Posted in: Disney, Movies, Pixar | Tagged: Elio, hoppers, incredible 3, Inside Out 2, pete docter, toy story 5

Pete Docter Says The Pixar Sequels "For The Audience, Not Ourselves"

Pixar‘s Chief Creative Officer, Pete Docter, explains what Pixar wants and their expectations for sequels and spin-offs.

Pixar has had an interesting year. They were the studio that got hit the hardest by the pandemic, with three major theatrical releases moving to streaming, and one of their movies was getting kneecapped by the pandemic because it opened not long before lockdown started. Then, when the studio finally returned with a spin-off film based on established IP, Lightyear, the marketing of the film was so confusing to the layman, and it was only mediocre that the film underperformed rather spectacularly. Then, Elemental was released last year, and while that film ended up doing well, it was a slow burn (I will stop making that joke when I stop finding it funny, don't @ me). The movie started a little slow at the box office but maintained steady momentum across the summer months until it finished with decent numbers and okay reviews.

Pixar Was In A No-Win Situation In 2024

Heading into 2024, Pixar was upfront about the fact that they were shifting its approach in the future. They spoke about leaning more on established IP and creating more sequels and spin-offs of the films we all love. That put Inside Out 2 in a position where no one really won. (Pixar and everyone else seems to be ignoring the fact that if this idea were sound, Lightyear would have been a smash hit, but we're just going to ignore that). If the film didn't do well, Pixar itself could be in real trouble as a studio. However, if the film did well, it would reinforce the idea that established IP is the way to go, confirming this new way of thinking, and we'd have far fewer original films from Pixar in the next decade. The problem with animated films is that they take a long time, so even if Elio or Hoppers knocks it out of the park and Pixar decides not to lean heavily on established IP going forward, it's too late to backtrack. The next decade or so of animated films is already being worked on, and we're locked in.

Inside Out 2 is a billion-dollar movie, so it's safe to say that the idea of leaning into established IP is the way to go, which is the mantra that Pixar will be working under. During the D23 presentation, Pixar showed off four movies and two television shows with an exact 50/50 balance of original versus established IP. However, the new pivot is recent, and, as we said, animation takes a hot minute. Pixar's Chief Creative Officer, Pete Docter, led the presentation and spoke to members of the press afterward. Fandango (via Deadline) asked Docter what Pixar wants from its sequel films in light of sequels to Incredibles and Toy Story coming soon and a spin-off show for Inside Out that was also announced.

"It's a combo because, of course, we're making these for the audience, not for ourselves, so you want to know if they'll be well-received," Docter said. "Then, we do have a sort of guideline or guardrail that if we get a certain way in it's not feeling like it's about something new and substantive, then we'll cut bait. So, it's imperative that something feels like, 'Oh, this is furthering the story!' … I was talking about something that we didn't explore in the first one. Or, something deeper that we didn't explore about the human condition or our own experiences in life."

Pixar needed the win from Inside Out 2. Everyone else tends to benefit when one studio is doing well in animation, so with major projects from Paramount, Dreamworks, and Disney Animation still in the pipeline for 2024, a billion-dollar animated film is a good thing for everyone. However, the reason we all fell in love with Pixar wasn't because of the sequels; they just showed everyone that you can make a sequel just as good as the original if you do the work. We fell in love with Pixar because they truly embodied family storytelling and approached movies from the viewpoint that everyone, regardless of age or gender, can and should get something out of its films. It would be a shame to see Pixar move away from original films, but this is a business at the end of the day. Perhaps they can leverage the massive box office gains from movies like Inside Out 2 to make sure smaller, more intimate, and original stories are also told, if with smaller budgets. Elio will be released on June 13, 2025, Hoppers will be released on March 6, 2026, and Toy Story 5 will be released on June 19, 2026.

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