Original post: http://thereader101.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-wisdom-of-pixar-by-robert-velarde.html
Pixar
has always been a huge part of my life. I grew up with the movies and
can appreciate them as artistic films as an adult. When I was in high
school, I became very fascinated with entertainment and the connections
with Christian spirituality. Being a teenager and still very
inexperienced in many aspects of life, I didn't quite have the
vocabulary to state what I felt and saw, but I continued to have an
interest and learned a lot since then. I now know I'm not the only one
who sees these connections. There are books and books discussing
entertainment's connection with faith as well as psychology, philosophy,
history, etc. I have read quite a few of these books and want to write
one of my own someday. The Wisdom of Pixar by Robert Velarde is
one these awesome books and it does a great job of analyzing these films
and forming connections that the viewer may not have noticed before.
If
you aren't aware, I am a host on a Disney podcast called Talk Magic to
Me. Disney is a big part of my life and I have always felt a strong
connection with their movies. That is why I am on the podcast, to
discuss my love for Disney in a community based way. Our summer theme is
Pixar and I figured this was as a good a time as any to start reading
this book. A big plus to being on a podcast is that I contacted author
Robert Velarde himself and had a chance to interview him! How cool is
that?!
I'm
going to state right away that this will be a five star review. I'm
telling you this early because I don't want you to think I'm giving the
book kudos just because I interviewed the author. Nope, not the case. I
genuinely really loved this book. While the title of the book doesn't
overtly hint at any faith based analysis, it is primarily focused on
Pixar films and their connection to Christian faith and spirituality.
Wisdom itself is a biblical virtue after all. I find it a bit ignorant
when I see people reviewing this book with one or two stars just because
of it's Christian worldview. Every book has a worldview so why start
getting picky when there is a Christian one? Velarde doesn't shove the
theology mindlessly down our throats. He meets us in the middle and is
very straight forward...here is a movie, this biblical virtue exists
within that movie, this is what we can learn and take away to apply to
our own lives. Velarde makes it clear that he isn't saying Pixar
intended to make their movies as biblical metaphors. But as John Green
states, "Books belong to their readers" and this saying isn't limited to
books but all entertainment. What you get out of a film, TV show,
painting, or video game is equally (if not more) important than the
author's intent. This phrase has always been bittersweet for me because
as a writer and creator I want my intentions to be known yet as a reader
I have interpreted texts and art in a very specific way that has helped
me grow as a person but not everyone gets.
The
book is split into chapters in order of Pixar movies, starting with Toy
Story and ending with Up. Each chapter has a different focus on wisdom
such as love, humor, technology, justice, etc. and how the piece of
wisdom ties into the movie of focus (with an occasional look at other
Pixar films that also incorporate the same aspect of wisdom). The
chapter will use biblical examples to make things clearer. Velarde does a
great job at breaking these films down and analyzing them in a
simplistic way. He reveals the depth within Pixar that many
choose not
to see since they label it as kids entertainment. David Beagley, a
professor at La Trobe University once said in a lecture, "Children's
literature is not simple. It's as complex as adults. It's the audience
that is different, not the literature." The same can be said about any
other medium. Of course with film this idea is hard to see since so many
companies only make kids movies for money and use stupid dialogue and
easy humor that suggests no adult will ever enjoy these movies at all!
Luckily Pixar is not one of those companies, nor Disney...or at least
most Disney movies don't adhere to that standard but there are
exceptions. Ironically enough, David Beagley also stated in his lecture
that he hates Disney which made me die a little inside because I really
respect him and hoped some scholar would see the good in Disney but so
many don't.
Pixar
is the perfect example to show that not all "kids" movies are simple.
They hold a lot of weight! What is cool about being a 90's kid is that I
grew up in arguably the greatest era of Disney...the Disney
Renaissance, good Disney channel programming, and of course the birth of
Pixar. These films have really shaped me as a person. I'm not saying my
entire being is all thanks to Disney/Pixar but you get my point. I was
able to enjoy these as a kid and now can still enjoy them as an adult
but in an academic way which is really awesome!
The
book was excellent. I really enjoyed Velarde's writing style. He wrote
as if you were on the
journey through Pixar movies together. He has a lot of important things
to say about these movies and the biblical imagery within them that
should be taken more seriously by Christians and entertainment lovers
alike. It was thought provoking and written well. If you love Pixar,
you will really enjoy this book. As I said, I will be giving this 5 out of 5 stars. If you want to check out our interview with Robert Velarde, visit www.talkmagic2me.net and be sure to rate and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Original Post:
http://thereader101.blogspot.com/2013/07/wasted-wednesday-monsters-university.html
Since a new school year is about to begin, I have decided to talk about Pixar's latest film - Monsters University.
This computer animated prequel is one that was highly anticipated,
mostly because the last two films Pixar has released have been awful
compared to their usual quality and because Monster Inc., like most
Pixar films, is beloved by millions. With Toy Story revisiting
it's characters twice and being successful, Pixar seemed to have nothing
to lose by returning to the monster world since their last two films
were flops. It seems this may become a pattern since Pixar is soon to
release Finding Dory which revisits the world of Finding Nemo.
I was a bit weary about this film since Pixar hasn't been doing as well
as I usually expect from them but I found the film to be typical Pixar,
which means it was an A+++++++++!
This
post isn't a movie review. But I
do want to talk about the artistic elements that are seen in Monsters University,
specifically focusing on Ring Composition, how well the film ties in
with it's predecessor, character development, and why this film is
getting Pixar out of their funk and symbolizes a bright future for the
company. Warning, there may be a few spoilers!
Let's
start of with ring composition. For those of you who don't yet know
what ring composition is, just go ahead and read book series such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games,
etc. Ring composition is a story-telling format that brings a story
full circle. This style is more apparent in books although films use it
all of the time. It is a form of narrative transformation. I've
recently gotten into reading about narrative transformation and ring
composition since working on the MuggleNet Academia podcast and I am
suddenly noticing the two everywhere! Not only does this movie use ring
composition but most Disney/Pixar films do as well (and of course
regular Disney films use it too). Ring composition is apparent in this
film when in the beginning we see Mike stepping onto the scare floor as a
kid idolizing the "scarers" and then at the end we see Mike stepping
onto the scare floor as an adult working with "scarers". Another
example of ring composition is in the first quarter of the film we see
Mike and Sully working separately but in the third quarter they are
working together. Of course I could go on and on about the ring
composition but...well I don't remember all of it, haha.
Pixar does an incredible job of tying this prequel back to it's predecessor, Monster's Inc.
Prequel's are always challenging because it is difficult to avoid being
cheesy when giving a character an almost forced back-story to conform
to their original movie. Pixar, though, does not come across as
forced. In fact they attack the challenge with ease! In this film we
see how Mike doesn't become a "scarer" and there are hints at his future
job as a comedian, how Sully and Mike form their morning routine that
we see in the first film, why children's files are so important (and how
they relate back to a monster's education), and what goes into making
doors that lead to children's closets! It is all extremely well done.
We also get a glimpse at some character's from the first film and while
Randy Newman composed a brand new score, he and Pixar still included
some original tracks from the first film! Another awesome attribute to
the story is the relationship Mike and Sully have with Randal. That was
especially well done in the film!
Mike
and Sully both go on huge journey's in this film. Mike is the main
focus. The audience sees him in his elementary years wanting to be a
"scarer" someday and the goal of the film is to show how Mike came to
realize his talents lay in other hidden places. He is very book smart
and this shows throughout the story. Sully's story, while not
necessarily the main focus, is very compelling as well. We learn that
his father was a top "scarer" and this puts a lot of expectations on his
shoulders. He goes on to start letting everyone down and learns to be
his own monster instead of trying to live up to his family name.
Before I go into my last point, I just want to comment quickly on how accurate this film was in terms
of
university. Pixar used this idea of having a college focused movie to
their advantage by making a website to reflect an actual university
website and having a trailer that actually reflects what a college
advertisement would look like on TV. The films shows us stereotypes and
portrays a very realistic atmosphere. Job well done Pixar!
Finally, I want to talk about why this is the film that will pull Pixar out of their funk. I haven't seen Cars or Cars 2, so I can't say much about that sequel. However, I have seen Brave. What makes Monsters University the savior that Brave could never be? Well for starters, it isn't forced. Brave was made to impress anti-Disney feminists by creating a characters with no love interest plot. Secondly, Brave
was all over the place. It was trying to be a feminist film while also
trying to be a mother daughter film while also trying to be a folklore
film and it just couldn't do it. The only plot that was worth caring
about was the mother daughter relationship so thank God there was
character development in that area because there was none anywhere
else. Lastly, Monsters University has no loose ends. It ties the movie up in a crisp fashion and leaves the audience satisfied.
So would I recommend Monsters University? It is OK! (Catch my reference???)
