Figure 1, (2009), Luxo Jr
John Lasseter is the director of Pixar, originally part of Lucasfilm before finally separating as it's own company in 1986. Lasseter began created animated shorts such as Luxo Jr which was based on his desk lamp and looking at how an inanimate object can appear life-like which was the influence for Wall E because the character was a robot but had human characteristics in his movements and showed emotion through his telescopic eyes. The dance sequence explored a familiar like human movement as both robots twist and turn, lasseter also managed to capture the sense of speed to tell the viewer that they dancing. "Wall-E's camera moves like a real-life apparatus. And its introductory act has as much of a silent - film feel as any 21st - century production can - with only a handful of human voices." (Rogers, 2011) Unlike the other Pixar films, Wall E had to drive the performance with realistic human-like movements and expression especially in the first act, where the audience is only introduced to Wall E and the cricket so the charming movements makes Wall E an instant loveable character.
Figure 2, (2008), Wall E
Figure 3, (2009), Toy Story
Figure 4, (2009), A Bug's Life
Toy Story was Lasseter's first feature length animation at Pixar and also plays the idea of animating the inanimate object. It creates the idea of what a child's toys experience once their owner has left. "the movie lovingly touches on such grownup concerns as nostalgia and the loss of childhood. Of course kids love it too - so this is what happens when we leave the playroom, their wide eyes seem to say." (Larsen, 2010) The film allows the viewer to experience how a child breathes life into a toy when they play with it as if they are seeing it through their eyes. A Bug's Life explored the idea of how a colony of ants operate underground and allowed the viewer to experience another world that they wouldn't usually see because it is hidden from them. It had huge competition with Antz from Dreamworks which followed a similiar story line but both companies put in their own ideas of what an insect world be like. "While A Bug's Life is never less than pleasant and full of luscious cinemascope visuals, coming on the heels of Antz it can't help but suffer in comparrison..." (Sanford, 2002) The evidence implies that eventhough A Bug's Life's story line suffers against Antz, it does have the Pixar charm of good CG animation and loveable characters that the audience can familarise themselves with.
Illustrations
Figure 1, (2009), Luxo Jr, @ http://obamapacman.com/2009/11/john-lasseter-pixar-creative-computer-animation-pioneer-mac-user/, Accessed on: 11th November 2009
Figure 2, (2008), Wall E, @ http://www.filmofilia.com/tag/pixar/page/3/, Accessed on: 3rd June 2008
Figure 3, (2009), Toy Story, @ http://www.moviemobsters.com/2009/12/03/top-ten-pixar-films/, Accessed on: 3rd December 2009
Figure 4, (2009), A Bug's Life, @ http://www.moviemobsters.com/2009/12/03/top-ten-pixar-films/, Accessed on: 3rd December 2009
Larsen John, (2010), Larsen on film - Toy Story, @ http://www.larsenonfilm.com/index.php?Page=SoloReview&ReviewID=1891, Accessed on: 10th June 2010
Rogers Nick, (2011), Heroes of the Zeroes: Wall E, @ http://www.thefilmyap.com/2010/11/24/wall-e/, Accessed on: 2nd December 2010
Sanford James, (2002), A Bug's Life, @ http://www.imdb.com/reviews/159/15933.html, Accessed on: 23rd June 2002
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