DISNEY PLUS HONOURS STAR WARS ARTISTRY FROM MAY THE FOURTH

Streaming video-on-demand provider Disney Plus will honour the legacy of founder George Lucas’ Star Wars universe from May 4th with a series of conceptual art banners on their dedicated page sites.

Last Friday, the home page carousel art was updated for the first time since the VOD giant launched in November. The iconic ‘droids in the desert’ image, one of several visions crafted in 1975 by the late, great illustrator Ralph Macquarrie, topped the welcome screen. From May 4th, aka ‘Star Wars Day’, the collection will expand to include works from Jason Palmer, Doug Chiang and Seth Engström, along with several others who have contributed to the design aesthetic of the blockbuster series over five decades.

The special artwork will be available for all titles in the core ‘Skywalker Saga’, including A New Hope (1977); The Empire Strikes Back (1980); Return of the Jedi (1983); The Phantom Menace (1999); Attack of the Clones (2002); Revenge of the Sith (2005); The Force Awakens (2015); and The Last Jedi (2017). The ambitious undertaking will also coincide with the streaming platform’s fast-tracked May 4 launch of Rian Johnson’s The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Concept art headers have also been prepared for the spin-off features, Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018) and the animated stories, Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars: Resistance. Disney Plus’ original Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, will get a concept art makeover as well as its own eight-part docuseries, Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian. Overseen by director/producer Jon Favreau, who will host round-table talks with key contributors, the series will reveal never-before-seen footage and insider production stories.

The ‘Star Wars Day’ Concept Art promotion is likely to further boost subscriber numbers for Disney Plus, which has seen a three-fold increase in sign-ups over the course of the global Coronavirus lockdown. The corporation’s international subscriber level is close to 65 million users as of the provider’s latest release, including an astonishing 8 million new accounts in India over the course of 24 hours (linked to its broadcast deal with local platform Hotstar).

DO WE NEED TO DISCUSS JOYSTICKS IN 2020?

The year is 1983, and the crest of the ‘teen sex comedy’ wave towers over Hollywood. A confluence of factors created the ‘perfect storm’ for the genre - Porky’s, a likably smutty, ‘50s-set B-movie about a bunch of bros trying to get their dweeby friend laid, had been a sleeper hit in 1981; the influence (and hormones) of the teenage demographic dominated the box-office like never before; and, the booming VHS revolution meant that video recorders all over the world needed sellable content that was fast to produce.

It was from within this cauldron of coincidence that Joysticks emerged; an otherwise unremarkable film that can now be held aloft as a prime example of the low-IQ, high-energy, T&A-obsessed ‘80s teen romp. Directed by actor-turned-director Greydon Clark, a gentleman who ably helmed such romps as Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977) and Wacko (1982), Joysticks is soft-headed exploitation cinema very much of its time.

Clark and his three(!) scriptwriters tap the video game mania of the day, setting their loose narrative in ‘Jeff’s’, an oddly-cubic arcade parlour. Nerdy nebbish Eugene (Leif Green) is on his way to his first day of his arcade career when two sorority pledges, Lola (Kym Malin) and Alva (Kim G. Michel), coax him into their convertible with a nipple flash and the promise of a public threesome. What they really want is a humiliating photo of him, then it’s off to the parlour, where the girls can up the ante for some real self-serving flirting while Eugene dodges cool kids in search of his pants. (Above, from left: Scott McGinnis, Leif Green, Jim Greenleaf)

Clearly, everything about this opening scene is untenable to 2020 sensibilities; perhaps, aside from the teen males in line on opening weekend (Joysticks would earn a not-insignificant US$4million domestically), it was also untenable to 1983 sensibilities. But it was the kind of set-up that routinely kicked-off films with such titles as Screwballs (1983), Spring Break (1983), Hot Moves (1984), Hot Dog: The Movie (1984), Loose Screws (1985) and Fraternity Vacation (1985). 

Clark largely abandons Eugene’s plight, focussing alternatively on arcade owner/hunky stud Jeff (Scott McGinnis), fat slob McDorfus (Jim Greenleaf), and a leather-clad punk/nerd hybrid called King Vidiot (Jim Gries). The plot takes some kind of shape when conservative blowhard Joe Rutter (Joe Don Baker, repping the old establishment just as John Vernon did in Animal House and Ted Knight did in Caddyshack) threatens to close down ‘Jeff’s’, abetted by his dumb goons, Arnie (the great John Diehl) and Max (John Volstad) and much to the bemusement of his free-spirited daughter, Patsy (Corinne Bohrer, stealing all her scenes) . (Pictured, above: from left, Volstad, Baker and Diehl)

Which all sounds likably goofy and instantly dismissable, which it is. When not pandering to its pervy base, Joysticks offers some fun slapstick and the odd zinger in its dialogue. But there are signposts along the way that won’t sit well with 2020 viewers, whether it is the enlightened teens of today or the aged teens of 1983 (i.e., me). Revisiting Joysticks a whopping 37 years* after its release is to reconsider the worth of the 1980s teen sex comedies in their entirety. 

In arguably the film’s most distasteful moment, McDorfus forcibly encourages Eugene to lose his virginity to a dozing Mrs Rutter (Morgan Lofting), the middle-aged woman heavily sedated on sleeping pills. She stirs and, while still drowsy, believes it to be her husband initiating a bout of rare marital bliss. The heinous implication is that she is responding positively to Eugene’s awkward and accidental groping. The ‘randy dowager’ trope was a popular one back in the ‘80s (see the aforementioned Caddyshack).

Another entirely unnecessary sequence involves Lola and Alva playing Pac-Man...topless. Gratuitous nudity was a teen sex comedy staple, of course, but rarely was it so devoid of context or absence of reasoning. Unsurprisingly, Kym Malin, aka ‘Nola’, had been the May 1982 Playboy Playmate of the Month - the casting of nude models (see Lillian Müller, Shannon Tweed, Teri Weigel) a ploy used to ensure some degree of celebrity and a willingness to disrobe were addressed in the casting. (Trivia: Malin was later cast as one of the Nakatomi Plaza hostages in Die Hard). (Pictured, above: Jonathan Gries as King Vidiot, with Baker)

So, finally, does Joysticks and its ilk have any worth at all twenty years into the new millenium? Are they snapshots that provide insight into the teens of the time and the adults of today? Or lurid, sordid examples of artless exploitation, best condemned to time-capsule history? Are they any more than crassly commercial relics, conjuring sickening images of producers slavering over ambitious starlets being coerced into disrobing? Or, are they a legitimately expressive ‘artform’ that understood and spoke to an audience cross-section, eager for validation?

Teen sex comedies ran the gamut at the height of their popularity, and most have been reassessed with a new understanding of what is acceptable on-screen in the name of laughs. That reassessment works both ways; Paul Brickman’s Risky Business (1983) is a teen sex comedy now considered one the decade’s best films. Of course, giggly, smutty hijinks like those in Joysticks, once considered harmless, are now frowned upon, although it would be wrong, even pointless, to flay it at the altar of moralistic hindsight. (Pictured, above: Corinne Bohrer, as Patsy)

Instead, they should be seen as movie history artefacts, from a time when films began to give voice and vision to how teenagers interpret sexuality. Sometimes, that was (and still is) ugly and childish and offensive. But it wasn’t generally mean. Even in films like Joysticks, films in which the ‘Mrs Rutters’ have to endure the inexcusable, the message is ultimately a moral one - friendships are tight, common bonds form and grotesque old capitalists are defeated. That has relevance in 2020, when striving to understanding the truths that lie beneath so much ugliness is more important than ever.

* Regarding the passage of time and society’s shifting moral compass - films that came 37 years before Greydon Clark’s Joysticks include Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life, John Ford’s My Darling Clementine and, ahem, Disney’s Song of the South.

Read Greydon Clark's autobiography ON THE CHEAP: MY LIFE IN LOW BUDGET FILMMAKING, available from his official website.

THE LIST: EVERY PIXAR MOVIE – WORST TO BEST

From its humble beginnings within Lucasfilm to its boom years as an independent Hollywood force to its 2006 purchase by one-time competitor Disney, Pixar Animation Studios has always been a marketplace juggernaut. From their first feature, the groundbreaking Toy Story, to their 22^nd and most recent effort, the contemporary fairy tale Onward, Pixar have dominated the box office, the award seasons and the forefront of technology.

So is every Pixar movie a masterpiece? Well, no. But under founder John Lasseter and with talent such as Andrew Stanton and Brad Bird on the lot, Pixar set themselves a high standard. So, if you had to rank the 22 Pixar films from worst to best, in what order might they fall….? (U.S. release dates; box office courtesy Box Office Mojo; # on Pixar’s box office chart)

22. CARS 2 (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: June 24, 2011
Pixar’s second sequel (twelve years after Toy Story 2) was the first to leave the brand tarnished. At 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, John Lasseter’s soulless sequel is the most critically unpopular by a long way. First (but not the last) time that the studio greenlit a project with an eye on the black ink. 
Global Box Office: US$559,852,396.00 (#12)

21. FINDING DORY (Dir: Andrew Stanton) Released: June 17, 2016.
Peter Sohn’s The Good Dinosaur was proving a troublesome beast (see below), so Pixar fast-tracked this sequel to its hottest property to help meet profit projections. And it feels rushed, undercooked, manufactured, and manipulative. Thirteen years after Finding Nemo charmed the world, it’s waterlogged sequel tanked critically.
Global Box Office: US$1,028,570,889.00 (#4) 

20. MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (Dir: Dan Scanlon) Released: June 21, 2013
Lasseter and his team are five years under the Disney roof, and the new owners want to see some of that Pixar cartoon coin. So properties like Monsters Inc besties Mike and Sully are marketed to the max, led by this strained college campus comedy. A few laughs, but doesn’t make the grade. 
Global Box Office: $743,559,607.00 (#8)

19. CARS (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: June 9, 2006
Car-nut Lasseter was wooed over to Disney when they agreed to throw their distribution might behind his passion project. But something was off-key. Cars don’t anthropomorphise like fish or toys or bugs; the world building and unappealing characters rang false, even when the colours popped.
Global Box Office: $461,983,149.00 (#17)

18. CARS 3 (Dir: Brian Fee) Released: June 16, 2017
Promoted from within, director Brian Fee recaptures a little bit of that Pixar magic, albeit in the service of a formulaic hero’s journey. Bolstered by good racetrack sequences and a reduced role for the never-funny Mater, it’s ok.
Global Box Office: $383,930,656.00 (#18) 

17. ONWARD (Dir: Dan Scanlon) Released: March 6, 2020
By 2020, Hollywood animation has developed a certain aesthetic, drawn from years of trying to emulate Pixar’s style (and success). Onward, a road-trip brother-buddy story set in a contemporary fairy-tale world, represents the studio finally chasing it’s own tail; it feels like a competing studio’s Pixar rip-off.
Global Box Office: $74,395,049.00 (#22; still in release)

16. TOY STORY 3 (Dir: Lee Unkrich) Released: June 18, 2010
Lee Unkrich’s first solo outing in the Pixar helming chair takes the deeper, sadder thematic subtexts of the previous franchise instalments and lays them on thick. Toy Story 3 is a miserable film, its dour colour palette and ‘existential dread’ narrative throughline a total bummer.
Global Box Office: $1,066,969,703.00 (#3) 

15. THE GOOD DINOSAUR (Dir: Peter Sohn) Released November 25, 2015
Pixar’s first official ‘troubled production’. Original creatives Bob Peterson and John Walker were walked late into production; the film was reworked extensively, with many of the cast recalled to voice new scenes. Disney shuffled the release - November 2013 to May 2014 to November 2015. The end result is a jagged but not unlikable adventure, filled with nice imagery. Lost heaps of money.
Global Box Office: $332,207,671.00 (#21)

14. INCREDIBLES 2 (Dir: Brad Bird) Released: June 15, 2018
Highly anticipated, and not without ambition, Pixar’s latest long overdue Part II (this time, 14 years) ultimately can’t escape the Pixar ‘sequel curse’. Brad Bird, the studio’s ‘Golden Boy’ after The Incredibles and Ratatouille, needed to bounce back from his costly George Clooney misfire Tomorrowland; he directs Incredibles 2 like there’s a gun to his head.
Global Box Office: $1,242,805,359.00 (#1) 

13.  TOY STORY 2 (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: November 24, 1999
Giddy with the success of Buzz and Woody’s landmark first adventure, Lasseter directs their new film with contagious glee. All colour and movement, with Hanks and Allen leading the best voice cast ever, Toy Story 2 is old-school family-friendly animation that doesn’t break new ground and has a lot of fun doing it.
Global Box Office: $487,059,677.00 (#16) 

12. BRAVE (Dirs: Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman) Released: June 22, 2012
Much was made of ‘Merida’ being Pixar’s first female lead, and Brenda Chapman their first woman (co)director. And the first two acts of Brave deliver on the promise that pairing held – fiercely determined heroine, stunning visuals, strong narrative. It implodes in Act 3, when things turn a bit ‘Disney’-safe; well-documented ‘creative differences’ behind the scenes are obvious.
Global Box Office: $538,983,207.00 (#13) 

11. A BUG’S LIFE (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: November 25, 1998
The more buoyant, family-friendly of the two ‘animated insect’ movies (though Dreamworks’ Antz holds up better). In 1998, Pixar were still enjoying the ‘New Disney’ warmth from industry and audiences alike. A Bug’s Life comes very much from that mindset – colourful, sweet natured, witty and warm.
Global Box Office: $363,258,859.00 (#20) 

10. MONSTER’S INC (Dir: Pete Doctor) Released: November 2, 2001
Lasseter launched the brand, but arguably Pixar’s star director is Pete Doctor. He launched the first of his three Pixar classics in 2001 with Monsters Inc, a slice of near-perfect world building with two wonderfully ‘Odd Couple’ buddies out front of a deceptively moving story about friendship and innocence.
Global Box Office: $528,773,250.00 (#14) 

9. TOY STORY (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: November 22, 1995
It is easy to look at Pixar’s first feature and not recall what a shift in the animation sector paradigm it represented. Buzz and Woody are to the Pixar empire as Mickey (and, later, Beauty and The Beast) were to Disney. Only advancements in technology keep Toy Story from a Top 5 placing.
Global Box Office: $364,545,516.00 (#19) 

8. RATATOUILLE (Dir: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava) Released: June 29, 2007
Much like it’s hero, a rat with Michelin-level kitchen skills, Ratatouille lives in a place on the Pixar roster that posits it as an underdog of sorts. It is more overtly adult in its story-telling and further enhanced the Pixar palette, with images as beautiful as anything the company has produced. It is adored, yet in an understated way usually reserved for works of art, which seems appropriate.
Global Box Office: $623,722,818.00 (#11) 

7. FINDING NEMO (Dir: Andrew Stanton) Released: May 30, 2003
Another company-defining title, in the same league, both critically and commercially, as Toy Story. A truly funny character comedy, immeasurably enhanced by lead voice-actors Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres (who both polished their dialogue), it also soars as a study in family bonds, fulfilling a destiny and the joys of a broader worldview. Just keep swimming…   
Global Box Office: $871,014,978.00 (#5) 

6. WALL-E (Dir: Andrew Stanton) Released: June 27, 2008
One of the greatest…well, silent movies, space adventures, love stories, take your pick. Stanton’s masterpiece is Pixar’s most far-out adventure, from it’s deep space setting and lil’ leading man, yet speaks to environmental devastation and mankind’s role in making it happen like few contemporary films ever have. Somehow makes mountains of garbage breathtakingly beautiful.
Global Box Office: $521,311,860.00 (#15) 

5. TOY STORY 4 (Dir: Josh Cooley) Released: June 21, 2019
Plays with elements of dark and light – narratively, thematically, visually – like the richly developed, classical fairy tale it ultimately is. Not afraid to get spooky when it needs to (those dolls!) but doesn’t lose touch with the heart and humour that defined the franchise. New kid director Josh Cooley (who’d previously done voice work for Pixar) announces himself as a major storytelling force.
Global Box Office: $1,073,394,593.00 (#2) 

4. UP (Dir: Pete Doctor) Released: May 29, 2009
The opening frames of Pete Doctor’s bittersweet slice of sublime melancholia are already recognised as some of the greatest in modern American film. Ten minutes in, audiences emotions are primed for the next ninety, which deliver laughs (“Squirrel!”) and tears in equal measure. Incredibly, this is not Doctor’s best Pixar movie.
Global Box Office: $735,099,082.00 (#9) 

3. COCO (Dir: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina) Released: November 22, 2017
Detractors have occasionally pointed out that Pixar films have not always been the most ethnically diverse. Coco addresses that with a journey into a young Latino boy’s family history, a musical/fantasy odyssey that transcends its netherworld setting to convey the importance of legacy, creativity and spirituality. Is Remember Me the greatest ever Pixar movie song?
Global Box Office: $807,082,196.00 (#7) 

2. THE INCREDIBLES (Dir: Brad Bird) Released: November 5, 2004
The greatest super-hero movie ever made. Which ought to be praise enough, but Brad Bird’s thrillingly kinetic, retro-outfitted wonder is also a razor-sharp dissection of modern family dynamics, middle-class morality and gender redefinition. And it’s the greatest super-hero movie ever made.
Global Box Office: $631,442,092.00 (#10)

1. INSIDE OUT (Dir: Pete Doctor) Released: June 19, 2015
The premise is cute – a little girl’s emotions (Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness) must help through a family relocation. In Pete Doctor’s hands, Inside Out becomes one of American cinema’s most profound examinations of anxiety, isolation and depression. Yet as it breaks your heart, it still remains a joyous experience. Inside Out is the perfect Pixar film – a flight of vivid imagination, beautifully realised, yet intrinsically human in every aspect. 
Global Box Office: $857,611,174.00 (#6)

THE LIST: EVERY PIXAR MOVIE – WORST TO BEST

From its humble beginnings within Lucasfilm to its boom years as an independent Hollywood force to its 2006 purchase by one-time competitor Disney, Pixar Animation Studios has always been a marketplace juggernaut. From their first feature, the groundbreaking Toy Story, to their 22^nd and most recent effort, the contemporary fairy tale Onward, Pixar have dominated the box office, the award seasons and the forefront of technology. 

So is every Pixar movie a masterpiece? Well, no. But under founder John Lasseter and with talent such as Andrew Stanton and Brad Bird on the lot, Pixar set themselves a high standard. So, if you had to rank the 22 Pixar films from worst to best, in what order might they fall….? (U.S. release dates; box office courtesy Box Office Mojo; # on Pixar’s box office chart) 

22. CARS 2 (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: June 24, 2011
Pixar’s second sequel (twelve years after Toy Story 2) was the first to leave the brand tarnished. At 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, John Lasseter’s soulless sequel is the most critically unpopular by a long way. First (but not the last) time that the studio greenlit a project with an eye on the black ink.
Global Box Office: US$559,852,396.00 (#12) 

21. FINDING DORY (Dir: Andrew Stanton) Released: June 17, 2016.
Peter Sohn’s The Good Dinosaur was proving a troublesome beast (see below), so Pixar fast-tracked this sequel to its hottest property to help meet profit projections. And it feels rushed, undercooked, manufactured, and manipulative. Thirteen years after Finding Nemo charmed the world, it’s waterlogged sequel tanked critically.
Global Box Office: US$1,028,570,889.00 (#4) 

20. MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (Dir: Dan Scanlon) Released: June 21, 2013
Lasseter and his team are five years under the Disney roof, and the new owners want to see some of that Pixar cartoon coin. So properties like Monsters Inc besties Mike and Sully are marketed to the max, led by this strained college campus comedy. A few laughs, but doesn’t make the grade. 
Global Box Office: $743,559,607.00 (#8) 

19. CARS (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: June 9, 2006
Car-nut Lasseter was wooed over to Disney when they agreed to throw their distribution might behind his passion project. But something was off-key. Cars don’t anthropomorphise like fish or toys or bugs; the world building and unappealing characters rang false, even when the colours popped.
Global Box Office: $461,983,149.00 (#17) 

18. CARS 3 (Dir: Brian Fee) Released: June 16, 2017
Promoted from within, director Brian Fee recaptures a little bit of that Pixar magic, albeit in the service of a formulaic hero’s journey. Bolstered by good racetrack sequences and a reduced role for the never-funny Mater, it’s ok.
Global Box Office: $383,930,656.00 (#18) 

17. ONWARD (Dir: Dan Scanlon) Released: March 6, 2020
By 2020, Hollywood animation has developed a certain aesthetic, drawn from years of trying to emulate Pixar’s style (and success). Onward, a road-trip brother-buddy story set in a contemporary fairy-tale world, represents the studio finally chasing it’s own tail; it feels like a competing studio’s Pixar rip-off.
Global Box Office: $74,395,049.00 (#22; still in release) 

16. TOY STORY 3 (Dir: Lee Unkrich) Released: June 18, 2010
Lee Unkrich’s first solo outing in the Pixar helming chair takes the deeper, sadder thematic subtexts of the previous franchise instalments and lays them on thick. Toy Story 3 is a miserable film, its dour colour palette and ‘existential dread’ narrative throughline a total bummer.
Global Box Office: $1,066,969,703.00 (#3) 

15. THE GOOD DINOSAUR (Dir: Peter Sohn) Released November 25, 2015
Pixar’s first official ‘troubled production’. Original creatives Bob Peterson and John Walker were walked late into production; the film was reworked extensively, with many of the cast recalled to voice new scenes. Disney shuffled the release - November 2013 to May 2014 to November 2015. The end result is a jagged but not unlikable adventure, filled with nice imagery. Lost heaps of money.
Global Box Office: $332,207,671.00 (#21)

14. INCREDIBLES 2 (Dir: Brad Bird) Released: June 15, 2018
Highly anticipated, and not without ambition, Pixar’s latest long overdue Part II (this time, 14 years) ultimately can’t escape the Pixar ‘sequel curse’. Brad Bird, the studio’s ‘Golden Boy’ after The Incredibles and Ratatouille, needed to bounce back from his costly George Clooney misfire Tomorrowland; he directs Incredibles 2 like there’s a gun to his head.
Global Box Office: $1,242,805,359.00 (#1) 

13.  TOY STORY 2 (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: November 24, 1999
Giddy with the success of Buzz and Woody’s landmark first adventure, Lasseter directs their new film with contagious glee. All colour and movement, with Hanks and Allen leading the best voice cast ever, Toy Story 2 is old-school family-friendly animation that doesn’t break new ground and has a lot of fun doing it.
Global Box Office: $487,059,677.00 (#16) 

12. BRAVE (Dirs: Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman) Released: June 22, 2012
Much was made of ‘Merida’ being Pixar’s first female lead, and Brenda Chapman their first woman (co)director. And the first two acts of Brave deliver on the promise that pairing held – fiercely determined heroine, stunning visuals, strong narrative. It implodes in Act 3, when things turn a bit ‘Disney’-safe; well-documented ‘creative differences’ behind the scenes are obvious.
Global Box Office: $538,983,207.00 (#13) 

11. A BUG’S LIFE (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: November 25, 1998
The more buoyant, family-friendly of the two ‘animated insect’ movies (though Dreamworks’ Antz holds up better). In 1998, Pixar were still enjoying the ‘New Disney’ warmth from industry and audiences alike. A Bug’s Life comes very much from that mindset – colourful, sweet natured, witty and warm.
Global Box Office: $363,258,859.00 (#20) 

10. MONSTER’S INC (Dir: Pete Doctor) Released: November 2, 2001
Lasseter launched the brand, but arguably Pixar’s star director is Pete Doctor. He launched the first of his three Pixar classics in 2001 with Monsters Inc, a slice of near-perfect world building with two wonderfully ‘Odd Couple’ buddies out front of a deceptively moving story about friendship and innocence.
Global Box Office: $528,773,250.00 (#14) 

9. TOY STORY (Dir: John Lasseter) Released: November 22, 1995
It is easy to look at Pixar’s first feature and not recall what a shift in the animation sector paradigm it represented. Buzz and Woody are to the Pixar empire as Mickey (and, later, Beauty and The Beast) were to Disney. Only advancements in technology keep Toy Story from a Top 5 placing.
Global Box Office: $364,545,516.00 (#19) 

8. RATATOUILLE (Dir: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava) Released: June 29, 2007
Much like it’s hero, a rat with Michelin-level kitchen skills, Ratatouille lives in a place on the Pixar roster that posits it as an underdog of sorts. It is more overtly adult in its story-telling and further enhanced the Pixar palette, with images as beautiful as anything the company has produced. It is adored, yet in an understated way usually reserved for works of art, which seems appropriate.
Global Box Office: $623,722,818.00 (#11) 

7. FINDING NEMO (Dir: Andrew Stanton) Released: May 30, 2003
Another company-defining title, in the same league, both critically and commercially, as Toy Story. A truly funny character comedy, immeasurably enhanced by lead voice-actors Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres (who both polished their dialogue), it also soars as a study in family bonds, fulfilling a destiny and the joys of a broader worldview. Just keep swimming…   
Global Box Office: $871,014,978.00 (#5) 

6. WALL-E (Dir: Andrew Stanton) Released: June 27, 2008
One of the greatest…well, silent movies, space adventures, love stories, take your pick. Stanton’s masterpiece is Pixar’s most far-out adventure, from it’s deep space setting and lil’ leading man, yet speaks to environmental devastation and mankind’s role in making it happen like few contemporary films ever have. Somehow makes mountains of garbage breathtakingly beautiful.
Global Box Office: $521,311,860.00 (#15) 

5. TOY STORY 4 (Dir: Josh Cooley) Released: June 21, 2019
Plays with elements of dark and light – narratively, thematically, visually – like the richly developed, classical fairy tale it ultimately is. Not afraid to get spooky when it needs to (those dolls!) but doesn’t lose touch with the heart and humour that defined the franchise. New kid director Josh Cooley (who’d previously done voice work for Pixar) announces himself as a major storytelling force.
Global Box Office: $1,073,394,593.00 (#2) 

4. UP (Dir: Pete Doctor) Released: May 29, 2009
The opening frames of Pete Doctor’s bittersweet slice of sublime melancholia are already recognised as some of the greatest in modern American film. Ten minutes in, audiences emotions are primed for the next ninety, which deliver laughs (“Squirrel!”) and tears in equal measure. Incredibly, this is not Doctor’s best Pixar movie.
Global Box Office: $735,099,082.00 (#9) 

3. COCO (Dir: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina) Released: November 22, 2017
Detractors have occasionally pointed out that Pixar films have not always been the most ethnically diverse. Coco addresses that with a journey into a young Latino boy’s family history, a musical/fantasy odyssey that transcends its netherworld setting to convey the importance of legacy, creativity and spirituality. Is Remember Me the greatest ever Pixar movie song?
Global Box Office: $807,082,196.00 (#7) 

2. THE INCREDIBLES (Dir: Brad Bird) Released: November 5, 2004
The greatest super-hero movie ever made. Which ought to be praise enough, but Brad Bird’s thrillingly kinetic, retro-outfitted wonder is also a razor-sharp dissection of modern family dynamics, middle-class morality and gender redefinition. And it’s the greatest super-hero movie ever made.
Global Box Office: $631,442,092.00 (#10)

1. INSIDE OUT (Dir: Pete Doctor) Released: June 19, 2015
The premise is cute – a little girl’s emotions (Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness) must help through a family relocation. In Pete Doctor’s hands, Inside Out becomes one of American cinema’s most profound examinations of anxiety, isolation and depression. Yet as it breaks your heart, it still remains a joyous experience. Inside Out is the perfect Pixar film – a flight of vivid imagination, beautifully realised, yet intrinsically human in every aspect. 
Global Box Office: $857,611,174.00 (#6)

GEN-X INFLUENCE CLEAR IN OSCAR NIGHT TALENT ROSTER

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences suggested a changing of the guard as the 92^nd annual Academy Awards unfolded tonight in Los Angeles. From the bestowing upon a foreign-language film its ultimate accolade for the first time to letting an ageing rapper finally belt out his Oscar-winning tune from 17 years ago, the ceremony provided further evidence of a strengthening of Generation X powerbrokers within the AMPAS membership.

The headline story of the evening was the trophy haul won by writer/director Bong Joon-ho’s darkly funny, contemporary South Korean thriller Parasite, which managed to hide away four awards by evening’s end – Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature.

The year’s most acclaimed film, Parasite now holds the honour of being the first foreign-language production in Academy Award history to win Best Film. Twelve foreign-language classics have been nominated for the top honour previously, including such masterpieces as Le Grande Illusion (1938), Z (1969), Cries and Whispers (1973) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).

Elsewhere, hot young stars from the 1990s were the key recipients of the four major acting gongs, signifying their transition into more stately industry standing. Lead actor and actress awards went to Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) and Renee Zellwegger (Judy) respectively (Phoenix emotionally quoted a passage written by his late brother, '90s icon River); supporting honours went to Laura Dern (Marriage Story) and Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood). The ageing ‘movie brat’ might of Martin Scorsese and his ensemble couldn’t secure The Irishman a trophy, while millennial poster-children Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson had to sit and watch with Marriage Story director Noah Baumbach as, Dern aside, others aced that film’s chances.

Perhaps the ultimate nod to the 40-55 year age bracket that held sway over the 2020 ceremony was the appearance of rap star Eminem. Unable to perform his hit song ‘Lose Yourself’ from Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile when it won the Best Song gong in 2003, the singer, belted out the tune with power and energy before an enraptured audience who nodded heads in tempo and approval. Adding to the air of Gen-X authority was a movie-song montage that played like a love letter to '80s cinema.

The night’s supremely awkward attempts at being relevant to the under 25 demo were also typically Gen-X. Having Janelle Monae cold-open as 'Mr Rogers' then pound out a song-and-dance number featuring dancers in outfits from cooler films that weren’t nominated (Midsommar; Us) was a mistake that veered close to Rob Lowe/Snow White tackiness. A rapping-recap at the half way point from one of the young stars of the upcoming urban musical In The Heights left most bewildered.   

One generation’s love for the adventures of Woody and Buzz no doubt bolstered Toy Story 4 in the Best Animated Feature award, with Pixar’s mega-successful franchise entry beating out the more deserving Klaus and I Lost My Body. Also reflecting a more open-minded attitude than we’ve come to expect from the Academy was Taiki Waititi’s Best Adapted Screenplay win for the Nazi-themed satire, Jojo Rabbit. The love for brilliant international filmmaking did not extend to the Best Documentary Feature category, with American Factory beating the heartbreaking masterwork For Sama.

Technical categories skewed towards the industry’s older craftsmen, with 1917 (Visual Effects; Cinematography; Sound Mixing), Ford vs Ferrari (Editing; Sound Editing), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Production Design) and Little Women (Costume Design) sharing the below-the-line honours. Steven Spielberg introduced the In Memoriam montage, which included his mentor, Sid Sheinberg. The late Kobe Bryant was the first image, while Hollywood great Kirk Douglas was the last, the long list of those who have left us accompanied by a soulful Billie Eilish singing The Beatles’ Yesterday.