Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

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Malchik
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Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Malchik »

Remember how Toy Story 3 wrapped up the franchise nicely? Yeah, about that...

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/06/t ... equel.html

If true, I can only imagine(fear) a prequel is at hand. I guess Cars 2 was an indication of things to come.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Farmer »

Don't remind me of Toy Story 3. I'll start crying again.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Crowbar »

Is that becuase you didn't like Toy Story 3? I thought it was pretty good. Really don't need a fourth though.

I hear Cars 2 was pretty bad. Was it?

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Farmer »

I thought it was fantastic, but my god it's a tear-jerker. Manly tears, of course.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by K2J »

He was probably referring to a smaller scale project, like a short or something. I seem to recall them tossing that out as a possibility after the third movie.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Esrever »

They are definitely making shorts! I believe the first one will be paired with Winnie the Pooh.

A fourth movie feels totally unnecessary to me, but then, that's exactly how I felt about the third one until I saw it. Part of me is curious to see if Pixar can actually pull it off: a film franchise that has four brilliant movies in a row. I mean, has ANYONE ever managed to do that? Like, ever?

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Crazy Penguin »

Esrever wrote:Part of me is curious to see if Pixar can actually pull it off: a film franchise that has four brilliant movies in a row. I mean, has ANYONE ever managed to do that? Like, ever?
Depends how much you like the Sean Connery Bond films! (They never did manage to top Goldfinger though.)

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Green Gibbon! »

The first one's playing right now with Cars 2, isn't it? I think the second one is supposed to be attached to the new Muppet movie.

Even if they're tossing around a proposed Toy Story 4, whether or not it ever makes it into full production is another thing entirely. Hasn't Lasseter said that only a fraction of their proposed projects ever get off the ground?

I haven't seen Cars 2 yet - and despite the criticism around it, I still do want to see it at least once - but it's interesting that of Lasseter's four films at Pixar, three (including Cars 2) are generally considered to be the worst of the studio's efforts. Maybe he's just not that great a director. Better as a coach than a player. On the other hand, Pixar's usual production style is pretty brutal as I understand it - there's a lot of on-the-fly critiquing and it's not uncommon for directors to have their movies pulled out from under them and given to someone else. Usually the results are stellar, but maybe nobody has the nerve or authority to tell Lasseter no?


Anyway, Brave looks pretty sweet so far (though that girl looks a little Cabbage Patchey). Adventure films are by far and away my favorite kind of animation and it's a neglected genre lately. I'm eager to see what Pixar does with it.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Farmer »

Green Gibbon! wrote:it's interesting that of Lasseter's four films at Pixar, three (including Cars 2) are generally considered to be the worst of the studio's efforts.
Which films are these? While I agree that some of Pixar's films are weaker than others, I can't think of any truly bad ones they've made.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Radrappy »

It's also extremely important to note that Cars 2 was being directed by Brad Lewis, who was a producer turned first time director and had no business directing in the first place, until Lasseter had to step in and save the project. It's all about context.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Zeta »

Which films are these? While I agree that some of Pixar's films are weaker than others, I can't think of any truly bad ones they've made.
Bug's Life, Cars, Cars 2, and Toy Story 2 are the weakest films in their stock, I think, anyways. Let me check to see if that matches up with Lasseter.

Yep.

Bug's Life was tepid and with forgettable characters. Toy Story 2 felt like goofy filler between TS1 and TS3. Cars 1 was basically Pixar cock-sucking American rednecks, and Cars 2 looks to be a lifeless and nonsensical parody of James Bond. But with CARS.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Radrappy »

whaaat? Toy Story 2 is great and as far as I know, beloved by all. Jesse's song didn't do it for you?

agreed on bug's life and cars. Although Hopper is pretty cool.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Rob-Bert »

A Bug's Life becomes better when you realize it's basically The Magnificent Seven with insects.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Radrappy »

so it's the magnificent seven, which is the 7 samurai, but with insects, and for children. That's a lot of filters.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Zeta »

Rob-Bert wrote:A Bug's Life becomes better when you realize it's basically The Magnificent Seven with insects.
I realized it and liked the Magnificent Seven better. ABL is just too twee and cutesy, even for a Disney movie. The character design makes me think it's some sort of educational children's show and I can't for the life of me remember who any of the characters were, just what they looked like and what their gimmick was IE - the fat one, the prissy one. etc.
whaaat? Toy Story 2 is great and as far as I know, beloved by all. Jesse's song didn't do it for you?
Jesse's character was the only good thing about TS2, but every scene where she's not on screen makes you realize that the story just doesn't feel right compared to 1 and 3. The emotional hooks come from Jesse, and not from Woody or Buzz or any of the supporting cast, making the film feel lopsided. It's not really that it's bad, perse, but TS1 and TS3 are just both far superior movies.
so it's the magnificent seven, which is the 7 samurai, but with insects, and for children. That's a lot of filters.
Don't forget having the fable of the Ants and the Grasshopper shoved in, too.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Farmer »

whaaat? Toy Story 2 is great and as far as I know, beloved by all. Jesse's song didn't do it for you?
Seconded.

I only ever saw Cars once, and I remember it being weird rather than bad, considering how it was a pretty stock story but with an unnecessary motoring veneer and car puns. I'd have preferred it had they done the storyline with human characters.

Jeremy Clarkson's cameo was a moment of severe kick-ass.

Monsters, Inc. is one of my favourite Pixar films, and I have high expectations for the prequel that's coming out in 2013. And while we're on the topic of Pixar sequels, they should get Brad Bird back and make The Incredibles 2.

I can't blame them for sticking with Toy Story though, as Toy Story 3 especially proves it as a dependable cash cow for whenever Steve Jobs wants a new house.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Zeta »

Wow, I'm surprised how overwhelmingly bad the reviews for Cars 2 have been. I had hoped it would at last be remotely watchable. From the descriptions of the plot, it sounds like those stupid Simpsons episodes where Fred is mistaken for one of about 1000 super spies that happen to look exactly like him and saddle him with a wacky macguffin. Or a really bad episode of Speed Racer. Oy.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Radrappy »

Im gonna go see it tomorrow. I feel bad for avoiding it. It's like if your pretty girlfriend got a zit and you stopped calling her.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Zeta »

Derp. I meant Flintstones episodes like the "Man Named Flintstone" or whatever. I hated those episodes as a kid - and there was at least like one a season. Fred Flintstone is not a spy, damnit!

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Tsuyoshi-kun »

Cars 2 was alright. Better than the first at least, which was Pixar's weakest film. I hope you really, really like Mater, because he never shuts up for more than 5 minutes. (Kung-Fu Panda 2 and Rio were better, though.)

One thing pissed me off, though:

The way they just brush Doc's death. No reason even given - they just kind of say he died.

Toy Story 3 was overrated and the weakest of the trilogy, and I still say that everyone who loved it did so out of pure nostalgia. Still a good movie, though.

I actually think Brad Bird's works at Pixar are the weakest non-Cars films. Ratatouille and The Incredibles did little for me. If you want to talk about weak, forgettable characters, you don't get much more so than Remy.

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Post by Senbei »

Tsuyoshi-kun wrote:Toy Story 3 was overrated and the weakest of the trilogy, and I still say that everyone who loved it did so out of pure nostalgia.
Dude, this is the point. That movie was made for people who grew up watching Toy Story. No other generation of audience, past or future, will be able to appreciate that aspect of it. It was made for US.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Zeta »

If you want to talk about weak, forgettable characters, you don't get much more so than Remy.
People don't watch that movie for Remy, they watch it for Gusteau, Colette, and Ego. Not sure how you can argue that Incredibles had weak characters, though.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Green Gibbon! »

I actually didn't know Lasseter directed or even co-directed Toy Story 2 (which I loved) - I was thinking of Toy Story 1, Bug's Life, and Cars. The latter two I rank at the bottom of the Pixar pyramid, though I still consider them better than any CG movies produced by any other studio.
It's also extremely important to note that Cars 2 was being directed by Brad Lewis, who was a producer turned first time director and had no business directing in the first place, until Lasseter had to step in and save the project.
I did not know this. How far along was the project before he stepped in?


Ratatouille is still my favorite Pixar film. My favorite character is actually the short head chef voiced by Ian Holm. "You were coookiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnng?!?!" That shit slays me every time I see it.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Tsuyoshi-kun »

Toy Story 3 is based on nostalgia, yes. But I just flat-out didn't enjoy it as much as the first two. It was darker and didn't have the light-hearted, humorous tone the last two movies even at their most extreme moments. The villain is pretty cool, though.

I watch most CG animated movies out there to keep my opinions open - Pixar, Dreamworks Animation (except for Shark Tale), and even Blue Sky Studios and Sony Pictures Animation. None of the non-Pixar studios produce stuff as high-caliber as that studio's best, but they're a few good ones here and there. (I'm probably the only one on here that does, though.)

That said, I'll re-watch The Incredibles and Ratatouille to reaffirm my opinions on them. I've watched neither since their original theatrical runs.

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Re: Toy Story ep 4: The Plastic Menace.

Post by Radrappy »

Green Gibbon! wrote:I did not know this. How far along was the project before he stepped in?
the story was pretty far along. He jumped in at around late 2009/early 2010 which for one of these movies would be near the end of the story process. The story reel is typically locked 9 months to a year before the film comes out so that they can actually produce the damn thing. This isn't always true though. Megamind for example was still getting story tweaks all the way up to a couple months before its release. Thats not healthy at all though.

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