Saturday 29 June 2013

Love me do- Favourite Pixar Love Stories

      Pixar films are known for their emphasis on friendship. Their latest feature, Monsters University, shows us the beginnings of one of their most celebrated bromances, as it were. But, as much as I enjoyed it, I was really blown away by the short The Blue Umbrella that was shown before it. This was a love story, and it got me thinking about the different romances that Pixar has given us. These are my top 10.

Honourable mentions- I think Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead from the Toy Story movies and Fergus and Elinor from Brave are the only other couples in Pixar-verse, and as cute as they are, we don't see the romance aspect of their lives explored much.



10) Lightning McQueen and Sally Carrera in Cars

I barely have any memory of Cars, but I do remember liking their relationship a lot. He's the stud and she's the pretty but clever girl, basically. They were cute.


9) Mike Wazowski and Celia Mae in Monsters Inc.

Or should I say, Googly bear and Schmoopsie poo. The fact that monsters that are more or less based on Cyclops and Medusa can be this adorable is a testament to Pixar.



8) Princess Atta and Flik in A Bug's Life

A Bug's Life is one of the most forgettable Pixar films, which is a shame because it is quite good. One of its best parts for me was the relationship between Atta and Flik. They both want to do good, but don't know how. Flik is the daring one with the crazy ideas and Atta is the one with all the responsibilities, who by the end they realise the worth of each other. It is very sweet.


7) Ken and Barbie in Toy Story 3

Come on, I'm a girl! This was like my first dream couple ever, and to see them brought to life onscreen was a genuine childhood fantasy come true. And I just love how Barbie is the kickass one and Ken is the super flamboyant one.


6) Buzz and Jessie in Toy Story 2 and 3

I adore how the uber cool Buzz Lightyear tends to become speechless around Jessie. When his Spanish settings kick-in in Toy Story 3 and he becomes the romantic charmer he is inside, it is both hilarious and lovely to watch.


5) Linguini and Colette in Ratatouille

When we first meet Colette, she is shown as a really determined woman who has almost forgotten to smile. Enter Linguini with all his charming klutziness, and one magical Parisian kiss later, we have one of the cutest and most "opposites attract" philosophy-affirming couples in animated history.



4) Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr and Elastigirl/Helen Parr in The Incredibles

I really appreciate how movie doesn't show the courtship and rose-coloured, puppy-love years of their life, but rather the tougher middle ages and all the problems that they bring with them, and how these two get through them as both as superheroes and a real married couple.



3) Blue Umbrella and Red Umbrella in The Blue Umbrella

I can't help but connect this short to a quote from Doctor Who
"It's the oldest story in the universe. This one or any other. Boy and girl fall in love, get separated by events--war, politics, accidents in time. She's thrown out of the hex or he's thrown into it. Since then they've been yearning for each other across time and space."
Only Pixar can make a love story between two primary coloured umbrellas this magical and relatable.


2) WALL-E and Eve in WALL-E

WALL-E is the closest thing to a romantic epic that Pixar has given us. A garbage-packing robot who after hundreds of years of solitude finds love in a beautiful and feisty robot and will travel across space to get her back. The scenes when Eve goes into standby and WALL-E tries to make her active again, or that space-dance, are all just so wonderful.



1) Carl and Ellie in Up

Because this is the dream. Pixar, in Carl and Ellie, gave us one of the most endearing, magically human, incredibly touching love stories ever depicted onscreen, all within ten minutes. I'm tearing up just thinking about it because it makes me so happy and so sad. In a film all about the spirit of adventure, I think theirs is the greatest adventure story of them all. And the fact that Carl endeavoured to make Ellie's dreams come true even after her death is just beautiful.


So this was my list. What did you think?

14 comments:

  1. Pixar lists like this are great, really liking this line-up!

    It's funny that people never, ever cite A Bug's Life as one of Pixar's best, but I love that film. I even still have my teddy versions of most of the ants from the film still.

    I need to see that blue and red umbrella short you are digging at the moment. I NEED TO SEE IT.

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    1. Thank you so much!

      Aww I would really like Pixar toys :P

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  2. Wonderful list! It kind of hurts me that so many people don't rate A Bug's Life very high on their Pixar lists. It's still one of my favorites to this day. I think only WALL-E is better.

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  3. Great list, though I'm not a big fan of Colette and Linguini (loved Ratatouille though!)

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    1. Ratatouille is awesome.
      And thanks!

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  4. The beginning of Up was just heartbreaking.

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  5. AnonymousJune 29, 2013

    I think UP is the only film that had me in uncontrollable tears within the first ten minutes. Powerful stuff for an animated film <3

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    1. Yeah same.
      Pixar does things like that.

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  6. I wanted to go for WALL-E & EVE but Carl & Ellie is the perfect choice.

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    1. I thought of WALL-E first too, but nothing can beat Carl and Ellie in this aspect.

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  7. Awesome post! Your top 3 are spot-on.

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  8. I'd definitely pick the same top 4 as you... exactly in the same order! Carl/Ellie and WALL-E/Eve are my quintessential tales of epic romances. Most people focus on the early scene of Up (which was absolutely mega-awesome), that the ending scene where Carl opens the adventure book to discover Ellie's message, is kinda overshadowed. That was an extremely heartfelt moment too. If they ever make a full feature of The Blue Umbrella I have a feeling the characters will be even more memorable.

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    1. Hi5! :P
      I know what you mean. I was going to put Ellie's note but I stuck with the two characters.
      Me too.

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