LIFE IN AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE,

LIFE IN AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE, PART II: So did you pick up Monsters, Inc. today, too?

What a fantastic DVD. I’ll try to write a detailed review for Blogcritics.

UPDATE: One of the elements that makes Pixar’s digital films work is that they understand the importance of story and character. Once you accept that the world they create, mentally you forget that you’re in a world of toys that move, think and talk, or in the case of Monsters Inc., that you’re in the Monstropolis, a world where weird looking monsters have businesses, lead their lives, and you quickly accept how human they are.

It doesn’t hurt that Pixar hires excellent voiceover actors (heck, excellent actors–Tom Hanks, John Goodman, etc.) and gives them their head.

Compare that, and your reaction to the Pixar films, with your reactions to the last two Star Wars films, which George Lucas directed. In theory, the Star Wars movies should be more believable, not to mention superior, because they’re not cartoons. And yet, while Lucas often hires excellent actors (Liam Neeson for example), their performances are stiff, their dialogue even worse, and for the most part, we don’t care about the characters–they’re simply props for Lucas to maneuver along with the space craft and planets. He doesn’t care about much about them–why should we?