Lack of Pixar Villains...

[DonaldDuck1117]

First off let me say this is by no means a Pixar bashing thread, I love their movies. However, I have noticed every since Disney Animation stopped making movies that there has been a serve lack of great Disney villains, heck there has been a lack of any villains!

Most of Pixar's movies do not have a true bad guy, most stories have a problem that has to be solved rather than dealing with an evil plot put forth by a baddie. A few examples are Toy Story-have to get Buzz back, Toy Story 2-have to get Woody back, Monsters Inc-have to return Boo, Finding Nemo-find Nemo, even Ratatouille the problem was about cooking and getting caught.

Now of course there are some bad guys, you can make an argument that Toy Story and Toy Story 2 had bad guys but I wouldn't say they were the classic bad guys we have come across with Disney Animation. Sure there is Randall from Monsters Inc, he might be the closest, there is Syndrome who was ok.

I just miss the days of the great Disney villains. Scar, Jafar, Hades, Ursula, Gaston, Captain Hook, and Maleficent just to name a few. Does anyone else feel this way? And I wonder now that Disney bought Pixar if we will see a return to the classic Disney Villains.

[Ian]

I haven't seen Bugs Life, so I can't comment on that one, but I think a good number of the Pixar films definitely have a villain ...

Toy Story - Sid
Toy Story II - Al
Monsters, Inc. - Randall
Ratatouille - The Chef (who's name escapes me at the moment) and you could also make a case for Anton Ego
The Incredibles - Syndrome
Finding Nemo - Darla
Cars - Chick HicksNow admittedly, the Pixar villains tend to be more subtle than some of the classic Disney villains, but they're still there.

Also, I think the Pixar films tend to rely somewhat on abstract concepts to act as the true villain of the film, rather than individuals as the villains.

For example:

Monsters, Inc. - Corporate greed
Ratatouille - Closed-mindedness
The Incredibles - The tendancy to want to tear down our heroes
Cars - Death of the small town

[JPL]

Ian

Bug's Life has Hopper as the Villain:thumbsup:


and of Course another great theme in Nemo is overcoming a Handicap with his Special fin :thumbsup:

[Tinkerbell627]

Another theme in Finding Nemo is being able to let go.

And never shake the bag. :dory:

[Clotho]

What a wonderfully astute observation! I had honestly not thought of that myself. But you're right. The dark, truly evil and cruel, child-killing/eating kind of villains aren't present.

But I think that is because a lot of the classic movies are based on old Grimm's tales and the like. A time when children's stories did NOT have happy endings. And though DIsney "DIsneyfied" these fairy tales to create happy endings in cases where there were none, they carried the evil villains over at least--even if their plans were thwarted! LOL

Pixar is writing entirely new stories. And they are on more modern themes, and avoid some of the violence and evil that the old tales were based on. There is still a challenge to be met, and morals to be told, but in a modern way. And I think it's great. The story is still told, but somewhere in there, the message is still sent that The Good Guys Win. And isn't that part of why we love Disney? :)

[jakeofwildwood]

First and foremost kudos to Pixar. I believe them to be the next great age of Disney animation. 8 out, 8 homers.

On the villian topic I would love to see a Pixar movie about a villian. The villian as the main character just being thwarted the whole movie by unrelated circumstances and eventually seeing that good is better. Just my two cents on an interesting theme.

Next batter. . . Wall-E

[LaDracul]

I did thin Monsieur Skinner was a typical villain. He just wanted to make money off of Gasteau's image and even tried to hide the truth from Linguini, but is foiled by Remy. And when he tries to ruin Linguini's big night, he is tied up and thrown in the freezer by the rats. So we do have someone that is quite unscrupulous that tries to get what he wants, but in true Disney fashion, is stopped by the good guys.

[TheTexasKid]

I would add these villains to the ones already listed.

"Toy Story II" Stinky Pete

"Monsters, inc." Henry J. Waternoose

"Ratatouille" the chef's name is Skinner and is voiced by British actor Ian Holm.

"Finding Nemo" the dentist, the seagulls

That is interesting about Anton Ego in "Ratatouille." He--seemingly--starts out as a villain, but becomes a friend.

And, while some people prefer their villains in shades of black and white, I prefer my villains in shades of grey.

[ImagiAsh]

Finding Nemo - Darla


:laughing: I understand your point about Darla being the villian of Finding Nemo, but I'm finding it amusing to picture her in a room next to someone like Maleficent or Ursula.

[LaDracul]

I dunno, I think Darla's an irresponsible little kid. She probably doesn't have a clue she's harming the fish.

[Goofster]

Not all of Disney's Villains are the likes of Melificent, the Horned King, and Jafar and I think the same can be said of Pixar's films. The Villains in A Bug's LIfe and the Incredibles are clearly villanous - there is no doubt about that.

While the other 'villains', i.e., Chef Skinner from Ratouille, Al from Toy Story 2, are more on par with the classic villains from past Disney movies that are vilanious, but a little sloppy, and full of comedic error:

Madusa - The Rescuers
Prince John/Sherriff of Notingham - Robin Hood
Cruella De Vil - 101 Dalmations
Madam Mim from Sword in the Stone
Queen of Hearts - Alice in Wonderland
Edgar - The Aristocats
Yzma - Emperor's New Groove