His filmmaking career can go to the Great Beyond.
Pixar’s Soul, now available on Disney +, won the hearts and minds of critics and audiences (we consider it the best animated film of 2020). The story of a high school band teacher named Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) who loses his life on the eve of his big break, Soul it has been celebrated for its imagination and the greatness of its ideas (especially in what is essentially aimed at children). And that imagination comes mainly from the mind of the director and co-writer Pete Docter, who directed equally intoxicating resources for Pixar, such as Above and Inside out and who originally conceived the story for what would become WALL • E. Not only did he prove to be Pixar’s most adventurous filmmaker, but he also recently took over as Creative Director at the studio, a position he previously held John Lasseter. And it sounds like Soul it could end up being his last feature for the studio he calls home since the day after graduating from Cal Arts.
In a truly wonderful profile on The Hollywood Reporter (you should definitely read everything), Docter is very open and honest about his apprehension before accepting his new role leading the company and how it will distance himself from his work as a filmmaker. In fact, Docter seems resigned to the fact that if he’s running the studio, he probably won’t be directing films anymore.
“The CCO’s job is not to make films,” he told THR. “It’s mentoring other people. At first, I was concerned that it would be like a tax, moving away from what I really loved. But it’s been surprisingly rewarding.”
Another thing to remember, which we talked about during our recent chat with Docter, is that he is an animation student (he recently wrote a brilliant and obligatory book that chronicles the life and work of the animator and the Imaginator Marc Davis) And he knows that part of the reason the post-Walt years in the studio was so boring was because the Nine Old Men, animators named by Walt Disney like their creative workhorses, they were getting old, tired and out of date with the culture. This led to territorialism and diminishing returns, as exciting new animators were overlooked or set aside (nowhere was this more true than during the infamous and confused production of The Black Cauldron, when senior animators complained in the press about the new crop of talent). Docter doesn’t want to lose his welcome and he doesn’t want his generation of filmmakers to have unwanted control or influence over younger and more exciting creators (much of the profile has to do with this change and the recognition of senior leadership that is necessary for Survival Pixar creative).
So, yes, it’s the show, for sure. But it is also Docter’s own understanding of the process and his reluctance to enter any kind of stagnation probably driving his decision making, especially since the parallels between Disney Animation after Walt and Pixar after Lasseter have already been established. Furthermore, if there is anyone who could, in 10 years, have some mind-blowing idea that he has to see realized as an animated film, it is probably Pete Docter. How many times Hayao Miyazaki (who just celebrated his 80º birthday) retired now? Exactly.
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