This is very good news for Pixar fans. Wall-E has already rushed past the $100M mark after a little more than a week. This is a movie nearly everyone seems to love, so I'd expect a lot of repeated viewings during the summer. I know I want to see it again. Hmm....maybe I should be doing that right now...
Wall-E's success at the box office will prove excellent news if it reverses the downward trend of Pixar's last several features. After reaching a peak with Finding Nemo, each film has earned less and less money. Mind you, this is using the mindset of the Hollywood suits, where your movie can makes gobs and gobs of money, only to be declared a "failure" because it didn't reach the imaginary numbers the suits pulled out of the ground.
But in this game, expectations rule, and success means clout. It means more power to Steve Jobs and John Lasseter and the fine artists at Pixar. Which means greater freedom, greater leeway, to take more daring risks, stretch animation into newer directions, and - yippie - more leeway in promoting movies like Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea. I'd like to see that movie shown on more than 200 screens. Wouldn't you?
6 comments:
Wall-E is indeed an excellent film.
In terms of Box Office gross, it is true that Pixar Films have progressively made less, but only in North America. Ratatouille made 621 Million Worldwide, which actually places it third all time for Pixar.
Finding Nemo - 864 Million (2003)
The Incredibles - 631 Million (2004)
Ratatouille - 621 Million (2007)
Monsters Inc - 525 Million (2001)
Toy Story 2 - 485 Million (1999)
Cars - 462 Million (2006)
A Bug's Life - 363 Million (1998)
Toy Story - 361 Million (1995)
Although ticket price needs to be taken into consideration.
It sounds to me like one of the conclusions you're heading for is that Pixar should have, effectively, a "Pixar Museum Library" which they can use to release Studio Ghibli films, among others, in North America. n_- That is, if Pixar had a museum to have a library of…
That's an interesting idea, one which I haven't really thought of. But that's essentially what Studio Ghibli does in Japan. They have issued a number of films from around the world, and local films and television shows, all on the Ghibli Ga Ippai label.
I suppose, ideally, such a move in the US, under the aegis of Pixar, would be desirable. Unfortunately, the situation is somewhat different here.
The reason I bring up Pixar is that they are the great Ghibli supporters in Hollywood. They also happen to be making really great movies. That is, unless Alvin and the Chipmunks is more your thing.
In a perfect world, we'd have access to the great art of the world, instead of the same dull local stuff. I suppose the Hollywood corporate mindset is a bit different from that, however. You can't really blame the Disney empire for not heavily promoting the works of a foreign movie studio. They only wanted the local rights to a couple of the Miyazaki films, after all.
But, since Pixar is now an integral part of Disney, we have our wedge in the door. They remain our best hope for a true animation golden age in America.
There is actually an exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery (I live in Vancouver) called "Krazy!" that features Anime, Manga and Art among other things.
http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_krazy.html
I have yet to check it out, but I'm definitely going to give it a look.
I would love a Museum in North America dedicated to Ghibli, or even Japanese Animation in General. Does Disney have a Museum? Because if it did, then you could see the possibility of a Pixar section and even a Ghibli section if Lasseter could work some magic.
P.S. Alvin in the Chipmunks made a ridiculous amount of money at the Box Office. I saw it with my little cousin and I will admit that Theodore was cute.
Wall-E totally looks like the robot from "Short Circuit"... minus the cheesy 80's style of course
Interestingly, all but one of the Ghibli Museum Library films have now been released on domestic DVD in North America (though Panda Kopanda is, admittedly, out of print and Le Roi et l'oiseau still lacks English subtitles). These and Moya lyubov can be downloaded, though… I think I'll try to make a list on Amazon.com which collects these together with the pre-Ghibli films and series.
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