns to our screens, it will be with a more familiar franchise name: Lightyear. While that film aims to do something new with the Toy Story universe, one can’t help the feeling that Disney-Pixar has created a tiered structure in its release patterns. Still, the simultaneous worldwide release to well over 120 million users increases the chances of someone seeing this, and hopefully seeing themselves, in one of the most heartfelt animated films in recent memory.

2022 | USA | DIRECTOR: Domee Shi | WRITERS: Julia Cho, Domee Shi | CAST: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, James Hong | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney/Disney+ | RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 11 March 2022 (Global)

March 13, 2022
Review: Luca

The Pixar name has been synonymous with vividly created animated cinema for the better part of the last three decades. So, after a string of sequels, there’s a small irony that their last three original creations — Onward, Soul, and now LUCA — have primarily been viewed on the streaming circuit thanks to the global pandemic. While it’s lamentable for some that director Enrico Casarosa’s debut feature has been released direct-to-Disney+, this gentle outing might just be perfect for at-home audiences.

The titular Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) is a teenage sea monster who collects trinkets from the surface and longs to be part of that world. When he finally leaves the water, Luca discovers that he transforms into a regular human — and he’s not alone. With fellow monster teen Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), they run amuck in the streets of Italian seaside city of Portorosso and dream of owning a Vespa. Despite the town’s unfriendly attitude to monsters, they befriend misfit Giulia (Emma Berman), who is determined to win the town’s annual triathlon.

For the longest time, the successful Pixar formula boiled down to ‘The Secret Life of [blank] + Fish Out of Water.’ That’s at least partly true this time out, with elements of The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo present in the narrative. Yet there’s no major drama here, at least beyond the constant threat of the lead characters getting wet and exposing their identities. Ostensible villain Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo) is the main antagonist, but he’s more akin to Gargamel or Dick Dastardly.

Many have also read a great deal into the subtext of LUCA, some going so far as to argue the film’s plot is analogous to LGBTQI+ narratives of publicly leading a parallel existence to their true selves. It’s definitely there if that speaks to you, and as we see in documentaries like The Celluloid Closet (1995), coded gay characters have long worked as negative stereotypes and knowing representation in equal measure. The filmmakers have their opinions, but if you see yourself in these characters, and it means something to you, then Casarosa’s film is as multilayered as its gorgeous animation.

Speaking of which, the Pixar touch is not absent from the visuals. At times as low-key as the drama, especially during the comparatively spartan backgrounds of the opening, the visuals never feels anything less than warm and enveloping. Casarosa got his start at Blue Sky Studios on Ice Age (2002) before becoming part of the creative team at Pixar, but is probably best known for his much-loved short film La Luna (2011).

Casarosa brings much of the tone of that film over to LUCA, peppering his lovingly created Portorosso with a bevvy of personal touches and Easter eggs. Posters for the similarly Vespa-themed Roman Holiday (1953) and other cinematic totems give this a timeless feel. At other times, the characters take on classic cartoon tropes, like dizzying fish circling Luca’s head when he’s knocked off a bike.

It might sound dismissive to label LUCA a minor outing from the animation studio, but that’s okay sometimes. Not every outing has to up the ante of the previous one, and this simple coming-of-age story just vibes its way into an all-ages crowd pleaser.

2021 | USA | DIRECTOR: Enrico Casarosa | WRITERS: Jesse Andrews, Mike Jones | CAST: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Lorenzo Crisci, Marina Massironi, Sandy Martin | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 18 June 2021 (Disney+)

June 24, 2021
Review: Soul

In any other year, we’d all be lining up in cinemas right now to see the annual slate of post-Christmas releases. 2020 has been, for want of a curse word, different. As such, SOUL makes its way directly into our living rooms via Disney+.

About half of Pixar’s last 10 films were sequels or prequels, a self-perpetuating trend that seems to have been solidified by their Disney acquisition. As if in answer to that, Pixar have returned in 2020 with two original films (alongside Onward) that had atypical digital releases. SOUL is quite easily the best of the two.

In this film, Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) is a middle school music teacher who has always wanted to be a professional jazz musician. When he gets a chance to play with a legend, he thinks his life is finally on track – until he falls into an open manhole and dies. Now in the afterlife, he must work with soul in training 22 (Tina Fey) for a chance at returning to Earth.

While there are elements that are similar to Pixar’s earlier Inside Out, mixed up with a few doses of Chuck Jones’ The Phantom Tollbooth or similar, here is a film that is simply and joyously exploring its heritage. While ‘cartoon’ has become a reductive term in modern animation, director Pete Docter displays a deep visual knowledge of the medium in every frame.

Yet on a more fundamental level, SOUL explores many of the things we question in ourselves every day. Things that often get overlooked in overwhelmingly positive family fare. If Inside Out reminded us that it was ok to be a little depressed sometimes, and you can have more than one feeling at a time, here is an acknowledgement that maybe we are all unsure if we’re doing enough. If we are, to paraphrase the character of 22, ‘good enough for living.’

On a technical level, SOUL may be one of Pixar’s most accomplished films to date. From the opening moments of trippy Great Beyond animation, this is visually unlike anything Pixar or Disney has ever put to screen. The deceptively simple voids contrast spectacularly with the New York City streets, one of the most complex, photorealistic and sophisticated animated films sets we’ve ever seen.

Massive props to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who, together with their work on Mank, have delivered two of their most interesting soundtracks this year. For a film that is so infused with jazz, their typically precise work blends seamlessly and warmly with the musical set-pieces.

A minor caveat is that it briefly falls back on Disney/Pixar’s habit of turning minority characters and people of colour in particular into animals for chunks of the running time. Cases in point are Brother Bear, The Princess and the Frog, The Emperor’s New Groove and the short film Out. Even with the presence of acclaimed playwright Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami, Star Trek: Discovery) alongside Docter and Mike Jones, it’s a trope that the studio can’t seem to shake.

Nevertheless, here is a film that tells us that just living life with its warts and all is something unique – even if you’re not into jazz. “I’m worried that if I died today,” says Joe at one point, “my life would have amounted to nothing.” It’s a thought we’ve all shared at some point, regardless of what we’ve accomplished, and SOUL is a beautifully illustrated acknowledgment that failure is as much a part of living as success.

2020 | US | DIRECTOR: Pete Docter | WRITER: Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers| CAST: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia Rashad, Daveed Diggs, Angela Bassett | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney/Pixar| RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 25 December 2020 (Disney+)

December 26, 2020
Review: Onward

Disney-Pixar’s ONWARD will be remembered for a number of reasons, but the main one was the timing of its release. Like many Hollywood productions due out in the first half of the year, a global pandemic led to a historic fast-track of its digital release.

Up until then, we were looking forward to it being the first of two original releases (alongside Soul) from the studio. Since 2017’s Coco, Pixar’s output has been primarily sequels, including the blockbuster releases for Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4. ONWARD is Pixar’s first foray into fantasy, the multitude of references in their other films not withstanding.

In director Dan Scanlon (Monsters University) and co-writers Jason Headley and Keith Bunin’s world, magic was once the dominant force in a land filled with mystical creatures but technology has replaced it. In the modern day, Elf brothers Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) Lightfoot set off on a quest to find the items they need to magically restore their late father for just one day.

Using the trappings of the fantasy genre, ONWARD still retains the core quest elements of every Pixar film. Here it just makes the choice to call them out from the start, even if it doesn’t stray too far from a path well travelled in the past. Like Toy Story or Finding Nemo before it, the barebones of the story is essentially a buddy comedy in pursuit of a beloved family member.

For the most part, this works as well as it always has for the studio. It’s also pleasing to see some truly weird turns for the script, from an angry Manticore/restauranteur (voiced by Octavia Spencer) to a collective of angry pixie bikers who have forgotten how to fly. It’s a shame that the script doesn’t do a bit more with the world, focusing instead on tributes to other franchises. There’s a climactic scene that is a straight recreation of an iconic moment from Raiders of the Lost Ark, for example, that barely skirts the line between parody and retread.

In ONWARD‘s favour is Pixar’s typically excellent selection of voice talent, not least of which is Disney-Pixar veteran Julia Louis-Dreyfus (A Bug’s Life, Planes). Much has been made of the importance of Lena Waithe’s appearance as an openly gay cop, but this diverse cast also includes Tracey Ullman, Wilmer Valderrama, Mel Rodriguez, and Ali Wong. As with every Pixar film, John Ratzenberger has a small but memorable role.

The animation is gorgeous, with the character leads getting to cut loose on some decidedly non-traditional designs. Mychael and Jeff Danna’s score is an interesting mixed bag, often giving off sound-a-like vibes and only a few shades away from the arena rock stylings of Journey. (I swear there’s one song that’s basically ‘Any Way You Want It.’)

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger always spoke about a willingness to embrace innovations that might intentionally disrupt their own models, and Disney+ has been a step in that direction. From a business point of view, the almost simultaneous (and necessary) digital release of ONWARD in US markets is a signal of where things might go in the future. As a film, it’s a comfortable step to the left into a new genre for a creative outlet that keeps entertaining us.

2020 | US | DIRECTOR: Dan Scanlon | WRITERS: Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin | CAST: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney (AUS)| RUNNING TIME: 103 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 21-22 March 2020 (AUS Previews), 6 March 2020 (US), 20 March (US Digital) , 3 April (AUS Digital)

April 1, 2020
Review: Incredibles 2

“If you had simply done nothing,” the authorities tell the titular heroes, “then everything would be proceeding in an orderly fashion.” It’s hard not to feel the same way about INCREDIBLES 2. In the 14 years since Brad Bird’s original, few superhero stories have challenged its mastery of the form. In fact, despite multiple attempts, it still remains the best Fantastic Four film ever put to screen. Yet capturing lightning in a bottle is difficult at the best of times, and despite the fierce presence of Elastigirl it’s even a stretch for Pixar.

INCREDIBLES 2 picks up moments after the first film left off. When the Parr family fails to stop the Underminer, authorities become concerned by the amount of damage caused and shut down the “Super Relocation” program. However, they get a lifeline when tycoon Winston Deaver (Bob Odenkirk) and his sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) offer them a chance at a publicity stunt to bring supers back into the light. Bob (Craig T. Nelson) takes a backseat to look after the kids as Helen (Holly Hunter) becomes the new face of heroism in town.

From the stylised opening credits to the first comforting appearances of Frozone or Edna Mode, there is more than a little bit of that old magic left in the spandex. When Bird’s sequel hits its stride, during a dazzling train chase involving Elstigirl, we are in a golden age of animated action. Jack Jack showcasing his multiple new powers against a neighbourhood raccoon is a comedy masterpiece, a continuation of the Jack-Jack Attack short film on a massive scale.

Yet INCREDIBLES 2 feels more like a collection of these moments than it does a feature narrative. Struggling with the connective tissue between the set-pieces, there’s some severe pacing issues in the middle act of this hero’s journey. Bob hanging around as a stay-at-home dad might be one of the more progressive stories of the genre, but there’s a lot of it.

Which is not to take anything away from the animation team. One of Pixar’s most accomplished productions to date, a side-by-side comparison shows us just how far the art has come in the last decade and a half. There’s water you want to dip your hands into, food good enough to eat, and a 1950s production aesthetic that gets cooler every day. It’s just a shame that the accompanying narrative is a predictable affair, a “law versus justice” debate that often feels more like a greatest hits package than a continuation of something great.

In a year when Ready Player One used Bird’s The Iron Giant as a weapon of war, a less than perfect Incredibles film might feel like a double blow. There’s still a lot to love here, and it’s definitely fun to revisit these characters. It’s just that so much time has passed since the original, and the landscape is a different one. Where the first film reminded us of why we loved superheroes, this one simply follows the current pack of them.

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]2018 | US | DIR: Brad Bird | WRITERS: Brad Bird | CAST: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Samuel L. Jackson, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 118 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 14 June 2018 (AUS)[/stextbox]

June 24, 2018
‘Bao’: first look at new Disney-Pixar short film

With the pending release of Incredibles 2, Disney-Pixar (via EW) have given us a look at their new short film about a sentient dumpling. Yes, you read that right. Like many of their short films that have come before, it already looks like it will be an adorable heartbreak.

BAO, according to the source, “a Chinese-Canadian woman suffering from the depression of an empty nest, who gets a second shot at motherhood when one of her handmade dumplings comes alive.”

Staggeringly, given the 19 short films since 1984, BAO represents the first time that a woman has directed one of the Pixar gems. The daughter of a Chinese immigrant, Domee Shi commented on how personal the story was for her:

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]“Often times it felt like my mom would treat me like a precious little dumpling, wanting to make sure I was safe, that I didn’t go out late, all that stuff. I just wanted to create this magical, modern-day fairy tale, kind of like a Chinese Gingerbread Man story. The word ‘bao’ actually means two things in Chinese: Said one way, it means steamed bun. Said another, it means something precious. A treasure.”[/stextbox]

BAO will screen with Incredibles 2. It releases in the US on 15 June 2018, and in Australia on 14 June 2018.

March 31, 2018
Disney reveals Marvel, live-action and animated dates until 2023
If you thought that Avengers: Infinity War would slow down the slate of Marvel Studios films, then you were incredibly optimistic. Disney has announced dates for all their non-Star Wars content through to 2023, presumably to let other studios know when to run in screaming terror. The slate includes a collection of new Marvel Studios dates, the live-action Mulan, and a whole lot of untitled animation.

Of particular interest is the addition of 7 previously unannounced titles for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The last one that has an official release date at the moment is the Sony collaboration on the Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel on 5 July 2019. This adds dates for 31 July 2020 (possibly Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), 7 May 2021, 30 July 2021, 5 November 2021, 18 February 2022, 6 May 2022 and 29 July 2022. So that’s 2-3 Marvel films a year for the next 5 years! Many have already speculated that these could be placeholders for if/when the Disney acquisition of Fox’s film properties takes place.

For a real head-spinner, look no further than the 17 (!!!) untitled live-action films on Disney’s schedule. It’s definitely a signal of where Disney is heading as a creative company over the next few years. Some of these will undoubtedly be reworking animated films from the Disney library, a number of which are already in pre-production, as well as adaptation in the vein of next month’s A Wrinkle in Time.

Of course, all of this is subject to change and the dates just lead us to speculation. We welcome our new Disney overlords. Is it too early to just rename this site The Disney Bits?

The updates to the US release schedule now looks a little like this:
- 27 April 2018 – Avengers: Infinity War
- 3 August 2018 – Disney’s Christopher Robin (Animated)
- 19 April 2019 – Untitled Live-Action
- 9 November 2019 – Untitled Live-Action
- 14 February 2020 – Untitled Live-Action
- 6 March 2020 – Untitled Pixar Animation
- 27 March 2020 – Mulan (Live-action)
- 29 May 2020 – Untitled Live-Action
- 31 July 2020 – Untitled Marvel
- 9 October 2020 – Untitled Live-Action
- 23 December 2020 – Untitled Live-Action
- 12 February 2021 – Untitled Live-Action
- 7 May 2021 – Untitled Marvel
- 28 May 2021 – Untitled Live-Action
- 9 July 2021 – Untitled Live-Action
- 30 July 2021 – Untitled Marvel
- 8 October 2021 – Untitled Live-Action
- 5 November 2021 – Untitled Marvel
- 22 December 2021 – Untitled Live-Action
- 18 February 2022 – Untitled Marvel
- 18 March 2022 – Untitled Pixar Animation
- 6 May 2022 – Untitled Marvel
- 27 May 2022 – Untitled Live-Action
- 17 June 2022 – Untitled Pixar Animation
- 8 July 2022 – Untitled Live-Action
- 29 July 2022 – Untitled Marvel
- 7 October 2022 – Untitled Live-Action
- 4 November 2022 – Untitled Live-Action
- 23 November 2022 – Untitled Animation
- 16 December 2022 – Untitled Live-Action
- 17 February 2023 – Untitled Live-Action
March 2, 2018
Review: Coco

Disney•Pixar’s COCO had an inauspicious start when the House of Mouse tried to trademark the term ‘Dia de Los Muertos’ for publicity purposes. Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz led the activism against the company, who in turn brought him on as a consultant. The result is a film that is not only respectful of Mexican culture, but one of the most authentic and original films to come out of Pixar in years.

Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) is an aspiring young musician, but his career is hampered by an ancestral ban on music in his family. Searching for his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer and the father of the titular Coco, Miguel inadvertently enters the Land of the Dead. In order to return home and follow his passion, he must solve the riddle of his family’s past before sunrise.

When we think about the best Pixar films over the years, from Toy Story to Finding Dory, they are the ones that reveal a world hidden just alongside ours. This is precisely what COCO does, blending this motif with the sensibility and cultural specificity of a Studio Ghibli film. Think of it as sitting thematically somewhere between Spirited Away and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Land of the Dead itself is bursting with energy. With whole sections built as a perpetual Baz Luhrmann-esque party based around the egoistical singer Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), there’s a perpetual motion that extends to the film’s punchy pace. Yet even within this, Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldrich’s screenplay never strays far from Disney•Pixar’s textbook adherence to story. For every gag about there being “no restrooms in the Land of the Dead,” the film can just as easily break your heart as the dead are ‘forgotten’ by the living.

Director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3, Monsters Inc.) and his team have really pushed the boundaries of animation on COCO. There’s a level of detail to the characters hitherto unseen in one of their films. You can see every line and minute hair on the titular Coco’s face, for example, but it’s not just the characters. The photography, including lighting and depth of focus, gets just as much attention for crowds as they do on individuals. An impressive feat given that every scene is literally created from scratch.

As Pixar’s first original film since 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, and sandwiched as it is between two forthcoming sequels (The Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4), COCO is a breath of fresh air. Filled with beautiful imagery, a handful of soulful and memorable Mexican songs, and a strong story, the film also offers a heartwarming missive on dealing with death and embracing your place in the land of the living.

[stextbox id=”grey” bgcolor=”F2F2F2″ mleft=”5″ mright=”5″ image=”null”]2017 | US | DIRECTORS: Lee Unkrich | WRITERS: Adrian Molina, Matthew Aldrich | CAST: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia, Murguía Edward, James Olmos | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney | RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 14 December 2017 (AUS) [/stextbox]

December 18, 2017
D23: Pixar announces new film set in a ‘suburban fantasy world’

The D23 Disney Animation panel, held today on 14 July 2017, announced THE UNTITLED PIXAR FILM THAT TAKES YOU INTO A SUBURBAN FANTASY WORLD.

The film will be from the creative forces of Dan Scanlon, co-writer and director on Monsters University. It is said to be a particularly personal film for Scanlon, who lost his father when he was one year old. “I have always wondered who my father was and how I’m like him,” said Scanlon. As such, the film follows two brothers who are on a quest to learn more about their father.

The concept is around a suburban world where humans don’t exist, and magic has been the dominant force that shaped society. Scanlon described the film as containing elves, sprites, trolls and “anything that would be on the side of a van in the 70s.” Unicorns, for example, are said to be so common that they’re considered pests.

No release date has been indicated yet.

July 15, 2017