In light of “Finding Dory” shattering previous records for the highest grossing opening weekend for an animated film, it may seem a little silly to ask the question, “Is Pixar failing?”
After all, this is the company that set the standard for computer-generated animations. With their heartfelt stories and groundbreaking software, Pixar is a company that has garnered fan support of all ages. They were not afraid to take risks and tell original stories about toys that come to life or rats with a culinary talent (for the purposes of this article, I'm not going to discuss the whole "Dreamworks stole the plots from Pixar" debate). After the critical and commercial success of their blockbuster hit “Toy Story,” Pixar cemented themselves as a family-friendly company that never dumbed down their stories to accommodate a younger audience. It was easy to tell that Pixar told stories because they wanted to, not because someone was forcing them to.
Pixar’s enormous success lasted for years as they released solid hit after hit with original stand-alone movies that captured their audiences’ sense of adventure and imagination. I think it's safe to say the revelation that the glorious animation overlord was capable of making "OK" movies happened after the release of "Cars 2" (considering "Cars" was already a "meh" movie and was, arguably, the least deserving of a sequel).
I remember watching "Cars 2" in theaters and being legitimately confused as to why I wasn't enjoying myself. I was watching a Pixar movie for crying out loud! It was a treat to look at, but I found myself apathetic to the plot and the characters. Clever writing had been replaced with cheap jokes and fast-paced action to keep little kids entertained. Was it horrible? That's a little too harsh. Was it on-par with the Pixar standard? Absolutely not.
Maybe we can chalk it up to pressure put upon them by Disney executives, but Pixar seems to have pulled away from giving us well thought out original movies in favor of sequels. Just look at the long lineup of sequels planned for the next few years. It keeps growing!
Speaking of sequels, I watched "Finding Dory" opening weekend, and was immediately worried that I was watching the ultimate downfall of my animation idol. Half the movie was just a boring version of "Finding Nemo."
It wasn't until the second half of the movie that I fell in love with the story. It had interesting characters, an engaging plot, comical setting (the "petting zoo" aquarium scene still leaves me in stitches), emotional resolution, and absolutely stunning visuals, but the downside was it took too long to give them to me. The first half had me forcefully smiling at the screen while tapping my fingers uncomfortably on my armrest as I waited for something interesting to happen. Pixar movies used to provide so much more than that.
Whatever the case may be, Pixar has been steadily dishing out "OK" sequels in-between their original work, and even their current original work hasn't been as successful as usual ("The Good Dinosaur" was not a box-office failure, but neither was it a box-office hit). Usually, no one would care that an animation studio made an occasional "meh" movie, but since our standards for Pixar are so high, anything less than their best seems like a crime against humanity.
Back to the question: "Is Pixar failing?" I'm going to go ahead and answer NO.
Nobody is perfect, and in the end, even Pixar is allowed to make mistakes. (But please, for the love of all that is holy, cancel "Cars 3" Pixar, I beg of you!)
