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Is Pixar more radical and free than Disney, or is it an updated

version of the same recipe? A comparative analysis between the
two studios.

BA (HONS) Animation
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Is Pixar more radical and free than Disney, or is it an updated version of the
same recipe? A comparative analysis between the two studios.

Introduction
There is no doubt in mind that Walt Disney Animation Studios has produced some of
the best animation films the world has seen, since its inception. Its films are still loved by
children and adults alike. However, it would not be fair to say that they are the only ones
producing such exceptional masterpieces. Pixar Animation Studios, a subsidiary of the Walt
Disney Company, has won a large number of awards, and its films are highly admired both by
critics and the public.
In this piece of writing, I will be exploring the differences between Pixar and Disney
and I will be conducting a comparative examination of the above two animation studios,
through examples and analysis. However, in this case, the main focus will be on Disneys Snow

White and the seven Dwarfs (1937) and Pixars Brave (2012).

The Pixar Timeline 1979 to Present

Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation film studio based in
Emeryville, California. Pixars history begins in 1979, when George Lucas hired Dr. Ed Catmull
to lead Lucasfilms Computer Graphics Division; a production company developing computer
technology for the film industry (Furniss, 1998, p. 181). In 1983, John Lasseter is invited to
join the division, and by the following year, he is recruited as an Interface Designer (Pixar,
Our Story, n.d.). In 1984, the studio creates its first short film called The Adventures of

Andr & Wally B., featuring ground-breaking technology, complex characters, hand-painted
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textures and motion blur. In 1986, Steve Jobs purchases the Computer Graphics Division from
George Lucas and establishes an independent company to be christened "Pixar (Pixar, Our
Story, n.d.). The same year the studio completed Luxor Jr., and it will be the first 3D film to
be nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar. In 1988, Pixar receives its first
Academy Award for Tin Toy and in 1991; Pixar announces an agreement with Disney to
produce at least three computer animated films (Pixar, Our Story, n.d.). In 1995, Toy Story,
the worlds first feature length computer animated film, debuts and grants Pixar its fourth
Academy Award (Pixar, Our Story, n.d.). Three years later, A Bugs Life is released and the
studio received two more Academy Awards, whilst in 1999, Toy Story 2 premieres and
breaks box-office opening records in three countries (Pixar, Our Story, n.d.). Finally, in 2000,
the studio moves to its new headquarters in Emeryville, California, creating ever since 11 more
films.

Visual Style
First lets us start with one of the major differences: the visual style of the two
studios. Until the early 2000s, most films released by Walt Disney Animation Studios, were
primarily produced using traditional animation techniques. While, from to time, the studio
insists in producing hand-drawn films, other major animation companies have seen more
interest and more potential in techniques, other than that of cel animation. Disneys power
within the animation industry is not as absolute as it was ten or twenty years ago, and for the
past two decades things have taken a different path. Since Disneys inception in the early
twenties, plenty of other animation companies have tried to replicate whatever the BIG
studio was doing, and for many years they have been less fortunate. Nevertheless, after the
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appearance of computer graphics in the late 80s, animation started experiencing one of its
best moments. The level of the animation industry, as very correctly Victor Maldonado
expresses, has arisen so much; that a few years ago it would be completely unthinkable to
imagine that someone could go to the cinema and pay to see animated films like Pixars (Tercio,
2010). Without any doubt, people nowadays are more open to the idea of watching such films
that, for the first time since the 90s, they have finally started enjoying them as proper
movies and less as a mere entertainment for kids.

Story
At this point, it would be proper to give an answer to the following question: Are Pixar
movies in reality Disney movies that are computer generated, and the only reason they are
allowed to be different and sway from the usual Disney formula is because they are in 3D, and
hence not considered as classics? Well not at all, because as we all have seen, Pixar has various
styles, ranging from the pathos of Toy Story, to the underwater world of Finding Nemo, to
the keatonesque quirkiness in the dusty world of Wall-E. Pixar used a bug, a super hero, a
monster, a fish, a robot and even a rat who wishes to live a luxurious life and become a chef.
All of its films are original, and the audience prefers them because they are a breath of a
fresher air and, therefore, when someone sits down to see Ratatouille, UP, Monsters Inc.
or Brave, he knows right from the beginning that he is watching something unique and brand
new. Disney used to be so innovative, but now it keeps franchising its productions year after
year. Its stories are mostly adoptions of classical fairytales, making them lack originality in
comparison to Pixars creations. The vast majority of its films are princess-centric. That is
completely fine, but, on the other hand, someone could argue that this tactic makes its plots
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rather predictable and, in a metaphorical manner, somewhat disturbing. Like Angelo Baute
said, on an online article he wrote on www.hollywood.com, Pixar is the art house of animation,
and he is right. Most of the time, Pixar uses a different formula while Disney keeps using the
same modus operandi since the beginning. Pixar creates strong character-driven stories, which
adults will appreciate, and stories at which kids will laugh and snuffle.

Jim Woodall remarkably observed an additional difference between the two studios is
that of the way Disney uses villains, and in Pixars case, how it does not (Woodall, 2012). First,
we need to clarify what we mean by the word villain. We use the word in a sense where a
character is the main cause of conflict in the story. While Disney uses villains quite enough,
Pixar, on the other hand, does not. It, however, uses antagonists, which is not necessarily the
main source of conflict in its stories (Woodall, 2012). This argument is truthful, because, in a
Pixar film, conflict comes from other means, such as an unexpected responsibility or
undesirable circumstances. The only reason Pixar might be using antagonists is to spice up the
drama (Woodall, 2012). In Up, Carl would still have to fulfil Ellies (his dead wife) wishes and
deal with the irritating scout named Russell, even if they have not encountered the old
explorer, Charles Muntz. Marlin from Finding Nemo would still have to swim across the entire
ocean, in order to find and save his sons life, even if there were not for all the perils of the
sea. Finally, Wall-E would still have to win EVEs heart, even if there had not been all that
run around with AUTO about that plant (Woodall, 2012).

The first Disney princess was as we all know, Snow White from Snow White and the

seven Dwarfs which premiered seventeen years after all American women were granted the
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right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Snow White is young,
pretty, obedient, sweet-natured and virginal. When she is afraid, she runs away crying; and
when she finds a dirty little shelter in the woods, without any delay she cleans it from bottom
to top. This is Snow Whites natural role. She embodies the ideal woman of her time
perfectly. She does housework and cooks while the man, and to be more precise seven men, are
out working. Moreover, when Snow Whites stepmother tricks her into eating a poised apple
and falls asleep, she patiently awaits for her Prince Charming to come and rescue her while
being comatose in a glass coffin. Indeed, at the very end, the prince does save her and he
instantly falls in love with her, and only for one reason: her most valuable asset which is
nothing other than her looks. This is where Disney ideology pops in; in approximately all
princesses movies, the princess must be defended by the prince and right away, the young lad
falls in love with her and they live happily ever after in their castle. In Disneys defence, this
ideology fits reasonably well with the cultural norms at that point in history.

While Snow White remains feminine and is eager to find her prince from as early as
the age of fourteen, somewhere in medieval Scotland, Merida breaks down the stereotype and
refuses to get married to someone whom she just recently met. Pixar has recently released its
own version of a princess. Brave is set in the wild Scottish Highlands and tells the story of a
hot-tempered Celtic princess. Critiques applauded the poignant mother-daughter relationship,
and the public praised Pixars choice to create a more self-reliant heroine for an era in which
princesses are not as charming as they used to be. When Pixar announced back in 2006 its
plans of releasing a movie to feature a female protagonist, moviegoers and critiques alike had
high expectations for the upcoming The Bear and the Bow, as it was named back then. Less
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than two years ago, when the film eventually debuted, and titled this time Brave, some said
that it did not live up the hype, and not because it was not visually stunning, but because its
heroine, a Scottish wannabe-warrior Merida, was yet another princess.

As for Cinderella, the same thing applies to her, as well. Her success did not come from
her hard work. It was all magic. The prince did not help her go from poor to rich because she
was a hard worker. Besides, he is clearly not aware of that. He obviously helped her because
she was pretty. Merida relied on herself, and after a bunch of failures in the way, she
achieved her goal.

On an online article at the New York Post, Sarah Stewart wrote: A princess, really?
They couldn't have bestowed girlhood on an inanimate object? An alien? A micro-pig?.
Nevertheless, she was unnecessarily worried because Brave is not another princess story.
Merida is a character who wants more than just being a pretty princess. She wants to change
her own fate and be in charge of her own destiny, so off she goes with a bow and an arrow in
her grasp, ready to break the rules, and not just once, but multiple times. She is nothing like
Tiana from Princess and the Frog, who was more than happy to give her life up by staying as
a frog forever and forgetting her dream of opening her very own restaurant, in order to be
with the man she loves. Merida is wild. She has a mind of her own and fights against the
tradition, in a quest for freedom and the opportunity to make her own choices.

As Jamie Utt rightly states, Brave teaches us that: young people, regardless of
gender, should be free to follow their dreams, unhampered by tradition. That reminds us of
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what Marxist feminism focuses on: that by treating patriarchy as a problem on its own and not
as a subset of capitalism would eliminate a womans oppression and consequently eliminate male
domination in all its forms (Harris, 2008). It is apparent, though that so many people are
tightly hardwired to a certain kind of story; they have a hard time accepting anything
different. Braves truthful meaning does not have any intentions of upsetting the established
patriarch order, but the exact opposite.

On the other hand, someone could point out that Pocahontas and Mulan are too brave
and independent, and instead they are the ones who save the men and not the other way. When

Pocahontas came out in 1995, it was the first princess movie that had broken the Disney
philosophy. Well we should not rush, as three years later when Pocahontas II debuted, she
was the one being saved by a man - none other than John Smith - and in the end sailing off
with him into happiness. Once again, Disney shows us that its heroines can be shoulder to
shoulder with the feminist movement while still sustaining their principle of a happy marriage
at the end. The same happened with Mulan in the same year. Although she went playing war
and proved herself, she still got married to the man in the end. Mulan is like Merida: a fighter;
and yet no one is complaining about Mulans femininity. What is different this time? Mulan
ended with a man. Merida simply smashed the clich and did not. She is the only one who does
not need a man to be happily ever after.

In 2006, after the announcement of Disneys intentions to purchase Pixar, many asked
themselves if the great big Disney is going to destroy little Pixar as they have ruined their
own classic characters, with countless and pointless sequels. On the contrary, like Ramin
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Zahed - editor of Animation Magazine - argued, Disney was going to benefit from such a
merger as he hoped that Pixar will remind Disney how to make good animated films. He
predicted correctly (Keating, 2006). Ever since Disney acquired Pixar, it is almost impossible
to find a review without critics arguing about the influence Pixar had on Disneys films,
especially of 2008s Bolt, where the resemblance is relatively visible, but again not entirely
on a Pixar level. Despite Pixar being now part of Disney, their films have always been as
different as chalk and cheese. Nonetheless, for the last four years, people of Pixar have
capitulated with the idea of producing sequels, a prequel, and even a princess film, changing
their minds and forgetting their past statements to stay away from making franchises. What
happened to Pixar? Did the studio lose its creativity? Has it run out of ideas so that it
decided to rely on the good old Disney recipe?

Standard princess tropes teach little girls that their values lay within their beauty and
femininity; and that the best thing they could dream of, is to be saved by a young handsome
prince. Disneys obsession with princesses and todays young girls wanting to become one,
stores where innocent girls can walk in and get a makeover, pop everywhere - and not to
mention the fascination with their numerous parks and attractions - have, in fact, made the
colossus of animation, a big money maker. Even Merida has fallen into the trap. Just in time
for her coronation as the 11th princess of the franchise, she got a detailed make over too, and
under the scalpel of a skilled artist she has gotten sexier. Suddenly her waist is slimmer; her
eyes are wider and her hair is sleeker. She now has heavy lashes and even her dress has
gotten sparkler. A rather not so essential transformation, that even the films writer and codirector, was outraged about it. Merida is strong inside and out... Brenda Chapman tells
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...shes not just a simpering pretty face waiting around for romance! She was created to turn
that whole ideal on its head! (Cavna, 2013). Although the film blog Den Geek! declared that
Pixar created a new kind of heroine who managed to bulk trends and sabotage clichs, Disney
rushed once more to sugar coat everything (Harisson, 2013).

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Work Cited

Americas Historical Documents. (n.d.). 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's

Right to Vote. Retrieved from National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/historicaldocs/document.html?doc=13&title.raw=19th%20Amendment%20to%20the%20U.S.

%20Constitution:%20Women%27s%20Right%20to%20Vote

Baute, A. (2013). Pixar Vs. DreamWorks Hollywood's Animated Rivalry. Retrieved from
Hollywood: http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/55027084/pixar-vs-dreamworks

Cavna, M. (2013). NO MERIDA MAKEOVER? Brave director Brenda Chapman on Disney

princess and sexing her up. Retrieved from The Washington Post:
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Chapman, B. / Andrews, M. (Directors). (2012). Brave [Motion Picture], United States: Pixar
Animation Studios/ Walt Disney Pictures.

Furniss, M. (1998). Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics. John Libbey and Company

Harris, E. (2008). Merxist Feminism. Retrieved from Women's and Gender Studies Blog:
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Harrison, M. (2012). Brave Review. Retrieved from Den on Geek:

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/brave/21618/brave-review

Keating, G. (2006). Will great big Disney destroy little Pixar? Retrieved from 606 Studios:
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Pixar, Our Story. (n.d.). The Pixar Timeline 1979 to Present. Retrieved from Pixar:
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Stewart, S. (2012). Hey, dull face. Retrieved from New York Post:
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Utt, J. (2012). Pixars Brave: A Not-So-Brave Attempt at Feminist Film. Retrieved from
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William, C. (Director). (1937). Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [Motion Picture], United
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Woodall, J. (2012). The Difference Between Disney and Pixar. Retrieved from The Dustjacket:
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