Pixar

COCO: the splendor of authenticity

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COCO

Pixar movies are known for their exquisite animation.  Pixar movies soar when they have excellent stories (the Toy Story trilogy).  Coco, Pixar’s moving and authentic dive into Mexican culture, soars.

Set in Mexico during Dia de los Muertos, the boy Miguel longs to become a musician, an avocation his family forbids because a musician ancestor once abandoned the family.  He tries to follow his passion, but becomes trapped in the world of the dead.  He must get the blessing of a dead family member to return to the living.  Just when we think we know the score, there is an unexpected plot twist.

The colors of the Mexican town in daytime perfectly capture the look and feel of Mexico.  But the scenes in nighttime and in the world of the dead, explode on the screen, and it’s hard to decide which is the most spectacular.  There’s an overhead shot of the town cemetery on the night of Dia de los Muertos, with the glow of candles from every grave.  The worlds of the living and of the dead are separated by a bridge of flowers made out of marigold petals.  And then there’s Pepita, a giant winged panther in the world of the dead.

The exploration into Mexican culture is authentic because it is so firmly anchored to the Mexican sense of family.   There are no stereotypes here, and all of the characters look far more Mexican than do many faces on Spanish-language television.  There are many inside chuckles, such as the character of Ernesto de la Cruz perfectly capturing the Mexican singing movie star of black and white films.  There is, of course, the focus on the Mexican version of Dia de los Muertos with its ofrendas and criaturas. 

COCO
Courtesy of ©2017 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The three main adult characters are superbly voiced by Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt and Alanna Ubach.  We also hear the voices of Edward James Olmos, Cheech Marin and Luis Valdez.  The only decidedly non-Latino voice talent is John Ratzenberger, who has still voiced a character in every Pixar film.

Emotionally moving, culturally authentic and visually stunning, Coco is splendid in every way.  Coco is the best Pixar film in years and one of the best movies of the year.

FINDING DORY: not a Must See, but still OK to watch 20 times with your kids

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FINDING DORY
FINDING DORY

Finding Dory, the latest animated Pixar film, is built on characters from Finding Nemo. The memory-challenged fish Dory (Ellen DeGeneris) goes on a quest, aided by Nemo’s Dad Marlon (Albert Brooks).  Pixar is exceptional for bringing depth of story to animated films, and the story here just isn’t up to snuff.  It’s that tired trope about finding one’s parents, augmented with a nice message about acknowledging and overcoming one’s disabilities.

The cleverest part of Finding Dory is the new octopus character of Hank (voiced by Ed O’Neill of Modern Family).  Hank is able to help Dory with his ability to change his coloring for camouflage, to fit through and into virtually  every opening and to clasp objects in his tentacles.  That allows for Dory to get thru a lot more plot devices and supplies lots of comic situations.

There’s also a very funny running joke involving Sigourney Weaver and another one with three sea lions on a rock.  The dialogue and voicework are very good.

The animation in Finding Dory is high quality, but it’s not the Great Leap Forward animation that sometimes thrills us at Pixar films.  The bottom line on Finding Dory is that it may not be a Must See, but it won’t be painful to sit thru twenty times with your small kids .

However, one of joys of Pixar is that they precede their features with short films, many of which (For the Birds, La Luna, The Blue Umbrella, Lava) are at least as good as the features. The short shown with Finding Dory is Piper, a tale about a young seabird’s first lesson in finding food in the surf. The animation in Piper is just exquisite; watch for the grains of sand, the feathers and down on the little bird and the above- and below-the-surf shots. Piper’s story is sweet, uplifting and funny and worth watching on its own.

INSIDE OUT: smart but not gripping

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INSIDE OUT
INSIDE OUT

I’m a huge Pixar admirer, and I usually walk out of a Pixar movie THRILLED.  That didn’t happen with Inside Out, a smart and entertaining movie, but one that got more attention from my head than my heart.

Inside Out is the story of a well-adjusted girl named Riley, who is yanked out of her comfort zone when her Dad’s job suddenly takes the family to San Francisco.  The story is told from the perspective of her emotions, five characters (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust) who command her behavior from a Head-Quarters (get it?).   In watching what happens to Riley, kids in the audience get to understand how emotions are okay and how  even sadness is normal; that’s all fine, but, as The Wife reminded me, Inside Out, along with Pixar’s recent Up and Wall-E, is a little preachy.

As one would expect, the animation and the voice acting are top-rate.  Where writers-directors Pete Dockter and Ronaldo Del Carmen really excel, however, is in imagining and then depicting the mechanisms of human thinking and feeling: the Emotions, Islands of Personality, Core Memories, the Train of Thought and the Subconscious.  It’s very smart and original stuff.

The sad parts are very pronounced and, in my opinion, too slow and deeply sad.   As someone scarred by the death of Bambi’s mother,  I was distracted by worrying about the little kids in the theater.  That being said, I accompanied eight-year-old twins and a ten-year-old to Inside Out.  The eight-year-olds were engrossed, and afterwards didn’t mention being too scared or too sad.  The ten-year-old grunted apprehensively a few times during the movie, but afterwards resolutely denied that it was ever too scary.  So there.  But, still, it was too sad for ME in places.

None of the children at the screening got fidgety, despite there being far less than usual of the slapstick humor that kids favor.   Most of the humor seemed adult-centered, evoking lots of knowing chuckles from the grown-ups.  The end credits – with dog, and then cat, emotions – are hilarious.

After those meh comments, I need to draw attention to Lava, the Pixar animated short that precedes the feature.  It’s seven minutes of cinema magic by filmmaker James Ford Murphy.  It’s a musical love story between two Hawaiian volcanoes.  The volcanoes are named Uku and Lele, and the message is a simple and sentimental one (“I Lava You”), but Lava isn’t the least bit corny.  The story is told through song – just two voices accompanied by ukulele – by Hawaiian musicians Kuana Torres Kehele and Napua Greig.   For sheer beauty, it’s up there with the recording of Over the Rainbow by the late Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.  I’m pretty jaded, but anyone too cynical to enjoy Lava should re-examine himself. Loved it.

Monsters University: plenty fun, with an even better short

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Pixar’s
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

Pixar movies feature both excellent animation and outstanding storytelling., and such is the case with Monsters University, the welcome prequel to Monsters, Inc.  This is the story of how Monsters Inc.’s Mike and Sully met at college, with Billy Crystal and John Goodman returning to voice the roles.   When I saw Monsters University, the kids in the audience laughed plenty, but the adults were picking up on most of the college jokes; for example, Mike and Sully are relegated to the loser fraternity – so nerdy that the guys are living with one frat brother’s mom (a very funny Julia Sweeney).

Monsters University is preceded by an even better movie, the imaginative Pixar short The Blue Umbrella.  The Blue Umbrella is a simple and sentimental story set at foot level, amid manhole covers, storm drains and the feet of city-dwellers – and there’s no dialogue.  The animation is remarkable; in fact, I had to keep telling myself that it was animated, although it helped when the mailbox and the rain spout moved expressively.  I’m sure that The Blue Umbrella will be nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar.

Brave: girl power and Pixar quality

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Brave is Pixar’s much anticipated fable of a Scottish princess.  Pixar is a brand name that represents excellence in animated movies, and Brave continues the tradition.

As we have come to expect, the animation is magnificent.  The heroine is a girl with an exuberant tangle of unruly red curls, and it’s difficult not to enjoy her wild head of hair in every scene.

The other Pixar trademark is depth of story.  Other studios can make a girl power story with mother-daughter conflict, but Pixar brings more to the table here, with themes of making immature mistakes and then growing up and taking responsibility.

Brave‘s story isn’t as deep – and Brave isn’t as good – as those of Toy Story, WALL-E and Up, but even mid-level Pixar is better than movies from Disney, DreamWorks or other animation studios.   Adults will enjoy Brave, and it’s a must see for kids.

3D or not to 3D?  I was satisfied with the 2D and would definitely recommend against paying the premium for 3D.

 

Cars 2: an inspired Bond send up

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In Cars 2, Pixar reprises the cast of Cars.  But the champion racer Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) steps aside so the story can focus on his dimbulb tow truck buddy Mater (Larry the Cable Guy).  The inspired plot sends up the James Bond genre with wonderfully Bondish British spies voiced by Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer.

I am a huge fan of Pixar.  Pixar understands that the best animation in human history is not enough by itself, and also makes the effort to tell great, great stories.  Pixar screenwriting is incredibly superior to that of other animation studios.  Despite that, I wasn’t a big fan of Cars.  In fact, Cars and Ratatouille have been the only Pixar films that haven’t made my Best of the Year lists.

I liked Cars 2 much better than Cars because of the Bond spoof. If you have kids, don’t miss it.

DVD of the Week: Toy Story 3

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The best American studio movie of the year – Toy Story 3 – is now available on DVD. If you don’t have kids in your life, you probably missed it.  That would be a mistake –  it’s not just for kids.  Adults will howl at the enhanced roles of Ken and Barbie, an impassioned duet of “Dream Weaver” and the funniest scene in movie history involving a tortilla.

Pixar understands that the best animation in human history is not enough by itself, and tells great, great stories.  Pixar screenwriting is incredibly superior to that of other animation studios.

This is a significant achievement in film making and  belongs in the elevated class of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2010 – So Far.

For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.