Abreaction central! The “children’s movie” bonanza that begins this week with the release of Where The Wild Things Are just got another addition:
As a bonus, here’s Todd’s recent post on The Gospel According To Pixar: Toy Story.
Sign up for the Mockingbird Newsletter
COMMENTS
6 responses to “No Toy Gets Left Behind”
Leave a Reply
When reviewing Up earlier this year David Denby said the contrast between Disney films and Pixar films can be described as the difference between psychological fables and moral fables. Denby didn't go so far as to say this but Disney films have broadly veered toward discovering how to love yourself while Pixar films have broadly veered toward loving yourself but not forgetting to love your neighbor. Obviously I'm painting with an exceptionally broad brush but I think this contrast explains why Pixar has become Disney's animation wing and why Pixar films stand out compared to most other animated films in the U.S. that stay closer to the discover yourself/be true to yourself narrative Disney popularized in American animated films. I'm saving my belief that Disney protagonists are essential Ayn Rand characters for some other time.
Wenatchee the Hatchet (great screenname)-
fascinating thoughts. would love to hear more,
dz
My wife's dad lives in Wenatchee, Washington
I hope this doesn't get too long … but it probably will.
We can go back to 1995 and compare Toy Story to Pocahantas (and all the Disney films released from Little Mermaid on) to get a clear contrast between the two animation studios at the time. Pocahantas carries on a line of characters who are noble and smart and absurdly attractive who are enjoined to "listen to your heart" to solve the problems of their own lives and the world around them. They have, if you will, some special secret magical wisdom that allows them to be and do what others can't. If only the world would let them be who they are. The bullet points for a 1990s Disney plot are: 1) special protagonist years for more (like Anakin Skywalker 2) gets told by authority figure to either buck up or explore 3) starts a journey in which rugged or hot love interest in requisit comic sidekick appear 4) battles the selfish villain who wants whatever rightfully belongs to the protagonist 5) "good" prevails.
In that sense every Disney Protagonist from Ariel in The Little Mermaid up to later is, as it were, a type of John Galt. The only central conflict is that the protagonist should be allowed to grasp for whatever he or she deserves without much interruption, and the antagonist is someone who wants wealth or power or prestige for its own sake.
By contrast, if Pocahantas is enjoined to "listen to your heart", Woody and Buzz Lightyear's problem is precisely that they do! Both toys are deluded about their greatness, whether Woody in his belief that he is chief among the toys for Andy's affection or Buzz for thinking he is a real space ranger. The mutual animosity between the characters is based on their own capacity for envy, wrath, and self-delusion. Both toys nearly destroy themselves and each other by not confronting their own flaws by focusing on the other's. Once they are confronted by the reality of their own self-deception they can set aside their mutual animosity and become friends. The self-love that a Pixar character must overcome was actually the state to which Disney protagonists were struggling to attain and all the perks that would go with that.
Well, that was kinda long. If you want to read more of my ramblings on Pixar I've got a Blogger account you can search. 🙂
All of which is to say that on average later Disney characters needed to be given a break to prove their greatness, while Pixar characters on average have to repent of something that keeps them from loving their neighbor. You can only reheat the Randian narrative so many times before it starts to pall. But we'll never run out of things we can repent of, which is why Pixar's stories are more compelling. Disney tried to give us triumph of human spirit films in which there was resurrection and no death. Pixar, literally, touches on death in every movie so that mere survival becomes a kind of triumph. Since this isn't supposed to be an independent blog entry I'll leave it at that. 🙂
WTH – Great insight about the Pixar movies! Pixar's penchant for self criticism as the basis of character change is more christian.
Wenatchee – Thanks for the insight! While some repentance does happen with the heroes of Disney flicks, your explanation makes a lot of sense as to why Pixar's storytelling has so much more depth. Good stuff.