Tag Archives: Pixar

Find what you love

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I’m not going to add to the outpourings of Twitter grief over the passing of Steve Jobs. I didn’t know the man – only his products.

That said, I’ve known and enjoyed his products for a long time. The first 15,000 words or so of Game as Ned were written on one of the original Apple Macintosh computers, with a tiny (by today’s standards) black and white screen about 23cm wide. It cost a bomb so my brother and I bought it 50-50 between us. It was a great little machine though and kept us up late many a night, playing games my son would scoff at today as too primitive and ugly.

I’ve worked on many computers since but have always considered myself an Apple man. And each time I open the box of another Apple product I’m blown away by the attention to detail. Even the packaging is beautiful and functional. There’s none of the hacking into moulded plastic and mountains of polystyrene you get with other brands.

Thanks to Apple, I think we’re glimpsing a healthy new future for books, too. With apologies to my book-selling friends, I have probably read as many e-books as tree books in the past year. My only reservation on this conversion is whether the iPad will smash when I eventually fall asleep reading and drop it on the floor.

So why is there such a fuss today over the passing of an entrepreneur? Probably because Mr Jobs did change the world. If you have a portable music player, mobile phone or computer, I guarantee it has been influenced by Apple designers. And let’s not forget Pixar, the animation company that sets such high standards for children’s films. That’s quite a legacy.

So what does Mr Jobs have to say on making an impact? In the clip below he says, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” It’s sound advice.

Miyazaki magic

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Ponyo movie poster image

Ponyo movie poster image

Snatched a couple of hours to see Ponyo (click for trailer) with the Little Dragon last week. Beautiful. Lush, old fashioned 2-D animation. A treat for the eyes.

Having seen Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, I feared Ponyo might be a tad dark for the Little Monkey (5, going on 35). Not so. The central characters are both five-year-olds and the story was certainly accessible to five and ups. Go for the English language version though, if it’s an option, as the little people won’t cope with subtitles.

Like Pixar’s Up, there’s a senior citizens’ sub-plot, and therefore broad audience appeal. To my mind, this is better than Up. Check it out.

Up and away

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Caught Pixar’s Up with the kids on Fathers’ Day. Liked it better than Wall-E and Cars but nowhere near as much as The Incredibles or Monsters Inc.

The kids liked it but didn’t love it. I wonder if that’s because they didn’t really see themselves in any of the main characters – a grieving curmudgeon, a lonely boy scout and a misfit talking dog. I know, I’ve blogged previously that my daughter sometimes plays at being a Grandma so she should connect with the movie. Looks like I was wrong.

I know the Pixar crew are graduates of the Robert McKee screenwriting courses. It felt to me that they’d gone with some real McKee angles in Up – writing stories/scripts that address universal truths such as loneliness, shattered dreams, grief and old age. Indeed, the first five minutes of the film told a story that almost moved me to tears. After that bit of magic, it was sound the trumpets and bring in the action and gags.

Some of the best gags involved a) old age and b) dogs chasing squirrels. The kids obviously didn’t get the former. As for the latter, we don’t have squirrels Down Under so the joke lost a little impact (though we still laughed). I was also surprised by how Pixar handled some of the later fights scenes (no spoilers from me) and how scary some of the hunting dogs were. The Little Monkey (5yo) found it all a bit tough once the villain arrived on the scene. Interestingly, her cousin the Little Engineer (4yo), had no such qualms.

So, it lacked the wow factor we’d hoped for. And I’m a tad worried that I identified somewhat with the old guy Carl…

I’m now hoping Ponyo might be a better fit for the Little Dragon and I.

Update: I just spent a night making Up mobiles to hang in the kids’ rooms so they must be at least slightly under the Pixar spell.

Creativity, characters & cheap plastic toys

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There’s an article in The Age today about a pending Pixar film called Up. Apparently toy makers and other merchandising folk are steering clear of this flick because the central character is a cantankerous old man and therefore unappealing to kids.

I’ve got mixed feelings about that. The film looks like great fun to me. And let’s face it, how often do Pixar put out a dud? Even their less than best work (I’ll be howled down for suggesting Wall-E was worthy but dull and Cars was too predictable) is way better than most other film offerings for kids. (I still love The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc. despite repeated viewings at my place.)

Anyway, when we play with a toy I reckon we at least partly imagine ourselves as that character. And sure, my son would never play a game where he took on the role of a crotchety retiree. On the other hand, my daughter adores having elderly figures to play the grandparent roles in her doll house. Indeed, she was playing at being a grandmother, without props, as recently as yesterday.

Besides, if you watch the Up trailer you’d have to say the talking dog and tech-savvy boy scout surely present good opportunities for toy makers.

Incidentally, I took the kids to see Monsters vs Aliens during the Easter Break and we all enjoyed it. And which critter has been the absolute fave with all kids? The dopey, gelatinous blob, B.O.B., hands down.

But let’s turn to books. A good story will be a winner with kids because it hooks them in, irrespective of who the central character is.

This is what scriptwriters, authors and even merchandising folk need to remember. Story is king. If you’re just trying to create a character that looks good on a lunch box – and then joining the dots to make a story – you’re way off the mark. Your characters have to engage kids because of who they are and what they do (like B.O.B.), not because they will sell more toys than Buzz Lightyear.

Thankfully, Pixar and their owners at Disney are acutely aware of this. Disney chief executive Robert Iger is quoted as follows: “A check-the-boxes approach to creativity is more likely to result in blandness and failure.”

So true. So think big. Think different. And vive the feisty and adventurous senior citizens of the world.