Every once in a while, a movie comes out that stuns the world into an awed silence. Pixar has managed to do this with each of its 14 films released since 1995's "Toy Story," its first full-length animated film. To recognize the studio's unparalleled success, the Dartmouth Film Society has named Pixar as this year's recipient of the Dartmouth Film Award.
"The goal of the award is to give students an opportunity to meet people who have been successful in the film industry, who have done things to change the way we think about film and who will inspire students to pursue careers in the arts," DFS director Johanna Evans said. "It's designed to show excellence throughout a career."
This is the first time the award will honor more than one individual, and Pixar has proven itself to be a more than worthy recipient.
Every film has been met with widespread box office and critical appeal, making them instant classics, a rare feat in filmmaking, said Bill Pence, film director at the Hopkins Center.
The studio broke into the cinematic world with animated shorts before switching to features, and has since turned animation into one of the most popular modern film styles.
"Pixar is an incredible studio," said Katie Kilkenny '14, a member of the DFS directorate. "They have popularized animation in the U.S. for both kids and adults."
Evans added that the studio has changed expectations of family-oriented films.
"As an adult, I find that even though I love the music, the jokes aren't funny to me because they're just surface references to pop culture or innuendos," she said of other animated features. "The Pixar films, as an adult, I find them meaningful and funny."
It is no secret that Pixar is a gold mine of innovation and creativity. The original idea to present the company with a Dartmouth Film Award came up in discussion in 2009, just after "Up" (2009) hit the big screens. Unfortunately, one of the biggest obstacles of the award is that DFS must coordinate dates with the recipients.
"The people who work in Hollywood are extremely busy," Evans said. "So a lot of the constraints are about whether our dates work with their dates."
This weekend, 20 students will meet Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae, the director-producer pair behind "Monsters University" (2013), over lunch.
On Oct. 13, DFS will screen clips from a variety of Pixar films and shorts in Spaulding Auditorium, along with unseen footage from "Monsters University." Scanlon and Rae will hold a question-and-answer session after the screening.
"They're very closed-off, their studio is very secretive," Kilkenny said of Pixar. "It's really hard to get to know their creative process. To hear from [Scanlon and Rae] how they make these films, how they produce them and how they envision them will be really invaluable."
Kilkenny is a former member of The Dartmouth staff.
