In the past 19 years, movie-goers have witnessed all kinds of strange phenomena in the world of film. Hannibal Lecter, “Titanic,” the resurgence of the comic-book movie and Robert Pattinson’s hair have created crazy shockwaves in Hollywood in that span of time. But what also has happened is something that hasn’t been replicated in film in recent memory, the equivalent to a dynasty sports franchise.
In a related story, the Pixar animated movie “Up” recently became the tenth Pixar film to gross over $100 million at the box office. Do I need to spell out the connection here? I shouldn’t have to.
If you have been paying any attention to film since 1991, you know that Pixar Animation Studios has done something tremendous, almost unheard of. They’ve released 10 feature-length animated films in nearly two decades, and I am sure that some of you probably have at least two or three of them in your movie collection at home (“Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars”). And each and every one of those films has debuted at number one in the U.S. box office. No other studio has this type of track record and probably never will.
And the craziest thing is that Pixar has built up such an impeccable reputation that the Pixar name has become the most reliable commodity in Hollywood to make a profit (except maybe Will Smith).
Other movies that come out have to rely on the usual tricks to lure movie-goers in. Most of the time, it’s by emphasizing the A-list actor. Occasionally, an audience will come out based on the film’s director, which was the case with J.J. Abrams’ reboot of “Star Trek” and will inevitably be the case for James Cameron’s “Avatar” this winter. Even Pixar’s closest competitor, Dreamworks, has to emphasize the celebrity voice-over angle on franchises like “Shrek.” Heck, there were hardly any voices at all in last year’s “Wall-E,” and it still became a critical and financial dynamo.
The only instance in recent memory where the studio itself was almost the biggest selling point for a film was back in the early ‘90s with Miramax after “Pulp Fiction” and a slew of other indie film gems. From there, you’d have to actually go back to when Walt Disney was living and breathing and overseeing animated classics like “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Pinocchio” to find something similar to what Pixar’s accomplished thus far.
It almost makes you wonder when they are going to slip up. After only releasing one sequel (“Toy Story 2”) out of 10 films, Pixar will bring two more sequels to the screen over the next two years with “Toy Story 3” in 2010 and “Cars 2” in 2011. Getting into sequel territory seems kind of sketchy, as we’ve seen how wrong THOSE films can go. But I can’t help but think that Pixar will continue to pull off miracles. Despite all the groundbreaking animation the company is known for producing, it has proven that imagination and a good story will always have a place in cinema. Be thankful you’re here to appreciate it.