This is one of the only films that I have seen that is about criticism, and it is massively impressive that it not only portrays it so well, but that it is disguised as a family animation film. Another big theme in the movie, that genius can come from anywhere, is nice but somewhat trite, and I’m glad that the film’s climax involved the food critic Anton Ego to steer the film more toward that direction. Ego is perfect; he reminds me of one of my high school art teachers, who manages to be both snobby and charming. This just edges out Finding Nemo as my favorite Pixar film, and it is exponentially more interesting than Wall-E.
It is good to see Brad Bird back, after The Incredibles disappointed me as just a plain action superhero movie after his Iron Giant, which is just about perfect. I see he is making a live-action film next, here’s hoping it goes over as well as his animated films do, and I can’t wait to see how he directs people (as opposed to just their voices).