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San Francisco, 11:23 PM
Sat Nov 7
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/14/09
Also, wasn't the actual plot here the exact script that got canned two or three years ago for sucking so much?
10/14/09
Also, does this plot seem similar to the original script Disney was going to use without Pixar's help?
10/13/09
Stay classy Disney and Pixar. Stay classy.
10/13/09
Slinky was as much a character of those movies as Buzz and Woody, I would even say more so than Sandy since he was in both of them.
Loosing Slinky when he was such a faithful companion of Woody with just a random line would in my eyes be even more disrespectful than say recasting the part.
10/13/09
Bullseye could easily fill the faithful companion role as well.
And who says Slinky has to talk? There's a million reasons why a toy could lose the ability to speak or better yet Slinky being gone could work very well with what seems to start as a bitter sweet story where the toys are left behind and their time with their children has ended. The loss of Slinky doesn't need to be treated as a throw away. But it could just as easily not be mentioned at all it's been years and a toys life is a fragile thing.
But let's get real here, Slinky stays in the picture for toy reasons and not for storytelling or out of respect.
10/13/09
Go watch it then tell me you could fill Slinky with another character. Really do it.
From what I am reading you are just a typical anti-Disney nut looking for a reason to hate when none exists.
10/13/09
Did I say he wasn't important in the other movies? No.
I said he's a side character and he is.
Let's not get into some asinine debate about how they use his slinky abilities for numerous things and how now one else could do that, yeah I know. I watched the movie. But, in a new movie they could do something new. It's been ten years, plenty of time to come up with a more graceful solution than finding one of his friends to voice him.
I didn't say this movie looks like crap or I'm not going to see it, or I hope it bombs or Disney sucks. I just said that replacing Slinky with a new voice, and not retiring the character is a commercial decision not a creative one. And if you think it's fine and a great idea, good for you. I don't.
10/13/09
10/13/09
And I'm excited about the extension of the 1 & 2 3D thing. I haven't gotten a chance to see it yet and I really want to.
10/13/09
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10/13/09
And nearly anything is better than their straight to DVD sequels to all their past successes. Seriously, Bambi 2? Cinderella 2? Mulan 2? Ugh, give us a break, Disney.
10/13/09
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10/13/09
I saw both of those in the theaters as official Disney releases for Matinees in the 80's
So its not unheard of
10/13/09
And as far as straight to video sequels, not only was Toy Story 2 going to be one of those, but 3 as well. Fortunately Lasseter has a brain and not only put the kibosh on a TS2 dvd sequel he banned them outright from Disney when he took over animation there.
10/13/09
10/13/09
I knew they were from Jim Varney commercials, but I had never seen them before... Good ol' Jim Varney...
10/13/09
One of my favorites growing up.
10/13/09
I not only miss Mr. Varney, I miss Braums now. Thanks for nothing NightElfMohawk!
10/13/09
10/13/09
10/12/09
10/12/09
I honestly don't know if I'll be able to watch this in the theater. The last two Pixar films were devastatingly heartbreaking. I cried when WALL*E nearly kicked the bucket and when EVE tried to fix him. Seeing that little robot's face completely blank and devoid of any kind of personality... It just shattered me.
And then "UP" came out. When I saw it, I was heavily contemplating marrying my girlfriend (still am, really) and knew exactly the kind of love that Carl went through: from the saccharine sweet mushy kind to the "we're going to get through this/we're still together" kind. And seeing those dreams and hopes that Carl and Ellie had ripped and torn away from them with Ellie's passing was so heartbreaking, so painful....
Yes, these characters are nothing more than pixels and zeroes and ones stored in a computer, but they are what they have been since the first "Toy Story" film was released: real. These characters, these toys have had so much love and life injected into them that they themselves become real, they develop their own personalities, their own thoughts, their own feelings.
And I'm not talking "Cars," though that definitely had a lot of personality and love in it, due to John Lassiter's childhood road trips (and yes, I tear up when the "Our Town" segment plays, flashing back through Carburetor Spring's history, because I did grow up in a small town like that), but the bigger Pixar films:
Toy Story (obviously)
Finding Nemo (it's borderline sappy, even though it had Willem Dafoe)
The Incredibles
WALL*E
Up
The characters in those films are not one-dimensional. They are fully fleshed-out, real people. They do have thoughts, feelings, emotions... When they're onscreen and a thought has occurred to them, you can practically SEE the gears grinding away in their heads.
Even in the short films, there's that kind of raw emotion and pathos. Usually it's played for laughs, but one short stands out in my mind as the best:
"Red's Dream."
Red was a unicycle in a bike shop, surrounded by fancy pants bikes that everyone else bought, and Red was jammed in a corner with a "90% Off" sticker on him. But when Red slept...oh, he was the greatest, out-juggling clowns and making people cheer and smile at the circus.
Unfortunately...it's a dream. Red doesn't have that kind of life. He's stuck in a bike shop, destined to gather dust.
Get the "Pixar Shorts" DVD and watch that short. If you don't at least feel sad for the unicycle, then...then you have no business criticizing the people at Pixar.
Nobody can do what Pixar does. The folk who work there are the best of the best, comprising a many-talented Dr Frankenstein of epic proportions. The projects they create are so perfect, so full of life and vigor and charm and personality, they can make even the toughest of men crack.
Everyone else...Dreamworks, Fox...they just take decent ideas and make 90-minute sitcoms out of them. "Shrek" was a great idea. The first movie was a hoot. The second wasn't quite as good. The third...eh. And then there's the Christmas special and the forthcoming fourth film....
"Avatar..." It's been done. It's the same aliens vs marines story that Cameron's been making since he took over the "Alien" franchise. Big deal.
Pixar has imagination, dreams, and heart.
The only other person who knew how to pull this off is unfortunately no longer with us:
Jim Henson.
Each of his works held the same magic, the same vigor...
You knew that Kermit was nothing more than felt and a ping-pong ball on Jim's hand....
But when you saw Kermit, you never saw Jim. You saw Kermit the Frog, a fully fleshed-out person... Kermit was real.
Frankly, I'm glad that someone in the film industry has both the stones and the imagination to bring back that magic.
John Lassiter, Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton... I applaud each one of you, and everyone at Pixar for bringing back the magic.
All the other commenters may be bitter and jaded (with the exception of a handful), but as I've never lost that final spark of innocence, that small bit of hope that keeps my dreams alive, that keeps me believing... I will always stand by Pixar and whatever they create.
I'm Daniel P, and I'm still a kid at heart.
10/12/09
10/12/09
10/13/09
Watching that segment brought up *every* emotion associated with that, and I swear to god, I almost didn't make it through the first third of the film. I was blown away by the imagery.
believe me, it's not just you.
10/12/09
I did not see that one coming.
10/12/09
...don't let his be the first.
10/12/09
But oh well, I trust Pixar to do a great job on it, even with that nit that I picked.
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10/12/09
I still have some of my toys and I've passed them off to my sons. The 4-5 Hot Wheels toys I gave them from the 80s still hold up.
I cannot begin to tell you how many current toys have broken. The "Cars" toys being some of them.
LEGOs? They will always be mine.
10/12/09
Slinky Dog will probably be a no-show in TS3 since Varney died several years ago.