Gephyrophillia #241

Originally Posted on 05/01/2011 by Jeff Harris

Imagine you're a company with a pair of creative houses. One has set the bar high in animation, taking it places it has never been, although the stories all tend to have the same formula. The other has been creating stories for over 70 years, molding new methologies and introducing characters and franchises that have become weaved into our national and international consciousness. Both are master storytellers and good at what they do.

When they became a part of the same company, many had hoped that their creative energies could create something greater than anything they've done in the past, thrilling fans of both houses. But instead of giving what people actually want, the houses remain divided because, well, one house has said they've already done what the other house does for a living. Even though that project was almost a carbon copy of the quartet the one house created 50 years ago this year.

So, Pixar isn't going to do any Marvel films. That's kind of a bummer considering in the months after Disney's plans to buy Marvel became public, it was stated the two sides began brainstorming together and having familial pow-wows. Insiders, fans, and the filmgoing public wanted to see if and how the two houses of ideas would mesh under the Magic Kingdom, and now that the chief muckity-muck at Pixar, John Lasseter, said in an interview "Not at Pixar. We have The Incredibles, so we've done superheroes here ourselves and so we have that kind of history with Brad Bird doing The Incredibles," that kind of puts the nail on any potential team-up between the two sibling companies of Disney.

Which is kind of sad if you think about it.

I understand that Pixar wants to do original films like Toy Story 3, Cars 2, and a prequel to Monsters Inc., but what would they be afraid of by working on a Marvel franchise? Take on something less likely to be a live-action franchise like Power Pack, Silver Surfer, New Warriors, Exiles, or even some CrossGen properties like Sojourn, Meridian, or Scion. Are they afraid that Marvel would be breathing down their necks dictating how those characters must be handled on the big screen, or is the biggest thing keeping Pixar away from Marvel the one thing they fear the most:

They'd be seen as a one-trick pony.

It's an unwritten law that you have to automatically praise everything Pixar does and never say a bad word towards anything they do. Otherwise, you'd be exiled to a purgatory filled with people who don't prescribe to the same groupthink mentality nor drink the Almighty Lamp's Kool-Aid. I bet if every writer who ever read any review of any Pixar film, they'd find a lot of the same platitudes and positive comments about the story. Yes, the animation is very, very pretty, and there are scenes that make you sadder than you were at the beginning. But Pixar plays it safe, and it's been very lucrative for them.

However, it's one thing to play it safe. It'd be even better if they actually got out of their comfort zone and make something that doesn't adhere to their setup-jealous character-sad scene-chase-sappy mega-happy ending formula. Yeah, Pixar didn't create Marvel characters, but that doesn't mean they couldn't brainstorm a great story featuring them, could they? As they've mentioned, Pixar did create the superhero-friendly Incredibles movie, and it was good. But how would they handle characters already familiar to generations, and giving those comic creations life? Also, it's kind of sad Pixar sees Marvel as just a superhero company. Thor, which opens up this week, is an intergalactic space opera at its core, creating a cosmic legacy that extends beyond mere superheroics. Imagine what Pixar could do with characters like Silver Surfer, Nova, Captain Mar-Vel, the Inhumans, and so many more. But considering they're out of Pixar's comfort zone, they won't even challenge themselves to do that.

I'm kind of disappointed as an animation fan and a comics fan. Then again, maybe Disney themselves will actually bring the Marvel characters to animation on the big screen. Unfortunately, after projects like Atlantis, Treasure Planet, and Meet the Robinsons, they're also afraid to venture beyond their own comfort zone full of princesses and talking toyetic animals. I do hope that both venture into the Marvel Universe on the big-screen one day.

Keep creating.

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.