5. Evolve and Challenge
The whole reason I began writing for WhatCulture in the first place was because I had an article idea for months and had to write it down somewhere. That article raised a criticism of animated movies and Pixar movies in particular which
you are welcome to read and give your thoughts on by the way. The point of that article is still valid and I still feel like animated movies have yet to take issues like this one seriously, or give them the respect they deserve. I won't get all political here (although it isn't or at least shouldn't be a political issue) but Pixar should try to challenge its audiences more than it does and in this respect should take a note from its last feature film and try to become more "Brave". If Pixar wants to be known as a groundbreaking company it really needs to start breaking new ground. In 1995, Toy Story was a revelation. Never before had anyone seen a feature length computer animated movie, and the wonderful thing about Pixar was that although the first feature length computer animated movie could have been just a gimmick, in reality it was one of the best scripted, well thought out and most entertaining films of all time. In 1995 Pixar broke new ground, but in 2013 Pixar has gone stale. One way it could break new ground is by looking to the future and standing up for the beliefs it apparently has (read my previous article to get what I'm talking about here). If any animation studio will be the one to first introduce a homosexual lead character then you'd think it should be the groundbreaking, Best Film Oscar nominated Pixar. Regardless of your personal or religious beliefs on this matter, it will eventually happen, and if Pixar wants to still be the challenging and groundbreaking movie studio it once was then why shouldn't it be them? At the very least a move like this would get people talking, and no publicity is bad publicity. But regardless of my own perspective and my own wishes for the future of this company in terms of its evolution and growth, there are many ways this company could grow other than simply just embracing more of the social issues of our generation, but after Cars 2 and Brave it appears this company isn't looking ahead so much as it's looking way way behind, and seemingly forgetting the legacy of the company it once was. It is probably too early to criticize the future movies of this company, but none of the feature films announced in the schedule for the future of Pixar so far are really, at this point getting me all that excited. That said, hopefully I will be surprised, and hopefully Pixar has learned its lesson and has some plan of how to climb their way out of the slump it has been having. Maybe it is just going through its awkward teenage years? Hopefully there will once again come a time when Pixar is a name you can truly trust. And when in doubt Pixar, just listen to Buzz Lightyear, and in order to remain the king of animation "to infinity and beyond" you need to "reach for the stars" and not into Disney's back catalog to steal another stale and overused idea we've seen over and over again. Hopefully when Pixar reaches its adulthood it will be even greater than ever before. Here's hoping Pixar.