I’m one of those few who voted for Cars, even though I know that in this crowd it’s not very popular. I love the end lesson that having class is more important than winning. There’s a lot to like about all Pixar movies - I considered choosing the Incredibles or Finding Nemo - but in the end, the moral of the Cars story clinched it for me.
I will echo the love for the Incredibles, and the Jack-Jack Attack short, though. Another short that I loved the heck out of was “Presto”, which was attached to WALL-E.
I agree with the first half of what you said which is why I’m surprised by the second. The problem I’ve always had with The Incredibles is the distasteful moral of the story. That to me has always overwhelmed its admitted quality as a film.
In addition to the ones already mentioned, there was Alan Arkin in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Joe Morton in Brother From Another Planet, Jane Wyman and Rosanna Arquette in Johnny Belinda (the 1948 and 1982 versions). There was also Luc Besson’s The Last Battle which had virtually no dialogue.
What distasteful moral is that? That society should appreciate superior ability when it’s found rather than suppress it in order to make the less-accomplished feel good about themselves?
Even though I enjoyed all the other ones and have re-watched those more than UP!, it is the movie that caused the most emotional reaction out of all of them. Even writing about it, the scene with the last page of the book and the note she writes puts a lump in my throat. That and the end of the starting montage makes me sad.
My sentimental favorite is Up too. It did have the silly talking dogs, but the main story was compelling enough that I chose it as my personal favorite anyway. The movie just hits so many of my weak spots.
There’s the desire to fulfill youthful dreams in his trip to Venezuela, the fear of infertility, the loss of love, and the pain and loneliness of old age. It both confirms and refutes so much about old age in our society.
All the other Pixar movies were great too and the Incredibles would be very close second. Heck, I’d probably say that the Incredibles should logically be first since it was so tightly plotted, stylish, and all the other things everybody’s been saying about it. But I’m a sentimental fluffball at times and Up just wrings my tiny little heart.
I felt the movie was aimed more at the “superior” individuals rather than the society around them.
I once compared Ratatouille to The Incredibles. In Ratatouille, the message was “You’re as good as everyone else. Don’t let other people oppress you by claiming they’re better than you.” In The Incredibles, the message was “You’re better than everyone else. Don’t let other people oppress you by claiming they’re equal to you.”
To me, the lesson I take from The Incredibles is mostly “Don’t hide your light under a bushel or pretend to be something you’re not – be comfortable with what you really are.” Though I can certainly understand where Little Nemo is coming from. That’s why there were all those debates about whether the film was pushing an Ayn Randian POV. Brad Bird says that wasn’t intended, though, so I’m guessing he meant the message to be more benign, less go! go! ubermenschen! than it came across to many.
I agree with choie. Is it the dad who asks why Dash can’t be as good as he can be? I can see how Ratatouille is like The Incredibles, but to me, they both have the message of “chase your passions and do your best”. Also, I think with The Incredibles, I’m not saying this well, but…I think Dash is annoyed more because his being able to move fast isn’t seen as anything but something he has to hide and that it’s less about winning or showing off just how fast he is than that that part of him is allowed expression and growth. I like how it shows him and his dad playing catch because I figured he (and his dad) needed that outlet, to do what they’re able to do and have fun.
On the Ayn Rand thing - IIRC, there was a lot made out of Dash’s line about how everyone being special is just another way of saying no one is, but it’s totally something a world-weary, bitter, and cynical 10-yr old would say.
Aside from Elastigirl’s strangely distracting hip dimensions, Craig T. Nelson’s portrayal of Mr. Incredible was fantastic.
My favorite part of the movie is still the beginning, when Bob is struggling with normal life. When he freaks out in the driveway and lifts the car above his head, looks at the kid on the tricycle who’s bubble gum bubble pops, still cracks me up.
A great adult movie that the kids can enjoy.
IMO, the most over-rated is WALL-E.
ETA: I forgot about Monsters, Inc. If it weren’t for Billy Crystal, this would be one of my favorites, but his voice just goes through me like a piece of chalk on a blackboad.
I voted for “Cars” because of the casting. Richard Petty as The King, Paul Newman as the Hudson Hornet with cameos by Mario Andretti and Michael Schumacher, among other racing people. But all of these films have a lot to recommend them.
These two are my favorites as well though I would lean the other way and would give the Incredibles the edge.
Apart from the more mature storyline, the action scenes really stand out. Often the climactic action scene in a Pixar film is a bit of a disappointment and drags down the rest of the film, especially in Up and Wall-E. The Incredibles however has some amazing action scenes like Dash’s escape and the final battle with the robot.
So let me ask you something…was Michael Jordan a better basketball player than anyone else? Is Michael Phelps a better swimmer than anyone else? Was Albert Einstein smarter than the vast majority of people who’ve ever lived?
Some people ARE better at what they do than the average person.
But was society trying to stop Jordan or Phelps or Einstein from using their talents? They were all exhalted by society.
But the movie showed a different reality. In the movie only a handful of people were special - everyone else was not special. (Hence Dash’s complaint in the movie about the idea that saying everyone was special meant nobody was.) And there was a conflict between the specials and the non-specials. The non-specials used their numbers to force the specials down and the climax of the movie was the specials rising up and reasserting their superiority.
As choie wrote, the message was a little too much like “Go, go, ubermenschen!” for me.
Our culture exalts the talented…and then hovers like a vulture, waiting for the slightest sign of weakness so it can then tear them down. We love tearing down our idols.
I voted for Ratatouille. I love that movie, for me. It’s the one I will watch again and again, by myself. It’s quieter and softer than my very close second favorite, The Incredibles.
You’ll cry twice in Up. Once for the terrible, terrible sadness of a beautiful dream deferred, then for the utter, uncontrived joy of realizing the true happiness in real life.
The opening montage may come off as a little manipulative–it certainly pushes all the right buttons. The effective storytelling comes at the turning point of the film, however, when you realize that what you may have dismissed as cheap string-pulling is actually the foundation for the movie’s real meaning: high and low spots may be what stand out in our memory, but the texture of happiness is woven with the threads of the mundane.
I picked Finding Nemo. I really love all the Pixar movies and I own most of them. I still haven’t seen Up or Wall-E even though I’ve owned Wall-E for over a year now.
The reason I picked Finding Nemo was it was the first movie I actually wanted to see a second time. I’ve seen movies more than once before but while watching them I would be thinking, “Ok, I know what’s going to happen next.” It was Finding Nemo where I would think," Ok, I know what’s going to happen next and I can’t wait for it to happen and see it again."
