If you haven't seen the Incredibles yet, drop what you're doing and go buy tickets to the next showing. It is *unbelievable*. I went to the premiere midnight showing in my town and it was completely worth it. All animators must must must check this out!
Dude...get off the fence :)
with the 2-hour format.
this has recently been the favorite of live action. personally, i don't like this as i have seldom seen any story that justified this added length.
besides, my a** hurts.
nice to see ollie and frank make a cameo though.
Don't worry. All shall be well.
wow.
wow.
wow.
It's getting very favorable reviews. Not as good as Toy Story 2, but still good.
Only 3 critics so far on Rotten Tomatoes have panned it.
-- Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH
-- Jessica Winter, VILLAGE VOICE
"[b]CONSENSUS
[/b]Even though The Incredibles is more violent than previous Pixar offerings, it [SIC] still a witty and fun-filled adventure that almost lives up to its name."
The Polar Express is looking okay too.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/polar_express/
I'll be sure to see both movies when they come out on DVD.
The (Pixar) Cars treaser is available online. Doesn't look that great, unless you happen to be a NASCAR fan.
...since you live in the city you should see it soon, as the dvd is already out. i'm sure you can find one on canal st. if not there being sold on 125.
and then you can give us your review and not forward us others.
yuck, I'm not going to get one of those camcorder DVDs. Those are awful. :rolleyes:
Sorry that my linking to movie reviews annoys you so. I like to read people's analysis of animated movies, and I just assume others are as interested in animation as I am.
I appreciated it. Certainly more informative than its predecessor.
Haven't seen 'The Incredibles' yet, but do appreciate Harvey's links to reviews.
...what's wrong with being a Nascar fan? ;)
Something to said for gathering the family - pulling on your super outfit and just beating the stuffings out of some bad guys!
Of course, I've never done that- we use to sit around and play games. Especially in Ireland- we just had some good old family fun. Gee, I guess we could have beaten up the local knackers...okay, okay- just kidding!
Got to go see this film----
Larry
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This is one that I simply will not wait till the DVD is released. I believe that this one MUST be seen on the big screen. It is not often that I believe that any more for animation flicks, but I do on this. After a while, one tends to get a bit fed up with cartoons. I know, I know... Sounds weird... I am just tired of seeing the same crap everywhere... I am no longer easily woo-ed.
If I worked at McDonalds for 13 years, I do not think I would be so anxious to eat Big Macs... but then, after seeing "Super-size Me" a couple weeks ago, I haev not stepped foot in there regardless... ;)
Cheers!
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
Agreed Wade. I took a relative to see it and afterwards said (maybe I have different reasons than you) that on someone's TV it could be near as funny, but for all the visual and auditory elements, this is a MUST-THEATRE MOVIE.
Well, maybe I WILL see it in a theater, in a week or so, after the crowds have died down.
I don't know how the experience is in the rest of the world, but going to a movie theater in New York City is not a fun experience. There are cell phones, seat-kicking, and morons talking through the picture. Most of my movie experiences here have been ruined by retards, so - when I go to a picture - I try to wait a few weeks and then see it in the early hours on a weekday.
Yah, I wouldn't see it in NYC. We had a theatre by me at my old house that charged full price, even for night shows, for infants to discourage noises. If you can score something like that, hooray, if not, stick with your go-away-kiddies plan of going in the future. I went the first day though, and it was a full ...quiet house...GO figure! I mean, they laughed, but there wasn't the Finding Nemo insanity. Maybe cause it's a little too old for the KID-kids.
Here's a new long but great article about the incredibles...
Story perspective: how a great script makes ‘The Incredibles’ function cinematically
http://www.biganimation.com/magazine/news/anmviewer.asp?a=380&z=3
Don't forget to try out the live animation chat rooms -www.skwigly.co.uk
lucky Scattered
Maybe I'll wait a few weeks and catch a midnight show, when all the wailing toddlers are asleep.
I whole heartedly agree Ender. I think they should submit it for the Best Film oscar.
Oh, does anyone know what PIXAR has planned after "Cars"?
Aloha,
The Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
I think they said something about hiring me. That or "Maya the Bee," but since nobody even remembers the original Nick Toons, I'm going for option A. Wouldn't you?
In all seriousness, last winter everyone was talking about getting 2D equipment in preps for something. Perhaps another, flatter, feature?
I just saw the incredibless last night... it was really funny. I missed some of the lines i was laughing so hard! I saw an eight thirty show in emeryville and the theater wasnt that bad and there weren't any kids in there. I would recomend going on a weekday night.
Don't do nothing because you can't do everything.
A friend of mine who interned there said he did some animation tests with some of the rigs from the film after "Cars" but he wasn't at liberty to tell me anything about it.
Speaking of "Cars"...what on earth were they thinking? They've had a great run of thoughtful, omnidemographic films and now their making a buddy comedy about Nascar? Is this their way of just getting their last film with Disney out of the way? Why ruin the last Disney distribution with something so....well it looks awful to me.
Ender
Mouhahahahaha!
My thoughts exactly, Ender. "Cars" looks like a really LAME film release for Pixar, a company we have come to expect only the best work from. If nothing else, this could quite possibly teahc Disney a very valuably lesson too. Just because the film is 3D doesn't mean that it will be an instant success! Their past 3D flicks were successful because they were well written, not because they were 3D. Just like their last few 2D flicks were flops because they were badly written (again, withe the exception of Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear, two films I LOVED). This looks like a bad concept, and the art work even looks bad on top of that!
Cheers
"Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" - Paul Simon
Great movie!
I would probably not hesitate to say this is the best Pixar film yet...
Knowing Pixar, "Cars" probably will turn out pretty good. It looks pretty creative to me. No one has ever done anything quite like that before.
Glad you all have found something you can relate to. I for one am glad they didn't exagerate the action for "Polar Express". It wouldn't have fit the story. The Incredibles" to me smacks of all the shallow super hero stuff that's out there. The characters have that plastic 3d feel that so many films have including "Monsters Inc.", the storyline seems shallow. I'll probably go see it, but it won't relate to me like a classic story like "Polar Express".
Sure the action is more dynamic, but what is the story? Haven't seen it so can't really go there, but I have read and reread the Polar Express. That is a story that's worth telling and sharing.
You are all critical of the means in which they brought Polar Express to life, but what if Lotte Reinger had been producing today...what would you have said. She based her stuff on rod puppets. How is that different?
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
Good, so you could understand why another movie might benefit from exaggeration (such as The Incredibles), in the same way you feel Polar Express is a best fit with mo-cap.
X-Men deals with elitism and segregation and civil rights. Huge success. Spider-Man deals with conformity to societal perceptions, and far more importantly guilt over culpability in the death of a loved one. Unchallenged success. Simple, yes. Shallow, no.
I'm banking on the fact that you probably don't mean the furry monsters, or the toys that are supposed to be plastic, or the winged exoskeleton-possessing bugs, or the underwater scaly things. I think the plastic thing sorts itself out.
Again, perhaps it is very simple to promote family togetherness and self-respect, and tactful celebration of what makes a person unique. But I'd rather not be in a world where those values are considered 'shallow.'
I think the criticism is how dead they look.
Unless I misunderstood the dust jacket, the story's about people. Why not have people in it? And if not people, some animated version of them. What you get is neither. The best suggestion, I thought, since the book's artist is in such a top class, is to blend like Sky Captain did. Or go all-out anim. There is such a thing as subtle animation. The kids can visit Santa without smacking him upside the head with a frying pan. It's just not black and white.
The Incredibles was.....frickin' awesome! A big tip of the hat to Brad Bird and the Pixar animators and staff. I can't think of enough superlatives to describe the film! If you haven't seen it yet, drop what your doing and go. Cheers
Cereal And Pajamas New Anthology : August 2007
http://www.comicspace.com/cerealandpajamas/
Just saw it for the third time, and I'm still just blown away by that movie. Most of that animation is amazing. I just love Dash's facial expressions as well as Bob's when he is at work. Amazing character acting. The story, like most good ones is nice and simple, at least to me. Like the song, "don't know what you got... Till it's gone."
Sindrome is such a great villan. Nice character modivation. I love Jason Lee's voice acting for him, he's perfect.
As for it being 3D or too plastic looking, It doesn't really matter to me, as long as the story and characters bring me along for the ride. I love "The Wrong Trousers" and they are essentially just lumps of clay. And granted, the story might not be for everyone, and thats fine. I for one, didn't care all that much for "Finding Nemo" and "Lilo and Stitch," that hey, that's just me.
"I'm still geeking out over that!"
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
I think one can pretty easily argue that just about every American-produced children's/animated movie is "shallow."
They all, after all, have the same simple-minded plot of flawed protagonist versus evil and physically-ugly villian.
However, a movie doesn't need a deep plot in order to be entertaining. Pretty much every comedy has a "shallow" plotline. One of my favorite animated films, Castle in the Sky, has another "shallow" good vs. evil plot.
As for the plasticity, yes, The Incredibles look like animated toys, and the Polar Express figures look like animated mannequins, and the Looney Tunes look like animated drawings, but I can look past all that if the acting (voice and animation) and story are enticing enough.
"Unless I misunderstood the dust jacket, the story's about people. Why not have people in it? And if not people, some animated version of them. What you get is neither. The best suggestion, I thought, since the book's artist is in such a top class, is to blend like Sky Captain did. Or go all-out anim. There is such a thing as subtle animation. The kids can visit Santa without smacking him upside the head with a frying pan. It's just not black and white."
Scattered you have a point but until you read the book and appreciate the illustrations you'll never understand. The artist's style was somewhat distanced and sort of deco in feeling. Tom Hank's kids are fans of the book he's been reading it to them for years, he wanted it to stay true to the feeling of the book. I think they have succeeded in producing a work that was sensitive to the original material. Maybe that's not important to the rest of you, having grown up with Disney's version of Sleeping Beauty, etc.. But This book is a "Caldecott" winner. That's an important prize. I'd give my eye teeth to have one of them hanging on my wall.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
Scooter, I've read the book and remember it well. While the visual style of the film looks pleasingly familiar to the original black and white book, and while I believe they for the most part captured that magical realism feel in the movie, that doesn't mean the animation (and this is an animator's forum) is successful. I would say 99% of the animators I have talked to so far are terribly displeased with the way the film looks, and heck, plenty of non-animation-saavy people are telling me the same thing, the characters feel dead because the performance-capture technology was unsuccessful. I really truly believe, in a completely unthreatened way, think if they had used the same characters and hand-keyed this movie it would have been a much more successful film.
Ender
The original picture book is not black and white, don't know what version you read.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
Chris Van Allsburg wrote this when he won his second Caldecott:
"This award carries with it a kind of wisdom for someone like me. It suggests that the success of art is not dependent on its nearness to perfection but its power to communicate. Things can be right without being perfect."
As an artist I think that says it all. I would only hope to live up to his standards.
Pat/Scooter
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
Ender you write this:
"While the visual style of the film looks pleasingly familiar to the original black and white book, and while I believe they for the most part captured that magical realism feel in the movie, that doesn't mean the animation (and this is an animator's forum) is successful."
I wonder why you stress this. If it is to put those who disagree off, sorry but even though I am not a convential media animator, I am still an animator and an artist who values the works of others and if I don't agree on somethings I will voice my opinion. I for one am glad they tried to capture the magic of the original illustrations. And I applaud them for a work well done.
As for the "Incredibles" you guys can have your plastic super heros.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
*sigh* Once again you take offense needlessly.
I merely stated that, because I was discussing the film from a movement stand-point. Not to discredit your or anyone's opinion.
However I am not going to turn this into a soap opera...again.
Ender and Phacker, are you to even argueing about the same thing? To me it seems like Phacker likes the "look" of Polar Express. I take this to mean the he likes the redering, and the modeling of the 3D characters and BG's. I kind of like them too. Ender, and others, on the other hand doesn't like the animation of that movie. In other words, how the characters move, which I agree with from what I've seen. But what gets me, is that no one can really make an informed judgement about something neither one has seen yet.
And lets get back to the point at hand... Brad Bird IS a genius!!! I think Disney should submit this movie for Best Picture and Best Director. I don't think there is a movie out this year that is better. Well except maybe "The Notebook" :D
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
Here, here. Well spoken, Ape.
And Phacker, you're right, I goofed about the black and white thing. I took another look at the book at my local bookstore and I didn't remember it as well as I thought I had.
Still think the animation is creepy though. :D
Ender
I just finished watching The Incredibles.
Wow, what an extremely violent children's movie.
Quality-wise, I'd say it's on par with the better James Bond films, while being fantastically animated.
It's not as good as Iron Giant or Toy Story 2 or any Miyazaki film, but it's still entertaining.
To the Phackers of the world, yes, it's shallow, but the plasticity of this movie shouldn't bother you any more than the painticity of classic cartoons.
"Painticity." haha *awards three more points to the English language*
I was read that book when it first came out. (I just got to page through it myself recently) I didn't remember his name until I looked it up on Amazon, but as you said that's not the first thing he's done and as someone who has -been a kid- while viewing them, the illustrations are effective and top-notch. I didn't realize this movie, that name, was that book. I was in the 2nd grade. No complaints. The closer you can get to that the better for a movie based on the story.
To clarify, ny problem isn't even with the motion itself (it isn't pretending to be good animation as much as it's saying watch a version of the story that moves instead of is printed on a page) as much as it is the mouths that refuse to open and the expressions that don't change.
And duly noted that nobody's seen it here. But we've seen the trailer, which has been said a few times, and that's all we're operating on. At least half, and at most all of every movie trailer's content winds up in the film. I think it's a pretty good indicator of what to expect.
*still hears the bell*
Oh, and I agree with the comment that Jason Lee acted like he's been waiting 10 years to do this movie. Look at the distortions on his face for "That seems a little dark for you..."
I just saw it yesterday. There were a couple moments when I forgot it was an animated picture for just a couple seconds. Kudos to Pixar for tricking me!! Very few movies have tricked me like that.
I really liked the animation and the length of the picture. I love to see longer animated movies.
As far as the violence goes, when Rich Quade (Pixar animator) spoke to us at college, he told us that "The Incredibles" was made more for older children, around 12. "Cars" is more for the younger kids like their previous movies were.
I'm not really intrigued by "Cars" either. I dunno. I just don't find the characters that appealing.
2-D animation will never die. The invention of photography did not kill painting. Why would animation be any different?
Dancing Cavy Productions
http://dancingcavy.deviantart.com
I think John Lasseter is directing Cars. Maybe he'll make it good. He did a good job with Toy Story and A Bugs Life. I think we should have faith in him to make a good movie.
hi phacker ;)
i just saw the Incredibles - and my expectations were very high due to all the hype - and - it lived up to it and then some. it's truly one of the best animated films i have seen - not just because of the animation, but the story, design, inventions, and the obvious passion involved. i wouldn't pan anything until seeing it - it's more then just "shallow super hero stuff".
not saying you'll still like it, i just can't imagine anyone not liking it after seeing it - especially anyone who is an artist/animator.
-c
www.mudbubble.com
www.keyframer.com
I have to admit, after seeing Finding Nemo I resigned myself to never seeing another Pixar movie again, but after seeing The Incredibles my faith is restored. This could be due to the fact that Brad Bird was a big part of making Incredibles, and it was unlike the previous Pixar movies big time-the animation is superb, it is less "cute," and it just looks different. Leave it to a 2D guy to make a great 3D movie ;)
Hey Mud if I can find the extra cash to go see it I will. It sounds like it's worth a view. I still want to see Polar, but not sure I can afford the expense. If I can find someone to take me to the movies I will. I am always open. Hey, show me the goods...if they are up to the cut I am open. Had to wait a year and catch the "Spirit" horse thing on cable at a friends. Same with "Monsters Inc." So I can't really comment when they first come out. But I am always open to a new flick.
Pat
Still haven't seen the Garfield flick...want to.
Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.
... and must i say it was "Incredible" *(thought to myself)nice play on words*
throughout the movie i specifically paid attention to the hair, SUPERB!. i also love how they didn't make them look completely life-like, giving the charaters more of a a cartoony look. Pixar and Bird did a real good job!
What would scooby do?
Oh! Oh! I know one of the guys who does hair simulation for Pixar. His name is Ian Steplowski. I'm sure he'll be happy to hear his work was appreciated. :D
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch
I too am skeptical about Cars, although I'm trying not to worry. I was skeptical about Finding Nemo as well, and was very pleasantly surprised. I think we should just trust Pixar's judgement in story, even if it is a movie about cars. I highly doubt that Pixar would make a crappy movie, just to stick it to Disney in the end. They wouldn't want that kind of reputation.
I watched the Incredibles way to many times. I just can't get enough of it. It's draining my bank account. I think the character that makes me see it so many times is Edna. I loooooove this character. Brad Bird is brilliant!!!
Didn't care all that much for boundin'. It was cute, but I think Geri's game, and For the Birds were better.
-moot