BEDA #17: Pixar

(Image via nymag.com)


Lately, I've been regressing into a childlike state. Until Oscar season hit, Wall-E was my favourite film of 2008 (I guess now it's my second favourite). I just loved it. So much so that I decided to write a dissertation on it. It's difficult to say where it all began, but I've definitely started something now.

I was always a big fan of stuffed toys. Maybe they were the best friends I had as a kid or something. My sister and I had so many that we used to play Animal Hospital with them--minus Rolf Harris. Ninety percent of our toys had the same ailment and the remedy was always a splint made from a pencil or an old lollipop stick. I was always the secretary, taking appointments and waiting for that big animal emergency - like the climactic accident that happens at the end of the penultimate episode of every episode of ER.

I was also a Disney kid. I watched Dumbo every day for a long spell (which I remember well), and cried at the end every day (which I do not recall). I then moved on to Beauty and the Beast. I had the notebook, pencil case, stationery set-- the works. After discarding my love for Disney films some time during primary school I began taking vocal lessons in high school. Part of Your World and Colours of the Wind were always the first that my voice partner chose, and she got me right back into the Disney tunes.

Later in high school I developed a love for theatre and drama was my favourite class. Singing didn't cling on so tight. Then, at uni, I moved on to film and theatre and musicals don't thrill me as much as they used to. But Disney stuck around in the oddest way-- through Pixar. (Oh, finally, she got on to talking about Pixar...)

All of the Pixar films have been my favourites since cel animation died. They hold the medium up to such an incredibly high standard that it's painful to see the crude digital rendering of Winnie the Pooh and kids shows that are computer animated just for the hell of it. It's a real art form and I hope it begins to get used in new ways - not just for children's films. It's a medium, not a genre, but so far that's what it has been treated as. I think interesting developments are on their way.

Today I listened to this great radio interview with Pete Docter and he expressed a lot of thoughts about exactly the things I've been writing about in my dissertation. Almost every Pixar animator I've seen or heard speak about their life have said, "and I didn't realise that I could make a living making animated films". Well, until today, I didn't realise that one can make a living advising the stories of animated films. I think it might be my dream job. I love stories and I love picking them apart to see how everything threads together. I love finding all the tiny subtle intricacies and signs that you don't notice the first time around - that are hidden until you go looking for them. That's the beauty of Wall-E. Amidst the silence there are literally millions of visual, aural and narrative clues to get you through. Combined with the animation itself, it's utterly breathtaking. I simply love it.

Next week I'm going to Half Cut Film Festival at St Andrews University, and they have two animators from Pixar as their judges panel. They're doing a panel talk and Q&A and I absolutely can't wait. A friend who's organising it said he might be able to introduce me to them-- not sure that it will pan out but... fingers crossed!

What were your favourite films as a kid? What's your favourite Disney tune?