Emulate Pixar: The Way Forward for Christian Movies

Last updated on: June 23, 2015 at 6:23 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Emulate Pixar: The Way Forward for Christian Movies 2015-06-23T18:23:21-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I know fine, young, Christian filmmakers and film mavens: HBU’s Josh Sikora . . . Nate Marshall. . . Nate Bell. They are out there: creative, working hard, and learning the craft. And yet when I turn on Christian television programming, look at most Christian “YouTube” or watch (God helping me) most Christian movies, I still see . . . work in progress.

Bad Art is Bad: even with Jesus in it.

I know it takes time to learn the craft and that those learning need time, but Pixar proved something again this weekend: it doesn’t take forever. A former student (Christian!) is in the credits for Inside Out and it is the film that all Christians should aspire to have on their IMDb page. To say Inside Out is the best movie I have seen this year is not enough. It ought to be a serious movie of the year contender, a true general audience film that was smart enough for kids and entertaining enough for adults. If it gets a bit long in the middle, it is because it is impossible to imagine cutting any given minute.

Pixar was founded just short of thirty years ago and it has never made anything less than an above average film. If Cars II was “meh,” it was only in comparison to Ratatouille or The Incredibles. Let’s face it: Toy Story is better than any Christian film ever made. The best of Veggie Tales comes close in the “shorts” category (and under the illumined Doug TenNapel it is moving up fast), but nothing really matches the wit and wisdom of Pixar.

You don’t have to start at the bottom, but most Christian film companies do and they stay there. Quick: name a Christian documentary that is in the class of the best secular documentaries. Name something not about vegetables that does not shame you in front of your non-Christian friend. It is hard to do. There are “art films” from schools like Regent or Biola. Tarkosvsky sort of counts, but mostly it is Left Behind. The fact that Christian movies are generally better than Christian television, a genre so bad that it spawns better YouTube parodies than any content, says little good about Christian movies. If you are not better than Benny Hinn’s show, you are surely incompetent and probably heretical. If you aspire to Osteen, you are not asking for much from the Holly Spirit that produced the greatest book ever written, inspired Shakespeare, and made Flannery O’Conner great.

Let’s learn from Pixar. Here are five obvious things needed to make better films:

First, stop making Christian films. Make good films as a Christian. If we can tell you are making propaganda, then it is bad propaganda and we should not be making propaganda of any kind. We don’t need a Christian Leni Riefenstahl. Tell a story. Tell the truth as you see it. If you are a Christian, it will come out.

Second, stop trying not to make a Christian movie. There are films made by F-Word Evangelicals, those Christians who believe merely saying the f-word will make them authentic, that are as propagandist as the worst of evangelism film ever made. Playing Uncle Tony to the left is no more attractive than becoming captive to your youth group pastor’s message. If you are a Christian, don’t be afraid to have a character pray if you would pray in that situation. If you quote Bible verses in real life, then you ought to be able to have a character who quotes Bible verses. We know you do not have to put Bible verses in your movie, but you can if you wish! If you never do, because you want to be “authentic” then you aren’t. If you are asking: “Am I authentic?” then you are not.

Third, learn the craft. The Pixar crew learned to make movies before they made movies. If you need someone to run a camera or animate a film, get someone who knows who to run a camera or animate a film. If it was easy, then Christian movies would not be so bad. Trust me: your spouse may be able to decorate your house but that does not make your spouse a good “set design expert.” Learn the craft. Hire competent people.

Fourth, get a writer. This could be the entire message. There are bad films with good writers, but there are no good films with bad writers. There are one hundred ways Christian movies fail (stop showing me shadows I should not see!), but the greatest way they fail is script. Get a good writer. This will not be your mother. I love my mother. Trust me: it will not be your mother unless your mother has worked for years honing her craft or is a genius.

If she is a genius, show the script to a skeptic. If the skeptic likes it, you may have found the next Joss Whedon. Otherwise, wonder if you are kidding yourself.

And can we have story tellers that tell stories Hollywood is not telling? Evangelicals are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic. Let’s tell those stories. Hollywood isn’t. Let’s promote filmmakers and writers who do not fit the Hollywood mold!

Finally, stop funding people who make bad movies. If they made a bad movie, you might give them another chance, but at some point, you should realize: these people make bad movies. I know people who buy or go to bad Christian films out of solidarity. This is a bad idea. One does not hire a miserable plumber because they are Christian or one gets bad pipes. One should not encourage people to stay in a field for which they are manifestly unsuited. Just because you like the message, you do not have to like the movie. A badly made movie with a good message is no better than bad message well made. Both contain fatal internal rifts that are highly regrettable.

If you do not understand how to make a movie, documentary, or television program, for the love of Christ’s Church do not make a movie, documentary, or television program. Let’s go learn the craft and then form companies to tell our stories. We don’t have thirty years to wait.

Art

Culture

Pop Culture

Previous Post

June 21, 2015

When Your Anniversary is on Father's Day

Next Post

June 23, 2015 Inside Out: Brilliant Film, Helpful Philosophy

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, “Let there be light”?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses God Noah Paul

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »