Brilliance, even for animation as innovative and talented as Pixar, is a progression, not an immediate destination.
Granted, the company that brought us the eternal delights of Toy Story (1 through 4), UP and Wall-E, among many, many others, has a bigger head start thatn most but evebn so, every movie they create is a journey that requires all kinds of rethinking, revision and a willingness to admit something’s not working and another approach is needed.
Proof of the trial and error involved in any Pixar film are these discarded opening and closing scenes of Toy Story 4, which is about to come out on DVD/Blu-Ray etc etc etc, which show how different this most perfect of films – and yes I liked it, I really REALLY liked it – could have been.
“Where we were going with the story was Bonnie was having trouble in school, and she didn’t want to read,” [director Josh] Cooley explains.
“That’s why there are books that are kind of villains in this Playtime. That ultimately went nowhere because there are really no stakes at all there.
“This was an insane Playtime that we just went to 11 with. It was ridiculous but it was fun to watch.” (Yahoo! News)
It’s a fascinating insight into the production of an animated feature that adds immeasurably to already sky high appreciation of this most wonderful, funny and moving of films.
Toy Story 4 is available in various formats on 9 October in Australia.