What makes pixar so much better?

[Michjeff]

Why do you think Pixar films seem to just be better? Detail? Music? Better stories?

Every character is well-defined (Everybody can find at least one character they relate to) and they focus more on story than humor, although they do squeeze in a few jokes.

Characters are important for a story. You can have the most intricate yet simple, geniously woven story, with the deepest world, but if you have characters that people (aren't meant to but still) hate, it will end up being bad.

But you can make a cliché story and have it be beloved with great, loveable, well written characters and it can end up being amazing.

Harry Potter is a good example of this. The story has been copied and used a lot to the point that it's now clichéd and even joked about, but people still love Harry Potter because people love the characters.

John Lasseter said something about how the worst puns can be told in the best way, and I think that's similar to this. Just like you can have an amazing concept for a story, but the overall result could be awful, you could have a Cliché Storm of a story- but that doesn't mean your production will be bad. It's all about how you tell the story(and that is what can define a great artist, they are able to use a clichéd concept well).

Pixar have loveable characters, they have good writing, they have gorgeous visuals, their music sets the mood perfectly, and it all combines into what we watch, and end up loving- simply, they tell their stories well. Strip down the plots and aesops of their stories to their bare minimals and you will see just how cliché the ideas for many of them really are, but the actual movies aren't clichéd, because they told those stories wonderfully.

because Pixar is Pixar. it wasn't a Disney creation. admittedly Disney now own them but being a company created by a bigger company can cause a lot of strain and expectation. since Pixar's humble beginnings were independent, they were free from all that strain and made tons of awesome stories