Captain Conroy's Pixar 40th Anniversary Marathon (Epilogue)

Written by Captain Conroy

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 and Week 13 here.

O.K, here we are everyone. I have now finished this epic rewatch of all the films in Pixar’s library to date and holy moley it’s been one heck of an adventure! Each time I revisited these movies, I went in and was greeted by a plethora of wonderfully imaginative stories, even if some weren’t quite as strong as the others, I still managed to enjoy them nevertheless. Upon rewatching, I swear there’s just never creativity like theirs anywhere else. My eyes were treated to constantly gorgeous, spellbinding and initiative animation that is nothing but pure eye-candy, even seeing their earlier animation it was ground breaking for the time. And if there’s one thing each movie has in common, they all introduce us to some of the most unique and amazing characters that have ever graced cinema screens.

I had intended to include this along with the final reviews but I decided to make it its own post as there’s certainly a fair bit to say and I don’t want to make the blogposts too long. And of course there’s plenty to talk about as I give my final thoughts. Firstly, as someone who grew up watching these movies and watching every new release as it came out, has anything changed? Well, a lot has changed. I appreciate the animation more for one thing, as well as the creativity of the stories, I can definitely appreciate the dialogue more than I used to, especially as I get a lot more of the jokes that would have flown over my head as a kid. And I definitely have more of an appreciation for each character arc as they strive towards their goals. I especially noticed on a rewatch how each Pixar movie has its own unique depth of feeling as the characters strive toward something, heavy themes on family, a sense of belonging somewhere or even trying to win big on something however long it takes. If anything remained the same it’s the fact that I still like them all. Even the ones I found weaker than the truly great ones I still found plenty of enjoyment out of. One thing that did change though was I thought Lightyear was the weakest movie in Pixar’s library, but now I think it’s Brave.

I could certainly do a list of which ones I find the weakest other than finding Brave the weakest with Lightyear being a bit stronger but not by much, but I’m aiming to end this positively so we’ll go through some other highlights I found on this rewatch. We’ll start with my personal top 5 movies in Pixar’s library, which are as follows:

5: Cars 3

I know, what’d be up with me right? LOL. Anyways people can say what they will about the Cars movies, but I can appreciate them for what they are and I personally found Cars 3 to be the best one out of them for its mature themes and the strong character arcs for Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramirez. Yes, Cars 2 had some mature themes too like straight up murder but there’ll always be personal preference and this is mine. Along with this comes the example of good character growth, even at the start of the movie McQueen is not the same character he was when he started out and by the end of the movie he still gains so much knowledge and wisdom by becoming Cruz’s crew chief. Shows sometimes you can teach an ol’ dog new tricks huh?

4: Toy Story 2

But as good as Cars 3 was, Toy Story 2 is one of the absolute G.O.A.Ts when it comes to sequels for Pixar movies. So much was learned about Woody and where he came from, being a character from a TV show with his own franchise once upon a time, and it’s definitely one of those shining examples of that depth of feeling that Pixar are so good at doing. You have Woody and his feelings for Andy and being there for him, Jessie not wanting to go back into storage and being sceptical to trust kids after what she went through with her owner and Buzz going through so much in order to save his friend. Plus extra credit is given giving they gave us this absolute gem on a very tight deadline.

3: Up

Oh boy, what an emotional roller coaster ride this was! This movie alone gave us one of the most wholesome scenes in the form of Carl and Ellie’s life together as husband and wife from the moment they got married until Ellie’s death, you have the bond that Carl and Russell build over the steady course of things and the fact that Kevin was really a mother just looking out for her babies. It also shows us the very valuable lesson that even when one adventure has ended, another can still be had, no matter how old you get. Up is an absolute gem.

2: WALL.E

It was incredibly hard for me to rank the others but as things went on, I always knew what would be my top two, starting with WALL.E. WALL.E shows that your main characters don’t have to have a wide vocabulary range in order to be loveable and for your overall picture to be good. WALL.E gives an intriguing story and no matter how much better animation gets over years, WALL.E’s animation will truly stand the test of time and we were treated to a memorable cast of characters which even included by far Pixar’s most sophisticated villain in the form of an auto pilot that merely follows orders. This is a movie that is truly out of this world.

1: Inside Out 1 & 2

Yes, it’s a genuine tie for me here and if you saw this retrospective through to the end, I suppose you would have seen this coming. But can you blame me? These two movies are as close to the perfect movie existing that I have ever witnessed. I genuinely would have to nit-pick if I was to find anything wrong with these movies and they are some of the most relatable and heartfelt pieces of work Pixar ever graced our cinema screens with. It’s such a unique way of showing us emotions and how they can change and effect someone’s life. Furthermore it’s the most creative aspect of what goes on in the mind that’s ever been crafted like in the history of ever.

As I say while my two favourites were easy to decipher, it was incredibly hard to decide what the rest would be to make up a top five. However it’s not to say the others are bad and I definitely have to give an honourable mention to Ratatouille and Onward as another thing that changed was finding a new-found appreciation for some of their movies with Ratatouille and Onward being my personal shining examples. Ratatouille was more mature than I remembered it being and it brought us some of the most meaningful scenes in any movie Pixar made in the form of Ego’s review on Gusteau’s and how even if Gusteau’s was closed down, Remy still comes out on top in the end and Ego becomes a happier person for the better. Onward on the other hand brought us a unique premise in the form of a modern fantasy setting and the feeling of family spoke to me. I may have lost my father but even if I hadn’t I know for a fact I would still be feeling for Ian and Barley. Plus as well as a lot of the comedy, a lot of the action was great too and that’s always a plus, means you won’t be bored. Speaking of which, time for another top five as I share with you what my favourite scenes are. These are particular stand out scenes and they can come from any movie.

5: Ego’s Review

Funny I mentioned it here, because here it is again. There’s a lot to love about this scene, from Ego’s meaningful words to the gorgeous imagery that accompanies it. Plus I love just how calm Ego is upon learning who the real chef is. Even when they show him behind the scenes, he doesn’t even raise an eyebrow, he only asks the occasional question. And even so he could have reported the rats and got the place shut down himself, but the main thing is he didn’t and I’m glad for it. Even if Skinner got the place shut down, both Remy and Ego are still better off. Remy is happily cooking in what’s now a popular eating place and Ego is a nicer person for the better. What’s Skinner like? For all we know he could still be miserable and the new restaurant is still way more popular than whatever frozen foods he might be producing.

4: Riley’s Break-Down

More often than not, it’s fine to spread positive messages but some medias fail in spreading the message about it as they perhaps strive a little too much towards it and try too hard to push the bad stuff away. But that’s not the case here. Joy has finally worked it out that in order for Riley to have a truly good and healthy life that all emotions are good for her, Sadness included. The movie heartily embraces the big truth of life, it’s O.K to not be O.K and gosh how this must have felt for poor Riley, holding all of this in and not really being able to say what’s wrong until this moment. This truly is one of the most heartfelt moments in any of Pixar’s movies and god bless them for it.

3: Run Like The Wind Bullseye!

Even by 90’s standards, to me it is incredible how well done this scene was with the speed of it creating a sense of adrenaline and excitement and that awesome music playing along the way. I did mention how this was my favourite scene in Toy Story 2 during my review and it was always going to end up on a list like this. Just damn I love it this scene so much from the animation to the way it plays out and let’s be real, if we were in Woody’s boots, we’d be living the dream. This is probably the closest that Woody gets to feeling like he really is in an episode of Woody’s Round Up other than of course swinging down from the plane. Toy Story 2 gave us many great things and this scene is one of them.

2: The Tie Breaker Race

There is so much to love about a final race in a movie about racing, be it the stakes are the highest and everything is on winning and the tiebreaker race from the first Cars movie for me is always it. We get some dang good races too and I will admit the final race from Cars 3 came close to making it but I put this one on because this is the moment where McQueen’s character development comes full circle in the first movie. Especially when he pulled off that amazing opposite lock, that was truly a great moment and the look on Doc’s face as he beheld it was worth millions. And what was worth even more than millions was that McQueen had it in the bag but he still gave it up in order to help the King finish his last race. Plus there’s no need to worry about McQueen, not only did he turn out a better winner than Chick here, but he got his fair share of wins in the sequels.

1: Married Life

This by far is the most powerful piece of storytelling in any of Pixar’s movies ever. Yes, even more so than the kickass action in The Incredibles or even Arlo finding his roar in The Good Dinosaur. But there’s a real simple reason for this. There’s no dialogue, just music and through this montage, we see how Carl and Ellie lived a very happy life together even if Carl didn’t get to take her Paradise Falls. You don’t need the most badass action scene you can think of to make or break a movie, here it’s just a happy married couple living their best life together and through the power of show but not tell, you can see how even through bumps in the road and heartbreak they still found happiness in each other. And people say movies like this are for kids, I say they’re for families. And if people say this also, I’d say at least kids are given respect by being shown something like this.

I’ll tell you something for nothing though, like the top fives because they are so consistently good, choosing top scenes was a bit tricky too because be it their strongest masterpieces or their weaker movies, they always give us memorable scenes and some of which are absolute stand outs. Speaking of standouts, let’s look at who I’d consider to be the absolute stand out Pixar characters.

5: Arlo

The Good Dinosaur was one movie I gained a newfound appreciation for and Arlo is one as of many reasons as to why. He starts out scared of about everything but through an epic character journey, he learns to overcome his fears and earn his mark on the corn silo. And through it all he is just such a trooper and to say he’s only a kid. This is admirable as obviously if a kid in real life went through what Arlo did, they would not have coped at all. And even through times when he could have, Arlo never once gave up. Don’t get me wrong Littlefoot in the Land Before Time is great but Arlo is where my favourite long-necks are.

4: Doc Hudson

As much as I praise Lightning McQueen’s character arc, we all need to take a moment to remember Doc Hudson, after all he was a part of McQueen’s journey. Whenever I watch the first movie it’s always amazing to see how much they despised each other and then that was how close they became. Doc also deserves credit for leaving a lasting legacy as he is sadly dead by the time of Cars 2, this would have been due to Paul Newman’s passing, who in the first movie gave a masterful performance that really brought this great character to life. Rest easy Doc, you’ll never be forgotten.

3: Sulley

Sulley is a shining example as to what celebrities should be like. He is famous, he’s good at what he does and he knows it, but he also knows full well that it gives him no reason to get big headed. His character journey is another great one to watch from merely doing his job, to being afraid when Boo got out, to bonding with her but the absolute best part is seeing how it only takes him to bond with a child before he sees the reality of what it is that Monsters Inc. are doing. No wonder the future of Monster Inc. is safe with him and Mike after Waternoose went down. Plus it’s worth saying he and Mike have some of the best chemistry of any duos in these movies.

2: Woody

I think it would have been pretty obvious at some point Woody would have shown up on this list. If it wasn’t Luxo Jr, he would definitely be the one to be the face of Pixar. He is brave, a good leader and his selflessness is admirable, at least once he gets past his jealousy of Buzz in the first movie. This is the same toy that said he wouldn’t have missed his child growing up for the world and even in the fourth film, it’s inspiring how Bonnie is not playing with him much and yet he still goes through a lot to ensure her happiness and even keeping Forky safe, he’s doing it all for her. Woody is definitely a character of many great qualities and even one I would expect is a comfort character for many.

1: Riley

Of course there’s all of the emotions. But where would they be without someone to pilot? And Riley is the perfect character for them to be piloting. There are times she loses herself like attempting to run away and trying to be the best player so she can get on the Fire Hawks, but hey, no-one’s perfect. And even through these faults she’s a good girl through and through and it’s always a pleasure to revisit this character and her journey through big new changes in her life like moving to a new location and becoming a teenager. Plus I’m sure lots of us can relate to Riley so much whenever she breaks down, I know I could certainly relate to her during her panic attack in the second movie.

And a major honourable mention goes to Anton Ego, it’s amazing how they managed to make such a compelling character out of a food critic of all people, let alone the best character in Ratatouille. He certainly rules the critiquing world with an iron fist as he’s the one at the top of his game. One has to especially love the late great Peter O’ Toole’s performance as the character, it really adds so much to him. It also says a lot when Anton doesn’t let losing his job and his credibility bring him down, he becomes a business investor and he seems to be doing pretty well at it, let alone that since his experience at Gusteau’s he’s a lot happier and friendlier and all the better for it.

Be it on a top list or honourable mentions, the basic point is Pixar has so many delightful characters in each and everyone of their movies and it will obviously vary from individual to individual but you’ll at least have plenty to choose from. But it’s not just characters, I’ve also found Pixar movies have a great selection of songs, some of which really stick I have to say. So, let’s have a look at what I would personally rate the top songs from Pixar movies on a lookback of all of their movies.

5: The Time Of Your Life

This was the end credit song to A Bug’s Life, not only composed by Randy Newman, but sung by him too as was common with a lot of his work. I find it a very nice medley about the life of bugs and how much better life will no doubt be for the bugs now the grasshoppers are gone. It’s also well written around the movie too when you have lyrics like he turned a rock into a seed. Many things stuck with me from A Bug’s Life from my first viewing and many things still do, this song only being one of many.

4: Save The Day

This may have been a first viewing rather than a rewatch, but you know you’ve got a good one when it instantly sticks with you, this was the end credit song to Hoppers and like The Time Of Your Life, I find the lyrics to this song to be well written around the movie. That, plus it’s a bonus for me as I find a lot of modern artists sound very factory produced, but not SZA in this case, her vocals here are really pleasant to listen to, I will even admit I had not heard of her before hand so this song has actually been a really good introduction to her for me. So yes, this particular song has certainly made a strong impression and I’ll definitely put it on whenever I feel like it.

3: You’ve Got A Friend In Me

This being here was as obvious as Woody being on my favourite characters list and I’m convinced they’ll play this song at Randy Newman’s funeral once his time is up. This to Pixar is what When You Wish Upon A Star is to Disney, their national anthem more or less and it’s no wonder that this is the only song to date from Toy Story that’s played in all four movies. It even played in the trailer for Toy Story 5 and I’m perfectly willing to bet it’ll be one of those rare cases when they actually play it in the movie as well. The song has positive vibes about friendship and some people may even find comfort in this song for that very reason. Others may well have gotten fed up of it by this point, but I can certainly never get fed up of it. It’s certainly obvious that Pixar have a friend in Randy for giving them this song.

2: If I Didn’t Have You

I always did remember this from childhood as it played in the end credits, but for some reason or other, it really stuck with me upon a rewatch, although it’s easy to see why. It’s catchy, it has a good theme going and like You’ve Got A Friend In Me it has very positive vibes of friendship. Plus you can tell Billy Crystal and John Goodman were having a good time recording this song – especially when they play off of each other with quips like “I get a little blue, looks good on you.” It’s especially funny when Sulley gets into it to the point of singing some of Mike’s lines. And as good as this song is, I’ll say this for nothing, I wouldn’t have nothing if I didn’t have these films and their amazing songs, characters etc.

1: Proud Corazon

And very proud of it they should be. Coco has many great songs in it and one was going to end up on this list and I will say it was hard to choose, but in the end I chose this one because of it’s theme on family. Heck, Corazon even translates to heart in English so to say they have a proud heart is a lovely sentiment. It also matches lovely visuals as music is banished in the Riveria household no longer, everyone is happier for it and Miguel leading the way while everyone is watching both dead and alive and it was definitely the perfect song to draw the film to a close before the end credits. Though again Coco has so many good songs and it was hard to pick just one.

And naturally I couldn't possibly countdown a top five songs from these movies without giving a very honourable mention to When Somebody Loved Me from Toy Story 2. This is one beautifully put together ballad that really reflects on Jessie's past with Emily all with accompanying visuals. Plus you know you have a bloody good one and it's effective given it even made Tom Hanks and Tim Allen cry. Some people may see this fact as to how sad this song is but I say that's why it's so good. A song is always very well sung and written whenever it makes you feel any kind of emotion be it happy or sad, and this particular song is no exception. It truly makes for one of the most heartfelt moments from any Pixar movie that has graced our screens.

And now with these top fives as well as things that have changed and I've noticed upon rewatching these movies, it is now time to draw this retrospective to a close with my final words on it, it’s been on heck of a ride, a roller coaster of emotions and above all, it’s been a pleasure revisiting every single one of them to celebrate such a significant milestone for what is undoubtedly my most favourite film studio of all time – which is much more to me than a film studio, but Pixar genuinely to me feels like a friend, it may sound daft and I know but I’m sentimental O.K?! The films did so much for me growing up, I have many nostalgic memories of when a lot of them were brand new and they’ll still continue to do so much for me even now as a 30 year old. And now I invite you to share your overall thoughts. Which movies in Pixar’s library are your favourites? Who are your top characters? What are your top scenes? What songs are your favourites? By all means, share away in the comments below. So that’s that from me for now, and although it’s already passed by, once more a very happy 40^th to you Pixar and now, take it away Andrew Gold!

Thank You for Being a Friend (2020 Remaster)

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“Oy! Retrospective’s over! Go home!”