Pixar basically decides to just stop trying

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  • Mike Blakesley
    Film God
    • Jan 2020
    • 2021
    • Forsyth MT

    #1

    Pixar basically decides to just stop trying

    It looks like Pixar has had enough of failing to make any new original hits, so they're going back to the tried-n-true formula of making more sequels to their previous successes.

    I wonder if this follows a series of meetings in which they compared their more recent output to their "classic" work and tried (and failed) to figure out what it was about those old properties that set the world on fire, and why the newer stuff hasn't had that same level of success.

    I doubt there were any such meetings. They probably just got the evil eye from the Disney bean counters and said (to paraphrase Mel Brooks) "We've got to save our phony-baloney jobs, gentlemen!"

    Even the kids now are looking at the Toy Story 5 poster and rolling their eyes, saying "Another Toy Story?!"

    Here's an idea: Stop making movies with subtle or not-so-subtle messages about "today's society." Instead, come up with some cool characters and scenarios, and make movies about THEM.



    From WDWNewstoday:

    MONSTERS INC. THREEQUEL IN THE WORKS

    In a recent report from The Wall Street Journal profiling Pixar’s company culture and box office performance, we got a brief mention of a third “Monsters, Inc” film in development. The project is officially unannounced as of writing, making this the first mention of work underway on a “Monsters, Inc” threequel, if accurate.

    As part of the broader report on the company, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter said the studio is rethinking its approach after years of struggling to launch new hit franchises.

    Pixar once produced a long run of successes from 1995 through 2019—including films that spawned lucrative brands for The Walt Disney Company—but the studio has not delivered a major original theatrical hit since “Coco” in 2017. Following several underperforming projects, including the box-office flop of Elio, Pixar is shifting back toward broadly appealing concepts similar to the studio’s earlier successes.

    This revised approach seemingly entails adding more sequels to series that have already proven their success. “Toy Story 5” is the next continuation of this shift, and we already know work is underway on “Incredibles 3”.

    Now, “according to people familiar with the matter”, a third “Monsters, Inc.” film will continue this trend toward sequels of Pixar’s earlier, more appealing properties.
    The Monsters, Inc. franchise from Pixar Animation Studios began with the 2001 film “Monsters, Inc.”, which introduced audiences to the city of Monstropolis, where monsters generate energy by scaring children.

    The story centers on best friends James P. “Sulley” Sullivan and Mike Wazowski, employees at the energy company Monsters, Inc., whose world is disrupted when a human child named Boo accidentally enters the monster world.

    The film was both a critical and commercial success, praised for its humor and emotional storytelling, ultimately helping to cement Pixar’s early reputation during its original run of hits–a reputation the studio hopes to recapture in its new focus on sequel installments.

    The franchise previously expanded with the 2013 prequel “Monsters University”, which explores how Mike and Sulley first met while studying scare techniques in college. Pixar also extended the world through the Disney+ animated series “Monsters at Work”, which follows the company’s transition from harvesting screams to collecting laughter for power.

    ​
  • Frank Angel
    Pro Film Handler
    • Jan 2020
    • 277
    • Brooklyn, NY

    #2
    But isn't this the way it has ALWAYS worked in ANY business? "This made us lots o money. Making more of this will make us even more money.!" It's a logic that studios which are run by people who are not filmmakers seem incapable of resisting..

    Comment

    • Mark Gulbrandsen
      Film God
      • Jan 2020
      • 3093
      • Nashville, TN

      #3
      If Walt Disney had that attitude way back, animation might not be as far along as it is today. This is also what happens when the Wall St people climb aboard.

      Comment

      • Marcel Birgelen
        Film God
        • Jan 2020
        • 3619
        • Maastricht, NL

        #4
        It almost feels like Pixar stopped being Pixar after it was acquired by Disney. Back in the day, Pixar was more Disney than Disney itself... And while they had a handful of (or rather one, yeah, Coco, I'm looking at you...?) good movies since they've been acquired, all the breakthrough stuff, so essentially all the good stuff, was already on the table before the takeover now about 20 years ago already. It's been a slow but steady decline ever since. Gone are the days I highly anticipated any new Pixar release.

        But after John Lasseter left in 2018, it has only gone from bad to worse. Now, it's just waiting until some corporate necktie slinger finally merges Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios together because of "synergy" and "cost benefits", so we can put all what's left from Pixar to bed...

        Edit: Sorry, had to add a little rant.

        Originally posted by Mike Blakesley
        Here's an idea: Stop making movies with subtle or not-so-subtle messages about "today's society." Instead, come up with some cool characters and scenarios, and make movies about THEM.
        ​
        ​

        What about that no politics thing? :P

        But yeah, I've never liked "Woke Disney" either. I don't think that "Woke Disney" itself is the problem though, the problem is just that creativity died somewhere in the process of making movies by committee... What you see happening then is that corporate policies start to bubble up through the stories... like make sure the cast has at least 35.5% black and 11.7% gay in it... Those things bubble up, because there is nothing left to hide those corporate policies. They're essentially copy/pasted into the template and effectively become "the story".

        If you let genuine creative people tell a story, do you really think they start by laying out their characters so they fit the current inclusivity guidelines? Is that how the original Toy Story was created? Toy Story became what it is now, because someone (Steve Jobs) had the balls to tell John Lasseter that his story was crap and that he had to start over... Creating the original Toy Story was an emotional shit show, but that's what it often takes to create great stuff, stuff that moves the goalpost. If it's easy, everybody would be doing it...
        Last edited by Marcel Birgelen; 03-07-2026, 02:43 PM.

        Comment

        • Leo Enticknap
          Film God
          • Jan 2020
          • 3572
          • Loma Linda, CA

          #5
          Originally posted by Marcel Birgelen
          What about that no politics thing? :P
          That's exactly what parents (who make the purchasing decisions) want in pre-teen child-focused movies, which is one of the reasons why Disney's tentpoles have struggled in recent years. The audience for political propaganda exists: it is small and consistent. Reagan and Melania did well, because they were made on relatively low budgets and attracted a crowd which, by and large, tends not to go to movie theaters that much. On the other side of the political spectrum, the same can be said for Michael Moore-type stuff (not that he's done anything recently that I know of). But that crowd is of a limited size, and it won't sustain mainstream theaters which, as a general rule, need movies that will not antagonize half of a theater's potential customer base.

          Comment

          • Randy Stankey
            Film God
            • Jan 2020
            • 1388
            • Erie, PA, USA

            #6
            Pixar died when they got rid of John Lasseter.

            Every movie, since they fired him, seems like they were just going through the motions, rehashing all the same movies and repeating all the same, old, tired jokes.

            Comment

            • Mark Ogden
              Pro Film Handler
              • Jan 2020
              • 178
              • Little Falls, NJ

              #7
              Originally posted by Mike Blakesley
              It looks like Pixar has had enough of failing to make any new original hits​
              . . . except for Hoppers, which just opened to great reviews and huge box office. I'm actually a little surprised that they made it, considering their last true original, Elio, was DOA, while Inside Out 2 killed. Will there be Hopper sequels? I'm sure. If I were a Disney shareholder, I would consider it almost a fiduciary duty for them to make one, or whatever picture generates an income, including Pixar sequels and live action remakes of their classic animation titles. It's all about the Benjamins, after all. Don't you want some of those for your theater?

              Comment

              • Mike Blakesley
                Film God
                • Jan 2020
                • 2021
                • Forsyth MT

                #8
                Yeah.... I never said I didn't like successful sequels. Bring on Toy Story 5! But I'm more in favor of new original hits. Looks like Hoppers is going to be a real winner....but we have not been able to play it because of their boneheaded minimum 3 week commitment. We already have Project Hail Mary followed by Super Mario Galaxy booked in, so we only had two weeks to offer Hoppers. So they said no thanks. We'll probably still play it, but same old story...it'll be 7 weeks old and will gross a fourth of what it would have on the break. We are currently playing Wuthering Heights which is tanking big time...so their "minimum" policy cost them and us a bunch of money. Again.

                Comment

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