#Pixar golden age

[vertigoartgore]

Pixar/Brad Bird's The Incredibles turns 20 today. Feel old yet ?

[theruffiansretrorampage]

The official Pixar Facebook 

[indy829]

My emotions:

[television-overload]

Mulder and William watching Pixar's short film "Lifted" in 2007 and giggling like fools

"But dad, aren't aliens gray?"

[yen-sids-tournament]

Disney Animated Movie Music

Our first tournament (the reason we even created this blog) is about which animated Disney movie has the best music.

Nominate your favorite Disney animated movies based on their music. Whether it be your absolute favorite song, the genius of the composer, the contribution to music, which soundtrack is full of the most bangers, or really anything you want, as long as you include the name, it will be considered.

There is space for you to nominate up to five films if you are super committed to one movie you can always put it multiple times. there is no requirement for you to chose five movies as well. And for clarification; this is for purely animated movies. We will accept Pixar as well as Disney Animated Studios, but not something acquired by Disney (like Anastasia 1997). We also will not accept Mary Poppins, High School Musical, or (while we do call it an animated movie) the 2019 Lion King and the like here.

The votes will be tallied to create the bracket inclusions and placements. Any movie that has won or been nominated for a notable award (like Oscars) will start with one point for each nomination and two points for each win.

The size of the bracket will depend on how many submissions are received. Nominations will remain open until May 20th, unless we are overwhelmed. (in that case we will close it early after announcing the change).

inspired by: @maskedmaniatournament @found-family-tournament @mermaidbracket @princesspoll @latine-showdown @disabled-character-showdown @gentle-giant-swag @the-worst-bracket @eldest-sibling-tournament @disneychanneltournament

[snail-speed]

Putting the word "dethroned" and all its variations on a high shelf away from the tiny grubby hands of the animation review community

[burningexeter]

In my mind, all of these are set in the same universe as each other as they're all distinctive, unique and interesting 2000s Disney films that at times share the same aesthetics.

[a34trgv2]

Why It Worked: Inside Out

Introduction: Inside Out is an animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by Pete Docter, with the screenplay being co written by Meg LaFauve and Josh Cooley, the film stars Amy Poehler, Phyliss Smith, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan and Richard Kind as Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Riley, her parents Bill and Jill, and Bing Bong respectively. Released on June 19, 2015, the film was a major box office success grossing $858.8 million on a budget of $175 million. It also received critical acclaim from critics and audiences alike. According to Rotten Tomatoes, out of the 384 reviews aggregated, 98% gave a positive review with an average rating of 8.9/10. It also received numerous awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, several Outstanding Achievement Awards at the Annies, a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, and a Critic's Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature. It is often seen as a culturally significant film for mental health and the importance of expressing one's emotions. I saw this film for my birthday back in 2015 and I loved it right out of the gate. After multiple rewatches over the years, I stand by my personal opinion that this is a masterpiece of animation and visual storytelling. I'm overjoyed to talk about this film now that it finally has a sequel out.

The Plot: This film has 2 stories that are interconnected to one another, taking place in the mind of an 11 year old girl. On the outside, it's a bout a kid moving to a new city and being overwhelmed by the sudden changes happening all at once. On the inside, it's about Joy and Sadness trekking through Riley's mind, while along the way understanding each other's importance. Together, they create a very unique and engaging plot about growing up and learning to express yourself. The film brilliantly cuts between Riley, Joy and Sadness' journey, and what's happening at HQ to organically show what Riley's feeling and how her actions have psychological consequences. In addition to having powerful gut punching drama, it's also a very funny film with plenty of slapstick, goofy gags, and impressive word play that always gets me to belly laugh. Michael Giacchino also provides an enchanting, dreamlike score with great use of the piano and brass sections. The true highlight of the story is, of course, Pixar's masterfully crafted and innovative animation. The film makes Riley's mind so vibrant and expansive with Dream Productions and Imagination Land being major highlights. The outside world also looks very well done with the people looking very appealing, San Francisco looking grimy yet lived in, and Riley's old home in Minnesota looking very welcoming and colorful. Speaking of color, the use of colors in this film is nothing short of excellent from the radiant colors of Riley's memories, to Riley's clothes reflecting her current state of mind throughout the film. I also love how they use black and gray to represent faded memories and lack of emotion. If there's one word to describe Inside Out's story and animation, it's colorful.

Cast and Characters: This is an outstanding cast they brought on board for this film. Shout outs to the film's casting directors Natalie Lyon and Kevin Reher for picking out some excellent actors. Amy Poehler was phenomenal as Joy, perfectly capturing her bubbly and eccentric personality while also naturally showing her vulnerability and frustrations. Phyliss Smith sound perfectly dower and soft spoken as Sadness, yet at the same time making her sound so innocent and relatable. Lewis Black was the best match for Anger, making him sound crusty, cynical, and having a short fuse. Mindy Kaling brought in the right amount of sass and pettiness as Disgust and her comradery with the other emotions was brilliant. Bill Hader did a great job making Fear funny and relatable as a character. Kaitlyn Dias also deserve major props for her vocal performance as Riley, making her sound like a soft spoken but fun kid who goes through a great character arc in the film. Lastly, Richard Kind was the absolute surprise standout of the cast as Bing Bong as not only did he do a great job making him funny, but also made him relatable, selfless, a bit of an airhead, but also really resourceful. The cast did such a great job bringing these characters to life, with all of them being iconic and memorable in their own way.

Where It Falters: Outside of maybe adding another scene or 2 with Riley's life in Minnesota, I wouldn't change a thing with this film. It's one of those films where the only nitpick I have is I wanted more. Fortunately, that's remedied with the existence of the 2024 sequel. Coming out a couple years sooner wouldn't have been so bad either, but like I always say, quality>quantity.

Conclusion: There are a select few movies I consider to be a masterpiece. Inside Out is most certainly one of those movies. With outstanding writing, iconic characters, wonderful voice acting, masterfully crafted animation, and an enchanting score, it has more than earned its cultural significance. I cannot recommend this film enough, especially for those who struggle with expressing themselves such as yours truly. I promise this film will speak to you as it has for me after all these years. Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you soon ;)

[dallasgallant]

Time period post: car culture

Getting a license is more than a right of passage, it’s integral. Getting a car is big- both for one’s reputation and social life, back in the day kids couldn’t wait to get their license…

In the 60s cars were becoming the dominant mode of transportation, it was getting more common for families to have more than one (if they could afford it) and so on. Though public transportation was still prevalent and reliable like bus and trolly systems… cars were a status/clout symbol for teenagers. You wanted the cool car, the nice car, the muscle car.

Automatic transmission, a variety of colors, bench seats, bigger, better, sleek. An interesting note is that people have been racing cars since they were invented, but particularly it started to ramp up professionally besides just troublesome teens, hobbiest and bootleggers.

I cannot emphasize enough how much the “car culture” began to be cemented in this period, the 60s is sometimes even referred to as the golden age of motoring. Movies and pop culture of nice slick cars helped cement that, growing trends of customization -> car centered architecture! Not only mid century modern and space age but Googie, meant to capture motorists eyes! Started in the 50s and carried on here.

Route 66!!! “Golden age of motoring” also means the golden age of road trips and tourist attractions, this route is still renown today though it’s mostly the remains of it (which did go through Tulsa!) it was one of the first national highways and later popularized in pop culture for its later touristy nature.

traffic on the highway increased, a growing share of it long-distance, and the need for food, fuel, repairs, and shelter transformed the economies of the towns through which the route passed. The development of novel methods of merchandising to the transient customer that became commonplace in mid-20th-century America—drive-in and drive-up businesses, fast food, motor inns, and roadside advertising—can to a great degree be traced to the influence of Route 66 in those towns.

It was decommissioned formally and completely by 1985, due to high speed highways— often decimating the small towns that came to rely on the traffic (think of Pixar’s cars lmao) it’s not the point of this post but it’s interesting I want to look into more and drive it someday.

Teen specific-

Back on track! The ideas of cars = freedom is about as old as cars themselves, they meant transportation and movement and independence. All things the American teenager craves, all the more if it looks cool and is both a place to hang out and one to take you to hang outs.

“Make out point” is a trope for a reason, the ability for teens to go off and have sex semi secluded was another huge factor for cars importance to teenagers. (Also a time when it is generally becoming less stigmatized/uptight culture)

Car dates generally. It’s private. Intimate and well a lot of ones social life was centered around them so why not your love life? -> there’s also something to be said here about the influence of consumerism too like how it’s why the ‘teenager’ came to be in the first place etc

[jasminedragonart]

We all know that I think Brother Bear is the Magnum Opus of Disney and I've elaborated on that in a previous post. This one will therefore be dedicated to Pixar's Magnum Opus.

Moana, I hear you ask? Inside Out? Up?

No.

The Incredibles.

In order for it to be an amazing film there has to be layers to it. Inside Out, to me, is pretty one dimensional. I didn't get a lot out of it. Moana was okay, but nothing special, like I didn't hate it but I didn't love it.

But the Incredibles? It was amazing.

To start off with, this came out in 2004. Do you know what other superhero films were out in this era? Spider Man. Tobey McGuire's Spiderman. Other than that, the superhero franchise hadn't really hit off. It would be years until Iron Man, Captain America or even the Dark Knight would have the impact it would have on cinema. (The Dark Knight trilogy is great btw. I love and accept it as canon way more readily than I do the Snyder verse. That verse can go away and never see the light of day)

the point is, for this movie to have survived, nay, thrive, in a superhero-less world is astounding and I think that's just down to good writing, characterisation and the story itself.

To start off with, I didn't know this was set in the 60's until like, a month ago. But now I do know I love it. It fits so well and answers so many questions. The 60's were like the golden age of heros, or, what we call the golden age. You had the batman show in the 60's, you had the golden age of comics. It's just right that the Incredibles is set in the 60's too.

In terms of storytelling this is good too. We see that they still have phones and computers and tv's but they're limited. No smart phones, the technology that we would see in present day is high tech to them. I love it because it isolates the characters so well. The reason why a lot of shows these days die is because they set it in our modern world. The convenience we have in being able to send messages to each other is just ridiculous. In order to create a good story you need a way to isolate your characters. There needs to be mystery. By limiting the Incredibles to what was available in the 60's Brad Bird eliminated the questions on why Mr Incredible didn't just send a text to his wife or Edna that he was in danger. Why the other heros didn't ask for help. Their technology is limited, their data plan is nonexistent, they can't contact people across the world and this is great for creating an interesting story.

Starting back at the beginning, I think it's really interesting how we're introduced to Buddy. A lot of superhero sidekicks are literally found like Buddy was hoping to be found. He has the intelligence too. He basically did a Tim Drake. He tracked Mr Incredible down, he made himself available and he showed that he had the skills to at least be a good hero. The only difference here is that Mr Incredible's world isn't Batman's world. Buddy didn't persevere like Tim Drake did, he took his knowledge and he twisted it for evil which, again is such a good analysis or interpretation of what Tim Drake could have been if he didn't put on those Robin colours and force Batman to take him on board.

Then we get to the lawsuit. So, if you didn't get it, the Incredibles kind of honoured marvel here. I think X Men was out by now. It should have been. Yes. It was out in 2000. So the concept of mutants being second class citizens was known to those who watched the beginning of the MCU. The Incredibles is paying homage to this by making supers illegal. The supers are creating too much damage, they're doing more harm than good. Therefore the common people are fighting back and making them retreat back into the shadows. Again, an interesting concept because what happened to all these villains? What happened when Bon Voyage escaped prison again? How many people did he kill without Mr Incredible there to help catch him? We don't know but it's always been a wonder of mine as to how the world is as peaceful as it is when we catch up with the Incredibles in present day. How did they get to that point?

I'll never know.

Mr Incredible and Elastigirl, I think are Batman and Catwoman. I think. Meta Batman and Catwoman. They have the same feel, the same banter of Batman and Catoman but they could be another superhero couple. Either way, they have their happy ending by getting married and having kids

There's an interesting post out there explaining the kids names and the connection to their powers which I loved. So, yeah, dash- superspeed. He's the Flash, he's quicksilver. He's basically kid flash right now, or impulse since, is impulse born with his powers? Whatever the case, he doesn't quite know the extent of his powers just yet because he grew up in a world where supers are in hiding. Which, again, makes me question what happens to those heros who don't hide. There had to be a penalty for them beyond being sued. Back to the kids. Violet- ultraviolet light that can be invisible. There's also something about her being a teenager and keeping everyone out which is why she has her forcefields. She's also Susan Storm, that's the inspiration for her character's powers. Jack Jack is jack of all trades. His inspiration, I think, is Legion. I'm not too sure. Either way, I love their names and how they tie into their characters and powers.

Helen and Bob are aliases. People know that right? I'm pretty sure they got different identities through the years after their covers were blown. They would have to. Even in the 60's people could be tracked down, that's why they have this rehoming program for supers. It makes me wonder what Bob and Helen's real names are. I think they're alias's anyway. Either way, their last name would have to have changed over the years. At the beginning of the movie it's Parr which means average.

Which is what they're trying to be. They're trying to be average. But they aren't, that's the whole point of the movie. They're the only ones who are capable of doing what the government, what ordinary people, can't. They're the only ones who can adapt and put themselves in danger to stop Syndrome who spent his entire teenage and adult life trying to destroy supers. The whole message of the movie is there at the beginning. Violet and Dash can't help but use their powers because it's a part of them. They aren't normal, they're never going to be normal and they shouldn't have to be.

Mirage is an interesting character to look at. She's very Bond esque. It felt like they were mixing genres by introducing her but it works. She's a powerful woman at the head of an organisation. But then there are layers to her. Her name is literally Mirage, she's not what she seems. She looks good but is secretly working for Syndrome. But the real message is that she's on the bad guy's team but she's not a bad person. She does what's right for Mr Incredible, she lets him and his family go. She also suffers the Bond girl trope where she's either killed off or injured but her character arc is kind of over at this point so it works. That's the point with some tropes, they're not necessarily good but they work because they serve a purpose. Mirage doesn't need to be in the picture anymore so she needs an excuse to not be there. She's injured, easy, she's out of the picture now. It's not bad writing, it's just practical writing. Otherwise we'd be asking where she was.

I think I want to dedicate this part of why the Incredibles is amazing to focus on the super's graveyard. Not only the one Syndrome made, but the ways the supers have died over the years. Edna describes so many supers dying from such mundane things like a costume malfunction. How many of them perished before Edna refused to give them a cape? How many funerals were there over the years?

I think it's also important we focus on the supers graveyard for another reason too. Bob isn't the only super out there that feels like his purpose in life was taken away. The reason why these people take such mundane jobs as covers is because they have something else in their lives that makes them feel fulfilled. By not being allowed to fulfill that purpose they're only left with the mundane, and for us it's okay because this is the only thing we know, but for them? With their powers? It must feel so... disheartening or another word I can't think of right now. But to be talked down to, to not be recognised. It's not narcissism that has them out there helping people. They're good people trying to do good in the world because they can. It's sad that they can't, and it's horrible that this good nature is took advantage of by Syndrome. He murdered them horrifically. He turned their strengths against them, he made a murder bot, isolated them on an island, and had them hunted down just because he was told to go home as a child. To not be put in danger like kids shouldn't be put in.

It begs the question again, what happened to the other villains? Where are they? Why is Syndrome the only one we see appear in this gap of superhero history? I was expecting the 2nd Incredibles to focus on more villains that had cropped up in the shadows while they were gone but it didn't. Not really. the 2nd one wasn't as good as the 1st one. It was good, but it was lacking the layers the 1st one has. The questions on why and where. A lot of the new one was focused more on the family than the plot where as the first one had a good balance of the two.

Anyway, back to the analysis. This is such a good origin movie for Violet, Dash and Jack Jack. You have the mentors in Mr and Mrs Incredible, the ones who are experienced and handling a lot of the action. Then you have the young ones finding their powers and discovering what they can do, what they're capable of. You feel happy when you see Violet protect her brother with her shield. You're elated when Dash can run on water. They're little things that an experienced hero isn't able to elicit because they're used to their powers and we see this in the ease Mr Incredible has in himself and his capabilities, same as Mrs Incredible when she's worming her way into the compound. This movie is both an origin movie as well as kind of like a comeback. Mr and Mrs Incredible are out of retirement and the kids are stepping up into roles they never dreamed they could have.

The colour story is good too. Mr Incredible's old suit is blue. It's the suit he wore as a standalone hero. It's the suit he wears when he goes out with Frozone and the suit he wears on the island for the first time. It's the suit he wears where he's separated from his family. He's blue, he's alone. Red is a danger colour, it's passion, it's what groups this family together. They are the danger to Syndrome. They also have the yellow there to lesson the impact of the red. It's a happy colour, very soothing and lets us know that they're on the good team. It's also Elastigirl's old colour, or one of them. It's Bob finally including Helen in his life

There's a lot more to this movie I can't think of it right now.

Pixar peaked with this movie though.

[jisreal64]

Hey I have a question, is it wrong that I hate the Disney short film Once Upon a Studio and prefer Wish over it as the superior centennial celebration of Disney? I think it’s one of the shorts that Disney has ever made, not only because of the Wish hatedom and its popularity, I also despise it because it I find the premise of the film generic and stupid; it’s literally just generic Disney crossover number 1,000 and people over praise it (even though they’ve made similar crossovers like House of Mouse). The reason I think that Wish is better is because I’m one of the very few people who unironically thinks that the movie is a masterpiece, it has beautiful animation, a great soundtrack, and unforgettable characters. It’s also a rare case in which employees were protesting through their work. The movie is meant to be a metaphor for Disney itself, with the kingdom of Rosas representing Disney, Asha is meant to be someone who grew up with Disney and now works at the company as an animator as either an intern or a low ranking animator at either the main studio or PIXAR, and Magnifico is meant to be the company higher ups who went mad with power as a result of their money and greed who uses others as an excuse to make themselves more powerful (like the Onceler in the Lorax). The only other time I can think of artists biting the hand of the people who were feeding them was in the video game Super Smash Bros Ultimate, where the devs vilified both Nintendo and its fan base in the form of Galeem and Dharkhan respectively. And what’s worse is that apparently the people who were working on the movie were treating it like it was a passion project, and if you don’t believe me, here’s a Reddit post from one of the animators who worked on the movie (courtesy of @/starsha-stardust ):

This is genuinely depressing, a bunch of people work on a passion project, only for it to get viciously torn to shreds by film critics, Disney Haters, Toxic Disney Fans, and the internet. I feel like if the movie was made by a different studio than Disney then it would be universally praised (especially if it was an indie animated web series), but since the 2020s are basically the golden age of the Disney Hatedom, they’re treating it and every other movie made by Disney and PIXAR as films that are on the same level of quality as the movie Food Fight. I refuse to watch Once Upon a Studio because of these people (and in case you’re wondering, the theater I saw Wish at didn’t show the short before the movie) and I probably never will unless these people change their minds and say they’re sorry. Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t like it and have a valid reason for not liking it, then that’s fine, but if you don’t like it because it wasn’t an incestuous love story between the ghost of a recently deceased 100 year old man and his 17 year old granddaughter, then you should go seek therapy. But at the end of the day, do you think I’m being too harsh on OuaS?

[theruffiansretrorampage]

art by Spiffi Giffi Jacob

[gothicprep]

analysts spend a lot of time thinking about disney and what it & bob iger are up to, given that the company has its fingers in so many pies. there's the theatrical business, which just had a soft summer after indiana jones, the little mermaid, and elemental all underperformed. there's the streaming business, which is stagnating in the us and shedding users in low-revenue markets like india, so it's hard to say how that's going. there's the theme parks and the cruises, which are making more money but attracting less visitors, which is troubling for them (as well as the disney adult types who have loved the parks for decades and are eating the expense). then there's linear tv – sports and gambling deals specifically – which is a weird asset. everyone agrees that it's in near-terminal decline, but everyone also agrees that it generates tons of cash and you can't really offload it without upsetting up your balance sheets.

all of this gets to a broader problem underlying the disney products right now, and it's a problem that's shared with a lot of the industry right now. let's be blunt – there's a real problem on the creative side. the two biggest properties disney owns are star wars and marvel, which are both in a very clear rut. interest is declining and audiences are tuning out. the live action remakes are doing okay, but where does the next generation of remakes come from when they aren't making new animated classics? this is where the company has a real problem. it's lack of originality. encanto was probably the only thing to really move the needle for them since frozen came out a decade ago. one original hit every ten years is not a sustainable model.

pete docter has taken over at pixar and the movies they're currently making sort of reflect his cerebral, abstract interests. this doesn't necessarily make for bad movies, but not ones that are positioned to be total, world-conquering hits in the same way toy story or the incredibles were. kathleen kennedy's tenure at lucasfilm clearly has not worked, at least on the feature film side. the mandalorian has been a hit, but they're really overdone it with the "you have to watch this show to see this important thing happen". we watched andor and we liked it a lot, but i'm about as hardcore a star wars fan as you can get, and i haven't touched the book of boba fett and i probably won't with ahsoka either. i think kevin feige's reign at marvel was considered to be a guarantee of quality for a while, but the homogeneity has really hurt them there, especially with the decline of the visual effects.

i think it's hard to look at the disney creative and say that there's any part of it that's working great and that's kind of depressing! most of us were kids of the disney golden age, to an extent. we were kid moviegoers at the time when pixar kept knocking it out of the park! so to be alive at a time where disney just seems to be befuddled by making mass entertainment is very strange.

[thecryptkeeper]

rewatching ratatouille and not only was this really pixars golden age but anton ego is the greatest character ever made

[black-diamond1329]

⭐ Name: Sandra, but you can tell me Sandy 😉.

⭐Age: I feel like I'm 15 years old, I stopped counting at 19 and my friends say that I act like I'm 5 years old XD hahaha ... Nah! I just turned 23 years old this August n_n.

💔 Occupation: Being a universitary girl XD ... Yes! It's so fun! (sarcasm).

🩷 Some things that I love it: Read (I read all kinds of books and about my favorite ships on Ao3! 🤭), cook desserts, listen to music while I do other activities like my homework or when I read, Greek mythology (The love between us will never die! 💗).

⭐Saint Seiya (or Knights of the Zodiac). I found this beautiful serie when I was 7 years old. My favorite is the original serie, although I also like the Lost Canvas a lot and Episode G (because Aioria is the protagonist). Soul of Gold gives me mixed feelings. From Omega and Next Dimension, better don't ask me; my mind lives in denial. My favorite characters are the Golden Saints, especially Aioros and Aioria, being Aioria my super favorite.

Thanks to Saint Seiya I developed a great love for the stars 💫 and I have many scientific books on the subject, as well as books of myths and legends about the constellations ✨.

💥 I'm a Marvel Girl. I love those tormented superheroes and antiheroes. I basically grew up watching Marvel since Iron Man came out in 2008 and I immersed myself fully in the world of the comics, I have a lot of comics and books on my bookshelf 🤭. My favorites are: Iron Man ♥️, Captain America, Spider-Man, Loki, the X-Men, Black Widow and Scarlet Witch, in all their presentations and with all their charms and defects!.

🍿Series: Friends, Full House, The big bang theory, How I met your mother and How I met your father, Modern Family, Mom, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel... I love it K-Dramas like Goblin: The lonely and great God, Crash landing on you, Tale of the Nine Tailed 😋, I have also watched many animes like Sailor Moon, Ouran High School Host Club, Toradora, Code Geass, Inuyasha, Kaleido Star, Shaman King, Attack on Titan... it's a long list and I don't remember everything at this moment 🤔. Miraculous Ladybug (I know it's for kids, but ... there is Chat Noir 🖤).

🐉In my House of the Dragon era 🖤: Like many people, I was also terribly disappointed with the horrible ending of Game of Thrones, but I really loved Fire and Blood when I read it in 2020... so I decided to give the serie a chance when I saw the first trailer... and I don't regret it! 🥳. I liked Daemon and Rhaenyra so much in the book and absolutely loved them in the TV Show! (Matt and Emma are incredible! ❣️). Another character that I loved in the book and the one I always wanted to know more about was Jacaerys Velaryon and I must say that I am very pleased with the choice of Harry Collett 😍 (oh yeah baby! 🔥).

I really hope that the directors and writers do justice to this wonderful crown prince! 🥰, because for me he is already one of my favorite characters of all time! ❣️.

🎥 Favorite Movies: Troy 2004 (did I mention I'm a Greek mythology lover?), the Star Wars saga 💫 (1-6 only), The Great Gatsby, A Walk to Remember, Harry Potter 🪄 (books and movies), The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy, The Hunger Games saga ❣️(books and movies), The Twilight saga 😊 (books and movies).

I love Studio Ghibli movies with all my heart 💗 since my dad bought me the movie of Kiki Delivery Service when I was a 6-year-old little girl.

I love everything Disney and Pixar does 💗😘. (think of the happiest things, It's the same as having wings! 🎶)

🎧 Music: I have a very varied taste in music, some would say strange 😅, but if I like the rhythm and lyrics of the song I will surely add it to my playlist (mainly I like rock), AC / DC, Queen, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, Linkin Park, Evanescence, Within Temptation, Imagine Dragons, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Lana del Rey, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. I enjoy classical music too 🩷.

⭐ Something more about me: I am an inveterate dreamer and extremely perfectionist. I express myself better by writing than talking 😚.

I haven't drawn anything in almost 5 years and when I did I used to draw with traditional media (watercolor, charcoal, colored pencils, gouche and acrylic paints 🖌️).

But since October (from last year), when I saw Harry Collett as Prince Jacaerys, I felt a desire to draw that I hadn't felt in a long time ❣️.

This is my first time trying to draw in digital media, I hope you like what you see! 😘 (YouTube tutorials don't fail me now! 😭). I spent the whole summer practicing🥺.

P.S: Sorry if exist some error, the english is not my firts lenguage.

[zoeysdamn]

Treasure Planet: a way underrated Disney movie [critic]

Hi, hello, it’s me again, rambling about a movie like I’m working for the Nostalgia Critic instead of writing next chapter or actually do my work. What can I say, I love to ramble on obscure subjects (but since at least once person enjoyed the critic I wrote on The Witcher: Blood origin I solely did to improve my writing skills, I guess it’s okay lmao) Love you and stay hydrated ♥

Time to analyze and bring justice to Treasure Planet 

There are some movies that leave a mark on you, that you’ll always remember of through your life. It isn’t necessarily a good, Oscar-winning movie, or a mindblowing work, but it is an unpriceable memory to you, and that’s why it is one of your favorite movies ever. That’s how I feel about Disney’s Treasure Planet. 

First thing first, I’d like to highlight an important aspect about this critic: Treasure Planet is the first movie I’ve ever seen in theaters. I was 3 years old, and seeing those incredible images of space and stars up on a big screen through my child’s eyes definitely did something to me (cue my tattoos of moon and sun I guess). So what I’m trying to say is, that even if I’ll be doing my best to make an objective critic, it definitely won’t be one. I love this movie so freaking much, do not try to stop the fangirl screaming in me. I watched it again recently with my brother, and even if I know it like the back of my hand, I couldn’t believe that a lot of people still think poorly of this movie.

That being said, let’s move on to the main subject: in what way is Treasure Planet an underrated movie? I’ll be trying to analyze why it failed to be a new success for the Disney company at a time of many mildly successful productions, and carry on about why we all should appreciate it more with a new eye, for it brought many great things. 

First, let’s talk about the context of this movie’s release. In 2002, Disney wasn't in its golden nor silver age anymore. The last original movie – meaning, that isn’t a prequel or sequel of a previous franchise – was Atlantis in 2001 and Kuzco in 2000 (I’m not including Monsters Inc., given it was a Pixar co-production). The first wasn’t exactly a financial success (although it is also one of my favorite Disney ever, what can I say, I like the unloved ones), and the latter, even if I still think it’s one of the most hilarious movies they ever made, was not a great movie. So when Treasure Planet launched and turned out to be a critical business failure – 109 578 115 $ at the box-office for a 140 000 000 $ budget, and if you’re wondering, yes it is indeed a big failure – nobody ever talked about it again. The failure is even greater given not a single Disney Park has an attraction on this theme – but we’ll talk about this later. Now, not many people actually know that this movie ever existed.

Now that we have a little more context, let’s go even deeper and see the different elements that lead to this catastrophic failure within the movie. It’s important to remember that I’m not an expert either in movies analysis or the Disney company, there’s a lot of things I don’t know or don’t have any numbers to prove what I’m saying. I’m simply here to ramble and list things that seem important to me, and I’m making a hella lot of assumptions. 

Given the general context of the movie release, I think that what wounded its reputation the most is the 3D used. It is – if I’m not mistaken, and I probably am – one of the first Disney animated movies that uses so much 3D. And let’s be honest…it aged badly. I’m not bad mouthing anybody’s work, I appreciate the fact that Disney tried something; with every new experiment, there have to be some clumsy first try, and yeah, we could say that Treasure Planet was this one. But remember, the movie came out in 2002: a year before, Dreamworks leveled up the 3D game by releasing Shrek, and next to it the 3D view in Treasure Planet looks cheap. The idea was interesting, the view in a gradual zoom on the moon-turning-to-be-an-harbor was really a good idea; but the messy outcome of the visual cost a lot more to the movie’s reputation. 

Another thing that may have contributed to the movie’s unsuccess could be the lack of “typical” Disney elements. I’m here talking about things such as a romantic interest for the main character, a princess/royalty character, or catchy musical moments sung by characters. If we look at the Disney animated movies that had been released around the same time, it was all movies and/or sequels about princesses (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), or already popular characters (Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, etc.). Choosing to not give a female, princess-like, and popular character was a bold and risky move for Disney; as a result, the story was led by a forgettable character who didn’t leave any mark in people’s minds. Again, I’m talking while trying to be objective, you bet I remember Jim Hawkins; we’re talking about one of my very first fictional crushes here, I’ll take the defense of this amazing character later. 

Of course, the story does give a glimpse of a love story, but between two side characters. Not enough for a company who built most of its movies’ success on princesses and true love kisses. The same could be said about the lack of songs; there’s always a tune immediately blasting in your head when someone mentions Disney, the absence of such joyful musical moments certainly wounded Treasure Planet’s reputation. But on the other side, the only song within the movie (I’m not counting the outro) is really deep, and well inserted in the plot. I hardly picture any of the characters, even the main one – especially him – starting to sing their feelings out of the blue. The lack of sung serenades makes sense, but it may have not been appreciated by viewers who expected a full Broadway show. 

Finally, the whole aesthetic may have been quite unsettling for most of the viewers. I think the movie came out at an in-between of steampunk glory – after the success of Lovecraft and before the 00’ return of this style’s popularity. Again, I'm a big fan of the whole design; but it was also a bit too daring for the time. 

So to sum this up really quickly, I think that Treasure Planet was released too soon. It has the potential to be a bigger success, should it have been released nowadays. Beside the 3D parts that have aged badly, I honestly don’t think this movie’s outdated the slightest. I still think today that the viewers of 2002 weren’t ready for this movie, its story, characters and message. And to defend that, I’ll list the elements that make this movie a brilliant one. 

First of all, the whole story inspired by Stevensons’ Treasure Island is a major good point for me. The pirate aesthetic hadn’t come back fully in pop culture yet, and the original story has very interesting material ahead. The source of inspiration was an excellent idea. It also led to the unconventional coming-of-age story; most of the plot in this kind of scenario is about someone who becomes an adult somehow, through an epic quest. They have a good life, but thrive for more, or are the “chosen one” and all. Here, Jim is, admittedly by his mother, a juvenile delinquent. This late teenager is lost in his life, torn apart between his dreams of freedom, and the love he has for his mother. He doesn’t want to let her down, or disappoint her, but he doesn’t know what to do because no one can guide him through what’s possible for him. And as a young adult who had been through such a crisis for 5 solid years (and still not completely out of it let’s be honest), it is an important subject to bring up. It’s not that Jim is lazy or inherently a bad son, he just doesn’t know what to do and what the possibilities are. The cops, the clients of the inn, even the doctor and his mom had categorized him as a good-for-nothing so he’s kind of stuck in this role, all while deeply loving his mother and trying to help her. This internal conflict between what you want to do for your own good and what your heart wants to do to keep your loved ones (especially family) safe and proud of you isn’t completely foreign in a Disney movie; but it is something that is more recurrent in later movies, such as Moana, Tangled and such.

This is a great transition to address the subject of Jim’s family, which is also depicted in a very modern way in my opinion. The fact that he only has his mom in the movie is…painfully classical in a Disney movie (I mean, the no parents policy is basically a private joke in Disney movies now). But it’s one of the first movies where the dad’s absence is clearly and loudly mentioned, either by the characters themselves or through the song. It is also one of rare cases of a parent actually leaving their families; during the song, we see Jim’s dad leaving and never coming back (probably out buying intergalactic milk, I don’t know), but we also see Jim’s mom crying, him being deeply affected by his father’s absence through different phases of his childhood, and more than that, the effect of his dad’s absence is clearly mentioned several times. We don’t know if his father actually died out of space or if he just left Jim and Sarah – although several elements seem to indicate so, such as the fact we never see his face, that Sarah doesn’t have any picture of him in the inn or in her memory-locket-necklace, or that Jim says that he doesn’t miss his dad who’s more like “going away and never coming back”. Parent(s)’s deaths in Disney movies are usually either briefly mentioned as such (Atlantis, Cinderella, etc.) or a means to bring up a more tragic backstory that serves the character’s growth (Tarzan). Here we have a very realistic, bitter case of a father leaving his child and wife for no apparent reason; for a 2002 Disney movie, it is indeed a very modern take at the subject of one parent’s disappearance, especially at how they show the effects on every concerned character. 

And this is a very appreciated choice! When Encanto was released almost two years ago, I was thrilled by the serious issues such as intergenerational trauma, gaslighting within a family, and pain caused by neglect of elders someone looks up to. My first thought was “Finally, we can have a Disney movie that addresses very much real family issues, it’s a big step for them.” But then when I re-watched Treasure Planet, I realized that Disney had done that before, almost 20 years ago; and that’s why it’s a great movie. Children aren’t dumb (yes, I’m actually saying this), I do believe we can talk about any subject with them if we use words and concepts they can understand. They’re naive about a lot of things, and it’s natural they’re still kids; but if a kid can watch and understand Ariel wanting legs to seduce the good-looking fellow on the boat, they can understand that sometimes family can take different forms, including a single mother and her sons both struggling on different scales due to a husband and father abandon. 

This whole setting also allowed the movie to have a slightly different type of main character. I mentioned it briefly before, but Jim is a more complex character than most of the Disney protagonists of that time - and before. Once again, let’s make something clear about typology: complex doesn't necessarily mean complicated. Jim has a rather easily understandable goal, he wants to find his place, and what to do with his life. But the fact that he’s standing in-between the brashness of late-teenage years and seriousness of young adulthood, probably triggered earlier by his dad’s disappearance, makes him more complex. He’s a morally gray character, who’s sometimes acting like a brat (trespassing several times, getting arrested and such), but who also wants to get things right, especially for his mom. So by complex, I mean that Jim has nuances; much more than traditional Disney protagonists (that is especially true for all of the princesses lore anterior to this movie). There had been some examples of that before of course, with Aladdin and Tarzan for example; Megara in Hercules is loved because she’s witty AND a complex character. But she’s only a side character; in Treasure Planet it is  the protagonist and others who wear those traits (Silver, Jim, even Captain Amelia). It also reminds the turn-over of the team in the second part of Atlantis, when they all realize Rourke had gone too far while not even 10 minutes earlier they were assumed capitalist treasure snatchers regardless of Atlantean culture. So, those two big examples of more complex characters did a good job to prepare the field for their successors (Elsa in Frozen, Flynn Rider in Tangled, even Maui in Moana), but not enough to get the public satisfied enough when they came out. 

Jim’s evolution through the movie is also a really interesting one, because it does once again not fit into what I’d call a “traditional” goal in Disney movies. I’d say there are two main categories in there: a romance trope (seduce and/or reunite with the love interest as in Sleeping beauty, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc.) or a higher, destiny-boud, epic purpose or quest (Simba avenging his father and claiming his rightful place as the king, Arthur becoming king, Hercules trying to prove he’s a divine hero, Moana saving the ocean, Miguel trying to return to the living’s world and mend some of his families’ feud, Robin Hood fighting against oppression, and on and on). Of course I’m caricaturing things here, but it is indeed quite rare to have, such as in Treasure Planet, a protagonist with a very personal, almost selfish compared to other movies, goal. Sure there’s the Flynt’s treasure hunt, but more than that, the journey is about giving Jim an opportunity to find himself, his place, and his dreams. More importantly, he finds a father/guiding figure in Silver in once again a very subtle way. Jim doesn’t need a new father, he needs someone who listens to him and gives him the tools to choose his destiny himself. That is greatly pictured at the end of the movie when Silver offers Jim to follow him in the pirate way, and Jim declines saying he has his own future now. He doesn’t reject the cyborg’s way of life, for he had learned a lot from it, he simply acknowledged the outcomes of his journey under the guidance of Silver. Through all of their adventures we see on plenty of occasions Silver teaching Jim things, and Jim trying, understanding, and then mixing those things with his own ways to create something greater, more efficient and deeply personal. This is an excellent way of depicting teaching, especially for older or young adult character growth. They are already their own person, they don’t need to be made or inherently changed; but they still need an adjusted guidance to unlock and thrive through their potential. Again, this is a good, nuanced message that the movie aced. 

That being said, I’d like to talk again about the overall aesthetic of the movie. I was, and still am in awe in front of the chara-designs and ambience. Creating an animation movie using space aesthetics was brilliant, and it’s a shame there’s still not a lot of movies doing so. I mean, the color palette, patterns and design possibilities are endless, some screenshots of the movie are my favorite of all time. Plus, I really liked the design of some planets, mixing steampunk and a more Alien-like vibe. As for the characters, it’s still funny how we feel like we know what they’re partly inspired by, but at the same time being completely clueless? Like, Captain Amelia is a cat-lady or something? The scary spider-thing man? The whole pirate crew? Each character is an alien for the other and the designs are really funny to watch. And can we please talk about the absolute snack that Jim is? We’re talking about one of my very first fictional crushes here, and I said what I said. The boy is more charming than 90% of the Disney princes who had come before him, I won’t change my mind. 

To sum this up, I think that the design team and artists really had fun creating this movie, and that even if the whole aesthetic failed to please the public, it’s still an excellent exercise of style for the artistic direction team.  

So now, where does all of that lead to? I’ll try to make a quick conclusion about all of that. Basically I think that this movie was released too soon. The message and execution were great, there were some good ideas, but I don’t think the public was ready or expecting that. Disney needed a new success, and it should have been something like a new Aladdin, or The Little Mermaid; something more traditional they knew would absolutely work. Instead the viewers were disappointed by the new movie and turned their back on a too unconventional movie. Should it have been released ten years after, I’m pretty sure Treasure Planet would have had a better 3D and a better, well-deserved success. And honestly, the fact that some movies with interesting, new designs and plots failed to be popular is a disappointment for both the viewers and Disney itself. For example, Atlantis shares a lot of similarities with Treasure Planet on this subject. Can we stop for a second and imagine what could have happened on a larger scale if both of those movies had been successes? The impact on the way female characters are written, or people of color representation (which Atlantis was a great precursor of)? On how a good animated movie doesn’t necessarily needs a love story or a kiss (Milo and Kida never kiss, nor do they declare their undying love, because they met 3 days ago for fuck’s sake. Yes Cinderella and Snow White, I’m looking at you); or the impact on characters and universes design? Imagine the potential of both of those movie aesthetics for Disney parks attractions? For merch? 

In the end, the appreciation of a movie, especially one produced by Disney that we certainly watched as a kid, is deeply personal; the success or lack of at the box-office doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad movie. A dozen parameters are to be accounted for to understand if, and why the movie had been a critical failure, including the general context of movies of the same type at the time, and a more large view of the company and expectations of both the producers and the public. So if one day you’re rewatching a movie you love that hadn’t been exactly welcomed at its time, think about it; maybe it’s a true gem, never understood by critics, maybe it had come out too soon or too late. Maybe some of the movies that are considered the greatest of all time now will never be heard of by our grandchildren. We never know what will be popular in pop-culture in a decade or two; so if you enjoy a movie nobody loves, it’s okay. You like it, no matter what the critics might be right now, it’s a comfort movie of yours. And no one can take that away.

(aesthetic is myine, I did it some years ago. Thought it was the right time to dig it from the depth of my files!)

If you want to debate about the movie, of movies critic in general do not hesitate to drop by in the comments or in DMs! I love talking with fellow movies nerds ♥