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When Toy Story 3 brought in $110 million in its opening weekend it continued Pixar’s streak of 11 straight movies debuting at No. 1. Not only is 11 straight an incredible streak, but it also amazing considering Pixar has only released 11 feature films. They are a perfect 11/11.

In an age where many movies try to push the envelope, Pixar stands out as different from other companies. There’s something different about the way they go about their business. There’s something different about their standard for excellence. When we look at what this state of the art company has done, I think there are some lessons we can learn from Pixar:

1. Do Everything With Excellence
Allegedly the first script for the first Toy Story movie was so horrendous that production was shut down and a script had to be rewritten. Not many companies would start from scratch, but Pixar did. The idea for Toy Story 2 was to have it go straight to video and be a short 60 minute film. However, the product that was produced was so impressive that it was expanded and sent to theaters. Whether you observe the dialogue, the script, the humor, or the visuals, everything at Pixar seems to be done with the utmost excellence. Whether it’s making animated hair blow in the wind, or find the perfect voice for a character, excellence seems to be a top priority of the company.

2. Quality Over Quantity
The idea for Wall-E was first conceived in 1994. However, the idea wasn’t rushed into action. In fact, the movie did not hit theaters until 2008. That’s a long time to sit on an idea; however, a great work of art was created. Also, consider this: Pixar has released 11 full length feature films since 1995, all of which have hit No. 1. Since 1998, DreamWorks Animation has released 20 full-length films. While we all remember Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monster’s Inc, and Cars, how many people actually remember much about Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Flushed Away, Bee Movie, or Shark Tale? In an industry that is more about “What have you done for me lately?” rather than “How great can we make this?” Pixar stands above the rest.

3. You Don’t Have to Be Crude to Be Noticed
Have you noticed the innocence in Pixar films? There’s no bad language, no sex, no graphic violence. You would expect movies that are squeaky clean to only be for adults. However, adults may actually enjoy Pixar films more than the youngsters. The messages and teachings in the movie are pure. There’s no need to sell out to sex or crude humor to sell because a product that is done with excellence sells itself. Too many of today’s movies are so weak on content that they have to try to appeal to today’s world by infusing sex and bad language all throughout their movies. Not Pixar.

4. Go Beyond What Is Expected
Movies have been around for awhile. It’s very difficult to “wow” people or catch them off-guard. However, Pixar has found a way to do this by going above and beyond. When people leave the theater after seeing a Pixar movie, most people leave impressed. If you look at critic sites like Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll find that every Pixar movie has been given an overall positive (“fresh”) rating, with some of them holding the highest ratings of any films in history.

5. Think Outside the Box
When you break it down, Pixar isn’t your typical movie-making company. There aren’t “real” people in the movies; it’s all digital animation. And most of the time, people aren’t even the main characters. Think about the leading roles in Pixar’s films: toys, cars, bugs, robots, monsters, rats, fish, and superheroes. Not your typical heroines! Not your typical movie-going experience. However, Pixar has encouraged everyone to think outside the box and dream bigger than what may seem the norm.

The following objective is posted on Pixar’s website:

Pixar’s objective is to combine proprietary technology and world-class creative talent to develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heartwarming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages.

I think they’ve done a pretty good job of that, and taught us all a few lessons along the way.

If you’ve been reading my blogs, you know I’ve had some recent trouble with Sonic and Taco Bell.

A few days ago I came across a story about a company that seems to be doing everything right these days. If you’ve ever seen a Pixar movie, you know they strive for the highest level of excellence in everything they do. To date, they have not put out a movie that has flopped in the eyes of critics or viewers, and the lowest rating one of their movies has received on Rotten Tomatoes is 75%.

However, this story goes much deeper than animation or a movie screen. The article I read really touched my heart. If you have time, please read the entire article from the OC Register. You can view the article on their website by clicking HERE, or you can read the story below:

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.

Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.

With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and “Up” – were a part of her only child’s last day.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

THE PREVIEWS

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum-Moore said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum-Moore said.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie “Monsters Vs. Aliens” but was impressed by the previews to “Up.”

“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see “Up.” However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

At that point, Orum-Moore, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum-Moore said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum-Moore guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of “Up,” Orum-Moore recalled.

She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

THE MOVIE

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

Colby couldn’t see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.

Well, it happened! I actually got in to see a sneak preview of Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E. I arrived at the theater about 1 hour and 15 minutes before the movie started, and there were already about 80 people in line. But after the long wait, we got what we paid for (well, the tickets were free, but you get the point!).

In typical Pixar fashion, a Pixar Short named “Presto” appeared before the movie started. The short features a magician and his rabbit. I won’t give away any details, but it is quite entertaining and humorous. The 3-5 minute clip was far more entertaining than anything I’ve seen from Dreamworks in the last couple of years.

Anyway, the movie finally started and within a few short minutes, I was already blown away. To be completely honest, the first 30 minutes of Wall-E is the best 30 minutes I’ve ever seen from any animated film. Read more…

Well, I’m not going to post anything elaborate today. If you haven’t checked out yesterday’s blog, DO IT! Sorry, that sounded me. Please check it out. It’s some random humor for random people who like random things. If you’re feeling really nice, leave me a comment.

Tomorrow, I will be back with a new post and a review of the new Disney/Pixar movie “Wall-E.”

I have sneak preview passes to see the movie tonight. However, if the theater is overbooked and I don’t get in, I’m going to post a review of “Good Burger” just to make you mad!

I have really high hopes for this movie! If it’s amazing, I might be back at the theater on Friday night. If it’s garbage, don’t expect me at work tomorrow and be prepared for “Good Burger.”

Well, the Blog-a-Day continues with some movie fun! Today, Yahoo released the Top 30 Animated Films as rated by Yahoo users. Here is the list:

30. Bambi
29. The Jungle Book 
28. Sleeping Beauty
27. Over the Hedge
26. The Simpsons Movie
25. Ice Age: The Meltdown
24. Ice Age
23. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
22. Howl’s Moving Castle (Japanese)
21. Mulan Read more…