What follows are a bunch of late night ramblings + musings about things I can't help wondering after seeing seeing a YT rabbithole analysing the relative downfall of Pixar in the last few years...
(Disclaimer: As some of the topics here are apparently contentious, I will be moderating any comments on this post heavily as I see fit... you have been warned)
First, the not-so-obvious ones that I'm more familiar with, having previously kept a hawkish eye on these things heading up the Animation Tools for a major creative toolset.
That is: The role of their updated/modern tech stack in all this...
1) The combination of OpenSubdiv + CurveNet Deformers being rather optimised for this "rounded-clay / bean-mouth" style that many folks are calling out... (look it up, to understand what it does, and when they started adopting it heavily)
As anyone who has done any work in these fields knows... yes, you may claim that "the designers had full freedom to design whatever they wished". But ultimately, the fact remains: Those designs have to be translated into 3D Models + Rigs that work with the tools at hand. And when those tools are struggling with certain designs, while making other ones easier - the resulting iterating and collaborative development will naturally lead to considerations about "what can be done AND look good" eventually feeding back into the character design considerations...
2) Also, for quite a few years now, I have had to say that I can't help but wonder whether their switch from paper-based storyboarding to a dedicated digital "tool" may be contributing to their woes in the story department.
Simply put: Now, it's a lot easier to get distracted + befuzzled / bogged down by the capability of the tool to make increasingly high-fidelity animatic "mockups", that the core storytellers (and maybe also the reviewers watching those previews) are not having to strain as hard to really identify the *good* / *strongest* ideas before committing to trying to assemble them for consideration.
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Of course, all of these pale in comparison to the bigger picture, which is really:
1) Pressures from Disney execs - Both over priorities, monetization + profit-maximing considerations, and general direction, and maybe even direct editorial control
2) Loss of key talent following the whole John Lasseter ouster. Yes, the reports of the stuff he was apparently doing behind the scenes was rather unsavoury... But the organisational wounds from the staff exodus in the wake of that incident (notably in several leadership roles) is notable
2b) Also, the general cultural climate shift from 2018 onwards, but maybe starting in late 2016 across multiple parts of the world is an unavoidable factor too
As one commentator put it: "Mainstream media / entertainment providers" have forgotten the one cardinal thing about their role. That is, it is to provide *entertainment* to the audience - something that they can enjoy and be invested in, and NOT have to sit through a beard-twirling preachy sermon trying to ram a particular viewpoint down people's throats (in somewhat condescending + teeth-pulling/grinding-unpleasant-ish ways)... (*)
3) Continued loss of personnel, as repeating death spiral of paranoid execs (further reigning in spending in a bit to arrest the hemorrhaging) end up demanding more "cost savings" and "efficiencies" and resulting in more prescriptive micro-management, which results in more folks being either driven out (i.e. fired / made redundant, or just pushed out by various "factors + pressures")
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(*) Super Off-Topicky Rant:
TBH, it was around this time that I felt somewhat these pressures myself even - IIRC, the relevant comments are still on one of the old posts on this blog even - and I have to say... that was in many ways one of the considerations that did cross my mind when considering whether it was time to call it a day on trying to push forward with maybe setting up my own animation studio + in-house software team + integrated training college vision that I had once dreamed of...
I can say now, several years removed, that YES... that sinking feeling of distaste + disappointment in the prevailing market forces at the time, along the overall sense that everything had to be "in service of pushing or satisfying certain messages / values" (in an often rather revisionist - social justicey wave of trying to "correct" long standing injustices... in a hyper-critical damned if you do or don't... the criticism will be dished out to eat itself alive anyway) vs just "being" - whatever that natural form may take
To be clear: I'm NOT saying that we should be going out of our way to go back to literally beating up people + things we may not like. What I am saying though, is that the apparent mainstream "left-leaning" political spectrum (especially US-centric/led parts) have swung way too far, too fast, as a counter-reaction to Trump + MAGA + Republican Dinosaur antics (which as a Kiwi, are so far past the bounds of comprehension for most NZ folk like myself that really... it's less "anti" and more just "but why the fuck would you even go there??!?!!") - Anyway, that's why I'm not an American, and have no interest in being one either.
