The Pixar Film Project

Over the last few years during the Christmas/New Year/Summer period I and my wife have done a watch on a theme and I've blogged it. We kind of failed last year during the attempt to watch the TV series Robin of Sherwood, but this year we're going to try the Pixar films.

There is a little explanation required here of how this will work. A few years ago we did Disney films, and we did Brave (which is a Pixar film, but comes across like a Disney one, Merida was even made a Disney Princess) and also Wreck-It Ralph (a Disney film that people think is a Pixar one), so neither of those will appear. We're watching in release order so that means that the 3 franchises (Toy Story, Monsters and Cars) will be broken up by other films in between their various instalments.

When I did Disney I kind of broke the posts into sections, because while they are enjoyable Disney films do tend to run to a formula.

I'll try and do that a little with the Pixar ones and look at the film and how I react to it and cover the cast in a separate bit.

So now that's all done, scroll down and find the first film.

Big Hero 6

Personal Overview: remember last year when I shotgunned the Disney movies? Well it's Christmas/summer holidays down here again and that means another Disney release.

I decided to use the above picture, rather than the standard movie poster, because that gives people a lot more idea about what the film really is, as well as showcasing the entire cast rather than just a couple of them.

I had reservations when I first started hearing about Big Hero 6. The previews didn't enlighten me a lot. I was always going to see it, but it just sounded out of what the company normally does. I did know that Big Hero 6 was a Marvel comic, so it made sense that the company was utilising the properties it now has at it's disposal.

My fears were happily unfounded. I haven't read the comic, so I did go in largely blind.

At the heart of it, Big Hero 6 is a superhero team movie. Initially it looks like it might be about bot fighting, but it quickly changes course and moves into introducing the unlikely team members.

Disney often have it over their rivals not just because of the animation, which is always excellent, but because they take more care with story and character, they often sacrifice the easy laugh to let the audience bond with the characters and care about what they're doing.

Big Hero 6 is no exception. They craft a very strong brotherly bonding story about the reckless genius Hiro, wasting his talent, whereas his older brother, not as gifted, is using his own gifts to create something that will benefit the community. Of course in Hiro's hands the medical robot Baymax becomes something very different.

Tadashi's friends also turn out to be rather surprising and unlikely heroes when they meet their fellow student younger brother. The feisty GoGo Tomago turns into a speed demon with her electromagnetic wheels. The environmentally conscious and cautious Wasabi discovers that his laser cutters can do a lot more than chop vegetables. The caring Honey Lemon is the mad scientist of the group and she can also superhero it up with the best of them. Then there's Fred. Fred (wonderfully voiced by T.J Miller) is obsessed with comics and as he comes from a wealthy family can bankroll the gang, he's also stoked to meet someone that can actually turn him into a fire breathing lizard superhero, which has been his life's dream.

Before long the fledgling superhero team find themselves battling one of Hiro's inventions that has been put to evil use by a scary super villain and at the same time they're avenging one of their own.

It's a fast moving film and there's enough action and laughs to keep both adults and kids entertained, while at the same time having enough story to engage the older members of the audience who look beyond the bangs and crashes and the funny bits.

Hero/es: I've mentioned most of them above, although I didn't talk about Baymax and Baymax is the real hero of this film. He's basically a large white vinyl creature with a gentle soothing voice that Tadashi invented to be a medical unit. However his programming capability and the fact that he seems almost indestructible leads Hiro to see other uses for him. As the film goes on and both Hiro and the audience get to know more about Baymax both come to care very deeply for him and he becomes more than just a large computerised beach ball. That's so often the strength of the Disney films, they make you care about things you never thought you would. The other hero is Hiro himself and he learns the valuable lesson that so many fledgling superheroes do, the one about with great power comes great responsibility.

Villain/s: like with last year's phenomenon Frozen no one sees the villain coming. The fact that the villain wears a mask for a good part of the film helps in concealing their identity. I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers, but there are no shortage of candidates and it is a shock when it comes, but shouldn't be and the person has a genuine reason for their actions.

Cuteness Factor: there isn't really one. The whole damn thing is pretty cute. Baymax is rather loveable and I think every kid at the session I was at wanted their own Baymax by the time the film was over. Hiro's aunt's incredibly obese cat is kind of cute, and I also found Honey rather adorable.

Animation: it's just perfect, so clean and well rendered. It looks real and believable. It will also make a great computer game, and it will be turned into a game, at the very least some of the characters will find their way into Infinity. Disney is always a step ahead of the game on this level.

Final words: they've done it again! This will be a big hit (I can't see it topping Frozen, but then I think it will be a long time before anything does) and deservedly so. I'd also like to thank Disney Australia for the free tickets to the film, it made a 6 year old very happy and gave her a day out.

Princesses

I knew about the Disney Princess phenomenon before I shotgunned the films in January, although that experience and blogging it did make me more keenly aware of it.

The Disney company and Fairytale Princesses have gone hand in hand for years now. Their first animated feature starred Snow White and from that time on people tended to think of the Disney version when they heard the name, rather than the Brothers Grimm one. The same thing happened with Cinderella (Charles Perrault) and Sleeping Beauty (Perrault and/or Grimm. It could also have come from Basile), although it should be noted that Sleeping Beauty failed at the box office on its initial release.

Despite being associated with the Princesses and them being as popular as they became Disney didn't do a 'Princess' film between 1959 and 1989, when The Little Mermaid was released and kick started the era that is commonly referred to as the 'Renaissance'.

There was possibly a hope that Eilonwy from 1985's The Black Cauldron may become a Disney Princess, but she never really worked out. They give a few reasons for that these days: the film wasn't a musical (all Disney Princesses seem to be able to sing) and she was a lot like Sleeping Beauty in appearance. and dress. The real reason is that the movie wasn't successful. It also didn't help that she was, in my opinion anyway, blandly presented and didn't have the best of sidekicks (a luminous floating magical ball called 'bauble).

While Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) may have been popular it's hard to start a franchise with 3 characters. By the late 1990's when the Disney Princess franchise really came into being the company had a veritable pantheon. The original line up consisted of Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Jasmine (Aladdin), Pocahontas (Pocahontas) and Mulan (Mulan).  Four are royal by blood (Snow White, Aurora, Ariel and Jasmine), two who married into royalty (Cinderella and Belle) and two more who fit into the 'Princess mythology' (Pocahontas and Mulan. Pocahontas is technically royalty as she's a Chief's daughter and that can be looked at as a form or royalty. Mulan isn't royal either by birth or marriage, although Li Shang may have been related to the Emperor).

They later added Tiana (The Princess and the Frog, married into royalty), Rapunzel (Tangled, royal by birth) and Merida (Brave, royal by birth). It isn't official yet, but it's widely believed that both Anna and Elsa from Frozen will also be added into the Pantheon and both are royal by birth.

There's been a push to include Kida from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, as she is royal by birth, but the film flopped at the box office and she doesn't sing. Although her look (facial markings, dark skin and a cute outfit) is distinctive and marketable. They'd probably argue that being Atlantean she's not precisely human, but Ariel's a mermaid and she qualifies.

I didn't really know how big a deal the whole Princess thing was before I started watching the films one after the other. I knew it was something that was popular, but when I researched the films a bit it became clear how big a phenomenon it is and how passionately people follow it.

I became quite interested in the concept of the Princesses and how Disney portray them. If you look closely at the pictures where they're all gathered you'll note that they don't actually ever look directly at each other. This preserves the idea that they exist independently in their own mythologies. That will of course alter if both Anna and Elsa are added, as they're sisters. There's also a brief cameo appearance by Rapunzel in Frozen, so that suggests that Arendelle and Corona are trading partners.

At about this time I discovered the idea from many fans that the Princesses do in fact know each other and associate. This is best captured for me by artist Amy Mebberson with her Pocket Princesses idea. If you've never seen it before, they're little Ghibli style sketches of the Princesses day to day life as they all share a house together.

The idea intrigued me. It also intrigues Bronwen; the bright green plot bunny I have spoken of before. She insisted I write something on it. From time to time I'll post an occasional chapter of this as it unfolds.