Disney and Pixar’s Lack (?!) of Imagination

How can I possibly accuse Disney and Pixar, animation studios known for their creativity, for their lack of imagination?!

Dear Reader, I am absolutely not claiming I think Disney and Pixar are unimaginative. But I do have one gripe with these animation studios, which is what this post is about.

This gripe of mine came to light when I watched the trailer for Onward. I *loved* the idea of creating an Alternate Universe fantasy world. I especially loved playing with the idea what if the society in such a world became technologically advanced. But then I was disappointed to see that the society in Onward was basically a North American society, with North American cultural values, and North American sensibilities, and a North American way of life. Only with a fantasy twist. The characters talk like North Americans, dress like North Americans, and behave like North Americans. Society, social systems, and infrastructure is structured like in North America. Basically, the world of Onward is just a North American one with a fantasy aesthetic.

If you think back to earlier movies like Monsters Inc. and Zootopia, or more recent entries like Strange World, you’d encounter a similar issue of a North American society with an XYZ aesthetic. These movies have the potential to create whole new societies with whole new societal structures, yet they always fall back to the familiar, and rarely ever stray from the familiar. Notable exceptions are of course Encanto and Coco, but those movies were set in Colombia and Mexico respectively, and the studios made a good faith effort to reflect the culture of the respective settings. It would’ve been very disrespectful if they hadn’t reflected the culture of the setting and replaced it with a North American vibe. The same can’t be said of Raya and the Last Dragon, which while set in a vaguely South East Asian setting with vaguely South East Asian customs, had characters speaking in distinctly North American dialogue (with North American contemporary references), which really took me out of the movie. Luca fared much better, with the society in the Amalfi Coast feeling authentic (or at least, not feeling *American*) even though the society of sea creatures felt somewhat American (but not too much). Moana also fares better than Raya mostly because the dialogue is less cringey. It’s set in a vaguely Polynesian society with vaguely Polynesian customs. Cars gets a free pass here because it’s technically set in North America.

However, I think there is reason to be hopeful. When I had seen the trailers for Elemental, I had assumed it was also going to have a very North American feel with a fantasy aesthetic. After I watched the movie though, well, it sort of did still have that North American feel, especially in Element City, but not too much. Element City could be like any major metropolis anywhere in the world. But I was glad to see that the culture of the fire people was very distinct. I got a sense of many different immigrant cultures, including South Asian, East Asian, and Jewish. I think perhaps they tried to create a distinct sense of the immigrant experience by creating a culture that’s a mishmash of many different non-North American experiences. And I really liked that! (In a similar vein, Turning Red, while also North American, definitely is less *mainstream* North American, and focuses more on a specific North American second generation immigrant experience.)

World-building isn’t just about creating new aesthetics and new landscapes and new creatures. It can also give you the opportunity to create new systems and new cultures. Sure, it’s very creative to create a world where a dragon is a pet. But it’s not that creative if that dragon behaves just like a dog, and the human-counterparts’ dynamic with the dragon is reminiscent of the dynamic between people and dogs. Back when The Flintstones did it, in which they created a modern American society with Stone-Age aesthetics, it was supposed to be humorous. But these days, I think it’s just lazy.

So I hope to see more inventive story-telling like in Elemental. I don’t think Elemental goes far enough, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.