"Cars" - better every time

[Brad Johnson]

I am a dedicated Pixar fan - I think these folks are pathologically incapable of making a bad movie.  I was hooked from the first frame of Toy Story and my enthusiasm hasn't waned a single iota since.  They make movies like folks who actually care about their product, and it shows.

One thing I've noticed with their last three offerings is the ever-more-complex layering of visual references and story levels.  I suppose it is a natural progression given their evolving cinematic sophistication.  I think it actually began with Jesse's Song sung by Sarah McLachlan in Toy Story 2.  I remember the emotional impact being both immediate and intense, so much so that it took me a while to go a see it again for fear of breaking down in the theater.  No guy wants to admit that a mere song will reduce him to tears.  Still does, by the way, every time I watch it.

I really began noticing the growing complexity with Nemo which, in all honesty, I found entertaining but not overtly "Great!" on my first viewing.  However, many viewings later I find myself thoroughly immersed in the world it creates.  Even though I've probably seen it, oh, forty or fifty times, I still pull the DVD out on occasion, usually picking up yet another little aspect I didn't see before.  The same went for Incredibles, which I've watched so often I could probably recite it from memory.

Cars, however, brings that layering and complexity to a whole new level, at least for me.  The premise appeals in a very personal way having watched my small home town slowly wither away over the last 40 years, and having each and every character remind me of people I still call close friends.  Heck, some I even call family.

I find a special connection in the Brad Paisley song "Find Yourself", the lyrics being poignantly familiar - "When you find yourself, in some far off place, and it causes you, to rethink some things...".  Seven years of a rotten marriage ending in a nasty divorce took it's toll on me both physically and emotionally.  The best description I have for my condition at the time was 'soulless shell'.  I was about as bottomed-out as you can get.  Not suicide-bottom, mind you, just turned inward to the point that I didn't give a crap.  I have pictures of myself from those years and it's like staring into the lifeless eyes of a mannequin.  I went through the motions of life without really paying attention.  I was on autopilot.  Then one day something happened that caused me to stop and blink. And I mean 'blink' in the literal sense - like a zoned-out druggy who been thumped squarely between the eyes, flinch and all.  It was akin to a veil being pulled aside, revealing the world behind it.  It did a lot of rethinking that day, and in the many years since.  The words of the song mean a lot to me because, well... because I've been there.

I find myself watching the movie constantly, usually when I'm up late at night and the only thing on TV is Discovery Channel reruns.  That time when all is quiet and I don't have to worry about the phone ringing or a neighbor stopping by to chat.  Just me and the cats curled up in the easy chair.  I kick on the movie and let my mind wander, drinking in all the subtle essence woven into the background of the visuals and, more important to me, the story.

Strangely enough I didn't watch the behind-the-scenes until I'd see the movie at least a dozen times.  I say "strangely enough" because that's normally the first thing I watch.  For some odd reason I didn't with Cars.  Flat didn't think about it until late one night when I couldn't sleep.  The little "Inspiration for Cars" short isn't much, about fifteen minutes if memory serves, but watching it gave the movie an entirely new and even more personal meaning.  I found myself openly weeping after watching it, thinking about my own family and my old friends, all struggling to maintain a sense of community in a town the rest of the world has simply written off and forgotten.  Subtleties within the movie that had been noticed but not noted suddenly gained visceral impact, and I found levels within levels I didn't even realize existed.  Every time I watch it I discover more.

Why am I posting this?  Dunno.  It's quiet here today and gave me some time to be introspective.  A bit of soul-baring is good for the disposition, I suppose.  Helps clear the windshield and fill the tank, metaphorically speaking.

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

Brad, let me see if I can put this diplomatically.  Know how you want to be a Great Man?  Great men don't blubber over cartoon movies about cute talking cars. 

They might cry over the death of Spock in Episode II, like I did.  That's different. 

[Manedwolf]

Brad, let me see if I can put this diplomatically.  Know how you want to be a Great Man?  Great men don't blubber over cartoon movies about cute talking cars. 

They might cry over the death of Spock in Episode II, like I did.  That's different. 

I think animated NASCAR is still more manly than Star Trek. 

And Cars did have a really nice "fading Americana" subtext to it.

[zahc]

I'm still waiting for the masses to tire of anthropomorphism, and american companies to put out serious animated movies. Perhaps I'm a fan of The Incredibles because it features human characters. I'm forced to look to japan for my modern animation.

[crt360]

They might cry over the death of Spock in Episode II, like I did.  That's different. 

Spock died?

[AJ Dual]

I'm just happy they were willing to be so un-PC as to paint the "ricers" as a bunch of juvenile delinquents. 

Although the movie really does work in a strange way. For Americans, when out in public, we sort of are our cars. They're the public face we show the world as we go about our business on the roads.

[grislyatoms]

I'm a big Pixar fan too. I liked all of them, however "Bug's Life" fell a little flat, IMO.

My favorite is probably "The Incredibles".

"I'm just happy they were willing to be so un-PC as to paint the "ricers" as a bunch of juvenile delinquents." That was great, wasn't it?

"I'm still waiting for the masses to tire of anthropomorphism" You'll be waiting a long time.

[RocketMan]

The "Ice Age" movies were fun, along with "Antz" and "Monsters, Inc."  There are a bunch of good CGA cartoons these days.

I wonder if a studio could make new Looney Tunes cartoons in CGA in todays PC environment?  Could they get away with it?  Would that be cool, or what!

[Sergeant Bob]

They might cry over the death of Spock in Episode II, like I did.  That's different. 

Spock died?

Aww, don't worry, he came back to life!

[Manedwolf]

The "Ice Age" movies were fun, along with "Antz" and "Monsters, Inc."  There are a bunch of good CGA cartoons these days.

I wonder if a studio could make new Looney Tunes cartoons in CGA in todays PC environment?  Could they get away with it?  Would that be cool, or what!

Two words.

Space Jam.

Warner is the definition of cheap whoring of their properties.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm still waiting for the masses to tire of anthropomorphism, and american companies to put out serious animated movies. Perhaps I'm a fan of The Incredibles because it features human characters. I'm forced to look to japan for my modern animation.

I'm not sure why, but I really hate the anime phenomenon.  I'm sure there's some out there I would like, but overall, I don't see much good animated stuff coming out of Japan.

[zahc]

Neither do I.

[Matthew Carberry]

I'm still waiting for the masses to tire of anthropomorphism, and american companies to put out serious animated movies. Perhaps I'm a fan of The Incredibles because it features human characters. I'm forced to look to japan for my modern animation.

I'm not sure why, but I really hate the anime phenomenon.  I'm sure there's some out there I would like, but overall, I don't see much good animated stuff coming out of Japan.

The problem is, you just don't "get it".  The tentacles, the androgeny, the rape...  

[Manedwolf]

I'm still waiting for the masses to tire of anthropomorphism, and american companies to put out serious animated movies. Perhaps I'm a fan of The Incredibles because it features human characters. I'm forced to look to japan for my modern animation.

I'm not sure why, but I really hate the anime phenomenon.  I'm sure there's some out there I would like, but overall, I don't see much good animated stuff coming out of Japan.

The problem is, you just don't "get it".  The tentacles, the androgeny, the rape...   

I have not seen any of that sort of thing in the works of Haiyo Miyazaki.

Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, and Princess Mononoke? Films that are FILMS, and actually slow the hell down to let you admire the artistry? He's also done an adaptation of the EarthSea books that'll be out soon.

Or, let's see, the Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex series, a superb ensemble police drama set in a futuristic dystopia? The last part of the second season had some of the best suspense, political games and international nuclear brinkmanship I've ever seen, with UN weapons inspectors being used as pawns in a plot to deal with a refugee area, and a truly scary first-hand view of what a Tomahawk missile attack on an urban area would look like, if you were in the urban area watching the things go by to hit their targets. Plus an incredible scene of "This is how wars start", with a standoff on a bridge, and one overeager protestor firing the first shot from a now "old" HK rifle at the position-holding troops.

There's a lot of good stuff, if you look.

[zahc]

I don't suppose I need to mention Cowboy Bepop. Cowboy Bebop is so amazing, it doesn't belong in this thread.

[Matthew Carberry]

Maned, I was kind of joking.

But, remember, the stuff we see coming out of Japan is, in many cases, the cream of the crop in terms of quality and accessibility.  Sturgeon's Law is equally valid in kanji.

It is no more just nor correct to point to that 10% and use it to bolster a claim that Japanimation is "better" than American than to do the reverse in terms of, say, pop music. 

[MechAg94]

I liked the old Robotech stuff, but that was more liking the SciFi rather than the cartoon itself.  I read the books also.    Personally, I think animation works better when it has a bit of unreality to it like the SciFi or talking animals.  When it gets too real life, it is just creepy.   

[Manedwolf]

I liked the old Robotech stuff, but that was more liking the SciFi rather than the cartoon itself.  I read the books also.    Personally, I think animation works better when it has a bit of unreality to it like the SciFi or talking animals.  When it gets too real life, it is just creepy.   

Now, I considered that series to be badly drawn and horrible, but what you're talking about as a real phenomenon. It's call the Uncanny Valley by animators.

It refers to a point between simulated realism and indistinguishable reality that causes revulsion. A good example would be those creepy investment commercials with the illustrated, animated people, or the movie "Polar Express" with its mannequin Tom Hanks.

Simulated reality of humans and animals inspires "That's neat!" up to that one point. Then there's a gulf at which it's too real but not real enough, when the unreal faces and mannequin bodies scare people instead, and then you arrive at that which is unable to be distinguished from reality.

Since we can't quite do the latter, yet, they're hanging back just before the valley until they can make perfect reality.

[zahc]

Since we can't quite do the latter, yet, they're hanging back just before the valley until they can make perfect reality.

Have you seen FFVII: Advent Children? The movie is horrible, truly so, but the animation must be seen. I still remember being about halfway through the credits, where cloud is riding the motorcycle around, and coming to the realization that that, too, was CGI. I had thought it was live action.

The biggest problem I still see with CGI is dubbing. They always look overdubbed (which of course, they are).

[Manedwolf]

Since we can't quite do the latter, yet, they're hanging back just before the valley until they can make perfect reality.

Have you seen FFVII: Advent Children? The movie is horrible, truly so, but the animation must be seen. I still remember being about halfway through the credits, where cloud is riding the motorcycle around, and coming to the realization that that, too, was CGI. I had thought it was live action.

The biggest problem I still see with CGI is dubbing. They always look overdubbed (which of course, they are).

No, I was scared off by its horrible predecessor with a deus ex machina plot out of some healing-crystal-wearing leftist's fantasy, not to mention the fact that they forgot to include a breathe cycle for the characters.

[zahc]

Are you considering Spirits Within as this 'predecessor'?

[RocketMan]

Two words.

Space Jam.

Warner is the definition of cheap whoring of their properties.

You're right, Maned, that was pretty bad.  That's probably why I did not remember it.
I was thinking more along the lines of Chuck Jones inspired Saturday morning shorts, though.  I should have been more specific in my post.
Some of that stuff was really fun.  I wonder if they would get away with it in today's oppressive PC climate.

[Perd Hapley]

I would consider Spirits Within as the worst film ever made by a major studio, except that John Q and Timecop might actually be worse. 

[Manedwolf]

Two words.

Space Jam.

Warner is the definition of cheap whoring of their properties.

You're right, Maned, that was pretty bad.  That's probably why I did not remember it.
I was thinking more along the lines of Chuck Jones inspired Saturday morning shorts, though.  I should have been more specific in my post.
Some of that stuff was really fun.  I wonder if they would get away with it in today's oppressive PC climate.

There used to be a show on Cartoon Network at night called Toonheads that showed all the now-banned Disney and Warner shorts, including the WWII ones with Hitler and slanty-eyed Japanese caricatures, and the ones with blackface and other stereotype bits. They also discussed them as the valuable window into period society they are.

I can't stand when people ban media from the past because it makes them uncomfortable now. It's how people WERE. It's what the prevailing societal view was. And if it makes people uncomfortable to look at the "mammy" stereotypes now, in what was once popular family entertainment, that's GOOD, since it shows how far we've come as a society, and reminds everyone that such views weren't that long in the past.

As to the war stuff, reducing your enemy to a caricature strengthens you and weakens them. The Japanese were the enemy at the time, and that's simply a fact. Now, at least some people have rediscovered that by making caricatures of Islamist terrorists to laugh at, thus changing fear to resolve, while others, not having realized how and why it worked back then, call it "insensitive".

Banning and censoring things that "make people uncomfortable now" doesn't make them go away, it just removes them from the societal conciousness, and erases the lessons that could have been taught if they'd been kept around.

[Moondoggie]

The only animited film I found enjoyable was "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

Other than that, yawn.

Crying like a baby when Agustus McCrae died in "Lonesome Dove" is one thing, crying over a cartoon...don't get it.  Actually, I'm just kidding about that...anything  exceptionally sad in a film can get to me.