ROTTEN TOMATOES: Pixar Update: "Wall E" & "Toy Story 3" Comments

Pixar Update: "Wall E" & "Toy Story 3"

by Scott Weinberg | June 11, 2007

Summary

It's always a good time for some news from the Pixar team... Back to Article

(1-48 of 48 posts) | Reply

Crenshaw writes:
on Jun 11 2007 06:37 AM

Until they prove otherwise, Pixar can Do No Wrong in my mind. Sure, a few of your didn't think Cars was all that special, but I'll put it next to singing and dancing penguins anyday.

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jeremyf1977 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 06:50 AM

The thrid time is not always the charm.

Shrek 3 sucked. Spiderman 3 sucked. Pirates Didn't.

But why do we need TS3? Unless Tom and Tim and all the others come back.

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Gimy writes:
on Jun 11 2007 07:19 AM

why do we need Toy Story 3? its that thing you have in your wallet(ok, maybe not YOU since you're delirious enough to think Spider 3 "sucked")...its called money. Pixar makes it, TS is one of their biggest blockbusters. its not difficult to add it up here dude.

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~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Jun 11 2007 07:42 AM

Shrek 3 was OK, Spider-Man 3 was pretty awesome, Pirates 3 was awful. Just to add a bit of kindling to the blaze.

Toy Story has been doing well so far, and it's Pixar. If this was Dreamworks making Toy Story 3 I would just groan, but it's Pixar. Pixar would have a very hard time making a bad movie, even if they tried to. With Ratatouille shaping up to be excellent and Wall-E sounding more appealing with each news update we get, I have little doubt that Pixar will continue making quality movies for a long time to come.

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IMAmoose24 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 07:53 AM

In reply to this comment (#868866)
Your the kind of people who make crappy, non-needed sequels happen. I can't comment on Shrek, but from what I've been hearing, it wasn't very good. Spiderman 3 had to be one of the worst movies I have seen. Pirates 3 was a great movie and didn't get what it deserved rep wise.

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Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 11 2007 08:57 AM

Much as I love both the Toy Story movies, I'm a little dissapointed about a third. I'll probably love it, but I always loved how Pixar came out with fresh-non-sequels. Toy Story 2 was a wonderful exception. I hope the same for 3.

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Merlin235 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 10:21 AM

In reply to this comment (#868867)
So, his opinion doesn't matter but yours does? From what I have heard about Pirates 3, less people liked that one than liked Spidey 3. So wouldn't YOU be 'the kind of people who make crappy, non-needed sequels happen"? Come on moose, you shouldn't be labeling people like that. I like sequels, but they're hard to make. Expectations can ruin a film, whether it's bad or not.

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insanemansam5 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 10:49 AM

What third movies are awesome! ROTK was the best of it series, the third harry potter film was sweet, and Return of the Jedi is so cool :) (note judge the movie not the number good third films don't prove that threequels are good and bad ones don't prove they're bad)

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Bob* writes:
on Jun 11 2007 11:04 AM

WALL*E - Another generic, typical "you're more what are you meant to" story..for another generic, animated CGI crap from the oevrrated "genious" of Pixar. Hmm..wasn't that the point of Ratatoiulle?! But *gasp* the characters don't talk! HOW ORIGINAL! Oh wait..The triplets of belleville...OOPS!

And Toy story 3?! The 2d was a piece of garbage and everybody thought it was awesome?!

Jesus! Everybody is treating Pixar like if they were the best studios in the whole wide world and nobody seems that they are just recycling the same ideas over and over again. Everybody started saying that "Meet the robinsons", one of the most boring, mediocre movies I have seen in ages , is a masterpiece because "Lasseter made some notes" SO WHAT?!. And even if you point them nobody would care and nobody will give it importance because "they are just cartoons"

They are defintely good animators but not good writters!

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Vitamin M writes:
on Jun 11 2007 11:04 AM

If they bring back the creative and acting talent of the first two toy stories then it should be good. I could even imagine it being better, I thought the second was better then the first.
of the sequels I have only heard bad things about Shrek3 and pirates 3 and I saw Spiderman 3 which was definetly the worst of the spider man movies but I wouldn't call it a bad movie.
oh and Cars is definelty the worst Pixar film and possibly one of the worst big cgi films to come out in the last decade. Possibly because the subject matter (white trash racing...seriously have you ever been to a Nascar race? I have because I live in Indianapolis and I thought I should at least try it once. My goodness it was the biggest collection of drunk morons I've ever seen.) The only joke I liked was in the end credits when they redo several scenes from other pixar classics with car actors. that was a good gag.
But Brad Bird can do no wrong. I just hope they let him do a sequel to the Incredibles.

(Reply to this)

Ryan_Dillon writes:
on Jun 11 2007 11:56 AM

My only fear is that with all the crappy second rate CGI films out and that are in production that people will soon get more sick of them, and slowly start losing interest in Pixar movies. Pixar makes a lot of money of there films because they put so much work into them so they deserve all the money they make.

But if half ass made CGI movies keep going out to make a quick buck, I will be really sad to see pixar get hurt

Heres a list ( at the bottom ) of all the CGI's coming out within the next few years

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=computeranimation.htm

just copy and paste and take a look

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Floor Man writes:
on Jun 11 2007 01:20 PM

In reply to this comment (#868864)
We don't "need" TS3.... We didn't really "need" any of these sequels, but Hollywood makes them to entertain us (and make $$$), anyway. And Tom and Tim are coming back, so I don't think we have a thing to worry about. Plus, like many of you have already stated, unless they can prove me otherwise, Pixar can do no wrong. WALL*E is shaping up to be one of Pixar's best (according to them), *and* Andrew Stanton's directing. Oh, Ben Burtt's also doing the sound/voices, too. Yay! I'm stoked.

Oh, and Bob*: Of course Pixar's not "the best" studio in the world, but it's certainly *one* of the best...there's a reason they've won 7 Oscars so far.

Toy Story: 100%
A Bug's Life: 91%
Toy Story 2: 100%
Monsters, Inc.: 94%
Finding Nemo: 98%
The Incredibles: 97%
Cars: 76%

Sure, everyone has noted "Cars" was, indeed, quite a dip in Pixar's almost always consistent quality, but that kind of thing happens. Still certified fresh, and the most popular animated movie of last year. Definitely not the best, but certainly not horrible....

(And I thought Michael Arndt was writing the script for TS3, not Lee Unkrich? Maybe modifications/revisions are in order....)

(Reply to this)

Bigbrother writes:
on Jun 11 2007 01:44 PM

In reply to this comment (#868872)
Sorry to break this to you Bob, but everything is a recycling of a previous idea. Even Shakespeare 400 years ago was already recycling idea's. It's the new spin you can put on them that makes them new again and Pixar has done a fantastic job at that. I just hope their quality doesn't dip now that big daddy Disney's not there to back them.

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VML writes:
on Jun 11 2007 02:17 PM

In reply to this comment (#868872)
"WALL-E" is generic?!!! You have no idea what its REALLY about! It sounds like a masterpiece in the works!

Everyone, read this article! It will give you a much better idea of "WALL-E"!

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/02/27/toon-tuesday-again.aspx

I'm so looking forward to it!

(Reply to this)

Bear45 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 02:30 PM

So the "Little Miss Sunshine" guy's screenplay didn't impress huh?

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knowingtoast85 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 03:06 PM

In reply to this comment (#868877)
I'm looking forward to "WALL-E" as well!

The forum that follows the article you linked has severely depressed me, though. Nothing irritates me more than a bunch of armchair politicos dragging their 800-pound-gorilla opinions into the discussion of completely unrelated things, let alone a children's movie.

And yeah, I understand that children's movies, Pixar's in particular, are capable of as much emotional depth and dramatic complexity as any other, and there is room in their scripts for political discourse. But the way these knee-jerks bodyslam Al Gore -- as if he has anything to do with it -- over the early, secondhand synopsis of the first third of this movie is just a trifle sigh-worthy. Get a grip already.

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Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 11 2007 05:58 PM

In reply to this comment (#868876)
Absolutley. These days, it doesn't matter whether you're recycling material or not, but how much you recycle. Name one movie and I can come up with other movies in which is recycled material. And Bob, you yourself pointed out why they're making a third Toy Story; everyone thought the second was awesome.

(Reply to this)

CannibalPenguins writes:
on Jun 11 2007 08:28 PM

People trashing WALL-E haven't heard the actual story yet.

Robot sent to clean ball of trash (aka: Earth), Robot is only one on earth, another robot? OH MY! Two robots... have robot sex? NO! But still..

Movie sounds cute and the current images out are awesome.

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Bob* writes:
on Jun 11 2007 09:25 PM

In reply to this comment (#868875)
WOAH WOAH! since when the Oscar is synonim of quality?! specially with animated movies! and the fact that they won such quantity of oscars against better works just proof my point!

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Bob* writes:
on Jun 11 2007 09:37 PM

In reply to this comment (#868876)
ugh..the shakespeare excuse..the fast exit.

"and pixar has done a fantastic jone at that" yeah..in the land of the blind...

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Bob* writes:
on Jun 11 2007 09:39 PM

In reply to this comment (#868877)
sounds like all the cliched animated movies in one...but go ahead, go nuts, give them money to keep making their garbage masterpieces.

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Bob* writes:
on Jun 11 2007 09:40 PM

In reply to this comment (#868880)
and therefore everyone has the mind of a retarded 2 year old..."THANKS"

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starscream69 writes:
on Jun 11 2007 10:34 PM

The best sequel i have seen this year so far is oceans 13. Spidey 3 was by far the worst of the trilogy and very dissapointing to say the least. Pirates 3 was a load of crap. And i refuse to pay to see shrek 3, ill wait til it comes out on dvd and rent it. Now, as for the whole pixar thing, ratatouille looks horrible to me. i know there are alot of you brad bird fans out there, but im sorry to tell u that this is going to be his worst flick, sorry to break the news to you. Wall-E is going to be amazing tho i believe from what i have heard, plus i saw a pic from the movie and it looks awesome. Pixar is great and most, and i mean M O S T, of their movies are great, but they can't hit gold everytime. Ratatouille will prove that point to everyone soon

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zooman writes:
on Jun 12 2007 12:17 AM

In reply to this comment (#868864)
[b]why do we need it?[/b]
I dont think we do, and Pixar did not want it. That was one of the main issues when Pixar and Disney split up. Lassetter wanted to keep the characters and movies and did not want to do sequels; Disney had decided there WERE gonna be sequels with the characters they owned-- seeing how sequels, especially after shrek 2, were becoming easy hits and huge openers. Less need to convince people to be open to say, a french rat, than to be eager to see ogres, toys, or monsters they already love from either discovering and getting to know them on theater or on dvd.

So, even if Pixar didnt want it, Disney WAS gonna do it (just imagine that: Disney making toy story 3 and monsters 2...). Fortunately for everyone, they renegotiated, Disney ended up acquiring pixar (which doesnt make me happy) under terms that seemed favorable to Pixar and to Lassetter, and Pixar got Toy Story and Monsters and all of those movies back, as they got back the sequels, but only to make them themselves as part of disney. Apparently--or the idea I have--is that Disney had already started at least with toy story 3 (maybe monsters too), but now pixar can do them, which is great considering the threat of Disney butchering all or most of the pixar movies.... I'm still afraid of them making a sequel to monsters as Disney wanted.

I was never a huge fan of the toy stories, they are my least favorite pixar movies only after bug's life, the only one I don't care about. Raratouille doesnt look that good from the trailer, but the clips look decent, those clips show that energy and dynamism of the incredibles, their most complex and probably most impressive achievement (though I still hold Nemo and Monsters very dearly). So I am not too afraid about toy story 3, it should be good, but I am very afraid of a sequel to Monsters, hope they wont butcher it... This is what makes me hate Disney, but let's hope Pixar will do something good out of it.

(Reply to this)

knowingtoast85 writes:
on Jun 12 2007 02:45 AM

I'm a bit worried about Ratatouille, in that the film didn't originate with Brad Bird's creative vision. This marks the first Pixar project that a director was brought in as a replacement. Theirs is a studio well-known for giving the writer-directors a helluva lot of creative control and freedom, and it's paid off well. We'll see if Bird can deliver a great movie that wasn't his in the first place.

(Reply to this)

loner_xtreme writes:
on Jun 12 2007 02:56 AM

In reply to this comment (#868875)
didn't Cars lose to Happy Feet at the recent Academy Awards?

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 12 2007 08:20 AM

In reply to this comment (#868885)
Because they don't agree with you? You're starting to sound like aknddon3...

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 12 2007 08:46 AM

In reply to this comment (#868889)
And rightfully so. Cars was great, but Happy Feet was fantastically entertaining.

(Reply to this)

Bob* writes:
on Jun 12 2007 10:14 AM

In reply to this comment (#868890)
he's a troill I am being serious here. It piss me off that people supports medicrity.

(Reply to this)

Bob* writes:
on Jun 12 2007 10:18 AM

In reply to this comment (#868889)
and who said Happy feet was good?!

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calbear526 writes:
on Jun 12 2007 10:23 AM

In reply to this comment (#868892)
[b]Bob...[/b]
It shouldn't piss you off that people support mediocrity. After all, if they didn't, who would be left to support you?

As far as the genre of film that Pixar produces is concerned, they are the absolute masters of the realm.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 12 2007 12:32 PM

In reply to this comment (#868892)
But the thing is, not everybody think it's mediocre. If the first few Pixar movies were widley hated, then they wouldn't be making more. Then again, why is Uwe Boll still in the business...

All I'm saying is that, while many people probably do think Pixar is mediocre, more people love it, which is why it's still in the business.

(Reply to this)

Bob* writes:
on Jun 12 2007 08:31 PM

In reply to this comment (#868894)
lol! that was good!

(Reply to this)

Bob* writes:
on Jun 12 2007 08:32 PM

In reply to this comment (#868894)
btw, animation is a MEDIUM not a Genre.

(Reply to this)

zooman writes:
on Jun 12 2007 11:56 PM

[b]agreements with Bob[/b]
I'll just agree with bob that meet the robinsons is terrible... or worse... happy feet is bad too, and animation IS a medium. But, I believe Pixar is precisely one of the key players that turned what typically was a genre in the US into a medium for quality storytelling; and I do believe they are great writers with solid characters, good quality, original stories (Monsters could have run in so many story cliches, but it rather ended up creating two of the most vivid characters in animation: Sully and Boo) and often intelligent humor (except in cars which is still good in other ways); and which has really set the bar high, especially for other animated movies to which they are usually compared, but also for light family comedies in general (or even action films like The Incredibles, from which SO many movies could learn a lot).

About lassetter, I esteem him more for creating such a space and company as Pixar and for directing such a company and such people, more than for the artistry in himself. I think his toy stories and cars are the weakest (if still really good in many ways) after bug's life (that is why I care less for sequels of the more generic, or manageable, toy stories than one for Monsters). In interviews and stuff, he seems more of a business person who admires and cherishes creative and artistic ambition and who does have some of his own; yet I think he is mainly a great leader with a great vision that he has actually brought to effect. I am sure Disney Animation is gonna improve much with him leading it, and I am sure Pixar will keep being great given it is a safer creative haven from Disney; "safety" which, even if now owned by Disney, Pixar has earned through the trust its its quality has brought it.

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Jun 13 2007 06:29 AM

In reply to this comment (#868892)
One man's trash is another man's treasure. That's why we have many different things for many different people. And if saying, essentially, "you're a bunch of retarded 2-year-olds because you don't agree with me" isn't a trollish comment, then I don't know what is. You don't like Pixar, fine, but don't hate the rest of us because we do.

What exactly do you consider good animation?

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Jun 13 2007 06:32 AM

In reply to this comment (#868888)
Have you seen the 9-minute preview available at Pixar's website? After seeing that I'm really excited to see Ratatouille. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and very enjoyable.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 13 2007 03:19 PM

In reply to this comment (#868893)
I SAID HAPPY FEET WAS GOOD!!!

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 13 2007 03:21 PM

In reply to this comment (#868899)
Agreed. I don't think he's trying to be a troll, though.

(Reply to this)

killermonkey8822 writes:
on Jun 13 2007 09:13 PM

am i the only person who actually dosen't like Pixar?....... but whatever i did like Toy Story when i was little......... i doubt i will go for a third one

(Reply to this)

knowingtoast85 writes:
on Jun 14 2007 02:54 AM

In reply to this comment (#868900)
It got me excited too. Hey, I really hope Bird pulls it off. This just happens to be the first time a Pixar story wasn't conceived fully by its creator, and that's been Pixar's big M.O., but I do have some confidence in the studio.

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Jun 14 2007 08:35 AM

In reply to this comment (#868902)
I also liked Happy Feet, although the third act preaching did get a little heavy-handed.

(Reply to this)

herr_howard writes:
on Jun 15 2007 12:43 PM

In reply to this comment (#868876)
[b]I thought...[/b]
...after Michael Eisner left, Disney quite conveniently scooped up PIXAR and made Brad Bird its animation director...I think they've got not only the key's to big daddy Disney's car, but the hand on his wallet, too...Steve Jobs is like a 51% stockholder in Disney.

Pixar has nothing to worry about. If only the folks at ILM realized what they had on their hands before they sold off the Renderman technology...

(Reply to this)

rdproductions writes:
on Jun 17 2007 08:54 AM

Am I the only person who dislikes Pixar here? Finding Nemo has nothing on the Lion King.

(Reply to this)

zooman writes:
on Jun 17 2007 08:57 PM

In reply to this comment (#868908)
no, a couple others already said they didnt. Similarly, I am probably one of the few who doesnt think so highly about lion king, which has even aged badly for my taste. I'd easily take any pixar film except bugs life and toy story 2 over lion king, if it werent because lion king is perhaps somewhat historically important like the neater but simpler toy story and nemo (which have nothing to do with a movie like lion king, they are different things altogether, except for the fact that they are all animated and that they have talking animals in the case of nemo)

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 18 2007 10:01 AM

In reply to this comment (#868908)
Well, there's Bob.

(Reply to this)

Silverevilchao writes:
on Jun 30 2007 11:36 PM

In reply to this comment (#868872)
Hey, Bob? They didn't make "Meet the Robinsons", genius. Also: everything is recycled. Halo is a rehash of the common sci-fi FPS. Every single main Poke'mon game is a rehash of each other. Shakespeare was rehashing stuff from myths. Gundam is a rehash of Transformers and vice versa. Get over it.

Go crawl back to your Shark Tale-infested waters and worship your precious Dreamworks. While listening to fish rap in underwater night clubs. AKA Movie Hell.

(Reply to this)

Bob* writes:
on Jul 02 2007 09:33 PM

In reply to this comment (#868911)
uh....ok? o_O

(Reply to this)

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