Comments | nut_meggers: *steps onto 3d soapbox*

nut_meggers

steps onto 3d soapbox

Oct 03, 2006 22:44

Saw Open Season today. It has driven me to make a huge-ass post. So please, feel free to come along with me, if only to look at the pretty pictures I"ll be posting. :)

( why story is KING and why Pixar rules the CG world )

animation

Comments 11

moondroplette October 4 2006, 06:14:28 UTC

Over the Hedge is the only recent non-Pixar animated thing I've been to see, and I think it set the precedent for me in avoiding similar in the future. I ended up seeing Cars not long afterward, and it just served to heighten the difference in, well, everything. I mean, Pixar just blows the competition away. Honestly, even Happy Feet (despite cheerful penguins) isn't really thrilling me, because it does little more for me than I already get from a holiday Coke commercial. Plus, I think Robin Williams is winding down as one of the better voice talents, because his mania feels (to me) less honed these days, and more just...trying hard. But, that's just me.

Anyway, I'm waiting for Rapunzel now. We've got, what? 3 more years?

nut_meggers October 4 2006, 06:35:39 UTC

Cars was such a disappointment for me. The characterization wasn't the caliber of Pixar's past. And I wasn't too fond of the character designs. Over the Edge had a better story going for it, with a real comic as its source, and Steve Carell is an awesome voice. Happy Feet is like basically everything else (enough with the animals, especially penguins, already). I'm just curious what Warner Bros. has to offer, not being one of the big whigs. And yes, Robin is becoming old hat and possibly burnt out, but it's that *particular* voice (latin mishmash) he's using that I love. He throws it in in almost all of his roles and it always cracks me up.

Rapunzel, I'm not so sure. Yes, it's directed by Glen Keane, but the art I've seen so far have me deflated. Another shiny Barbie-like girl. I read that Lasseter gave Glen the option of making it into a 2D movie when he took over as head of animation, but Glen stuck with 3D since it's what he's been planning for. I love that man, but I'm not so sure he'll succeed in 3D. What I wouldn't give to ( ... )

moondroplette October 4 2006, 12:54:52 UTC

Well, I don't know. On a point by point analysis, I think Over the Hedge does come across looking like a superior film: it did have a technically better-plotted story, Hammy certainly won the audience over on the hysterical-yet-endearing character scale, and even the animation got points because I was stunned just staring at everyone's *fur* during the first five minutes ( ... )

nut_meggers October 5 2006, 03:57:06 UTC

I don't feel Over the Hedge *looks* like the superior film. Pixar still upheld its gorgeous sense of color staging, it's just the character design wasn't too my liking. There are some fantastic old Disney shorts that push and pull cars in much more interesting ways than Cars did (Susie the Little Blue Coop that inspired Cars). And OtH still suffered from the overly saturated-all-the-time color palette I was griping about early. Nothing really refined design-wise. The humor was still a little dumbed-down, but I found myself laughing in parts (although most may be attributed to voice talent). And you know how I felt about its UGLY human characters. I love Allison Janney, but her character was so grating on my nerves, I couldn't wait for her to get offscreen. Whoever wrote her dialogue should be shot.

With Cars, I judge it harder because Pixar has set the bar so high with past movies. I first saw it with my sister and we kept looking at each other for reassurance that it was going to get better, that the Pixar magic was going to kick ( ... )

Thread 7

armelisediva October 4 2006, 12:26:48 UTC

wow. lots of pretty pictures. :P and some very technical CG terms thrown in there.
see? you are loved. people are reading.

today is the day. *cymbals crash* genetics exam... here i come...

nut_meggers October 5 2006, 04:00:15 UTC

technical? ha, it's painful to read this now because it was obvious i wrote it late at night and not quite awake. it takes me like 3 sentences to describe anything.

BANG

CLASH

test is over!!!

FWOONGGGGG (that was the gong)

gaityr October 4 2006, 14:45:49 UTC

Wow, that was an incredible post. very insightful - I hardly think about ANY of these things (I'm such a pleb, you see) when I watch animated movies. But I take all your points and more. I've always agreed that Pixar is KING and that's because its stories trump just about every thing else out there. But now you've convinced me that animation-wise, they're head and shoulders above their nearest competition too. Not that I didn't think this before - I did, but you SHOWED me. ;)

So no to Open Season? Blah. I was going to go watch that, if I could. Too bad! =(

nut_meggers October 5 2006, 04:13:35 UTC

ha, sorry. it's been building up for quite some time. it's so frustrating when anything is not living up to its potential. and a lot of these things (like color) can be applied to any live action movie. sometimes these subtle things like lighting and color can make a great movie INCREDIBL, you know?

I certainly hope Pixar brings the amazing back. I wasn't too impressed with Cars and look more forward to Brad Bird's next big thing. And yes, like the golden age of Disney, Story is the foundation and driving force behind every little thing. I think a lot of why The Incredibles move so well is because Brad Bird brought over his entire 2D animation team who had never really done any 3D work. So I think they brought a fresh look on 3D animation, because they weren't really familiar with the programs and weren't thinking of whether or not the program could do it. Not sure if that makes sense, it was my long class day that was more tedious than usual. Anyway. Yeah. Pixar rox ( ... )