Elemental (Pixar - June 2023)

dreday3

Well-Known Member
Let’s just not get into that and focus on the business side of it. These decisions are costing them a lot of money and either they’re too stupid to realize it or have some sort of God complex.

You can't separate it.

If people quit their incessant complaining and protesting about people's choices, then people won't feel the need to announce their choices just to be heard because they will be accepted and heard already.
Everyone will just be who they are without needing to defend themselves.

Then everyone can just shut up, my god, shut up!!! 😂
 
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WorldExplorer

Well-Known Member
That's the frustrating part, to me. It was rendered beautifully. The concept wasn't bad. It could have been a really great movie. Plenty of story elements worked. This wasn't a Good Dinosaur train wreak. It could have been way better than it was without a lot of changes.

There is this great interview with Ed Catmull from 2008 taking about how Pixar handled their creative process in those days.

It feels like something significant has changed from that process for them to be making the movies they are these days and having seen Luck, I don't think it's just the absence of John Lasater.

I don't know what it is but I hope they figure it out.

It's been a long time since I've really paid attention, but from what I remember, a lot of the string of "WOW" Pixar hits had the same five or six guys playing huge roles in the films. People point to Lasseter all the time, but there was also Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Brad Bird (and probably others I'm forgetting). Even Lee Unkrich, creator of Coco (the last good one, as far as I'm concerned) was having a big say in films as early as Toy Story 2. The most positively recieved before that was probably Inside Out, which was, again, Docter.

It's possible that the people they have now just...aren't as good.

There was a period where they seemed to be trying to get new talent, like four films in a row had directors that had never directed a full film there and they were all kicked out mid-film (*Points to Sohn taking over Good Dinosaur*). Pixar was never the same since then.

Of course, Docter made Soul, which I maintain was mediocre, so maybe they've all lost touch anyway.

(Stanton was open about Finding Dory being for money.)
 
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MrPromey

Well-Known Member
Who the heck cares!!!! Would anyone even have known that if the voice actress wasn't excited and didn't tweet that?

Are you all that scared of the term non-binary that if a character that is literally water doesn't identify as male or female it will stop you from seeing the movie?

HIDE THE CHILDREN!!!
An apparently female character introduces the other character as their girlfriend. It was pretty hard to miss.

It wasn't anything pearl-clutching to me but they take a beat to point it out (and then you never see those characters again, that I can recall) so anyone who sees the movie will know it.
 

MrPromey

Well-Known Member
For those comparing this to "The Good Dinosaur", adjusted for inflation, that movie's opening weekend (FSS) was roughly $50M compared to the current forecast of Elemental being around $30M or 40% less.
To be fair, that was when people expected Pixar to be the pinnacle of animated theatrical fare.

I mean, I knew about the troubled history of production on The Good Dinosaur and still expected it to be good anyway because - Pixar.

I think at this point, they've lost that auto must-see appeal for a lot of people.

Their competition has gotten stronger, too.
 
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Indy_UK

Well-Known Member
I think people have moved on from Pixar. For me Coco and Toy Story 4 were the last ones that had fun in them. Even Disney animation films don’t seem to push an agenda or be more serious compared to Pixar
 

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
Also to add, for the record this is nothing like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Like not even remotely. Don’t feel like going into spoilers but the dynamics that make Guess interesting aren’t even at play here. Disappointingly shallow is how I would describe the metaphor the filmmakers are trying to get across.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
I think Brave also gets better on re-watch. I absolutely love that movie now.
See I think Brave is easily the most overrated Pixar film and is only really above the dregs of Pixar.

Edit: just to say though that even “bad” Pixar films are pretty decent and watchable. Maybe The Good Dinosaur being the exception
 
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doctornick

Well-Known Member
not yet



it's mostly this... BUT part of the issue is that films make slightly less now than they did pre-pandemic. consumer interest and market dynamics have just changed due to streaming. Disney's main issue is mediocre product quality and brand fatigue/disillusionment... but for the market as a whole, theatres aren't what they were in 2018–2019.. nothing really is
I do think there’s a particularly adverse effect from streaming for family films because it is that much more expensive to bring multiple family members. And yes I know Mario but there’s always exceptions to any rule. Furthermore Disney particularly is hurt from this due to high D+ subscriber numbers compared to the likes of Peacock and furthermore D+ seems to have particularly high penetration among families with children.
 

MoonRakerSCM

Well-Known Member
For those comparing this to "The Good Dinosaur", adjusted for inflation, that movie's opening weekend (FSS) was roughly $50M compared to the current forecast of Elemental being around $30M or 40% less.
Good Dinosaur came out when there was peak faith in the Pixar brand... as with Marvel, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation... and now Pixar... public faith in their product has plummeted.
 

TsWade2

Well-Known Member
Good Dinosaur came out when there was peak faith in the Pixar brand... as with Marvel, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation... and now Pixar... public faith in their product has plummeted.
Please don't go there! You're making me concern for Disney. And I'm trying to avoid saying it's the end of Disney, because I know it's not the end of Disney.
 

BlakeW39

Well-Known Member
Please don't go there! You're making me concern for Disney. And I'm trying to avoid saying it's the end of Disney, because I know it's not the end of Disney.

hahah

Disney ain't goin nowhere bro. That's one thing you 1000000% do not have to worry about
 

TsWade2

Well-Known Member
hahah

Disney ain't goin nowhere bro. That's one thing you 1000000% do not have to worry about
I know that. I‘m just trying to avoid of saying it’s the end of Disney, because it drives you guys crazy. I wish I can find a way to let me know that Disney is not going away.
 

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