After entertaining us last year with Luca, Pixar is back this Friday with a new feature film: Red Alert. On this occasion, here is a portrait of the studio, which has established itself as one of the great figures of animation over the past 30 years.
Founded in 1974 as the Graphic Group, Pixar was initially just one of many departments within the computer division of Lucasfilm Ltd. After creating a rendering engine (Motion Doctor) and producing numerous special effects with ILM (Star Trek 3), the firm was bought in 1986 by Steve Jobs, and officially became Pixar. Still retaining a graphics division (which gave birth to the Pixar Image Computer, a high-end computer intended for animation), Pixar specialized over time in animation.
After making commercials for major brands, and getting rid of its IT division in 1990, Pixar signed a three-film contract with Disney in 1991. Four years later, the first feature film resulting from this collaboration was released: Toy Story. A technical prowess that translates into immediate success, immediately making Pixar the rising star of animation.
Almost 30 years later, this success has not been denied, and Pixar continues to amaze, film after film. On the occasion of the release ofRed alert, their new feature film available on Disney+, we come back to Pixar’s filmography. Note that Disney+ hosts all of the studio’s creations (short and feature films), and that all you need is a subscription to enjoy them.
Toy Story : an impressive technical feat for an excellent first film
Founding film of the animation studio, Toy Story remains, even today, a must. The first feature film resulting from the collaboration between Disney and Pixar, it is the fruit of four long years of work. Between successive rewrites of the scenario, changes of characters, and technical constraints, the genesis of Toy Story was not a cakewalk. And yet, the film met with success as soon as it was released, winning the support of critics and the public alike (100% on Rotten Tomatoes and 95/100 at Metacritic even today).
I have to say that Toy Story is a remarkable film in many ways. Technically to start. The first production entirely made using computer-generated images, it uses a host of new techniques both in terms of rendering and character animation, as well as lighting and camera movements. A true pioneer, he opens the way to a new aspect of computer-assisted animation, and foreshadows today’s animation.
Beyond the technical prowess, Toy Story is also an excellent film. Served by a finely crafted script and a three-star cast (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in the lead), it manages the feat of bringing young and old together in front of the screen, united by the same pleasure.
1995 to 2006: Pixar enters its golden age
Following the success of Toy Story, and the credibility acquired by the studio, Pixar is embarking on the production of new films in order to honor the partnership signed with Disney. In 1998 and 1999 are thus produced 1001 legs and Toy Story 2. The latter goes out to the cinema in pain and weakens the partnership. Disney wanted to release this second part directly on video, and did not consider it to be part of the original deal.
Pixar is then forced to produce three new original films for Disney. A blow for the studio which still has few means, but which sees in it a great opportunity to assert its paw.
Between 2001 and 2004, Pixar delivered blow after blow Monsters and Co., The world of Nemo and The Incredibles, which are so successful. Two of them (The world of Nemo and The Incredibles) also won the Oscar for best animated film the year of their release. A series that continued in 2006 with the release of Carswhich won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature the following year.
Resolutely modern, addressing themes still little seen in the world of animation for the general public, these films all mark their time, and allow Pixar to establish itself as THE studio in vogue. A position that further weakens relations with Disney, and the negotiation of a new distribution contract, Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner failing to agree on its terms.
2006: a new dynamic driven by Disney
The departure of Eisner in 2005, replaced by Robert Iger, will however change the situation. Exit the distribution contract: Disney acquires Pixar. An operation which will be concluded in January 2006 for the tidy sum of 7.4 billion dollars, partly carried out by an exchange of shares (which makes the passage of Steve Jobs the largest shareholder of Disney). A new era then opened for Pixar, which retained a large part of its independence, while benefiting from Disney’s infrastructure. The studio then divides its productions into two branches:
- The studio is capitalizing on its past successes with numerous sequels. Between 2006 and today, Pixar has released two new Toy Story (who each won an Oscar), two new Cars, Monsters Academia or even the world of dory and the Incredibles 2.
- At the same time, Pixar has its teams work on original feature films, which are also generating great success. Ratatouille, Wall-E, up there, Rebel, Vice versa, coconut and Drunk won the Oscar and the Golden Globe for best animated film.
Each film is an opportunity for Pixar to expand its technical background, thanks to innovative technologies in animation, but also to develop magnificent stories, striking in more ways than one. It is also the opportunity for the studio to create a kind of shared universe, references to past films slipping into the most recent productions. So much so that some have given birth to theories allowing all the films to be linked into an (almost) coherent timeline.
Short films, an all-consuming passion at Pixar
If Pixar is above all known for its feature films, the studio also specializes in more modest productions. Present in its DNA from its creation (when it still belonged to LucasFilm), the short film allows Pixar to explore many subjects and animation techniques, while giving new talents a chance. It is not uncommon to discover their latest creations in this area in the first part of the screenings of their feature films.
And if the studio sometimes uses this bias to extend or illuminate a part of the history of their films, most of the short films thus produced are independent. Among the most famous are, for example, tin toy and Funny birds on a power line (both Oscar for best animated short) or more recently, the very moving Bao.
Red Alert: discover Pixar’s latest creation on Disney+
After Drunk in 2020 and Luca in 2021, Pixar returns this year with a brand new film named Red alert. This new production takes us to Toronto in the early 2000s to meet Mei. The 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian spends quiet days there surrounded by her friends, between school days and classic leisure activities. However, this routine will be greatly disrupted the day she wakes up in the skin… of a giant red panda!
A temporary situation, certainly, but which is repeated each time the girl feels strong emotions, whether fear, anxiety, joy, or excitement. And as much to say that at 13, emotions are not particularly under control! A film that is both funny and moving, Red alert Sensitively addresses puberty and the changes it brings, both emotionally and physically.
Red alert, plus all Pixar movies and shorts are available on Disney+. Finding them couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is subscribe to a Disney+ monthly subscription for 8.99 euros, or a yearly subscription for 89.90 euros.
