But what most may not realize is that Lasseter and especially Ranft had a moment in the sun well before the glory days that started with 1995’s Toy Story. Most people know that people like Lasseter and the late Joe Ranft (best known as the voice of Heimlich from A Bug’s Life) toiled away for years, originating in the Walt Disney Feature Animation department.

See also Fantastic Fest 2013: Final Wave of Programming Announced, including Terry Gilliam's latest filmĮvery studio, every artist, every creative mind has to start somewhere. But it’s hard to deny the company’s ambition, as well as their ability to let that ambition fuel wildly entertaining stories. Of course, Pixar hasn’t been perfect I need only point to the misbegotten but profitable Cars series of films to prove that even John Lasseter is fallible. No, part of the satisfaction has been in knowing that, for once, mainstream filmmakers were able to create art that just happened to make a load of cash. The success of Pixar over the past two decades has been enormously satisfying to behold, not only because I, like many of you, grew up along with the studio. I will gladly admit to being at the front of the drooling legion of fans of this groundbreaking company. But even the masses crave it enough that when a movie comes along that presents something unique, whether it’s a story, a character, or a new world, we salivate over it like a dog in front of a steak.Īnd so it is with many people and Pixar Animation Studios. So not everyone craves originality all of the time. Of course, when I say “we,” I mean film buffs because there’s no denying that the latest Transformers film, the third film in a franchise of movies based on a line of toys that inspired a 1980s-era cartoon, is nowhere near original yet made an insane amount of money at the worldwide box office. Originality is so rare these days that we latch onto anything that doesn’t smell of being laughably, obviously derivative. Starring Deanna Oliver, Jon Lovitz, Thurl Ravenscroft

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