Recently, we reported on Pixar Animation Studio’s progress when it came to bringing past classics back to theaters with 3D upgrades. The films of Brad Bird were in the spotlight, as Pixar was fashioning enhanced visions of The Incredibles and Ratatouille. That might have been the ideal time to reveal this new bit of news, but Disney decided to wait, to give it a little bot of breathing room.
Now it can be announced that sequels are underway for both the Incredibles and Cars franchises. News of The Incredibles 2 and Cars 3 was revealed at an annual stockholders’ meeting (and reported – amongst other places – on InsideTheMagic.net).
So, we’re back in sequel land with Pixar, even as the studio toils away on original fare like Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur. There is reason to get excited. /Film confirms that original Incredibles director Bird is working on the story for Incredibles 2, the next chapter of the Parr family. I honestly have no idea why it took this long to get an Incredibles 2 off the ground. This first movie ENDS with a set up for the next adventure, if that’s the direction that Bird wants to go. Bring on the Underminer!
Cars 3 is another story. The first sequel was largely dismissed as a tepid feature created to continue the red-hot toy market created by Lighting McQueen (Owen Wilson) and the car characters from John Lasseter’s automotive franchise. And that might be the case. Disney and Pixar are making a mint off of product from the Cars series, and keeping it top of mind is brilliant, from a business perspective. Creatively, though, I really hope that the studio cracks the code on a reason to make a Cars 3 . Because both a global race and a spy spoof are very tired ideas, and Pixar couldn’t find a way to punch them up in time for the sequel.
You know what else is driving these decisions, I’m sure? The existence of the open-world Disney Infinity video game, when characters from both of these film franchises play significant roles. The Pixar heroes remain smoking hot right now, and I’m sure the studio wants to keep capitalizing.
The question now shifts to "when" for The Incredibles 2 and Cars 3. Pixar is coming off of Monsters University (a movie that, remarkably, failed to get an Oscar nomination), and they already have Finding Dory in the pipeline. Yes, the studio has a handful of original titles on its docket, but all of a sudden, with this reveal, they are swimming in sequels and need to fight to retain their original voice.
What do you think? Are you excited for Incredibles 2? Cars 3? Both? Neither? Weigh in below.
