In 2008, the story of a robot immersed the whole world in a pile of garbage and a white-collar worker's love. In 2009, Pixar's small desk lamp arrived again as scheduled with Travel Notes around the Flying House, which brought us a journey full of warmth and dreams. The trip still didn't disappoint us. Travels around the Flying House is a wonderful, enjoyable and emotional star movie. While earning your laughter and tears, it also took away your wallet.
Five minutes, old age.
In fact, it is not necessary to make a vow of eternal love to move a person, just like Mr. Zhu Ziqing's The Back. Every bit in daily life, every movement, every look and even the familiar back can arouse people's * * * sound, and so can movies. Ordinary life does not mean mediocrity. The film begins with an unsuccessful meeting between rigid little Carl and lively little Ellie in a shack, and it takes five minutes to describe the ordinary life of old Carl to us. That is, these five minutes, let us walk into two people's lives. Charles Muntz's Adventures in Foreign Countries in South America, The Mysterious Call of Wonderland Waterfalls, The Dream Delivered by Balloons and an unfinished book My Adventure Life. ...
What they experienced afterwards was not an embarrassing life, nor did they have thrilling adventure stories. The helplessness of real life did not bring them to the ideal fairyland waterfall. As an adventure fund, the piggy bank has always been "clean", and the book My Adventure Life has never had a sequel. To tell the truth, any bystander will comment on this scene: this is not the life you want. But the two parties do not think so. In ordinary life, Carl and Ellie found plain happiness, and their dreams inspired them to move in the direction of reality until a balloon flew into old Ellie's ward.
This is the message brought to us in the first five minutes of the film. In this short five minutes, the focus of the film is just right. This film makes full use of the language of the camera. Like the old projector, there is no dialogue. Just through the bright and hazy pictures, I introduced the dull life and dreams, the small life of a balloon seller and a good family wife. When old Carl sat alone at Ali's funeral with a ball in his hand, he felt a sense of loneliness and sadness. This is not the sensational feeling that makes people cry, but the feeling that there is a stunning throb in my heart and tears secretly flow out at the same time, which is the feeling that he can't bear to recall but has to recall. If the film is only five minutes long, what the film has left us so far is only a summary of the joys and sorrows of life and infinite regret. But our family hasn't taken off yet, and the movie has just begun. Did Carl's dream end in vain? Travels around the Flying House opens in this plain but sincere way, which not only gives us a bowl of chicken soup for the soul, but also greatly stimulates our desire to watch movies. Looking back on last year's Robot Story, it took 30 minutes to explain the silent declaration of robot loneliness, and this film only took 5 minutes to do it.
The magical use of the house
Pixar's films are full of fantastic ideas. They can make toy cars talk, mice cook and robots with a heart of stone fall in love. It seems that letting the house go to heaven is not a problem. How does a lonely old man fly to the sky with his dreams in a room? The film didn't give us a clear answer, and the stunt of a room full of balloons was somewhat dwarfed by the creativity of Pixar cartoons before. However, the focus of this film is not how to please the audience with innovation. What really touched the fans was the story hidden behind the house. Carl in his later years was the most famous nail house in history. Like an island, the old-fashioned hut is out of place with the roaring construction sites around him. The cabin is Carl's never-changing residence, and the reason why he is so stubborn is, of course, the infinite memory of his beloved wife Ellie. The two met in this house, and they came together for their dreams. Even the handprint on the mailbox at the door is a testimony of their love and vows. For this reason, the staid old man certainly doesn't want to abandon his house. The significance of the hut here is not limited to Carl's only residence, but also the cradle of their dreams. At the moment when the cabin was hung with balloons and flew into the sky, the audience didn't care whether the house could fly to distant South America, but marveled: Carl and his house finally got rid of the shackles of reality, bid farewell to the lifeless life and took a big step towards their dreams. As the saying goes, one person gets the word, and chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. With Carl, there are Ali's unfinished dreams. Of course, Ronaldinho, a fat boy hitchhiking, is also one.
Lively, young and old, supporting roles are brilliant, villains are pale.
This is a strange combination. Let a 78-year-old man and an 8-year-old urchin explore the virgin forest. I'm afraid there is nothing more ridiculous than this. As the saying goes, old people often think about the past and young people often think about the future. You can imagine that the age difference between two people is 70 years, and the language is basically not the same as * * *. What's more, one is stuffy and stubborn, the other is lively and naughty, and loves to make trouble. There is no such thing as respecting the old and loving the young, let alone helping each other. This pair is the most uncoordinated partner in the world. However, such a strong contrast is an indispensable element in film works, and the resulting plot conflict makes the film story full of tension and strong sense of comedy.
What makes the audience scream is not their unique personality charm. To tell the truth, these two are enough to make people sneer. A shriveled old head is like a bundle of dry wood. Traveling alone is really worrying, and it will be boring after a long time. Crazy children are like sparks. When there is no silence, they will only help, and they will be upset if they watch too much. However, it is not difficult to find a story from the experience of dry wood and fire. Two people are together and influence each other. Ronaldinho always gives old Carl trouble, and old Carl can't understand Ronaldinho's ideas. So, the first time they met, it was almost catastrophic. In the subsequent journey, Ronaldinho's child temper also made Carl scratch his head without children. However, that chemical reaction between Carl Sr. and Russell Jr. is the emotion engine of this film. Through unpretentious dialogue, the sincere and touching friendship between the two people injected strong emotional power into the film, thus making the two people change from strangers to mutual influence. The timid Ronaldinho saved Kevin at the last minute, and Carl finally gave up his dream for Ronaldinho. Pixar's films always reflect humanistic care and environmental awareness behind noisy entertainment, and this film is no exception.
In terms of supporting roles, I am afraid I will disappoint the audience who want to see strange supporting animals in the mysterious jungle. There are only three kinds of animals that we old and young couples encounter in the whole jungle adventure. Except a frog as an alarm clock, the other big birds and puppies are our supporting roles. Undeniably, compared with the colorful supporting roles in Disney and Pixar cartoons in the past, the two supporting roles in this movie are really a bit shabby. Fortunately, the supporting role was not as good as expected, and he completed his green leaf task well. There is not much pen and ink in the supporting role in this film. Don't forget that the protagonist of this movie is a human being with flesh and blood, and the supporting role is just a dumb animal. Although animation will more or less personify animals, it is really impossible for people to talk to animals. The film only depicts the dog peas to a certain extent. After all, he also has a machine that can communicate with people. Doudou is a typical dog in Cao Ying's heart in Han Dynasty. He is timid and kind-hearted, but he always stands up at the critical moment. This is Hollywood's golden supporting role law, which works well in any movie. Kevin, the big bird, is not as good as Doudou in the film. Although his clues run through, at best, he can only be regarded as a pet and prey, but personally think that his limelight will overshadow peas in a limited time. Kevin can't speak, but uses a lot of body language to convey his intention, which just gives full play to the advantages of Pixar series animation and makes a fuss about the details. In one scene, Kevin wants to go home to take care of the children and say goodbye to Carl and his party. She (Kevin is a pure girl) leans her head in front of Ronaldinho, then pats old Carl's head with her slender mouth, and finally shouts at Doudou before leaving in a hurry. This simple picture not only shows Kevin's naughty place, but also vividly reflects his relationship with Carl and his party, which is both funny and true. This is the originality of Pixar movies. These two big green leaves are not bright, but they are definitely lively and interesting. Carl and Ronaldinho will not be lonely when they accompany them on their boring journey.
The movie "Travels of Flying House" features a warm card. In the light of the young and the old, the supporting roles are somewhat single, not to mention the dispensable villains. The villain in this film appears as a stumbling block in the journey of chasing dreams, and at the same time, it can't go too far and affect the theme of the film, so the villain in this film can be regarded as the most boring villain in Pixar movies. The identity of the villain has been determined. Carl's childhood idol, Charles Muntz, is gone forever. Regardless of his age, he stayed in the jungle for more than half a century just to catch a big bird, and this indomitable character is enough to catch up with our protagonist, Mr. Carr. However, it is such an idol who appears as a big Boss in the film and has little playing time. He is basically an extra actor, with no characteristics, naked ulterior motives and serious facebook phenomenon. Personally, Pixar's cartoons in recent years are too rough, and villains are always so tasteless, and so is this movie. And watching two old men fight can't really spark, so when Carl defeated Muntz, the latter's life and death were ignored. In a word, this old villain not only ran into the protagonist in character, but also had no nutrition, which was not as wonderful as those colorful dog helpers.
3D innovation, visual adventure
This movie is Pixar's first cartoon in 3D digital format, which is often called 3D movie. Pixar, as the first company to convert 2D animation into 3D effect, has been working hard to realize real 3D movies. Seeing that DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox and other established competitors have launched "Alien Wars 3D", "Ice Age 3-3D" and other "real guys", Pixar, as a leader in performance, obviously can't hold his breath. As Pixar's first three-dimensional film, Travels around the Flying House is naturally not inferior to other competitors in technology, but personally, Pixar is a bit arrogant this time. The film didn't give full play to the 3D effect. It's like putting on a 3D vest for an ordinary animated film. There seems to be no difference between the audience wearing stereoscopic glasses and taking off their glasses to enjoy the movie. Perhaps it's because I watched more stereoscopic movies and didn't realize this technological innovation. However, there is absolutely no denying the sense of superiority brought by stereoscopic images to the film. What impressed me most was the colorful balloons on the roof of the flight. Thousands of colorful balloons have strong color contrast, and the layering clearly reflects the 3D effect, which brings great visual impact. The 3D effect in the film can certainly create excellent visual effects. As far as this film is concerned, there is no particularly outstanding feeling.
Aside from the stereoscopic effect, Pixar's skillful animation continues to feast our eyes. In terms of characters, Pixar, who is used to making animal hair, is the real person of this challenge. On Carl's square face, animation technology depicts the ditches of the years, and the texture of the clothes is clearly visible. Ronaldinho's image is cartoonized, and the animator has created a dynamic image with small eyes, big mouth and big head out of proportion to his body. In addition to thrilling balloons, the mystery and tranquility of the South American jungle are also vivid against the animation effect. Bright colors and bright tones make this film a colorful glass box, which is visually dazzling. Americans have to admit that their technology is advanced, but it is inseparable from the hard work of the staff around the clock and the drawing of countless manuscripts. Compared with a 3D animated film in a certain country, the roughness of the picture makes people feel back to the Stone Age. This kind of animated film not only greatly reduces the audience's interest in the film, but also deserves people's doubts about its professionalism.
The story behind the story
A good cartoon should not only have a good-looking effect, but also have a solid story as the cornerstone to support the whole movie. Travels around the Flying House continues the tradition of Pixar films. Instead of using visual bombing and sound effects to attract the audience's attention, it pays more attention to the attraction and profundity of the story itself. Although the film uses the most popular 3D technology as a means of expression, the film itself still inherits the most important quality and style of Pixar cartoons, that is, behind the beautiful pictures, the true meaning of the story will be found. To tell the truth, throughout Pixar's films in recent years, the originality of the story seems to be gradually dull, and movies like Car Story and Food Story can't find the imagination in movies like Monster Company and Toy Story. But the power of Pixar is that it combines a less fresh inspirational or love story with a fresh narrative style and a fresher character background, so that the film finally presents a gesture of excellent affinity, which greatly pleases the audience, and it is easy for the audience to find meanings from vivid characters (or animals) that ordinary movies can't understand. For example, last year's "Robot Story", the story itself is a youth novel about otaku falling in love, but the hero of the film is a cold robot. By almost exaggerating the personification of machines and giving them distinctive roles, the love between Wali and Eva is easier to impress the audience than the vows between ordinary people, and the audience also discovered the environmental significance behind the story through these two small robots.
The positioning of this film is somewhat special, because the protagonist of this film is different from the past, and Pixar rarely portrays real living people as protagonists. This forced the film's creator to find another way, so the film adopted an unprecedented super partner, an old man and a young man, all of whom were ordinary people, and deliberately flattened the story to highlight the story behind the film: warmth and dreams. The reason for doing this is actually to make a simple story more popular and life-oriented. Don't look at these elements in the movie, such as the house going to heaven, the dog talking and the jungle adventure, which are a bit exaggerated and outrageous, but we can see the real meaning from the ordinary characters and various stories in this movie, that is, the warmth and dribs and drabs of touch of daily life. This is slightly different from the touching feelings between small robots. The former's vigorous love is embarrassing, while the lives and dreams of ordinary people in this film are exciting.
This film is a unique Pixar film because of its unique foothold; But this movie follows the rules and patterns of Pixar movies. In the movie, we still see the amazing adventure process. The fierce pursuit between the two sides makes people shine, and all kinds of details are Pixar movies' housekeeping skills. Peter Dogson, the director from Monster Company, once again brought us a journey of laughter and tears.
Dreams may come true.
Undeniably, the first five minutes of the film are so wonderful and moving that most of the films later only pay attention to jokes and pictures, which is slightly less than before. For example, everyone knows the beauty of the finishing touch, but this film gives people the feeling that the finishing touch is first and then the dragon is drawn. The opening "finishing touch" pen is really excellent, and the dragon body is not worthy of such an eye. The film's South American adventure is wonderful, but too many exaggerated adventures may dilute the warm opening shot. Who made this movie an entertainment-oriented cartoon? Fortunately, there are several opening strokes in the film, which makes the whole film less anticlimactic.
In the film, when Carl opened Ellie's My Adventure, in My Next Adventure, Carl found that the original blank page was covered with photos of the old couple's daily life. This is the day they walked together. What dream is more precious than two people's soul mates? At the end of the film, old Carl gave up his flying house and left South America by airship, and the flying house landed in Wonderland Falls. These two plots once again aroused our inner waves. Not only did it get the opening, but it also sublimated Carl and Ellie's dream at the moment.