Disney Pixar's Cars

[PixarVixen]

"The reason Pixar movies are so much better than everyone else's is because they know that they're not just entertaining a bunch of stupid kids - their stories are always so awesome."

That's one thing about Brad Bird that I love that I have to bring up now that you've said that. His view on animation is that it isn't a genre. Most people assume animation is just a type of entertainment for kids, but it doesn't have to be. People of all ages can enjoy it. I think The Simpsons is a perfect example of that, but let's not get into that right now. Heh. But anyway, Pixar is doing a great job of achieving this effect in their movies. Kids love them and adults get a kick out of them too.

Oh btw, how does the animation fare compared to other Pixar films? Animation-wise I think Finding Nemo still holds the title but Cars looks even better from what I've seen.

The animation was top-notch. I know that Pixar had to study car movements very well, and they got it down to an art (pun intended). It's kinda hard to compare Cars' animation to that of Pixar's other films because the cars move so differently. Personally, I like seeing a character moving it's arms and legs around, but it was cool to see something unique like Cars.

And Meg, I wish I had an audience like yours yesterday because mine was lame. Most of the time, the only reaction I heard to anything was this little girl that kept asking what happened and her parents trying to hush her up, which didn't work. Uggh.

And yes, Mac! I was very excited about that little thing you mentioned at the end. If only they could've used everything they've done up to this point in it.

And...I love Larry the Cable Guy! He doesn't annoy me at all. ^__~

And...and...now I will shut up.

~~=oP

[PixarVixen]

Ehh...It's still just a tad too big in my opinion. I think yours is a little taller than it should be, but that's not up to me to decide.

Good work to you guys and to Mick for writing the whole dang thing up.

Thank you very much! I don't think I'll ever get the chance to do something like that again. And good job to everyone else who worked on the story!

~~=oP

[PixarVixen]

OH MY GOD! Mom came home with Cars McDonalds toys today! I had heard that Disney wasn't going to be associated with fast food anymore, so I'm surprised.

The characters they have toys of are Lightning, Mater, Doc, Sally, Luigi, Ramone, Flo, and Fillmore. Too bad they don't have Guido.

~~=oP

[Meg]

I agree with Mac about the Bug's Life thing. I was so happy.

Chernabog - Cars has the best CGI animation I've seen in a movie. Ever. Like I said before, I thought some of the shots I saw on T.V. were real until I actually saw the movie.

[Josh]

Update!

Here are some more photos from the Cars premiere, taken during the early afternoon. Now, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that the images shown in this message are rather small, due to storage reasons.

And the good news is... found after these pics.

Press pass:


Entering Lowe's Motor Speedway (1) [colors bleached due to windshield]:


Entering Lowe's Motor Speedway (2) [colors bleached due to windshield]:


Outside the stadium:


Entrance/exit and ticket booth:


Construction (1):


Construction (2):


Construction (3):


Smaller digital monitor:


Construction (4):


Stadium banners:


Bleachers, including digital projection booth:


Conference rooms:


Bleachers, including digital projection booths:


Cars promotional race cars (1):


Cars promotional race cars (2):


Cars promotional race cars (3):


Cars promotional race cars (4):


Cars promotional race cars (5):


Cars Road Trip '06 Mack truck:


Gates in front of the stadium, near red carpet area:


Red carpet row - without the red carpet:


Background of red carpet row:


News outlet area, lining red carpet:


Media/fan bleachers, lining red carpet:


Before rain:


During rain (1):


During rain (2):


During rain (3):



Okay, now for the good news - really...

Larger versions of the images, as well as the photos Brandon and PixarVixen took, are now conveniently displayed at Webshots. At the site, three albums present most of the 86 pictures in chronological order, with the categories being "Afternoon," "Red Carpet," and "Evening."

The address is: http://community.webshots.com/user/Animated_News.

I also want to point out these pages at eBay. They contain random but somewhat interesting items from the Cars premiere:
• http://tinyurl.com/l6ce9
• http://tinyurl.com/gqs5j
• http://tinyurl.com/gc8o2

Good work to you guys and to Mick for writing the whole dang thing up.

And good job to everyone else who worked on the story!

Thank you very much, Ben. The compliment is appreciated. Likewise, thank you, PixarVixen, for your kind words and for providing some great assistance with the piece.

Of course, I also want to thank you, Brandon. Couldn't have done the job without you.

[ShyViolet]

I haven't seen it yet..will soon.

I'm looking foward to that ending with John Ratzenberger....even though it has...dare I say it..."in jokes"??? (I'm glad they had Bug's Life in there.)

Just the designs have me excited. I always loved hotwheels and legos as a kid...one of the reasons I thought Robots was so awesome-looking.

A lot of reviews say that John Lassetter sweetly idolizes and romanticizes Route 66 (the original title). Route 66 was the road that so many people back in the day (20s, 30s and 40s I guess) took to get to the West and "make it." I like how they painstakingly re-created a lot of it as it IS a piece of history. The images themselves are awesome.

But there's something I just have to add:

I personally think JL should watch another movie: The Grapes of Wrath. (1940) directed by John Ford. (based on the classic book)

Route 66 was the route that poor farmers and migrant workers took during the Dust Bowl to get to California. The Dust Bowl and the Depression killed everything they had, so they went West, the land of sunshine and oranges.

Many of them never even made it.

Route 66 was where they died of disease, malnutition, unemployment, poverty. They could barely afford gas and food and were often ripped off by people along the Route diners and gas stations.

I'm think it's cool to appreciate old Americana and everything, but considering the rose-colored glasses that Pixar stories ask us to look through with every story (no villains and all) they don't need to extend that to history, either.

I'm sorry if this comes across as mean....hey, to even things up I'll say:

I didn't like how DreamWorks cut many important aspects from the Ten Commandments and made it more about Moses than about G-d saving the Israelites. (That's the essense of what made the Charlton Heston film great and what made POE merely good.) Considering how much hype was behind this film....it feels kinda like a betrayal.

There were jokes in Shrek and Shrek 2 that I DEFINTELY could have done without. Too...much...vulgarity. There are children in the audience here...please!

I think Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron should have had more intense scenes. Some of the drama does fall flat because of this.

Most of all, and I know they did it because of the political/social climate, I don't really like how they mostly eliminated Muslim/Arab culture from Sinbad...especially since Sinbad comes from the ARABIAN Nights Tales!



Well, that's all I'll say for now.

[Gooch]

Just got back from the theater. I don't think many ppl here would be annoyed by Larry The Cable Guy voicing Mater as they don't really know who he is. I personally like Mater the most, but to be honest, I wasn't touched by any scene in the movie. This movie has fantastic animation. The characters are so life-like and convincing (not to mention the scenery!), but I just don't feel engaged with the story. It's a little bit formulaic especially toward the end.

And yes, the NASCAR thing bothers me too. It's still an entertaining movie, but it's not a classic like The Incredibles, Toy Story 2. I feel it's a little "Dreamwork-y" to me while Over the Hedge is a little "Pixar-y" (story-wise). Sadly to say, this is the first time I enjoy a Dreamwork animation better than Pixar. (though I am pretty sure Pixar's Rataouille would be excellent since they got BRAD BIRD!!! )

[Meg]

Ah well...To each their won, I guess.

I'm think it's cool to appreciate old Americana and everything, but considering the rose-colored glasses that Pixar stories ask us to look through with every story (no villains and all) they don't need to extend that to history, either.

So...You're saying that the film should have focused more on the death and destruction that happened along Route 66.

And suddenly Hopper, Randall, Syndrome, Sid, Al, Mr. Waternoose, and the Prospector AREN'T bad guys?!?!?

[ShyViolet]

So...You're saying that the film should have focused more on the death and destruction that happened along Route 66.

Well, no...just that I don't know how appropriate it is as a topic in the first place.

nd suddenly Hopper, Randall, Syndrome, Sid, Al, Mr. Waternoose, and the Prospector AREN'T bad guys?!?!?

Of course they're bad guys but ask yourself this:

Have any of them ever had to grapple with being passed over for King because of their nephew?

Have any of them ever had to struggle with their hatred of a people combined with a consuming lust for one of them?

Have any of them ever had to decide between losing a brother with losing their crown and empire?


What I'm saying is that although the Pixar villains are definetely villains and cool in their own way, they don't have a lot of range or complexity. Which basically narrows the Pixar "world"...yes, there is good and evil but sort of like the good and evil in old black and white films with the villain who twirls his mustache...the bad guy is the bad guy and the good guy is the good guy...HOWEVER, the bad guy is only as "bad" as a family-friendly, Disney afternoon movie like the Apple Dumpling Gang or The Love Bug would allow him to be. Nothing more. (Walt thrilled his audiences by showcasing REAL villains in his films, such as the Stagecoach master who kidnaps the children to Pleasure Island.)

Randall is evil but somewhat incompetent, even Mr. Waternoose isn't totally "evil", just misguided. Syndrome is perhaps the exception to this (with Bird influence and all) but as it's been pointed out before we never really see him hurting civilians directly, (hey, he even helps one of them) and even when he kidnaps Jack-Jack the suspense is very short lived--Jack-Jack kicks his a** with no problem at all. Even the somewhat more sinister and Predatory Hopper (KUDOS to Kevin Spacey) is a coward at heart, and too stupid to discern between a real bird and a fake one. His end is much more comical than haunting, as say, Scar's attack by the Heyenas.

Al the toy man is, like Hopper, dumb, selfish, bumbling, one-dimensional--definetely more comic relief than a villain. I guess you could say his greed makes him evil, but then he's a collector and collectors tend to want a lot of stuff. By that logic, the Simpson's Comic Book Guy would be a villain too.

The Prospector--misguided, desperate, wants to force Jessie and Woody to go to Japan. Hmmm....evil? Ends up being owned by a "creative" little girl. (Well, wasn't being owned as a toy what he'd always wanted anyway?)


Sid is a twelve year old child that likes to make things explode and break toys. Uh, a villain? Doesn't every 12 year old like to do things like this? It's not like he knows the toys are alive. Yeah, he aggravates his sister, but, then, who doesn't? Maybe if we saw him being mean to Andy there would be more drama, but that would probably have been too dark for Pixar. I'm not saying this to be glib--just that well, yeah, it would have been too dark.

Pixar films are good and fun. They just need, at this point, a little something extra. They are very smart guys and I'm sure they're more than capable of this. I think the real issue is that they just don't particularly like having dark issues in their films. It's just how it seems to me--it's been eleven years now, and seven films, so I think that's enough to make some kind of judgement.
But hopefully, they will be willing to change.

Ah well...To each their won, I guess.

I agree...to each their "won." (Just kidding.

)

[ShyViolet]

From a Rotten Tomatoes review:

Yep, here I am, complaining that a movie is merely "good" instead of "mind-blowingly awesome." But hey, Pixar set the bar. Maybe they should take Dreamworks' cue and make a few lousy movies now and then, just to make the good ones seem better.

Sub-vaudeville gags with weak payoffs and rudderless execution are the things one would rightly expect from a DreamWorks flick--pity that their strain of high-concept lack of inspiration seems to respect no host.

Yeah, you keep right on thinking that.

[Ben]

Animated Guy...your sig is still a little on the large side. Not big, but pushing it a bit. Check out the sizes of the other sigs here and please reduce a little more. THANKS!

[James]

Route 66 was the route that poor farmers and migrant workers took during the Dust Bowl to get to California. The Dust Bowl and the Depression killed everything they had, so they went West, the land of sunshine and oranges.

Many of them never even made it.

Route 66 was where they died of disease, malnutition, unemployment, poverty. They could barely afford gas and food and were often ripped off by people along the Route diners and gas stations.

I'm think it's cool to appreciate old Americana and everything, but considering the rose-colored glasses that Pixar stories ask us to look through with every story (no villains and all) they don't need to extend that to history, either.

Wow, you must be really desperate this time!

How about this. Lots of people have been killed by sharks and drowned in the ocean. Some were poor fisherman just trying to make a living. I can't believe DreamWorks glossed over this in Shark Tale.

Sounds ridiculous huh?

On top of that, I think you're looking at the history of Route 66 with some pretty bleak-colored glasses. Just because a fictional novel painted a bleary picture of the road, does not mean that was the actual reality for a great majority.

[PixarVixen]

Here's some early Cars Christmas news for all you collectors. Hallmark has a Lightning and Mater ornament set coming out this year. They're individual ornaments that come together. Veery nice if I must say so.

And the woman at the counter told me that for some reason, certain ornanments are ALREADY hard to find. I don't see how that can be with it only being June, but she must know better than me. LOL So if you really really want these, keep a lookout for them.

~~=oP

[animated_guy]

sorry 'bout that.
just shrunk it again.
hope this one is okay.
~a-G

[animated_guy]

According to the box office mojo cars made an outstanding $62,800,000 this weekend. this is not the final weekend number though. more money still needs to be added to the final amount.
well this is very good news over here! wooo go cars!!!
~a-G