HOW Pixar CHANGED THE FACE OF ANIMATION
As Incredibles 2 sets new global records, how does Disney’s hit factory keep doing it?
I
ncredibles 2 opened in US cinemas a few weeks ago and made $182.7million in its first weekend – the best opening for an animated feature of all time. Before it has even reached UK cinemas, the sequel’s global box office has already surpassed the entire run of the original film in 2004. If proof was needed that the Pixar Studio is still on top of the world, the stunning success of Incredibles 2 is most definitely it. So, exactly how does Pixar do it?
TALKING TOYS
The Pixar story really begins in 1986, when then-apple boss Steve Jobs bought a majority shareholding in the company, which was created back in 1974, with the purpose of making the world’s first computer-animated film. Before this, animated movies were all meticulously hand-drawn by humans, which took years.
Jobs bought the Pixar business from Star Wars supremo George Lucas, and soon established a relationship with Disney, signing a deal to make three computergenerated films for them. The first product of this partnership in 1996 was a little gem about toys secretly living their own lives when their kiddie owners weren’t looking, with characters like Woody the cowboy and space toy Buzz Lightyear. The film’s computer-generated images looked dazzlingly colourful and almost magically lifelike. Critical acclaim was instant and massive, and Toy Story went on to make over $373million worldwide. It also utterly revolutionised big-screen animation forever.
THE BRAIN TRUST
That was just the start of a phenomenal run of hit animated films, with Toy Story followed by A Bug’s Life, followed by Monsters
Inc, Finding Nemo, and then the first Incredibles film in 2004. Other studios followed suit with their Cgi-animated efforts, but none matched Pixar’s stunning feat of mixing commercial and critical success, with hit after hit leading Disney to acquire the company outright in 2006, with Toy Story director John Lasseter as its chief creative officer. During those heady early days in the 1990s and 2000s, the
company invented a creative team they referred to internally as the “Pixar Brain Trust”, in which all directors, writers and senior artists at the studio had the chance to regularly check out each other’s projects and give advice. This unique model of a “filmmaker-driven studio” was the key to making sure Pixar movies had their own bold, visually stunning identity and kept its record of successes
bubbling along.
CARS & CO
The first Pixar film released after it was fully bought by Disney was Cars in 2006, which made a massive impact – but mainly in the world of merchandising. The toy cars based on those in the film ended up bringing in an estimated $10billion over the five years after the film’s release. If you’re wondering why there have already been two sequels to Cars – one of Pixar’s less acclaimed efforts – the merchandise is the answer. But if this franchise is the studio’s most nakedly money-making effort, Pixar is still at the absolute cutting edge of creativity when it comes to animated movies, with the likes of Up, Wall-e, Inside Out and last year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar-winner Coco all building on Pixar’s record of excellence.
But, after 20 feature films and 19 Oscars, Pixar perhaps faces its biggest challenge now, with its creative force John Lasseter leaving the company at the end of this year, after allegations of inappropriate behaviour from colleagues. So, while
Incredibles 2 could end up its biggest hit yet, and with
Toy Story 4 due next year, it remains to be seen if the Pixar brilliance can keep on going.
Incredibles 2 opens in cinemas on 13 July