{"id":8705,"date":"2019-06-23T17:32:22","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T00:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog-proxy.atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/?p=8705"},"modified":"2019-06-26T10:58:37","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T17:58:37","slug":"after-toy-story-4-what-does-the-future-look-like-for-pixar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/whats-next-for-pixar-after-toy-story-4\/","title":{"rendered":"After \u2018Toy Story 4,\u2019 What Does The Future Look Like For Pixar?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> movies have each arrived at critical points in the ongoing 24-year-plus history of Pixar Animation Studios. The first <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 1995 quite literally revolutionized animation, and its massive success led to another movie for the studio, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Bug&#8217;s Life<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as well as faith in a sequel hitting theaters instead of a direct-to-DVD release (the norm for Disney films at the time).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> would go on to achieve similar acclaim as its predecessor, but it also notably set the tone for Pixar&#8217;s most prestigious decade ever. They produced hit after hit with original stories that would go on to define their now undeniable brand identity. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monsters Inc.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding Nemo<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Incredibles<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cars<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ratatouille<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WALL-E<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Up<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> all came out within just eight years of each other, cementing the studio&#8217;s reputation as an arthouse that could supposedly do no wrong, or at least no worse than <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cars<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then came <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story 3<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, one of the first Pixar films to emerge after Disney purchased the studio. Despite the worries of many fans who thought the franchise might end on a low note, Pixar surprised everyone with a universally beloved entry into what is now considered by many to be a near-perfect trilogy. They became known as the studio where even the sequels can be as heartwarming and mindful as the original stories.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DQoUyjBZ7cU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And now, nine years later, we have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/toy-story-4\/164756\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story 4<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which bookends a more curious decade for a studio that has undergone some dramatic changes. In that time, the studio&#8217;s co-founder and president Ed Catmull retired. Disney and Pixar&#8217;s Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter, was gradually dismissed due to claims of sexual harassment. And the studio&#8217;s theatrical output has garnered more mixed reactions from fans and critics overall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pixar released just four original movies instead of eight this past decade, and only two of them \u2014 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside Out<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coco<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 are widely considered to be among the studio&#8217;s better work. And yes, we&#8217;ve seen plenty of sequels and even one prequel. From the liked, but not necessarily cherished <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incredibles 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding Dory<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cars 3<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monsters University<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to the downright resented <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cars 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if Pixar traditions hold true, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story 4<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> might also signal a return to form for the studio when it comes to storytelling. One that is bolstered by some positive signs of change. Pete Docter \u2014 director of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monsters Inc.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Up<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside Out<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 is now Chief Creative Officer of Pixar, with Jennifer Lee (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frozen<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) overseeing Walt Disney Animation, marking a clearer separation between the studios. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pixar has also announced the release of five original movies in a row. The next one will be <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Onward<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a suburban fantasy road trip movie directed by Dan Scanlon (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monsters University<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Just months later, Pete Docter&#8217;s fourth film for Pixar will be <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soul<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, yet another introspective adventure about &#8220;life&#8217;s most important questions,&#8221; set in New York City and the &#8220;cosmic realms.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We don&#8217;t know as much about the other three Pixar films to be released in 2021 and 2022, except that one of them is being directed by Domee Shi, who wowed audiences last year with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bao<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the bold and creative short film that preceded <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incredibles 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Fans who\u2019ve wished for Pixar to return to its riskier, more audacious roots have a lot to be excited about come 2020 and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">One year from today, Pixar Animation Studios will take you on a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life&#39;s most important questions. Disney &amp; Pixar&#39;s &quot;Soul&quot; arrives in theaters on June 19, 2020. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/D3VP8Tw4RM\">pic.twitter.com\/D3VP8Tw4RM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Pixar (@Pixar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pixar\/status\/1141375108642217985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 19, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There&#8217;s also a sense that Pixar has settled into a more stable groove with their upcoming projects. At the beginning of the last decade, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brave<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was in the middle of being completely retooled, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newt<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was unceremoniously canceled, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Good Dinosaur<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was delayed several times from its original 2013 release date for similar story problems. To be clear, the studio has never missed a step when it comes to evolving their animation and art direction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But with just a year to go before the release of two consecutive Pixar films, we&#8217;ve heard nothing substantially negative concerning their ongoing development. In fact, the last few Pixar films have lacked a lot of the apparent production issues of the past (with the exception of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story 4<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, perhaps) signaling a turnaround that will hopefully result in a string of terrific releases. And as of this writing, we don&#8217;t know if any upcoming sequels are even in the works. If they are, we likely won&#8217;t hear about them for quite a while, with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incredibles 3<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inside Out 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> being the most likely candidates. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this last decade hasn&#8217;t exactly been Pixar&#8217;s most critically favorable, it has far and away been their most financially successful. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding Dory<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incredibles 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> each amassed over $1 billion worldwide, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incredibles 2<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0happens to be the second highest-grossing animated film of all time. All signs point to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toy Story 4<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> becoming yet another juggernaut sequel for Pixar, giving them the creative freedom to carve out a new generation of original characters, voices, locations, and ideas. Pixar has done it before, and it looks like they\u2019re getting ready to do it again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Toy Story 4<\/em> is in theaters now.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/toy-story-4\/164756?ref=insidertickets\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7948\" src=\"http:\/\/blog-proxy.atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Get-Tickets.png\" alt=\"get tickets\" width=\"200\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Toy Story movies have each arrived at critical points in the ongoing 24-year-plus history of Pixar Animation Studios. The first Toy Story in 1995 quite literally revolutionized animation, and its massive success led to another movie for the studio, A Bug&#8217;s Life, as well as faith in a sequel hitting theaters instead of a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,50],"tags":[40,37],"class_list":["post-8705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disney","category-editorial","tag-featuredpage","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8705"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8720,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8705\/revisions\/8720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}