“Pixar, with ‘Toy Story 3,’ shows increasing reliance on sequels”
Following up on this post yesterday, an overview of Pixar and sequels via the LA Times Business section:
Pixar Animation Studios, the pioneering digital studio that long prided itself on creating novel stories and characters, is now treading a well-worn Hollywood path.
Three of the company’s next four releases are sequels.
On Friday, Pixar debuts the highly-anticipated third chapter of its popular “Toy Story” saga, to be followed in the next two years by new installments of “Cars” and “Monsters, Inc.” Pixar won’t have another original movie until 2012, when “Brave,” about a young Scottish girl of royal blood who dreams of becoming a champion archer, arrives in theaters.
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“Toy Story 3” “represents a big step for the company,” Iger said Wednesday. “It’s a very important franchise for the company. When we bought Pixar in 2006, one of the big results was that ‘Toy Story 3’ would be produced by Pixar, so we’re very excited.”
So are moviegoers. Marketing surveys point toward a opening weekend of at least $70 million at the U.S. box office, a sign fans are looking forward to the latest “Toy Story” movie. Early reviews have been positive, too, albeit it’s not being hailed as an artistic achievement on the level of “Wall-E” or “Up.”
“Toy Story 3,” which has Andy grown-up and going off to college and leaving Buzz, Woody and the rest of his prized toy collection to be donated to a daycare center, is expected to be a bright spot in an otherwise bleak summer. There has been strong buzz about the movie since March, when theater owners raved after seeing it at their Las Vegas convention.
Pixar is remarkable, no doubt about that. As we learned from screenwriter Michael Arndt, the company’s obsession with storytelling and commitment to crafting a great script lies at the heart of their success.
But can Pixar keep hitting the mark creatively? Monsters 2. Cars 2. At least with an original story, there is a freshness to the material and characters. With a sequel, there is a unique challenge to create something new out of something familiar.
Moreover there is a bit of odd karma re sequels and the Pixar-Disney marriage. From the LA Times article:
At the June 13th premiere of “Toy Story 3” at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, [John] Lasseter dismissed concerns about the proliferation of sequels at Pixar, saying that the studio had always wanted to create follow-ups with popular characters.
But those efforts were complicated by its original distribution deal with Disney made prior to the acquisition.
The contract stipulated that sequels did not count under the multi-picture arrangement. Former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner insisted on sticking to the provision, but Jobs balked. Though 1999’s “Toy Story 2” grossed $485 million worldwide, it was not counted as one of the five films Pixar was to deliver under the deal. Jobs refused to make a third Toy Story movie unless it did count toward the total.
The feud contributed to the breakdown in relations between Disney and Pixar, leading Jobs to sever ties with the Burbank studio in 2004. Disney, which owned sequel rights to the Pixar movies, then announced plans to make “Toy Story 3” and other sequels on its own.
The studio went so far as to create a dedicated sequels unit in Glendale for that purpose. At that time, Disney said that it also planned to make sequels to Pixar hits “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.”
After the acquisition, Disney’s then-new chief executive, Iger, halted the studio’s plans to proceed with “Toy Story 3” without Pixar, and shut down the operation dubbed by detractors as “Pixaren’t.”
The threat of Toy Story 3, Finding Nemo 2, and The Incredibles 2, done without Pixar’s involvement, hung over their heads, a trump card in Disney’s hand. I doubt that was the deciding factor in Pixar’s eventual deal with Disney, but it is illustrative of how much Disney envisioned exploiting pre-existing brands (Monsters, Cars, Toy Story) as sequels.
Given all that, plus the possibility that American audiences are suffering from sequelitis, it will be interesting to see how Pixar fares in the sequel game.
If anyone can excel at crafting worthy sequels, I have to believe it’s Pixar.
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