Disney Studios- All about Pixar

Well Disney has now owned Pixar for 11 years and IMHO both companies have benefited from the relationship. Obviously, Disney has benefited from the fresh ideas and name recognition that Pixar brings in (especially during the stale disney animation decade of 2000-2010). Pixar benefits from deep pockets, better marketing, and cross promotion leverage. Pixar's hits have been massive, but their occasional misses have been very weak. Let's go over them by time period

The Disney/Pixar Contractual period

Toy Story- A buddy pic that was fresh and opened up new possibilities. Grade- A-

A Bug's life- A bit sloppy and dull. Grade B

Toy Story 2- More clever and fun than the original. Grade A

Monsters Inc.- Another clever hit filled with humor. Grade A-

Finding Nemo- A smash hit, near perfection. Grade A+

The Break off period

The Incredibles- Clever, but still lacking. Grade B

The still contractually obligated to work with you period

Cars- Eisner's pet project, well overrated. Grade C+

The Buyout period (i.e. the renaissance of fresh ideas)

Ratatouille- Clever, fun, heartwarming. Grade A

Wall-E- Innovative and charming. Grade A

Up- Visually spellbinding, weird plot, but amazing first 20 minutes. Grade A-

Toy Story 3- Funny and fitting with the other Toy Story movies. Grade A-

Cars 2- An unnecessary sequel that suffered greatly. Unwatchable. Grade F

Brave- Should have been better, but watchable. Grade B-

Monsters University- Another unnecessary sequel, but did have charming moments. Grade B

Inside Out- A fresh idea with great execution. Grade A

The Good Dinosaur- Too many rewrites with no strong plot. Unwatchable. Grade F

Finding Dory- A tough sequel, but charming moments.


What should Pixar's future be? Clearly they have a good plan of releasing an original film every year with a sequel every other year, unfortunately their not sticking to this plan because there are three sequels planned in the next three years (Cars 3, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4).

I am not against sequels per se. I think Incredibles and Toy Story might warrant them, I also believe Inside Out could warrant one, but let's not go crazy here. There needs to be another fresh 15 ideas they work on.

Additionally, when it comes to the parks, I believe there needs to be a stronger organization of Pixar properties in the parks. At WDW, if there is a pixar place then clearly they should go there, however, Wall-E is easily doable in tomorrowland, Inside out at Journey into imagination, etc.

Thoughts?