Pixar: The Winning Streak Continues

It was a banner weekend for summer movies. Pixar’s latest, “Wall-E,” took home the box-office honors, earning nearly $63 million in its first three days, tying 2001′s ”Monsters Inc” for the studio’s third all-time best opening. Coming in a respectable second was “Wanted,” a hypercaffeinated shoot-’em-up-slice-’em-up-blow-’em-up-my-that-Angelina-is-smokin’-hot action pic directed by Russian filmmaker Timor Bekmambetov.

Can Pixar do any wrong? While I can’t personally testify to the worth of “Wall-E,” its enthusastic critical reception tends to reinforce my belief that Pixar creative honcho John Lasseter, like ol’ Robert Johnson, wasn’t the only cat at the crossroads selling his soul for some supernatural talent.

As the father of two rugrats who has weathered his fair share of repeated viewings of Pixar pictures, I can attest to the films’ amazing durability. “Toy Story 2,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille” are timeless classics, and they are generally absent a mean-spiritedness — to say nothing of some nagging racism and sexiasm – that mars some of Disney’s masterpieces of yesteryear.

– Chase