“It’s like filling an ice tray. They like to fill it very carefully, one cube at a time, until it’s all even. I’d rather fill the sink with water, stick the ice tray under the sink, and pull it out. Fill ’em all up at once.”
That’s Mark Andrews comparing the animation process to submerging a slotted piece of plastic into water. In his interview with Steve Pond at The Wrap, Andrews spoke directly about his vision for Pixar – one that runs a bit counter to what they’ve employed to find success for over a decade. Emerging from TV animation, the Brave director is used to a bit more speed. “It was a really good testing ground, because it makes you go with your gut and try stuff out and just roll with it. And once I got into features and saw how slow everybody works, I thought, OK, fine. I’ll keep at my same speed, and just get through more stuff.”
Since Toy Story in 1995, Pixar has released about a movie a year (skipping 1996,1997, 2000, 2003 and 2005) as well as a number of shorts. Presumably, Andrews would fill in those gaps by ensuring the studio is producing at least one movie every year. Where there’s even more room for change is in the infamously long gestation period for Pixar perfection. On the other hand, it’s tough to argue with their track record, even if you believe it’s fallen off in the past few years because of commercialization (the Cars franchise) or the Disney influence (of which Andres’ Brave certainly fell under).
The filmmaker throws out some interesting ideas in the interview – as well as some examples of how he had to change things when he was hired in the middle of Brave to replace original director Brenda Chapman. It will be interesting to see if Pixar is receptive to increasing their speed and especially intriguing to see if he can ultimately sell them on moving into PG-13 territory. At any rate, if they’re able to maintain a high level of quality (if not outright perfection) wouldn’t it be a gift to fans to see more of their work? Or is one every year (or so) enough to satisfy?
Related Topics: Pixar
