I Have Problems with Brad Bird.

[mickeymania1]

Okay I know people may think I'm crazy but I don't like Brad Bird.
Seriously I think he tries to bend the rules too much with Pixar. I've seen his movies, The Incredibles & Ratatouille & I have problems with both of them.

#1:"The Incredbiles" (There's too much adult humour in this one. For instance, I heard "god for saken" & this is a kids movie? Plus there was alot of violence & scary scenes which happened to give my 4 year old nephew who loves Pixar nightmares. There was a time when Pixar had G ratings & Bird made a PG movie. I prefer Pixar to stay at G. Those are my problems with the Incredibles.)

#2:"Ratatouille" (I remember when I saw the first few minutes of Ratatouille I thought okay maybe this is getting better but all of that changed when I saw the old lady pull out a stinkin' 12 gauge! AAH! And I saw a similar scene where a woman pulls out a Glock 22 (it looked like) to shoot her boyfriend. Geez this was like the Scarface of all Pixar films. Plus there was a scene where the character Linguini was drunk from drinking too much wine. I know that's not such a big thing but I'd prefer Pixar to keep alchohol out of their movies. All in all Ratatouille was more family friendly than Incredibles but there were still problems.)

To conclude I think John Lasseter should teach Brad some rules as in language & violence should be keep to a 0 in Pixar movies.
That's one thing to look for in Brad Bird movies(language, violence & mature humour)

I think Pixar should go back to the times before Brad was on the Pixar team keeping a more family friendly image.
Does anyone agree with me?

[SilentMickey]

The main point of any movie hopefully is to tell a story and most stories that I can think of have conflict in them. Not necessarily fighting but some kind of a hurdle for the protagonist to face. The Incredibles is a Superhero movie, good versus evil, superpowers and fights this is the genre that the movie is working under. I think Thats the problem with the state of animation today. Too few people are willing to take a risk on an idea that could be brilliant, Because it's not PC or not educational or to violent or can't fill a quota for most toys sold in a year. Mainly the later.

[Disney_Guy]

Just because The Incredibles was Pixar's first and only PG rated film, don't expect it to be their last. There are no guarantees from me that there will be more, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more either.

Pixar needs to stop being viewed as a kids company and be viewed as a family friendly movie company that dedicate their time creating the best possible stories they can, and keep them still enjoyable for anyone, whether you're five, or in your eighties. Pixar is one of the only movie companies I can honestly think of on this day and age that has been able to pull off that wide appeal to all age groups. That's why they've been so successful.
PG ratings are still family friendly.
And they're still pretty mild, compared to other PG films, like Shrek and the other Dreamworks animations.

Brad Bird is just another Director, who came to Pixar to tell his story of The Incredibles, and he soon took over Jan Pinkava's (Original director of Ratatouille) place and did Ratatouille.
I'm glad Bird went to Pixar, and I am looking foward to any other future films by him and Pixar, because I honestly thought his first two were as awsome as they can get.

[Kileli]

Compare the stuff in Ratatouille to Non-Pixar PG CGI movies. The movies are chock full of language and suggestive parts.

[TopCat8]

I know exactly what you mean. I love The Incredibles and I love Ratatouille, but when I think of Pixar, I think of John Lasetter movies with a Randy Newman score. Brad Bird's movies don't give off the "classic Disney" feel of Toy Story and A Bug's Life, but they are still great movies.

[Chris]

Some things people seem to forget about is that even some classic Disney films have questionable content:

Pete's Dragon: Heavy use of alcohol, Lampe, a lead character, is portrayed as an alcoholic. The Gogan's aren't exactly nice people and threaten physical harm thoughout the whole movie.

101 Dalmations (animated): There's some pretty violent things uttered by Cruella's "henchman". Most are Cockney-based and go over the heads of most kids, but its there.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Mrs. Price and children are threatened by a man wielding a knife (non-animated portion).

Beauty and the Beast: Gaston stabs the beast then falls to his death.

I could go on with many more examples where violence and peril play a part in many Disney films, animated or otherwise.

Both of the instances of gun violence in Ratatouille are used in a comical context, similar to anything you'd see in classic animation. The fact that it looks more realistic because it's 3d animated and not handdrawn shouldn't affect this.

Regarding the alcohol, have you seen Sleeping Beauty lately? The King and Duke get sloshed in a very long extended scene. There's alcohol in many other Disney films, too.

Both Bugs Life and Toy Story have some pretty intense scenes in them as well (Hopper threatening to KILL several people, Woody and Buzz in Sid's room, etc).

While I agree that Brad Bird has upped the ante on the level of danger characters face, I don't believe he does so gratuitously and everything done furthers the story. The Pixar folks have always said they don't make movies for kids. They make movies THEY think are cool and enjoy. They don't and I don't believe they EVER should pander to children.

[Executioner]

Well said Chris. And to add to this whole statement... This still is a free country and you still have the choice of not watching or listening to and even reading whatever it is that is made available for the public. Change the channel, station and or walk away if it is something that you may deem offensive because others may not. There is a vast array of other shows and readings full of less "harmful" substances for the brain to comprehend and enjoy. I personally think Pixar is doing a good job and Ratatouille was a great movie with a great story. Much better than The Incredibles I have to say. I do find it funny that people bash the companies for making movies or shows they feel cause kids harm yet the real stuff on the news everyone watches or reads is far more scarier and yet nobody deems that offensive or unsuitable for children. So watching something fake is worse than the real?
I am not trying to put anyone down for this, I am just trying to show the spectrum and find the balance here.

[Piglet]

Keep in mind that after years of playing and viewing extremely graphic and violent video games, movies, etc. so many people nowadays are so desensitized to violence and graphic content that they simply are not shocked by it anymore. My older kids (ages 20, 21 and 23) can sit there and watch people getting shot up in movies and video games and don't even blink, whereas I have to look away--and that's no exxageration.

[tomserwin]

I with Chris on this one 100%. Mickeymania1, your expectations seem very unrealistic and high. As a parent I think I would be more concerned with Sid burning a hole in Woody's head than an old lady trying to shoot a rat. "God forsaken" doesn't fall into the "language" category and I sure hope your children haven't seen any of the recent Disney movies like Pirates 1,2, or 3 because if you think the Incredibles is too violent then Pirates would be pure animalistic gore.

[SilentMickey]

I don't see it as being desensitized. I'm 22 and I don't have a problem with Violence on T.V. or video games because it's fake. I know it's not real and I knew it wasn't real when I was 5. But If my parents had tried to shelter me from all the violence in the world I most likely would not be able to handle it at all. Violence is a part of life just as humor is, and violence is sometimes funny take for example Tom and Jerry, very violent but funny. Same thing with some of the Bugs Bunny cartoons. I don't think it's a coincidence that these old school cartoons are disappearing from television.

[CoryTheRaven]

Brad Bird? Heck, I just don't like Pixar, period. I'm kinda' getting a little tired of learning about the wacky and irreverent secret life of toys/bugs/monsters/fish/automobiles/superheroes/rats, and I'm tired of the fact that every other CG movie tries to be a Pixar film. The only Pixar film I hold out even the most remote interest in is Carter of Mars, and I should kinda' hope it's PG.

[CaptainChris6]

Also another film with violence is Tarzan. Gunshots, machettes, Clayton ends up getting hung. That is worse than others. Disney makes family films but films always need to have an evil or dark side to them. Unless you're making the little einsteins or something lke that!