For the most part, the resurgence of the cinematic 3D fad has been a waste of good pixels.
The process is treated as a gimmick, or waved around pointlessly Robert Zemeckis’s inert motion-capture epics seem even more artificial when they’re jutting out of the frame towards the audience – really, just watch the trailer for his new production of A Christmas Carol, and tell me you expect that to work.
The best 3D productions I’ve seen have been movies that don’t need the extra marketing appeal. Henry Selick’s Coraline benefits from the addition of depth because it’s already a beautiful, immersive experience 3D just pulls you a little further into the frame, and lets you appreciate the immaculate construction of Selick’s stop-motion sets and characters.
This week, Disney’s double-feature reissue of Pixar’s first two Toy Story movies nicely straddles the line between “gimmick” and “genius.” Yes, it’s basically just an extended teaser for next summer’s Toy Story 3. But it’s also an opportunity to re-experience two truly wonderful films in a new light.
First of all, watching Toy Story and Toy Story 2 gives the lie to the notion that each new Pixar movie improves upon the last clearly, they’ve been cranking out classics all along.
These early productions – just the first and third features from Pixar’s CG studio, if you’ll remember – remain near-perfect showcases for Pixar’s specific strengths, with inspired screenplays, vivid characters and terrific performances from unlikely voice actors. Tim Allen’s square-jawed turn as Buzz Lightyear is marvellous in the first movie and gets even funnier in the sequel Joan Cusack’s manic desperation as Jessie the cowgirl in Toy Story 2 is both hysterical and heartbreaking.
Neither movie needs 3D to work, but digital animation is easy enough to re-render for the added depth, and the new presentation does draws your attention to details you might not have noticed in umpteen viewings of the flat version – like the blinking LEDs on Buzz’s pop-out wings, or the texture of the elevator cable in Al’s apartment building. It’s a pleasure to lose yourself in these movies all over again. (Well, except for Randy Newman’s inane song score – did you remember that there are three honking musical interludes in the first film? I’d certainly tried to forget that fact.)
On the down side, they’re remastering Beauty And The Beast next – a primarily hand-drawn feature with one big CG sequence. That seems unnecessary, but I would have said the same about the Toy Story movies, so let’s just wait and see how that turns out.[rssbreak]
