Captain Conroy's Pixar 40th Anniversary Marathon (Week 13)

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

This was a very different kind of Pixar movie. Not only is it meant to be some kind of definitive origin story for our favourite Space Ranger, but it’s also the very movie which Andy watched and made him want the toy he got for his birthday. Naturally this is something unique itself as far as premises go, but it doesn’t entirely live up and before anyone says anything, no – it’s not because of a lesbian kiss, here are the real reasons:

The story: So as the movie which made Andy want a Buzz Lightyear toy, the story revolves around Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger on an exploration mission where one bad mission saw him and his people have to set up a new base on the planet they were exploring on account of a mistake he made. After several tests of a new fuel to get up to hyperspace that takes him years so he can get everyone back home, the successful test lands him in a future where robots are trying to invade their base so it’s up to Buzz and his squadron to stop them.

And… this is probably the kind of movie where Andy would look back on it as a teenager and ponder to himself.

“This was the movie that made me want a Buzz Lightyear? Boy, I had very low standards as a kid.”

The story is one that makes me lean towards that I don’t necessarily love this movie, but I don’t hate it either, I just feel kind of in-between about it. It’s the kind of story that’s more creative in its visuals (we’ll cover more on that when I talk about the animation) than its story telling. There are sadly many points the plot feels painfully generic, like even more so than Luca. You have Buzz not expecting help from rookies, he loses someone he deeply cares about, the new figure of authority puts a stop to the mission, Buzz rebels against his authority and winds up on these escapades, he reluctantly takes on new recruits and they hit a low point and then he grows to care for them and takes them on as his team at the end. As you watch this movie, you’ll see where it goes. The twist involving Zurg’s identity was one thing I didn’t see coming when I first saw it – but it’s a rather stupid twist in my eyes and Zurg really would have benefit from being an actual robotic lifeform.

All of this plus the main factor of error I have is that all of this does not convince me that this would have been a movie Andy would have seen that would make him want a Buzz Lightyear – they should have given it more of a retro feel and made it look more like a 90's movie, then it would have looked more believable as a movie which Andy would have seen and made him want a Buzz Lightyear. It also spawns few questions like did characters like Izzy and Sox get toys? Would Buzz the toy actually know about them? Why aren’t they mentioned? Goodness knows but now the negatives are out of the way, positives I can give are the character arcs are strong and at least some of the jokes can get a chuckle out of me. Plus the conflict in this movie is believable and doesn’t feel contrived or it can be solved in five minutes and the action is always a treat to watch with this one. But this is sadly not enough to completely turn everything around. Least of all if you want an additional piece of media about Buzz Lightyear, maybe stick with this:

I’m always hearing people talk of this very fondly as a nostalgic piece of their childhoods. Or even if you’re checking it out for the first time, you might be in for a good time.

I can at least talk positively of the animation though. It may not have the look of a 90's movie in my eyes, but the animation still gives us yet another visual spectacle to behold in Pixar’s library I can say. Like a property about Buzz Lightyear should do, you get that proper feeling of outer space and that you’re on another world and stepping into the unknown. Each extra-terrestrial threat they face, each planet has it’s own feel and look about it. The slimy look of the tentacles of T’Kani Prime, the metal of Zurg and his robots, it’s all there and the animation helps us get all the feels and unique looks of everything. It helps by the fact that all we know is that it’s set in the far future, but how far exactly we can’t really say but I like this as even futuristic movies can have a timeless feel if you’re not too specific about dates and timelines.

Tensity is sure felt through the visuals anytime Buzz makes the jump to hyperspace and boy did they make a good job at making Zurg look terrifying from any angle in any scene he’s in. Like I said about the action being a treat, Pixar animators have always animated speed very well and taking all of their initiative from past movies they have made was certainly at their disposal here to make the action look as good as they can do. In both story and animation, it’s also nice seeing how many Toy Story references they can fit in, be it words that are spoken or the way something looks, like the ship at the end which looks like the toy’s packaging. That was pretty sweet to be fair. I also like the way the holographic effects were done whenever holographic imagery was used, it sure looked authentic. On the whole everything in this movie looks authentic, least of all I like the way they made a realistic looking Buzz Lightyear work. While the story left a lot to be desired, the animation certainly doesn’t.

So we have a story that left a lot to be desired and spectacular animation, so how do the characters fair up? Well, I did say the character arcs were strong at least. We have our main man himself who has clearly had some experience in the field as he has been at it for some time. He starts out not thinking much to rookies and auto pilots but he grows to like them overtime and this is a development that’s not rushed thankfully. We have Alisha Hawthorne who was his best friend and as Buzz reveals, the one who truly brought out the best in him and truly lived a good life in all the time it took Buzz to try and find a suitable fuel to take them home and her granddaughter Izzy certainly has a lot to live up to and has her own insecurities to face like a fear of outer space and in the end she pulls through. Again times like this is why people shouldn’t care about a character’s gender or skin colour, what they should care about is if they’re well written, which Izzy is.

The same can’t be said for Mo and Darby, they provide a lot of the comic relief and a lot of it is not really that funny. Darby has her depth though what with being on a parole. Mo doesn’t have a lot in comparison. An actual amusing character is Sox, he’s a truly good egg as he’s helpful and isn’t just there to be a funny man, well, bot in this case. Zurg in this case is a suit of armour piloted by an elderly Buzz Lightyear from an alternate timeline, again the twist did not work for me and Zurg would have been better being a robotic being, but they still worked with what they had and they at least gave him a reasonable motive for doing what he’s doing. I can’t say I liked Commander Burnside that much either, he’s the one that decides that they’ll embrace T’Kani Prime as their new home and he amounts to not a lot in the end as he just decides to allow Buzz to make a new Space Ranger corps there and then. At least it shows he can be grateful for the good things Buzz did as opposed to just court martialling him and ignoring them instead I suppose. But at least most of the character arcs are strong enough.

In general Lightyear is a mixed bag for me. It has generic story, thrilling animation and some well done character arcs, some more so than others. For a time however I used to view this as Pixar’s weakest movie, but now I honestly think thus far I honestly think it’s Brave rather than this one, but not by a whole margin. But unlike Brave, while Lightyear does spawn questions, at least none of them are related to plot holes. But again all I can recommend is you look for yourself and make your own judgement. So that’s it for my review on Lightyear, now we move on to Pixar's surprising sleeper hit, Elemental.

Now this has all the makings of Pixar creativity. We have a truly beautiful city, but it’s inhabitants are none other than, as you can guess from the title, Elements! Fire, Water, Earth and Air all living within one city. This was also a slow burner as it did make a fair bit for Pixar but it took a while for it to get there. But slow burners aside, I always say how a movie’s box office gross doesn’t determine it’s quality so let’s dive right in and see what we’re looking at here:

There are wo ways of looking at the story. One is covering the basics of the premise as to how Ember is in line to take over the shop her father built as he and his wife Cinder moved to Element City. But her temper is costly to the point of outbursts and when she accidentally bursts some pipes and causes a water leak, it’s up to her and Wade to stop the water leaking. The other is this burning question:

How the heck did they manage to make a romance between fire and water work so well? Because they’re Batman I suppose amongst other answers. But yes, as well as the premise, this movie is very much a love story, but it’s not your average one as of course it’s told with elements. And it’s a very well told one as compared to Lightyear, this movie truly takes full advantage of its setting. There are plenty of clever twists and turns along the way and not once do they miss an opportunity to show what they can do as elements. My favourite example has to be when Cinder reads Ember and Wade’s flame and Wade lifts up his top in front of Ember and directs the light towards his stick to light it, that was so brilliant. There are so many great examples but we’d be here all night if I tried to list them all. But another great one was Gale making the air bubble for Ember to go in water so Wade can take her to see the Vivisteria flower in person. Everything they do with the elements here was so insanely well done and very well thought of. Times like this show that Pixar’s creativity holds no bounds.

But as great as all of the elemental features within the story were, is the rest of the story good? I can happily say yes it most certainly is. Ember has a great character arc as she is all for taking over her father’s shop, or at least upon a first glance it seems that way. Once she finally opens up to Wade and admits she doesn’t really want to take over, it stops the story from being too generic. This movie wouldn’t have worked half as well if Ember did want this and takes over and thus gets her happy ending. No, it goes far deeper than that thanks to the reasons I mentioned. All of this plus the romance side of things is pretty well handled too I find. It may seem a bit predictable in places, like how there’s one point where it falls apart a little and then it gets fixed but it’s still well done. Nothing feels forced or convenient, this is a classic example as to how our characters must earn their happy ending. Furthermore great care was taken to ensure how Wade and Ember could touch without harming one another. You can read all about it here:

YMMV / Elemental (2023) - TV Tropes

Leidenfrost effect - Wikipedia

It never ceases to amaze me how well thought out a lot of Pixar’s movies are and this one is certainly no exception. And well, they made a romance story between fire and water work so well because they’re Pixar, just accept it. The story is a real delight and I’ll be happy to revisit it for years to come.

The animation has been well and truly outdone this time. For how good all of their films have been before in terms of animation, that’s how much things are ramped up to 11 and truly bring out the spellbinding nature that we’re very well used to seeing here by this point. Element City is one gorgeous place to visit for sure. So bright, so colourful and everything not only looks so real, but feels it too. The fire people give me a warm feeling looking at them like the nice warm feel you get sitting next to a campfire, the water looks as real as ever before and we all know the feel of water from when we take a bath or go swimming or whatever, it has that genuine feel as the animation is just that good. The best usage of colours for me came in when Ember was walking along mineral crystals and she changes colour because of it and Wade then runs along the water and creates a rainbow. Never before was the usage of colour used so well in any movie up until this point in my humble opinion.

And as well as the story, you get the visual creativity for the elements as well, like thought bubbles, literal thought bubbles, how air travels via zeppelins and they give power to the zeppelins too and Airball both through the storytelling and the visuals certainly looks like no other sport there’s been in media. And as well as characters each location has its own unique look too. The water side of things looks clear and see-through, especially Brook, Wade’s Mother’s place, it certainly looks very inviting. Bernie’s shop has the true look of something that was lovingly built up from scratch and made up into their beloved shop. Anytime Ember has an outburst makes it look pretty intense and well, when you’re fire, it will be. And I love any visual metaphors too like when the glass holding the water begins to crack and break during the scene when Ember and Wade’s romance temporarily breaks down, it makes a great visual metaphor for a broken heart. The animation as whole could easily be some of if not Pixar’s best to date. Both the story and the animation work so nicely together to take full advantage of the premise and setting of this movie.

And now for the real cherry on the cake, the characters. Ember is a delight anytime she’s on screen. She’s loving, caring and though she has a bit of a short temper and doesn’t really want to run the shop, she still genuinely cares for her father. And it was most definitely not easy for her to come out to anyone, let alone Wade or her own father about her feelings, but she manages in the end and you do feel good for her once she achieves her happiness by the end. Wade is just a great guy, he really is. Upon first impressions he may have seemed like a bit of a doofus, but yet he’s much cleverer than he may lead on and it’s thanks to him that we get to see the best in Ember as he’s the one who brings it out. He truly does care for her and even after she turned him away during the party, she’s still the first thought on his mind when he sees the water rushing toward fire town and comes in to help. Plus as far as comic relief goes, he’s funny and all of these factors are what makes him my favourite character in the movie. Just what a great guy. Be more like Wade everyone.

Bernie is a pretty good character too as father as father characters go. He is such a trooper because even when he’s weakening with age and coughing all the time, he still tries his damned hardest to keep the shop running in an orderly fashion. He is prejudiced against water and he easily still could have been once the climax was over and Wade had helped save everything, but he wasn’t which adds onto how great he is. Cinder is a funny one, especially relying on her nose and sniffing out for Ember’s love like a bloodhound on the case and is even the first to realise water isn’t so bad after all when she witnesses Wade actually manage to light his torch. They’re good parents, the pair of them, plus you feel the deep connection with Ember and them when Bernie does something for Ember that his own father never did for him. Clod was a character featured on a lot of the posters and TV spots but he didn’t really amount to much in the end. The only thing he has going for him is that he can eventually take a hint given he clearly crushes on Ember but by the end he finds someone else he’s clearly more compatible with and Gale is a fun one due to how hammy she is and how she’s not entirely unreasonable given she gave Ember a fair chance to turn over those citations and really added on given she was willing to help with the air bubble so Ember could see the Vivisteria flower at last. The characters are a great lot for sure and I don’t really find anyone annoying which is always a plus. That, plus it’s one of those movies where you don’t really need a straight up villain in order for it to work which shows truly how well done your movie is if you don’t need one.

Elemental is truly a spectacle to behold and I absolutely love it. The story is wholesome, the animation is the best it’s ever been in any Pixar movie and the characters are a delight to get to know. A slow burner it may have been but nothing can truly stand in the way of the fact that Pixar hit another home run with this movie and I can always highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you want a truly well done love story that’s as wholesome as it comes or if you just want a creative movie that takes full advantage of everything it has, go for it. So, that draws this one to a close and now we’re on the last one already. My gosh time flies!

And now we’re down to the last one until Toy Story 5 comes out later this year. Elio is another example of how a box office gross doesn’t just automatically mean if a movie is good or bad as this one is most definitely a good one but it didn’t do so well – and some people have the nerve to wonder why they make a lot of sequels nowadays after they don’t pay to see originals after wanting them. Ah well, you can’t win them all and I’m not here to point fingers, I am here to review Elio. It’s still a winner at least mostly in my eyes and here’s why:

The story ask the big question: are we alone in the universe? As young Elio Solis finds out, no we are not. During his stay at a camp, he is abducted by aliens and brought onboard to join the Communiverse, an intergalactic paradise where the best minds come together from all sorts of planets to share knowledge and innovation, but with the threat of the sinister Lord Grigon lurking over to try and take the Communiverse, Elio really must earn his place amongst them as he attempts to stop this.

The story already has points for originality. For one thing it has been done before where aliens aren’t seeking to takeover earth, but it’s the way it’s done that presents itself. The Communiverse in itself is a very unique idea and not really anything I’ve seen before in anything else I’ve seen about aliens. Plus on the other hand, people are usually scared about the idea of being abducted by aliens and in Elio’s case, he wants this. And when the aliens come for him he allows this to happen. Yes he was on the verge of getting the snot kicked out of him by Caleb but this is still such a unique and even funny spin on the old alien story. The fact he actually wants to be abducted is certainly something you don’t see everyday I can tell you. And as well as a unique premise, one thing I’ve noticed on a rewatch of these films is that Pixar are so great at creating a depth of feeling and Elio keeps that trend going. Elio has a deep personal sense of wanting to belong somewhere and many people can relate for sure, wanting somewhere where they fit in. That along with the sense of family as Elio didn’t believe that Olga wanted him only for him to learn later on that she actually does want him really whacks you right in the feels. Pixar movies are very good at that and this movie is no exception.

Elio’s personal sense of belonging and the theme of family are only some, there’s more which another one is finally when he finds a friend in Glordon, equally for Glordon finding new found friendship is another key thing that helps the story thrive too. Both of them have now found something they never really had in each other, a friend. One that they can rely on too, especially when Elio convinces Glordon to tell Grigon to tell him the truth that he doesn’t want to be in his armour. Glordon certainly couldn’t have done that alone. Let alone there’s Elemental with Wade trying to convince Ember to tell her father the truth and now this one, funny sometimes with reoccurring themes eh? Anyway, there is still plenty of creativity that follows the premise of this movie, not only is the Communiverse a unique idea but it’s also where a lot of the movie’s creative initiative is at. If there are any weak points in the story, it’s the way the conflict was resolved. One the one hand it adds a layer of development to Grigon but also on the other hand, Grigon may well have benefitted from being a straight up irredeemable monster. Man I hate feeling conflicted on things like these! Plus you do have some cliches like it was pretty obvious Elio would have been found out as not being Earth’s leader. No-one hardly ever gets away with deception in these films. But those are just a few weak points in what’s otherwise a very intriguing story with some unique spins on the whole idea of aliens being there.

The animation. I definitely think Elemental’s animation will be tough to top but Elio definitely gives it a jolly good go and they do not disappoint. If this movie wasn’t animated, I could be convinced I was genuinely looking at actual footage of outer-space. Naturally they had practice with WALL.E, but for how good outer-space looked in that film, that’s how great it looks here. The usage of colours and the textures of asteroids look more real than they ever did before. This is why during this rewatch I was often wondering if they were in a little competition with themselves to see if they could outdo themselves n the animation department with every movie they make. But it’s not just outer-space where the animation thrives, oh no. It’s definitely the Communiverse, both conceptually and visually the Communiverse is just a spell-binding place to be. Everywhere looks so colourful, you have a very wide and varied range of aliens each with their own unique textures and looks and I especially love how Ambassador Questa floats around and moves like a kind of sea-creature. And yet for how alien and futuristic everything looks, it’s not just your typical place in the cosmos, there’s no heavy emphasis on high-tech computers and things like that. Least of all a lot of the architecture of vibes of the place seem rather under-the-sea inspired and that’s one of my favourite things about it. You also have the sharp contrast for how beautiful the Communiverse looks, that’s how dark and gloomy Hylurg looks and Grigon’s ship doesn’t appear the most inviting ever but hey, that is supposed to be the point. Speaking of points, I love how Grigon’s ship appears like a sort of sinister asteroid as it looms over the Communiverse as they threaten to take it.

Things manage to look as good as they can do back on Earth too. From the sandy beaches where Elio spends a lot of time trying to get abducted, to the high-tech military base to the gloomy atmosphere of the camp where Elio is sent to which makes a good visual indicator as to this is the last place on Earth where Elio wants to be. Each location has an atmosphere of it’s own like how Elio’s bedroom glows a lot to keep in with the space theme and the aliens he hopes to meet. The visuals have a good usage of effects like different kinds of glows, reflections and electrical effects. The lightning and sparks created a very cool effect when the computers and satellites short circuited after Elio sent the message out to the aliens. Much like outer-space, the rain has gotten so good it’s a wonder as to whether or not it’s animation anymore. I was even amazed with how they made the single strand of hair on the clone Elio look after Olga had managed to get one from him for examination and when she looks through the microscope to see what she can see. It’s a simple thing to talk about here but it’s still massively impressive stuff and I always love how Pixar make every little thing look. In general Elemental to me has the absolute height of first class animation but Elio still matches up extremely well. Be it in space, on Earth, at the Communiverse or on the beaches, the animation is once again a beauty to behold.

The characters: To kickstart the characters – there’s an additional level of uniqueness because as far as duos go, I don’t think in anything we often see an Auntie and Nephew combo. Of course Elio is the nephew and he’s the relatable one as he wants to belong somewhere he feels where he’d fit in. A child he may be but he’s resourceful and he sure is full of surprises. He helps bring out the best in Glordon and it’s such an intriguing character arc watching him from start to finish as he makes a nice balance between his life on Earth and his friends in space. Olga, the aunt – you’ve got to feel sorry for her. Not only was Elio’s Dad her brother, but she goes through a lot to ensure that Elio is kept safe and happy, all while juggling a very big job to sink her teeth into. Even when she and Elio don’t see eye to eye during the start of the film, it’s written in a way where you know she cares and it’s clearly Elio who doesn’t see it that way whereas we know otherwise. Least of all it says a lot when even if it was the clone, she’s still quick to pull Elio out of camp at the prospect of him getting beaten up. Glordon is adorable and funny. He makes a perfect best friend for Elio, especially when he feels comfortable enough to tell Elio about his insecurities. You often get the term like father like son, but Glordon is certainly one of those that doesn’t follow this trend and all the better for it as it stops him from being entirely predictable.

Speaking of which, Lord Grigon is certainly one force of nature to be reckoned with. He has the perfect goal to join the Communiverse, but naturally someone always has to be the more sinister one about it, which makes it funny that he just can’t read the room as to why he won’t get accepted. But yet through all his blood-thirsty tendencies and his brutality. He at least remembers to try and be a good father, especially at the end. This is even my reasoning for feeling conflicted about the way the end played out as while he would have benefitted being irredeemable, it was nevertheless so meaningful what he had to say to Glordon about not always understanding him but he still loves him regardless. Ambassadors Helix and Questa are the ones who are the most active and thus the most personality shines through on them. Helix is clearly a bit of a pushover but he’s clearly still a good fellow to be around. Questa holds a lot of wisdom and what she said to Elio at the end about uniqueness often feeling like he’s alone was as meaningful as Grigon saying he always loves his son despite not always understanding him. I also like how the Ambassadors don’t just automatically hate Elio after the truth comes out and particularly Questa has his safety in mind when returning him to Earth. Bryce is definitely right to say Caleb can be a right butt at times because he is, at least Bryce in himself has some sense what with not wanting to hurt Elio and even helping him at the end, thus giving him a friend on Earth. Melmac is as funny as they come due to his hammy personality. Elio has a cast of characters worth remembering and one you want to revisit after the first viewing for sure.

And thus that draws this marathon to a close and Elio was definitely a good un’ to finish off with. The story has it’s unique points and is well told, the animation is as spell-binding as ever and the characters are a great bunch. Once more, just don’t let a movie’s overall box-office gross judge it for you peeps, just go out there and watch em’ yourselves, you may have a good time with them. Least of all I had a good time with Elio and even if some of their movies are more memorable and high-quality than others, I always have a great time with Pixar and I most certainly have again by rewatching all of their movies. I’ll definitely watch them all again real soon. But for now, join me next week as I do a wrap around post as I share my final thoughts of this epic marathon, but until then:

Here’s to the future!