I personally don't understand why everyone is demonizing Pixar and Lasseter all of a sudden. Yes, I know Lasseter has been behind some of the most controversial decisions ever seen in this generation of Disney films, but now its beginning to feel childish and ignorant.
Let's accept reality here, folks. Lasseter is NOT the only one that watches the films. Yes, his input might be the strongest, since its his job. But he has many people that need to approve the idea FIRST. Remember that Disney is first and foremost a company, and companies seeks profit. Disney's way of gaining profit is by making movies. If a movie doesn't quite work (at least an animated movie) then they either order the movie to be retooled or be scrapped altogether.
Are we quick to forget that Disney did this
to his own films? If he struggled to turn a story into a feature film, he would scrap it in favor of another one, even if the story had lots of potential. Did we also forget that at one point Disney wanted to stop making films because he was more interested in the theme parks and TV shows? People had to speak him out of this because they believed that Disney's main product were the animated films, that no amount of theme parks, TV shows and live action movies could change this fact. This is why "Chanticleer" was cancelled, even if it had Marc Davis' great touch all over it. He did this to his beloved animator, one of the nine old men!
If a final film wasn't a critic darling Disney would take it very personally to the point where he hated the film he helped helmed (Fantasia and Alice come to mind). Disney struggled with a lot of decisions. Does anyone remember the story of how a pitch of "The Rescuers" got Disney very angry to the point where he walked out of it? Animators said they could only work on it once Walt was dead!
On the Sleeping Beauty Platinum DVD they say that Disney fired one of the directors because he took too much time working on one scene. This is a very drastic decision that was made because he was using a lot of money, and the film was expensive already.
The point I am trying to make here is that everyone seems to be demonizing Lasseter for all the changes he has done to the recent films, to the point where exaggerated claims of "sabotage" has surfaced. Yet, forget that Disney himself made these sort of decisions and changed the course of Disney forever.
The way I see it, Lasseter is doing what he and the company feel is right, something that businesses do if they hope to stay afloat. Think about it for a second...
You are in charge of approving a film. The director and writers are all very talented and they are your friends. You see the film and you either think it needs a lot of work or its a disaster. You either tell that to them and risk your friendship, or ignore it, releasing onto the world a potential turd.
Pretty hard decision don't you think?
I can't say how these films are made because I don't know Lasseter or anyone at Disney. But I am sure that there's a lot of emotions and egos involved and Lasseter doesn't enjoy it much.
Again, rather than harpooning the guy because he ordered a film to be changed, place yourself in his shoes and try to imagine how much it must suck to make that decision.
Regarding the Disney films having a Pixar touch...I know I am probably going to get flamed for this...but how is that a bad thing?
Let's accept reality for a minute. The Pixar films have proven to be more successful than anything Disney has done since the late 90s. The Disney films, which once received universal acclaim, now get mixed reviews. The Pixar films, on the other hand, have been praised for its inventive stories, great animation and amazing heart, something the Disney films used to do.
Disney has NOT won any Oscars since then, while Dreamworks and Pixar clean up. Can you blame Disney for consulting Lasseter in hopes that his experience in storytelling and direction helps a struggling project along?
And besides, are we quick to forget that the main inspiration behind Pixar is Disney itself? The Pixar crew speak wonderfully of the classic films and how their stories, execution, characters, music and animation inspired them to be at Pixar today. They just took a different direction with their stories, but kept the basics.
Didn't Frank and Ollie's cameo on "The Incredibles" teach you anything? Didn't it spark you the thought that this small cameo was Pixar and Brad Bird's way of paying tribute to the Disney magic that fueled them to make films in the first place?
So look at it this way...
The Pixar touch is "influencing" recent Disney films. The Pixar touch was influenced by Disney. So if a modern film receives some of the Pixar touch, its really helping the film become a better Disney film.
Yes, a though that many shudder at, but once you accept it these decisions become easier to swallow.
Will all of Lasseter's decisions be good? Of course not. He might have a lot of experience, but he is human. Heaven knows that Walt Disney made his share of mistakes. Will they destroy the Disney company? The future is hard to say. He just got promoted and only a handful of films received his input. Are they worth being angry about? OF COURSE NOT!
So, rather than trying demonize Lasseter, trying to hate the way Disney is doing things now and complaining over the internet about it, watch Bolt as the movie it is, rather than the process that went behind it. Something hard to do, especially since so many controversial things happened, but maybe we would all be looking forward to it as a neat little family film rather than either the savior of Disney or the poster boy of when things changed drastically at the studios.
Or in other words, when Disney started worshipping Satan...
and 
, Julian. And I'll add a 
. Ugh, John Lasseter, just ugh. 
The movie was very funny and had great moments...I even got slightly misty at a point. Yes the pidgins were awesome, as was rhino the hamster. It was a great family movie which I know I will be seeing again over thanksgiving. In my opinion...Disney Animations best since Brother Bear. And trust me...I've seen them all. GO SEE GO SEE
