If I ever get my husband to go to Disney again I want him to get a shirt with Buzz and me with Jessie and his says, “I love you,” and mine says, “I know.”
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That would be awesome!
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Saturday, March 4, 2023
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
This is a really fun and funny movie! Back when it first came out and there were only three Pixar franchises, I remember it being a lot bigger of a deal. Maybe that’s why there’s now a sequel and a Disney+ series. But it seems to be overshadowed sometimes by everything that came after.
Highlights:
- Humor is front and center, and there are a lot of great gags – to many to mention. What do you expect with Billy Crystal as one of the two stars?
- I understood for the first time the joke about the name of the restaurant where Mike and Celia go on a date – “Harryhausen’s” is a reference to Ray Harryhausen, who was a famous filmmaker who made Jason and the Argonauts and a bunch of other “monster” movies using stop-motion animation and other special effects. The “Light and Magic” series about ILM talks about him a lot because he was an inspiration to many of the original employees.
- John Ratzenberger is the Abominable Snowman.
- Boo is probably the first actually cute human character in a Pixar film; maybe in any CGI film.
- Randall really got his comeuppance when he was sent to that Cajun house where they thought he was a gator!
- In Boo’s room, there are Jessie and Nemo toys–Easter eggs from the previous and next Pixar films.
- There’s a very impactful scene where Boo is scared of Sully for the first time. I think it’s a poignant reminder for parents to be gentle with their children, because kids are sensitive.
The kids thought this was better than A Bug’s Life but tied with Toy Story 2, which I guess means they like Toy Story 2 better than A Bug’s Life after thinking about it for a night. I give it 4 stars – a solid classic, but not one of my very top faves.
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Here’s the updated tracker:
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You mean Adorable Snowman 
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I was for some reason mixing up TS 1 & 2 in my mind (must rewatch!) and this recap reminds me of how much I love this one. Also, great Les Mis reference.
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I love these thoughts from you/your family! Makes me want to do this with ours. We did once upon a time start watching all 60 Animated films (and it’s how we ended up with a lot of the older ones on DVD like Make Mine Music, Melody Time, etc.) but we ended up stopping somewhere around Rescuers & never picked it back up. Pixar would be a lot easier with less films.
I remember hearing his part in Soul was so small it’s uncredited. Like he provides a very background voice. My (unconfirmed) hunch is that he’s the guy on the Subway that Joe bumps into. So maybe he’s got a smaller role like that in Luca too.
Way cool trivia bit.
I feel exactly the same about TS2 and it’s my favorite Toy Story for sure. My two younger are huge Toy Story fans in general and DD3 has gravitated to TS2 as her fave too & I have no qualms playing it over & over for her again. She looooves Jessie!
It took me years to realize it was Joan Cusack but once I did, I couldn’t unhear it & it did ruin her for me a little bit too. Luckily I had loved it long before so I found a way to compartmentalize Jessie from Joan, but I think I would’ve struggled like you if I had realized right off the bat.
Agree with all of this. Cars is one of our favorites overall, and I’m not totally against the subtly raunchy humor, but the flashing is a step too far.
That is a brilliant crossover idea of shirts! Works so well! I hope you get to make it happen.
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Friday, March 10, 2023
Finding Nemo (2003)
I had forgotten how much I love this movie! For some reason I felt like it was more “for kids” when it first came out and so I was predisposed against it. But I eventually did watch it and liked it. I believe it was one of my son’s favorites when he was little.
Highlights:
- Score by Thomas Newman (cousin of Randy Newman). This score has gotten a lot of play at the parks! Parades, nighttime spectaculars, attractions, etc. It is very moving and has some exciting parts as well.
- It was also a stroke of brilliance to end the movie with “Beyond the Sea.” For some reason that works so well.
- The humor is all top notch and they build up toward certain jokes for the whole movie, like the “joke” Marlin is trying to tell (Albert Brooks is a genius, btw). I really love Ellen DeGeneres as a comedian and her timing is impeccable (I will always miss her at Universe of Energy, but it was time to rotate.)
- Favorite lines:
- Dory at the Shark meeting: “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a fish. I’m glad I got that off my chest.”
- Dory: “Just keep swimming.”
- Marlin after seeing the angler fish: “Good feelings gone.”
- Dory: “You will be my squishy”
- I love the EAC scene, including Crush and Squirt. Lots of great details in this movie.
- They did a good job of adding color to the film despite it being in the ocean where everything is blue.
- John Ratzenberger is the voice of the school of fish
- The message(s) of this movie – about dealing with grief, balancing parenting between smothering and losing control, and trusting others – really hit home for me. I’m the type of person who likes control and has a hard time letting go.
I wasn’t expecting Finding Nemo to be in my top tier, but suddenly 4 stars doesn’t seem like enough. I’m going to give it my first half star. 4.5 stars.
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Updated:
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Nemo is a tough one to analyze. It’s not one of my favorites, being gloomy and a bit awkward in some ways I can’t put my finger on. But I don’t dislike it either because…
Same.
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Finding Nemo is one of my favorites, too. My favorite line is Dory saying, “ES-Scop-ee””, hmm, that’s spelled like escape”
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I need to catch up here.
Monsters, Inc.
I had lost this movie in time and got reacquainted in 2012. It became an Instant family favorite. Such a clever premise. Pixar used to be so fabulous. With its worthy sequel, it is a very special pair to me and mine.
Nemo is one of the worst movies in the history of movie making. I would rather eat paper than sit through Nemo. What an obnoxious brat he is. I only hate Ariel more.
Thankfully, Finding Dory offered one of the best pair of parents in any Disney movie ever, not to mention my favorite septapus and one of the best chase scenes I’ve ever enjoyed. (Move over Fast and the Furious.)
(I can’t seem to consider any movie apart from its sequels.)
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I forgot to mention the best part of watching Finding Nemo. At the part where Nemo is (spoiler LOL) reunited with his dad, one by one starting with DS, my kids came up to me and hugged me and leaned against me until all four were in my lap / sitting by me. 
It was the most precious thing.
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That’s so sweet.
Why are you up??
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Couldn’t sleep for some reason. Going back to bed soon. I needed to write down a few things to make sure I didn’t forget and this was one of them. 
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I really dislike Finding Nemo too. But I love the AK show.
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Saturday, March 11, 2023
The Incredibles (2004)
This was a fun one! I’ve seen it many times, but it’s been a while. Highlights:
- The voice cast is outstanding. Holly Hunter in particular has a very distinctive voice as Helen Parr. Also Craig T. Nelson and Samuel L. Jackson in their regular voices. Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride) as the insurance company boss is fantastic.
- Michael Giacchino’s score packs a punch. He is one of my favorite composers thanks to Rogue One. His Pixar music is always great and I’m looking forward to hearing some of them again during this watchthrough.
- I absolutely detest Incrediboy (later Syndrome) from the moment he first appears. So annoying. He deserves his fate.
- Edna Mode is the best.
- The cinematography in this movie is top notch. It’s very apparent that each shot was designed with care. It does a lot of little Steven Soderbergh / artsy type camera movements and framings, etc. I’m curious to see if any of the later movies do this or if it was specific to Incredibles.
- The production design is also really great. I love the mid-century modern design, with the 60s stylization on all the technology, architecture, and fashion.
- I’ll be honest, at almost 2 hours, it dragged a little. Seemed like they put all their ideas into the movie and didn’t cut anything out.
- This is the first Pixar film we’ve watched on Disney+ that retained the old 3D Disney Castle production logo at the beginning and end of the film. It was used on all the films from 1995-2007 originally, but on Disney+ they’ve swapped it out for the new modern one. I assume they didn’t make the switch on this movie because the audio actually starts during the pre-credits.
All in all, I think Incredibles is the best-made Pixar movie I’ve watched so far. However, that does not translate to it being my favorite. I enjoyed watching it this one time, but if I had to rewatch one of them, this wouldn’t be my first pick. So despite my high praise, it only gets 4 stars (which is still great, just not one of my very top films.)
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Updated ranking. It was tough to slot it in among the other 4-stars, but I think it this is about right. I assume it will continue to slip down as I add more 5 / 4.5-star movies.
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Wallace Shawn is also Rex in the Toy Story movies.
Both Wallace Shawn and Craig T. Nelson are in the Young Sheldon TV series. The former plays one of Sheldon’s favorite professors, Dr. John Sturgis. The latter plays Dale Ballard, a love interest for Sheldon’s grandmother. (Dr. John Sturgis was a former love interest for her.)
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Oh that’s right! I didn’t make the connection because he is so much more like his Princess Bride character in Incredibles but in Toy Story he’s so lovable.
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