I can easily tell you what Toy Story is about (the secret lives of your toys), Finding Nemo (Daddy fish looking for his lost son fish) and Incredibles (superhero doing typical superhero stuff) even if those movies tapped into much larger themes (growing older, dealing with change, dealing with loss, being your best self, etc). And I think that goes for a lot of their best stuff A Bug's Life, Ratatouille, Cars even WALL-E.

But then there are a bunch of the later stuff that's just too complex/abstract while being hugely generic in my mind.

I mean the high concept of Inside Out was easy enough, we have these emotions personified, but can anyone remember what the journey that was going on inside of her with the balls. I mean I haven't seen it since it's release so maybe folks do remember, but to me I just kind of remember the generic journey that are in the second to third act of all pixar movies and nothing particularly that sticks with me.

Or Soul. Seems simple enough. Guy dies and his soul has to decide whether to go to the other side or not, but what exactly was that journey he was on? What was the central lesson to take from it? It's okay not to be great? (side note, why did a movie call soul about a jazz musician have not real jazz in it?)

Onward? Saw it but can't remember it.

The Good Dinosaur, can't remember it.

Some of this might be the difference of seeing Pixar movies when I was younger (to be fair, I was 18 when Toy Story came out) and those being the ones that stick out in my memory, but the older ones seemed to have simpler stories, themes and more memorable then these later ones.


Elemental is sounding like it's a disappointment and maybe its because Pixar movies are no longer event movies where you would go see it even if you had no idea what it is about. It seems to me that they have to start making movies where, I don't know, the trailer for it actually intrigues you and makes you want to see it?

IDK, maybe they just need JOhn Lassiter back.

Well, this could have just been a part of the Elemental Post but I wanted to have the broader discussion, where did Pixar lose it's way?


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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"