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| Lasseter reviewing shot from Cars 2 on his iPad. Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar. |
"It's not true. It's people who don't know the facts, rushing to judge," he tells Brooks Barnes of The New York Times. "I make movies for that little boy who loves the characters so much that he wants to pack his clothes in a Lightning McQueen suitcase."
Lasseter also addressed the pressure Pixar directors face when directing sequels to the studios beloved film, comparing it to a trapeze act. "Not only is there no net, you’re doing it over spikes with poisoned ends."
Read the article online here.
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51 comments:
Lasseter must be the only one who ALWAYS wants to dress with images of the characters of Cars. When he claims that it's not due to financial reasons then he lies.
Cars and Cars 2 are just for the marketing. I didn't like any of them. I always felt it was an excuse to come up with stickers, toys, t-shirts, etc. If you do a search on Ebay and enter Pixar you find almost nothing outside Cars. I'm sick of it, despite being a fan of Pixar. Enough with Cars!
I agree, Cars 2 isn't a failure, it was just highly compared with the other Pixar-Classics. Not the best idea for a 'Cars' sequel but did what it could do to entertain. I just wished it were focused more on "races" than on mater.
With all due respect, I wonder if he was only being politically correct.
I've enjoyed every John Lasseter film (including the original 'Cars'). They all had ROFL-funny moments and touchy moments that would tug at the heart strings.
'Cars 2' had neither. It was simply a bad film. The jokes didn't work, the story was bland, and it was filled with noise all over. It's time John accepted that.
However I'm still very much a Pixar and a John Lasseter fan ('Brave' looks great). One bad film doesn't reduce the brand for me.
I wish people would stop hating on it, too. It's nowhere near as bad as some people are lamenting it to be, and I really enjoyed it.
Not a great rebuttal, it's his film much like Cars was so he's making it happen because he cares about it. Sweet, I like that, shows a man with passion which is no bad thing. But by god, why make another one when new concepts like Newt get put on the shelf?
The pullquote at the end stating how it's for the kid wanting to pack his clothing into merchandise through "love of the characters" doesn't help make it not seem like a second bite of the cherry as does Planes even if it is one of those DTV movies I thought they weren't doing anymore once Lasseter got the top dog position at WDAS.
The Cars universe is huge, much bigger than any other Pixar has made but it's understandable why, kids go coco for the stuff and obviously it helps that it makes a lot of money in the process but I wouldn't say it was the sole reason. So, the basic question is why is Pixar who has historically made films for everyone to enjoy now deciding to target kids solely?
waaaaaaaaaaay too many spikey poisoned critics in the world these days. People are spoiled and confused by constant too much of everything. Plus the internet rabidly encourages the most feeble minded to comment on subjects they are unqualified to fathom (take this reply as a prime example)
I liked Cars 2. It was just fun. That seems to have been an issue with some of the previous Pixar films before this one. Wall-E, UP and Toy Story 3, they were all amazing but pretty heavily emotional films. Even though the story for Cars 2 was not as profound as what we've come to expect from a Pixar film, I can see myself watching Cars 2 several times. I have trouble revisiting the previous 3 because they can be too heavy at times. Sometimes it's good to just have fun.
"I'm not doing it for the MONEY! I'm doing it for the satisfaction of knowing that a working-class mother wasted money on a poorly made and overly expensive suitcase for the sake of MY vision! If I get paid for that, who's to say I'm wrong?"
Grow up, Lasseter.
Doesn't the quote: "I make movies for that little boy who loves the characters so much that he wants to pack his clothes in a Lightning McQueen suitcase." validate the "accusations that it was made primarily for financial reasons"?
“I typically don’t read the reviews...I make movies for that little boy who loves the characters so much that he wants to pack his clothes in a Lightning McQueen suitcase."
If this is Lasseter's way of denying that he made the movie as a cashgrab, it's not working. He certainly doesn't sound like someone who emphasizes "Story first"
That's not a very high bar. Kid's will watch and love any crap you set down in front of them. I watched a lot of terrible movies as a kid. That doesn't mean they weren't terrible.
Jordan and Mike Barnett, your comments are right on the money. Refreshing after so much negativity!
"Jordan and Mike Barnett, your comments are right on the money. Refreshing after so much negativity!"
Why, just because they were positive? Just saying "I wish people would stop hating on it" is not going to get people to stop hating it. There are ways to make "fun" films without resorting to the badly-written plotlines of Cars 2.
As someone who loved the original "Cars" film, I have to say "Cars 2" is the first Pixar let-down. Just because Mater can be funny, doesn't mean one should make him the main character.
Cars merchandise makes gobs of money. Who wouldn't want to re-tap that goldmine? And that's not a bad thing--especially because sequels can end up being better than their prequels. Pixar has always been fantastic at telling great stories. So what happened to Cars 2?
I agree with every point that John Lasseter is stating. Cars 2 was made to get a vision of his out and not due to making more money. Where is the evidence that Pixar was making just for money? The 8 billion isnt even a factor in this. Im not saying that Cars 2 is as good as most Pixar films, but it's better than Cars, which itself is good, though the weakest of all Pixar films. I also liked what John Lasseter said about him making films for the boy. If he had to follow every suggestion critics make for him to make the film to critics, young kids will lose interest, plus critics will find more ways to pan the film. I honestly think that some of these critic did not even watch the film. It's like Fight Club where critics panned the film, only to reverse their decisions once they actually watched the movie on BD. I'm not saying it will happen for Cars 2, but the point is that these critics were pretty much intent on panning Cars 2, except for the ones that care like Roger Ebert and Variety. Even if I had not liked Cars 2, which once again, I did, I still would have thought that, at least in their heads, Pixar had a great story. Cashgrabs accusations come from hate of this film.
The most noise comes from the emptiest can.
Stop hating.
Just because a few people think Cars 2 was "fun" doesn't mean that everybody else who wanted a Pixar-quality film is negative.
Personally, I don't think there's anything more "fun" that a great movie. That's why I love The Incredibles, Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 3 so much. It may be an emotional, complex trip...but to me, that's fun! Plus, these movies are still loaded with action and humor, but of the highest class.
Cars 2 was different. I was actually willing to give it a chance. During the movie, I got bored at times (which never happens to me during other Pixar movies) but I mostly enjoyed it overall. However, it didn't sit well with me. The more I thought about Cars 2, the more disappointed I got. This is coming from an open-minded, die-hard Pixar fan. I really can't stand Cars 2 anymore.
However, I'm not worried about the future yet. Brave looks like an amazing journey, Monsters University should be hilarious (a good example of a "fun" movie), and the unnamed projects (non-extinct dinosaurs and inside the mind) fascinate me to no end.
Hey anonymous #5, I can almost hear sarcasm in your voice when you quoted Mike like that. Mike is awesome so don't mess with him, I believe that he liked the comments because those people realize the true meaning of Cars 2.
I loved Cars 2. It was just fun. Just so people know, there are adults who like the merchandise as much as kids do, if not more. Former kids who grew up with Toy Story.
@Damian, what about me? I bought a Cars t-shirt, a Ratatouille tshirt and a Toy Story shirt. With that said, there are two people who "must be the only one who ALWAYS wants to dress with images of the characters of Cars." The characters are fun. People like them.
JAY Hosh: You flatter me.
@JAY Hosh
Where in my post did I ever hint at being sarcastic? I meant every word I said. The positive posts about this film contain no more substance than the negative ones. What is the true meaning of "Cars 2", exactly? It may have been intended to be "fun", but I sure as heck didn't feel it when watching it. I even tried watching it again to see if my opinion would change, but it only made me angry at the film again.
I don't even want to harp on the cashgrab part of it, I just think this was a poorly made film. But Lasseter is not doing himself any favors by flipflopping on his motives for making it.
I have a heck of a lot of respect for John Lasseter and Pixar. However, John Lasseter denying any wrong in the lack of quality (specifically story wise) of Cars 2, disappoints me. First off the movie did not need to be made. Instead of Lasseter starting out making it, even though it was his original idea, he had Brad Lewis direct the project. Lasseter only came because there were story problems. However, for some reason they still decided to move it up a year in order to cover the 2011 spot.
This kind of thing really makes me second guess director changes like the latest Brenda Chapman change. I was okay with it originally because I thought Pixar put story ahead of everything else. However, Cars 2 came out and it seemed obvious to me that STORY was not put first. With Cars 2 they knew they could get the animation done quickly so they moved the release date up and they knew the movie would make a lot of money because of the last Cars film. It was a safe film and I wonder if lack of safe storytelling was the reason why Brenda was relieved?
Cars was nothing but an attempt (successful one) to sell cheaply made merchandise to children. both movies were by far below the Pixar standard. If they really thought so highly of their own productions they wouldn't be on board with have a dozen shitty video games made out of each film.
@ Anonymous below Jacob: call me defeatist, but if a couple of 'failures' like Cars and Cars 2 means a dozen of winners like the rest of Pixar's track records, I'll take it everytime. Hell, Pixar's 'failures' are better than 95% of the dross we get served every year, animation or otherwise. Nothing wrong with creating movies that provide the (financial) platform for other movies.
Cars and Cars 2 are just bad movies. In fact, a lot of Pixar movies are pretty weak in the plot area but still managed to entertain by virtue of their sheer beauty. Well the magical spell of the early years of CGI movies has worn off and now audiences expect great stories in addition to the standard great visuals. I loved the original Toy Story when it came out, but trying to rewatch it now is painful. I really don't think that Lasseter and Andrew Stanton are good directors. Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, and Brad Bird have produced the only Pixar movies that will stand the test of time in my opinion.
from the NTY article: "But with the “Cars 2” DVD on the way, Mr. Lasseter broke his silence. “Cars 2” is also a front-runner for the next animation Academy Award, and a campaign is about to begin."
This needs to be addressed. Cars 2 is in no way whatsoever a front-runner for the Best Animated Film Academy Award this year. There are two front-runners for that award, The Adventures of Tin Tin and Rango. Brad Brevet over at Rope of Silicon has Cars 2 in 12th place among animated movies this year (and he has proven himself very good at predicting nominees the last few years). Rio, Happy Feet 2, Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 2, A Cat in Paris, Winnie the Pooh, Chico and Rita, Puss in Boots, and Alois Nebel are all ahead of it. Now, some of those have yet to be released and may well be terrible, but there is no question at this point that Cars 2 is not in the running this year for even a nomination. (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/awards/contenders/oscar-predictions/best-animated-movie/)
At incontention.com they are listing the 5 early favorites as Rango, Tin Tin, Arthur Xmas, Rio, and Kung Fu Panda.
There is no one in the animation or entertainment industries touting Cars 2 as even a potential Oscar nominee for Best Animated Film, much less a front-runner.
when it debuts the second trailer for Brave??? I can not wait for release has!
@6:33 PM
Say what you want about Lasseter, but the idea that Stanton is a bad director is just plain false. His directing efforts represent everything Pixar strives to be; they're both extremely ambitious in both their technical and storytelling qualities while still remaining simple and relatable enough for their emotional qualities to resonate. If anything, he's the best director out of them all, as Bird tends to lack subtlety and Docter doesn't have quite the talent for character development that Stanton has.
There's a new article out in the New Yorker about the production of John Carter (I highly recommend reading it), and it talks about how the Pixar staff tend to look up to Andrew Stanton as the real master of storytelling there.
"when it debuts the second trailer for Brave??? I can not wait for release has!"
I'd assume with The Muppets. That's supposed to be Disney's big winter tentpole this year.
Stanton is a bad director who just happened to be lucky enough to be a part of the Pixar machine. 'Finding Nemo' was a very good film in spite of him and not because of him. 'Wall-e' was so abysmally uninspired, ham-fisted, and heavy handed as to prove my point entirely. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but that is all that it is. Andrew is that you?!..
BTW, John Carter will prove my point in spades. Stanton isn't working inside the Pixar "plus" machine for this one. He's on his own and his true lack of talent will be exposed.
Hey just as a reminder, I didnt read Lasseter saying "My movie was great, f*ck you", or "Any criticism toward my movie is downright wrong"
I'll tell you, I do believe he made that movie because he wanted to have fun with those characters and just do what he enjoys the way he enjoy it. It doesnt have the Pixar touch, and even though it WAS entertaining, it failed to compare with what Pixar got us used to. And you know, it's because they spoiled us with such amazing movies that it kind of hurt to see that even they can fail.
But I dont believe for one second they just thought "hey, let's grab some more money from all those toys and stuff by making Cars 2", Lasseter truly believed he had a story to tell, turns out it was not that great of a story. So what ? Get over it !
And I'll tell you, let's admit for one second they did it ALL JUST for the money... Well, we'll call it a tax on awesomeness, if one not so good movie every 10 years or so give them enough money to bring us the awesome movies that we all love, then I'm more than happy to pay for it.
But as I said, he didnt claimed his movie was awesome, he didnt went out and accused the criticism of being wrong, he's just defending his motivations for doing the movie ! So really, all those comments about how bad the movie was are pointless. (And to Damian saying "He's lying, it was all for the money because I didnt liked the movies", well, sir, you're an assh***)
@Anonymous 6:33PM You lost all your credibility by claiming Andrew Stanton is not a good director. He's actually one of the studio's bests, if not THE best. But your opinions, your own problem. Can't change them, can I?
I wouldn't worry to much about the criticism against Cars 2 (although its lackluster populist appeal warrents plenty).
Right now, Pixar is making movies about dinosaurs, the human mind, a scottish princess and monsters we all know and love, whereas Dreamworks is adapting Captain Underpants.
@6:33 PM
Okay, seriously, something's wrong with you. You didn't think either of the Toy Story movies were great? And you just dissed Andrew Stanton too. WALL-E is actually the best Pixar film of all time. Whether you agree with that statement or not is up to you, but dissing the director in general is more than I can handle.
Oh, and to all you Cars 2/Cars in general haters: Whatever. If you can't have a little bit of fun and you expect too much from Pixar, that's too bad. And if you think that just having a little bit of fun is bullcrap, then you need to get a life.
@1:47am
" 'Wall-e' was so abysmally uninspired, ham-fisted, and heavy handed as to prove my point entirely."
As this is my favorite Pixar movie, you have still utterly failed to prove your point.
@Anonymous 9:03
Speaking of credibility one has to wonder why your opinion is more valuable than mine. That said, your opinion to me lost all value when you exposed yourself as a mindless Stanton cheerleader. You like his brand of schlock. Good for you. Wall-e was an abomination of a movie and a huge waste of the talent at Pixar. Like I said before, John Carter will prove just how bad he is.
@Goppy
Uhhn, are you sure that "CARS 2" has no chance of being nominated due to "no one" predicting it???
Let me give you some examples of prognosticators who ARE predicting "CARS 2" in their top 5 candidates:
- Sacha Stone, Awards Daily
- Ryan Adams, Awards Daily
- Scott Feinberg, Hollywood Reporter
- Awards Nazi
"CARS 2", without a doubt, will get nominated for Best Animated Feature :)
"I make movies for that little boy who loves the characters so much that he wants to pack his clothes in a Lightning McQueen suitcase."
Like many others here, I think that comment quite clearly states that the movie was motivated purely by financial interest. Sure, you want to make money, regardless of your type of film, but this film completely disregarded quality, and was vastly disappointed. I respect John Lasseter for being a computer animation pioneer, as well as directing some truly great animated features with Toy Story, 2, and A Bug's Life. But Cars 2 really made me loose respect for him. I think Disney buying out Pixar could have been a corrupting influence on the studio. I don't think it changed Pixar overnight, but rather slowly poisoned them.
I hate to say it, but I think John Lasseter is a very careful, charismatic speaker, and he's lying here. He's said earlier that what the critics think is important too, and also adult audience members are just as important as the kids.
The fact is, the reason that there are so many negative comments, is because many fans felt betrayed by Cars 2. It's not just the critics, it's a large majority of diehard Pixar fans who disliked this sequel. After all, I loved every single one of the non-Cars Pixar films myself.
@ 11:07 PM He means that he makes films to appeal to the kids, to get their love for Pixar built up. John Lasseter realized that in order to do that, he needs to make Pixar's films terrific for everyone. Unfortunately, everyone is misunderstanding Cars 2 because they are trying to find logic in Cars 2 when Cars 2 wasn't meant to be logical or emotional. He doesn't mean that he wants to tell kids to force parents to buy them Cars Toys. I keep saying that the reason why he wanted to make Cars 2 was to get a vision of his out, not to get toys out. Although I didn't like Cars 2 as much as most Pixar films, it was better than Cars 1 and A Bug's Life. Even if I had hated Cars 2, I would understand it was made because John Lasseter thought he had a good story in his head. Come with an open mind and you will like Cars 2.
@11:21 PM John Lasseter also said he was discouraged by suck negative reviews. He might have said he doesn't make films for critics but what he meant is that even though he wants to please critics, he wasn't going to implement critics suggestions of how Cars 2 should look. Families come first.
Chris Etrata you said
"Cars 2 wasn't meant to be logical or emotional."
You know what? Humour is an emotion, so is the excitement of an action scene. I neither laughed, nor found many of the actions scenes that good, except for the opener, that was quite good. It tricked me into almost thinking it was going to be a good movie. And honestly, I did go into the film with an open mind. I was EXPECTING it to actually be better than the original, despite what the critics were saying. I trusted Pixar. It was just a poorly executed film.
And, some diehard fanboys here keep saying that audiences loved Cars 2. No one I talked to about the film liked it. And, even though Cars 2 made a lot of money in it's opening weekend, it had a terrible drop week two. I think if you compare the box office sales of Cars 2 to any of the other Pixar films, you'll find that audiences weren't impressed. Sure it made a lot of money, but considering the power of the Pixar brand name, it was a total failure.
@ 8:40 pm.
What I meant is that it won't bring you to tears. You can't just expect it to be better than cars. I also believe if you forget the Pixar name, you will enjoy it.
You are all amazing in your criticism. Being that it is an animated movie, the intended audience IS the younger crowd. I have 3 boys (ages 4, 4 and 2) that LOVED Cars 2. They also loved Toy Story I, II, and III and play daily with the toys from both movies - interchanging them and creating their own story lines. (which I assure this extremely harsh critique board, is not as complex as Cars 2.) My boys have watched Up and Wall-E, two of the movies that you all RAVE about, and barely ask to see them again. Up is too scary and Wall-E is really long and made more for adults than kids. (try watching it with a 3 or 4 year old - they will NOT sit still) And although the Incredibles is great - it also is really not for young kids at all. We have hidden ours because of all the fighting throughout the movie.
I am not that excited about Brave, it seems more politically correct than any movie with Mater in it.
For Pixar to make a movie that is family friendly and appeal to a crowd that is apparently on this blog is almost impossible. If you are old enough to type and complain on here, then you are not the "target" audience John Lasseter is speaking of. When he makes the comment, he is just implying that he wants kids to love the movie and characters so much that they want to be "in character" also. Should we tell all the little kids dressed up as Star Wars characters this Halloween that they really might not like the movie so much, but that they are targets of the big bad marketing strategies of Hollywood. No, ridiculous.
Unbelievable how ridiculously harsh you can all be, when I am almost certain you are all not directing and producing work that backs up your own viewpoint. Work on your own scripts, movies and budgets, and then complain. In the meantime, reach out to a 3-6 year-old boy. take them to see Cars 2 and maybe your narrow-minded viewpoints might widen a little.
You are all amazing in your criticism. Being that it is an animated movie, the intended audience IS the younger crowd. I have 3 boys (ages 4, 4 and 2) that LOVED Cars 2. They also loved Toy Story I, II, and III and play daily with the toys from both movies - interchanging them and creating their own story lines. (which I assure this extremely harsh critique board, is not as complex as Cars 2.) My boys have watched Up and Wall-E, two of the movies that you all RAVE about, and barely ask to see them again. Up is too scary and Wall-E is really long and made more for adults than kids. (try watching it with a 3 or 4 year old - they will NOT sit still) And although the Incredibles is great - it also is really not for young kids at all. We have hidden ours because of all the fighting throughout the movie.
I am not that excited about Brave, it seems more politically correct than any movie with Mater in it.
For Pixar to make a movie that is family friendly and appeal to a crowd that is apparently on this blog is almost impossible. If you are old enough to type and complain on here, then you are not the "target" audience John Lasseter is speaking of. When he makes the comment, he is just implying that he wants kids to love the movie and characters so much that they want to be "in character" also. Should we tell all the little kids dressed up as Star Wars characters this Halloween that they really might not like the movie so much, but that they are targets of the big bad marketing strategies of Hollywood. No, ridiculous.
Unbelievable how ridiculously harsh you can all be, when I am almost certain you are all not directing and producing work that backs up your own viewpoint. Work on your own scripts, movies and budgets, and then complain. In the meantime, reach out to a 3-6 year-old boy. take them to see Cars 2 and maybe your narrow-minded viewpoints might widen a little.
"I make movies for that little boy who loves the characters so much that he wants to pack his clothes in a Lightning McQueen suitcase."
I'm 25 and have lots of Lightning McQueen covered merch. So if this was his reason why was Lightning barely in the film compared to Mater? This is what I was most disappointed in. I wanted to see Lightning!
Lasseter loves his personal Cars idea, it's seen ridiculously successful merchandising and theme park extensions, he's the boss, he'll continue to push Cars well into the future. Shrug.
Artistically, Cars was easily the weakest film in the Pixar anthology, and Cars 2 is now the low-water mark. It's a visual delight, but a weak, gimmicky, winky, (oddly violent!) movie compared to EVERY other Pixar film.
My kids 8, 6, 4 are Pixar veterans - and they haven't chosen Cars for movie night in years. They were utterly baffled by Cars 2 - no real laughing, asking "is he dead!?", etc.
Stop defending a muddled, mis-fire movie, just start promoting the opening of "Radiator Springs" in DisneyLand next summer!
@Jayhosh I've been saying that for years and no ever seems to listen...anyway I'm glad pol listened to you :) I'm STILL praying mike will post a pic. Of himself also I'm psyched for brave and human mind movie and of course. M.U when I was little I watched the 1st one constantly!!!
@twinsintally
The people at Pixar have repeatedly stated the secret of their success is that they make movies that they want to see. They being adults, clearly aren't intending that these movies be just for children. Therefore it is perfectly reasonable for the adult Pixar fans to feel sucker punched by schlock like the Cars series.
@twinsintally
If you don't allow your children to watch The Incredibles then why allow them to watch Cars 2? There is just as much, if not more, violence in Cars 2 as there is in The Incredibles. McMissle literally kills dozens of cars in just the first action sequence. We also see the secret spy get killed and McMissle go on a few more killing sprees. Yes, you might say they are just cars so "who cares". However, the storytellers want us to believe these cars are alive and have feelings just like us. It seems totally irresponsible to have a rated G movie have as much guns and violence as Car 2 has. We are supposed to root for McMissle because he is good at blowing things up, that is the big difference between the first cars and the second one. Not okay if you ask me.
The idea that we need to be successful filmmakers before we offer criticism is also bogus. Pixar gets a lot of money for making great films. When they don't make a great film I think it is important to let them know, especially if you have someone like John Lasseter who is constantly denying our disappointment.
It is not just about whether your kids liked the film. There are millions of kids who love Sponge Bob Square Pants, that does not make it a great TV series. We also need to look at the principles the film is standing for and how well those principles are represented. The good principles Car 2 stood for seemed contrived, and little time was spent trying to build them up. What we ended up getting was a mediocre movie presented in a high quality way because of the talent of Pixar artists.
I never believed the claim that Pixar only made "Cars 2" because Disney demanded it. Every time I watch the first movie, especially that opening scene at the racetrack, and watch the extras where they talk about "Cars," I can feel the love they have for that world and those characters.
Is it really so hard for people to accept that maybe, just maybe, the guys at Pixar made a movie that they really liked...and you didn't like it? I mean, we've all got different opinions about what we like and don't like. It's true that Pixar tends to hit the bulls-eye in entertaining as many people as possible, and to this day, they've never made a film that I didn't love. That includes "Cars 2." But I also know that some day, this'll probably happen to me too, because we can't like ALL the same things.
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