It is another dazzling film from Pixar with Up. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard during an animated film but this one tugs at the heartstrings like no other. It is all good things – breathtaking animation, vibrant characters, risky storytelling on occasion. It is funny, joyous, sublime. Like other Pixar films, it makes you look differently at the world when you leave the theater. It will make you think twice before you resist the urge to honk at a slow moving or slow driving senior.¬† Maybe that doesn’t really matter to you now, but it will someday. What is becoming more and more obvious is that Pixar is the studio turning out the best films, animated or not.¬† And they almost always take you to a place where you think, “did they really just do that?” Still, it’s a running theme that their films are made by and written about male characters almost exclusively.¬† Does that matter? Political correctness shouldn’t be the primary motivator when it comes to art. On the other hand, maybe it is something worth talking about.
James Rocchi wrote that their female characters aren’t strong, and lamented their continual choice of male writers, male directors and thus, male characters.¬† In an article that declares The Incredibles and Up his two favorites, which is probably the hardest pill to swallow in his whole piece, nonetheless, Rocchi writes:
…Why can’t you guys seem to write strong female characters? With the notable exception of The Incredibles‘ Mrs. Incredible (who was voiced by Holly Hunter) and Violet (Sarah Vowell), your female characters are ether dead, irrelevant, under-written or absent. And all your directors are male, too. Both those things are going to change with your upcoming The Bear and the Bow — about a young woman in a fairy-tale take on Scotland, directed by Brenda Chapman — but you’ve got to do more than that – up the bench strength for women on both sides of the camera, with more opportunities for characters and more opportunities for female writers and directors.
It’s a wonder that there is a female-driven film at all on the horizon. Depending on how well it does will determine whether there are any films like these in the future.¬† Let’s face it, most films these days are aimed more at boys than at girls. The ones that are aimed at girls only make money in that “it’s a girl movie” way, like Twilight. Movies about boys are seen by boys and girls; movies about girls, it would seem, are only seen by girls. Anyway, I disagree with Rocchi idea that Pixar films don’t feature strong or well-written female characters. Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Ratatouille, Toy Story 2, and The Incredibles – all have great females in them. No, they’re not the center of the story but at least they are well-written.
As good as Up is, and it is very good, I think the talk of it being Pixar’s best has done it a bit of a disservice.¬† If you were someone who didn’t really like Wall-E that much, or maybe weren’t blown away by Ratatouille and/or Finding Nemo, you might be inclined to respond more passionately to Up.¬† But Wall-E set the bar very high and thus, if I were to rate these films, a sleazy act in itself, I would probably go:
1. Wall-E
2. Ratatouille
3. Finding Nemo
4. Up
5. Toy Story
6. Toy Story 2
7. The Incredibles
8. Cars
9. Monsters, Inc.
10. A Bug’s Life
For me, Wall-E is still the strongest Pixar film because it was something I’d never seen before. Up, while stunning in places, more of a tearjerker than any of them, and beautifully animated, was a great cinematic experience but I didn’t get the feeling it was something I’d never seen. Does it really matter what I think? No. I still think it will end up one of the best films of the year by a long way.