Not sure if want

[lynxgriffin]

Not sure how I feel about the three new Pokemon starters for Pokemon Black/White. The fire pig and the water otter are very cute, to be sure. But how come the grass starter is always a reptile? C'mon, make the grass starter a mammal or a bird or something for once! Shaymin proves it can be done! Also, a part of me was secretly hoping they'd do something other than fire/water/grass for starters (maybe fighting/psychic/dark?) but I guess it shouldn't surprise me that they did the usual.

And I'm really not sure how to feel about the fact that Pixar canceled Newt...and apparently in favor of making sure Cars 2 came out on time, or because they're instead putting effort into a Monsters Inc. 2. Not that I would mind an MI2 since Monsters Inc. is one of my favorite Pixar movies, and not that I didn't already know about Cars 2, but I was really looking forward to Newt! It seemed like such a cute, funny, original idea. (And it was going to be directed by the guy who directed Lifted, which was a hilarious short!) I know they focus on good storytelling, but at this point, their upcoming sequels outnumber their upcoming original films, and that worries me. I know Cars is one of Lasseter's pet projects, but it probably was one of their weaker ones story-wise, and it's really hard to ignore the fact that Cars is their most lucrative cash cow of all time.

Pixar, I've championed you for over 15 years, since I first saw Toy Story in the theaters as a wee bitty. Please don't let me down now. :(

Drawing: More storyboards for Scratch, some gift arts, some fanart, more LG

Writing: More on the chapter

Consecutive Days Gone Spoiler-Free: 74

Comments

[princealia.livejournal.com]

Isn't that weird, though? That their weakest in story telling is somehow the one that makes all the money?

[lynxgriffin.livejournal.com]

It's actually not that surprising, considering the subject matter is cars, and particularly car racing. NASCAR is the most-watched sport in America...even moreso than the NFL. So basically Pixar managed to create a franchise based off of America's most popular sport, and in an area that's a virtual untapped wealth in terms of audience: the "flyover states."

And while it's their weakest story, it's still a good story. It's ironic, but not surprising. XD

[ghettopeach.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I'm sure there's a lot of stuff going on that we don't know about. The fact is, more films aren't produced than are, even after tons of money and time gets spent working with it. It could be that Pixar thought newt wasn't up to code. It could be a political or financial decision. The fact is, we don't know why.

But it does seem troublesome that most of the stories are now sequels. It's very hard to make good movie sequels. (Heck, it's hard enough making good movies.) Television, novels, and even graphic novels can handle long-running stories better than movies can. Part of this is that television and novels have more time to digress and explore. Movies don't have that luxury--something needs to be consistently happening in a very structured way in order for it to not feel laggy. Movie stories are larger than life. The problem is, there are usually only so many "larger than life" stories within a particular universe, and if you try to force it, it shows.

[lynxgriffin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's all true...if they did cancel it because the story just wasn't working, then that's the better option than trying to push it through and coming out with an inferior product. The concept just sounded fun, so I was disappointed to hear that they couldn't make it work.

Yes, this. Pixar HAS been successful with their sequels thusfar (this being the Toy Story movies), but sequels are still difficult to pull off...especially if the story they first imagined was never really intended to be a longer-running story. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

Very late to the party but...

..seriously? NASCAR?

[lynxgriffin.livejournal.com]

Yup, NASCAR seriously! It's kind of weird because you just don't hear about it as much (at least not here on the coast, where baseball and basketball are much much bigger), but apparently in most of the country, that's where the real money is. o_O/