It’s no secret around here that I believe Pixar is not only the best animated movie studio in the film business today, but also the best movie studio period. They are a perfect 9 for 9 with their films… not only big box office success, not only big critical success, but also huge audience success. This company squats and craps out excellence with everything they do… and now they’ve given us the best film of 2008 (thus far) in Wall-E

But an interesting discussion broke out the other day when one commenter asked why Pixar just makes little kid movies. Why not make movies for adults?

This got me thinking a little bit about the nature of the movies that Pixar has done in the past and continue doing right through to today. My conclusion was this:

PIXAR DOES NOT MAKE LITTLE KID MOVIES. THEY MAKE MOVIES THAT ARE KID FRIENDLY.

Now I understand that on the surface this looks like little more than a mere issue of minor semantics. But if you look more closely you’ll see there is actually a world of difference in both style and substance between the two and the end result are VERY different movies.

There are many 3D animated films that are specifically kid movies. Films like “Kung Fu Panda”, “Madagascar”, clearly “Madagascar 2”, “Robots”, “Shark Tale”, “Shrek” and so on and so forth. Films like these (and many others like them) are writen, produced and completely geared toward entertaining children, and there’s nothing wrong with that philosophy in and of itself if they’re done well. Oh sure, sometimes they’ll throw in the odd pop cultural reference that will fly over kids heads and is aimed at the adults… but the themes and language (both visual and verbal) and style are conceived of and aimed at kids. They are Kids Movies.

But then there’s is Pixar. Yes, Pixar does have some excellent “Kids Movies” on it’s impressive resume like “Bugs Life”, “Toy Story” and to a certain degree “Monsters Inc”. But then a shift became visible that we say elements of in Toy Story 2, and when “Finding Nemo” came out a full fledged new philosophy in Pixar’s creative workflow because evident.

Pixar was no longer just making Kid Movies. They were making films for everyone that were made in such a way to also be very kid friendly. The entertainment of the kid was no longer the guiding principle… but rather making a universal movie for everyone to experience and enjoy while keeping the kids engaged and entertained at the same time. It’s not an easy task, but it’s one that Pixar has mastered and is more than just a semantical variant.

FINDING NEMO

Themes of fatherhood. Life lived in precaution due to tragic loss and the notions of wanting to shelter your child and the desperation of both fear and action when your child is at risk.

THE INCREDIBLES

A slightly past middle aged man reflecting on former glories… but also former potential. Finding himself in a life and life style you never would have pictured. Struggling to understand the balance between the importance of self-actualization, and the responsibility and joy in sacrificing personal goals and ambitions for family, children and marriage.

CARS

The decay of the classic and traditional small town America. Issues of modernization inadvertently replacing the fabrics of small town values and senses of community. The loss of the journey to the expedience of the destination.

RATATOUILLE

Standard themes of pursuing dreams are mixed in with issues of breaking out of expectation. Facing generations old biases and preconceptions, learn hatreds and expectations while trying to overcome them with a wider world view by stopping looking at the problem on a race or national (or in this case species) level and looking at individuals on a personal level instead.

WALL-E

The obvious themes of Environmentalism are also layered with warnings of a society developing an over reliance on technology and a less and less social population that engages more with the digital than with real life human beings

Films such as these can not be equated with films like “Madagascar” and just lumped in as if they were made with the same purpose and the same audience… because they aren’t. One is a kids movies… the others are kid friendly. One type is specifically made for and aimed at kids… the other has a main message that is aimed at adults, but made in such a way that the experience is still a great one for kids.