Sample this statement – Martin Scorsese has been in decline since Goodfellas.
Now, if were to pose that statement to you in the form of a question, and you could only answer in the affirmative or negative, what would your answer be?
Mine would be a resounding ‘Yes.’
In essence, that is what this question is asking.
But, as is often the case with questions of the ‘Yes/No’ variety, there is more to it than meets the eye.
Pixar’s run between 1999 and 2010 was truly astounding. It was the stuff of legends.
To continue the above analogy, it would be akin to Scorsese making a Goodfellas every year, for 11 years in a row.
The animation studio set an impossibly high-bar and kept clearing it for over a decade. I think that is extraordinary. Beyond extraordinary, even.
To sustain that level for such a long time was a near miracle. And beyond a point, it simply could not be sustained, at least not with that absurd consistency.
So if indeed an answer of the ‘Yes/No’ variety must be offered, mine would be ‘Yes.’
But to say that Pixar is “in decline” is doing the studio a disservice. Because if any studio deserves a bit of leeway, it is Pixar.
And here’s the deal – in the last 5 years, Pixar has produced three movies that would sit proudly alongside its glorious pantheon – Inside Out, Coco and the recently released Soul.
In fact, I would argue that Soul is the most ambitious movie Pixar has ever made.
By my reckoning, the company has only ever made one outright bad movie – Cars 2.
Sure, there have been some average ones in this period, and some unnecessary prequels and sequels as well, but by and large, Pixar remains one of, if not the most consistent film studios in the world.
Another aspect worth pointing out is that while their recent slate of movies may not have been as uniformly excellent as the ones that came out between 1999 and 2010, they are stunning feats of animation.
And in that regard, Pixar has continuously kept pushing the boundaries, even in their supposedly lesser efforts such as Brave or The Good Dinosaur.
Last year’s Toy Story 4 was as visually resplendent an animation movie as any.
And now, with Soul, I believe they have taken a giant leap in terms of visual fidelity. The quality of animation in Soul is staggering; the level of detail present in the movie beggars belief.
Pixar essentially climbed the Mount Everest of animation nearly every year, for 10 years in a row.
You can’t scale Everest every year, but Pixar still manages to ascend K2 with consistency, and every now and again, they conquer Everest.
Just not every single year.
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