Breaking free from the Pixar look

A rebellion is brewing among the world's top studios, as the dominance of the Pixar style is seen to be limiting creativity and diversity in animation

The recent Oscar win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio isn’t quite garnering the attention it deserves. The film's Oscar conquest has added fuel to a quiet but growing rebellion amongst the world’s top animation studios. But to know the rebellion we must rewind.

Our story begins with an oft-told tale: Pixar and its epoch-defining 1995 debut, Toy Story. At a time when most computer-generated 3D animated content resembled plastic figurines in motion, it was a stroke of genius to make a film about toys. With toys as characters, Pixar allowed itself the space to experiment with an eclectic mix of facial