Looking at Pixar's 22 rules of storytelling

Let's put aside Cars 2 for a moment and think of Pixar's great films: Wall-E, Toy Story 3, and Up, to name a few. The studio's near-perfect track record, at least until late, has made many clamor to figure out their secret. A peek at their thought process comes from "Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling," which story artist Emma Coates tweeted out way back in 2011. The notes inspired Twitter user Dino Ignacio (@DinoIgnacio) to create accompanying graphics for each rule. The slide show is worth a browse, and it's also worth a deep think, as you rack your brain to evaluate how movies live up to these various requirements.

One of my favorites was #6, "What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?" In the classic Up, there's the crotchety old man and the intrepid (but not entirely prepared) Boy Scout--quite the pair to embark on a balloon adventure. In terms of upcoming movies, the plot description for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty seems tailor-made for this requirement: having a timid, watch-from-the-sidelines kind of guy actually go on an adventure himself. But what I think is interesting about this requirement is how flexibly it can be applied. In the case of Toy Story, what the characters are comfortable with is being in their child owner's bedroom, and being played with all the time. Both of these things are taken away (one by accident, one by him growing up), and then the characters are forced to adapt. Personality-wise, the characters have the courage and smarts to get through their adventure, but they make emotional changes on their journey through this discomfort. So many movies answer this question by taking the characters quite literally out of their element:

Toy Story: Out of the playroom, into the real world
Wall-E: Out of the ravaged Earth, onto a space station
Up: Out of suburbia, into a jungle
Cars: Stuck in the American Heartland; Cars 2: The reverse, thrust into worldwide races
Ratatouille: Out of the sewers, into the kitchen
Brave: Out of the castle, into the forest

There are exceptions to this: In Monsters Inc., the two main characters don't relocate, but instead must accommodate a child in their home, Monstropolis. Which brings us to point #12: "Discount the first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third, fourth, fifth–get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself."

If you're interested in scrolling through the rest of the 22 rules, check out the full slideshow.

Pixar brings monsters, DreamWorks Animation turns to aliens

Today brings news about two upcoming animated projects. Pixar just released a trailer for 2013's Monsters University, and DreamWorks Animation announced the casting for the 2014 project Happy Smekday!

The Monsters University trailer, which presumably debuted online in advance of this Friday's Pixar offering Brave, was released in four different versions. In each, Sully (the green round one) says a different phrase in his sleep ("Dog ate my homework!" "I'm going to be class president!").  

2001's Monsters Inc. was one of the funniest Pixar movies, and I'm sure the sequel will bring plenty more of Sully and Mike's antics. Last year's Cars 2 and this year's Brave (spoiler alert) don't have the adult appeal that's the trademark of Pixar's best works, like Up and Wall-E. Monsters University should return with all-ages laughs and a few gentle lessons. Count me in next June.

DreamWorks Animation, which brought us Monsters vs. Aliens, goes much weirder in Happy Smekday!, at least if you look at the promo site for the book it's based on, The True Meaning of Smekday. After reading some reviews of the book, it appears to have a bizarre and off-the-wall humor that appeals to adults and kids alike. Set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, the novel documents the relationship between a child and a friendly alien she encounters. One Amazon reviewer talks of the in-jokes she now has with her son regarding the Boovs (the aliens) and the pop culture references throughout (one of the aliens is named J. Lo). Another calls it "War of the Worlds meets E.T.," and yet another calls the relationship between the girl and the alien "Huck and Jim of the 21st century." Those are strong endorsements for what seems to be an extremely creative work. Rihanna and "Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons will voice the leads for the DWA project, which is planned for a Q4 2014 release. With Pixar lagging a bit and DreamWorks Animation coming up with great projects like How to Train Your Dragon, this project could further even the score between the two animation studios.

 

Disney does 'Toy Story' with video games in 'Wreck-it Ralph'

Wreck-it Ralph is a Disney film, but it isn't a Pixar film. However, the mark of Pixar is all over the November 2, 2012, release, which has its sights set on being an early holiday hit. The trailer for the family feature just hit the Internet, offering us a glimpse into what Pixar movies the film is borrowing from.

Toy Story. John C. Reilly plays Wreck-It Ralph, a villain in a video game. He's just one of many video game characters that live an alternate life when they're not being played, true to Toy Story form.

Monsters, Inc. Ralph gets sick of playing the bad guy and goes on the run, "game jumping" into other character's video games. This feels quite familiar to the "closet" concept in Monsters Inc. The monster duo in that film were able to access closets in a central, factory-like area. Here, "Game Central Station" is modeled after Grand Central Station.

The Incredibles. Ralph isn't just normal, he's super-strong, easily able to wreck entire buildings. He also takes to first-person shooter games the way a superhero does. The Incredibles also continues the Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. idea of creating everyday lives for figures the public knows as superheroes, toys, scary monsters--or video game characters.

The Pixar "all-ages" appeal.  The trailer opens with a monologue from Ralph that sounds like a ploy to reel in working parents everywhere. Ralph is framed as a corporate slave who just wants to escape and find himself. The use of the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime" clinches the trailer's dad appeal. Also, as the participants in the "bad-anon" section suggest, Wreck-It Ralph includes characters from '70s arcade games onwards. Older gamers will get a nostalgia kick out of seeing their favorites in the movie.

2012 just keeps getting more interesting. Here's the trailer for Wreck-It Ralph:

 

What we learned about Pixar's 2012 release 'Brave'

By Sarah Sluis

The past few years of Pixar movies have been a joy for adults. WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3 were visually stunning, emotionally resonant films that rekindled the taste for animation among those that had abandoned the format. This year's Cars 2 may be beautiful, but the story is more kid-focused and targeted at that machinery-obsessed demographic that includes many boys. For those that were let down by this year's Pixar movie, the trailer for Brave promises more of the brand of Pixar that adults love.

1. It may be fairy tale-inspired, but it's no Tangled. This actually made me sad. I loved the luminous look of Disney's Rapunzel tale, which was filled with color and light rendered in golden hues. Brave is going for a harsher, naturalistic look that matches its medieval setting. I'm holding out for the likelihood that there might be brighter scenes not included in the one-minute trailer.

2. Noticeable technical innovation. Hair is notoriously difficult to computer-animate, so it's always a good place to analyze the work of the animators. At :40, Princess Merida's hair bounces softly. The movement struck me as incredibly naturalistic. These are the kind of people who tap Ph.D.'s in fluid simulation to create waves, so I'm sure months of work went into creating the motion and look of Merida's prominent red curly mane.

3. The Stonehenge mystery. Some of the opening shots include rocks in a Stonehenge-like structure. The only problem is that the movie is set in Scotland while Stonehenge is in southern England. There might be a way around this: A 12th century Arthurian legend purports that Merlin remotely assembled the structure from Ireland. At least there's precedent for creative license in this manner. Now we just need to get to the bottom of what those floating blue orbs of light mean.

4. A female heroine. Princess Merida will be the first female Pixar heroine. In the trailer she's riding horses through bear-infested woods and shooting arrows. As a sidenote, what is it with young female action heroines and their graceful weapon, a bow and arrow? This year's Hanna used it to hunt, and next March's The Hunger Games will feature Katniss, whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. Merida appears to be no exception, perhaps following in the footsteps of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt.

5. A Scottish lead. Reese Witherspoon was originally supposed to voice Merida, but she's been replaced with Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald ("Boardwalk Empire"). Witherspoon may have been too expensive or busy, or perhaps Pixar just wanted a real Scottish brogue. Since we don't hear her voice in the trailer, it's too soon to tell what Macdonald will bring to the table.

Brave is set for a June 22, 2012, release. Disney's website offers just a cryptic description. Merida defies tradition, causing trouble. She then goes to a witch for help, unleashing a curse that she must then fix in order to save the kingdom. The original title, The Bear and the Bow, evoked more of a fairy-tale feel, but it was also more revealing in terms of plot. We see both a bear and a bow in the trailer. I suspect that Merida's showdown with the bear is either her initial act of defiance or seals the ill-conceived wish granted by the witch. The answer is just a year away.

Disney kills 'Newt,' postpones 'Beauty and the Beast 3D'

By Sarah Sluis

Newt has been dead for months now, but the Pixar project was officially taken off Disney's slate in an

announcement today. The movie was to center on the last two newts left on Earth, who predictably hate each other (but of course are meant for each other). It looks like the project was pushed out by the sequels of Cars and Monsters, Inc., as well as the original project The Bear and the Bow. R.I.P., Newt.

The other announcement was the indefinite postponement of the 3D re-release of Beauty and the Beast in theatres. If Disney took the pulse of the market correctly, this move could have implications for other 3D re-releases. The official word is that Beauty and the Beast would have to release in a crowded market, but there's also the possibility that Disney doesn't want to orchestrate a re-release without an upcoming tie-in or sequel to spread out marketing costs and add revenue.

By comparison, the Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D re-release in fall 2009 made $30 million. Once you take the estimated conversion cost of $15 million per film as well as marketing costs into account, it doesn't seem as though the re-release could have made much of a profit. But because the re-release renewed interest in the Toy Story franchise and the upcoming Toy Story 3, profitability of the theatrical re-release might not have mattered in the grand scheme of things.

In order to make money off the re-release of Beauty and the Beast in 3D, Disney had planned on parents buying the exact same thing (possibly in 3D) for their Blu-rays--a much tougher task. For now, they plan to release the 20th anniversary version of Beauty and the Beast not in 3D, but 2D--despite the fact that a 3D version exists! The 3D home market is expected to take off this year, but so far movies like Clash of the Titans, which just made a huge splash on DVD and Blu-ray, have not been released in 3D. The holiday season is traditionally a time for plenty of DVD/Blu-ray releases and home electronics purchases, so this will be the season that reveals whether 3D films hit the home market--or not.

The postponement shows that Disney feels consumers aren't ready to buy 3D movies (which require newer, capable televisions as well as a Blu-ray player) and that it will be difficult to get consumers to buy tickets to an older title. For now, we'll just have to wait to see that famous ballroom dancing scene pop out on a big screen.

Victory for 'Toy Story 3' with a nine-digit weekend

By Sarah Sluis

Drawing in a remarkably diverse audience, Pixar's eleventh feature, Toy Story 3, brought in $109 million over the weekend, the highest opening weekend ever for a Pixar movie. What's more interesting, though, is

that attendance was comparable to Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and The Incredibles. What accounted for the millions more earned by Toy Story 3? Besides the usual culprit, rising ticket prices, the surcharge for 3D stands out. It's estimated that the extra dimension added $20 million to the movie's gross, although that bump falls on the low end for 3D movies. Also in the mix were a large number of adults paying full ticket prices. 46% of the audience was over 25, and not all of them were parents. Toy Story 3 drew in 33% of its audience from non-families, 40% of which came from young adults aged 17-24. With its strong debut and positive word-of-mouth, Toy Story 3 should dominate for the rest of the summer--expect it to be in the top ten for the next two months.

Earning 1/20th of the gross of Toy Story 3, Jonah Hex is the first unqualified flop of the summer box office.

The comic book/western/futuristic movie managed to draw in none of those audiences, and finished with just $5 million, though that was enough to earn it an eighth-place finish. Ouch.

In second place, The Karate Kid earned $29 million in its second weekend. Though the movie dropped 47%, Toy Story 3 proved tough competition. Given its positive reviews and strong opening weekend, the movie should bounce back in coming weeks. By comparison, two other kid-oriented movies in the top ten dropped more than 50%. Marmaduke slumped 55% to $2.6 million, and Shrek Forever After declined 65%, to $5.5 million.

Fox Searchlight's marketing campaign paid off with Cyrus, which earned a breathtaking $45,000 per screen on four screens. The movie will expand into more markets in coming weeks, and should earn at least $10 million if its performance holds up--my conservative estimate. Since the movie debuted on such a small number of screens, it's hard to tell how well it will scale up.

I Am Love, starring Tilda Swinton, made its debut with $15,000 per screen on eight screens. The stylish Italian art film drew in equally suave audiences, and its opening should give it a solid, if not blockbuster, run at the box office.

This Friday, action comedy Knight and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, will open alongside Grown Ups, a comedy about basketball teammates reuniting in middle age. The cast is led by Adam Sandler.

'Toy Story 3' aims for a record-breaking weekend

By Sarah Sluis

Woody and Buzz are back in Toy

Story 3, which will open in 4,028 theatres, including more than 2,000 3D screens 2,463

3D theatres and 180 IMAX locations. Strikingly adult, from its

tear-jerking sequences to a

scary, fiery landfill scene, the movie will

strongly appeal to those who first saw Toy Story as kids, as well as

parents and other adults that turn out to see the film. Critic Kevin

Lally called the movie "bountifully inventive," and it's filled with

intricate gags and laugh-out-loud characters, like Barbie's sidekick Ken

(voiced by Michael Keaton) and a hedgehog toy that takes the pose of a snobby

British actor, asking everyone how they can "remain in character"

while they are playing with their owner. Lally praised "the Pixar

artists [who] never shy from genuine emotion and deeper resonance."

The animated movie is on track to earn over $100 million this weekend, and

could be the highest-grossing Pixar film ever if it beats Finding Nemo's

$339 million total--and Finding Nemo opened to just $70 million.

On the other end of the spectrum, "would-be summer blockbuster" Jonah

Hex (2,825 theatres) will be

quietly making its debut, and some

feel it could open to just $10 million. As an PG-13 rated feature, Jonah

Hex won't benefit from grabbing audiences from sold-out screenings of

the G-rated Toy Story 3. This "half-baked" comic book

adaptation that combines "old-fashioned western, supernatural action film,

El Topo-like acid trip and steampunk-style science fiction," according to

critic Ethan Alter, is unlikely to attract large audiences. It'll probably

die out quickly, unlike its death-defying protagonists (played by Josh Brolin and John

Malkovich).

Fox Searchight may be known for cute and quirky, but Cyrus

(4 theatres) is more creepy and quirky. The tale of a man who

falls in love with a woman, only to discover that her son is unwilling to let

someone impinge on his close relationship with his mother, it balances its

intimations of Freudian complexes and incest with a comedic tone and emphasis

on awkward situations. The Duplass brothers (of the "mumblecore"

movement) are making their first mainstream effort with the movie, which has a marketing campaign with plenty of odd

animated GIFs behind it, courtesy of Searchlight.

The general consensus on Italian director Luca

Guadagnino 's I

Am Love (7 theatres) is that it favors style over substance.

But oh, that style! The "oh-so-posh proceedings," as described

by David Noh, are "sumptuously designed and handsomely photographed by

Yorick Le Saux, with timelessly classic costumes." Tilda Swinton

plays a Russian-born wife in the primarily Italian-language film, and the

English speaker learned Italian for the role.

On Monday, we'll see how high Toy Story 3 was able to go at the box

office, if Jonah Hex attracted fans despite its dismal ratings, and if

Fox Searchlight played its cards right marketing Cyrus.

Pixar tries to convince college students they're not too old for 'Toy Story 3'

By Sarah Sluis

To build buzz for Toy Story 3, Pixar is turning to college students. While twenty-somethings aren't usually big consumers of animated films, the latest Woody-Buzz Lightyear movie has a few things going for it. First, nostalgia: many of these kids grew up with the first two movies and may have some interest in the third.

Second, the story: the plot follows Andy's toys, which have been donated after he goes away to college. What college kid can't relate to coming home and finding that their bedroom has been changed by their parents? Third, crossover family movies: Alice in Wonderland wouldn't have racked up over $300 million at the box office without the help of non-family viewers, and last summer's Up also played widely across demographics.

Like the college-based rollout for Paramount's Paranormal Activity or the free advance screenings popularized by studios like Fox Searchlight, twenty college towns will have abbreviated, cliffhanger screenings of Toy Story 3 that are being promoted virally. The tear-off flyer image on the left, for example, takes you to a website informing you of the screening. Because it's not unusual for studios to preview full-length feature films in advance of their release, there has been some backlash, like this post on FilmJunk that called the promotion a rip-off. In case people didn't spot the flyer, there's also a link to the screenings on Facebook, in a tab next to the Pixar fan page.

Will it work? My guess is--somewhat. Pixar films are fantastic and well-worth a night out, but for some, they lack the cachet of saying that you just saw gross-out movie The Hangover or another more edgy option. But at the same time, the success of Oscar-winning films like Wall-E and Up has paved the way for older, childless people to go back to animated movies without feeling like they are watching something intended for children. They're so critically acclaimed, they're worth seeing in their own right. By offering advance, abbreviated screenings, Pixar will be showing audiences what so many people have already discovered--these films appeal to all ages. Once you see a Pixar film, you understand what everyone's been talking about, so these screenings should help connect college students to an animated genre that's transformed since their own childhood.

Choose heavenly 'Up,' or 'Drag Me to Hell'

By Sarah Sluis

The must-see movie of this weekend is Pixar's Up (3,700 screens). The opening night selection at Cannes, the PG-rated film will appeal to all ages, and rack up box-office dollars from audiences of every demographic. Pixar usually keeps its plots mysterious--our Executive Editor Kevin Lally points out that "the subject matter...might seem a dubious bet until you see what's been rendered on-screen," so I'll be sparing with the exposition. Ellie and Carl meet each other play-acting adventurers in an old house, reminiscent of the one in It's A Wonderful Life. They fall in love, marry, fix up the house, and, in a touching montage, share life's joys and disappointments, namely their inability to have children or visit Paradise Falls, where they planned on following the footsteps of famous adventurer Charles F. Muntz. Ellie dies (a fact whispered in clarification to a younger sister during the screening I attended), and as you wipe your eyes from under your 3D glasses you realize that the beautiful house they've fixed up is now surrounded by high rises, in an image first drawn in The Little House (a Caldecott winner by famous children's book author Virginia Lee Burton).

While it's taken me a paragraph to explain the moments leading up to Carl's balloon-aided escape from urbanism, Up astounds with its economy: it trusts its (young) audience, and isn't afraid to give them quiet moments. The moments it returns to and repeats, like peeks in the scrapbook Ellie kept of her life, are raps, not hammering reminders. Its creatures (especially the talking dogs) are humorous, and the eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer stowaway, a non-acting child that director Pete Docter said they would tickle or ask to do jumping jacks before reciting his lines, to coax out the best reading, is a charming complement to Carl's stodgy shtick. Up will almost certainly win opening weekend, and make strong showings at the box office weeks after its release.

Sam Raimi, who launched his career with the Evil Dead series and revived it by helming three Spider-Man films, has returned to horror with Drag Me To Hell (2,400 screens), which has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, who tend to recoil from the genre. The "diabolically entertaining" film, according to critic Michael Rechtshaffen, contains an allusion to the mortgage crisis. Alison Lohman plays a bank officer who denies a loan extension to a woman, who in turn places a curse on her. As she tries to avoid being dragged off to hell, she enlists the help of her boyfriend, Justin Long. With "old-school puppetry and prosthetic makeup combined with some judiciously used CGI," Raimi appears to have created a horror film with broad appeal, that will provide counterprogramming to those who'd rather not go Up.

On the specialty side, the film to check out is Departures, the Japanese-language picture that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Our critic Maggie Lee called it a "popular gem�thematically respectable, technically hard to fault, and artfully scripted to entertain and touch audiences." The movie follows an unemployed cellist who signs up to be a "journey assistant," preparing dead bodies for their funerals. Delving into the world of death reminds him of his opposite: "The scene of him wolfing down fried chicken suggests his appetite for life is eventually whetted by confronting mortality daily�a reconnection with nature's cycle."

On Monday, I'll check up on just how high-flying Up was at the box office, and how much money Drag Me to Hell could scare up, so circle back as summer movie season moves into full swing.