Disney Animation vs. Pixar

Disney Animation vs. Pixar by: Seth Meyer

I chose the competition of Disney Animation vs. Pixar not only because of the high level tension that is within the Disney buildings but also for the discussion of the best films from our childhoods. Disney Animation vs. Pixar is not usually a debate that is brought up but it is very interesting to see why, ultimately, in my opinion, Disney Animation has cranked out the better films over the years.

Disney Animation  has been serving us beautiful films since the 1930s when Snow White came out. This was the first full-length animated film and created animation as we know it today. Over the years, Disney Animation has warmed our hearts with classics such as, Cinderella, Peter Pan, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc. Quite the impressive resume if you're asking me, but don’t count Pixar out of the picture quite yet.

Pixar came out with the first full-length computer animated film in 1995 when the highly nostalgic Toy Story was released into theaters. Disney Animation has this film to thank for their  more modern computer-animated films as we’ve recently seen like, Frozen, Moana, Wreck it Ralph, and Zootopia. Along with creating computer animated films, Pixar has been tugging at our heart strings for 25 years. With every movie Pixar releases they always deliver on making us feel real, genuine emotion for the fictional characters they’ve created. Whether it be their most recent release, Onward, or a film like, The Incredibles, the writers and Director never fail to deliver a human aspect to these fantastical fictional characters. Take the motion picture Finding Nemo for example, the most emotional for me. In Finding Nemo, the Dad Marlon has to set out to find his lost son Nemo. The story concept seems simple at first glance, but the way the story creators bring it to life by not just seeing what the characters are going through, but also making you sympathize with them is a master class in the way that they are able to make you realize that you are then seen relating to them, therefore cranking up the emotion to 100.

These two companies can be accidentally seen as practically the same and there is a reason for that. They are alike in the ways that they are both owned by Disney, they both make computer animated films now, and are both synonymous with Children’s entertainment. With every way that they are alike, though, there is a way that they are different. Competition arose between the two companies when Disney Animation started creating computer animated films of their own. Disney Animation wanted a piece of the pie that Pixar was getting. This topic explains what is different about these two companies. Disney Animation started with cartoons, Disney Animation makes their films to be profitable and award contenders while Pixar makes their films strictly for families while awards are gladly welcomed. The last difference between the two companies is their willingness to make family friendly films. Through the years Disney Animation has had to cut scenes from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Black Cauldron, and The Sword in the Stone for being too dark for children. Pixar, however, has always been putting family first in their production. With recognition of these facts you might be now swayed into saying that Pixar has made the better films. Let me stop you right there, while Pixar has always been putting family and emotional attachment first, they have not always been putting quality first. Disney Animation’s Renaissance films from the 1990’s and their classics have such an indescribable perfection to them that it is almost impossible to compete with. Whether or not Disney Animation has been putting Awards over family is a good thing or not, their films have deeper philosophical messages within them that just lead to them beating out Pixar.

In conclusion, while it was a tumultuous race, Disney Animation has won because of it’s beautiful and nostalgic storytelling that cannot be found anywhere else and that includes Pixar.