Product Essentialism In Pixar

Computer animation has always faced the challenge of recreating reality. The hypothesis of the uncanny valley is the hypothesis that the more human-like something is the more its subtle imperfections make people feel uneasy (Willie Bouwer et al. 186). Humans know what humans are supposed to be like and when the recreation does not meet their expectation the person rejects it and may even be revolted by it. The driving force behind Pixar is not creating realistic worlds but exploring new worlds through believable characters and stories. Pixar is aware of the limitations of technology but they constantly try to push beyond it. One of the guiding philosophies Pixar followed for Toy Story (John Lasseter 1995) and other films is product essentialism (Herhuth 48). Product essentialism is a philosophy that every product is …show more content…
To create a believable world they ask themselves what would this character do in this situation. What would a toy cowboy do? What would a monster do? What would a superhero do. What can they do? Pixar starts their films by defining the limits of the reality of the world they are creating. They use logic to create the believable not the realistic. The visual reflects the truth of the characters. Woody, a sheriff, runs Andy’s room. The monsters scared children as their jobs. The supers used their powers to help people. The narratives of these films is influenced by threatening the truth of these characters.The motivation of these characters is driven by their root purpose. Pixar creates films knowing their technical limitations; working within it or finding ways to surpass it. These films portray a caricature of reality to avoid being categorized as trying to be realistic. In their films, Pixar focuses on creating believable worlds and characters. They exist in their own stylized reality and explore its limits to avoid entering the uncanny valley of our