For three decades, Pixar has been viewed as one of the surest bets in Hollywood, cranking out critically-acclaimed and financially successful family movies on a dependable schedule. This weekend’s ELIO is the 28th feature it has released in the past 30 years.
However, as with many Hollywood institutions, the pandemic shook the studio’s aura of invincibility. Beginning in 2020, Pixar bypassed theatres for a number of its new releases, instead turning them into Disney+ exclusives, with the most controversial of these decisions surrounding TURNING RED.
They also suffered a backlash from some audiences for their creative treatment of LIGHTYEAR, a spin-off of sorts from its beloved and seminal TOY STORY movie series. On the bright side, Pixar returned to fine form with the hugely successful INSIDE OUT 2 last summer, the top-grossing movie of the year.
This week’s new release, ELIO, has opened with only so-so results and appears likely to come closer to the results of ELEMENTAL, a well-reviewed but only moderately successful 2023 release. The studio is grappling with the same question that others in Hollywood have faced: how to succeed with original stories.
While family films have been among the best-performing genres since the beginning of the pandemic, the sequels among them have done better on average than original films. SUPER MARIO BROS, INSIDE OUT 2, and MOANA 2 each grossed over $1 billion worldwide, dwarfing even the best-performing original stories such as DreamWorks’ THE WILD ROBOT and THE BAD GUYS.
The best of the original animated films over the past few years has been Pixar’s ELEMENTAL, which turned in $496 million worldwide. Compare this with $1.7 billion for INSIDE OUT 2. As a result, studios are going all in to greenlight new sequels using well-known and established IP. At the same time, they recognize the need for new stories, even if only as a breeding ground for potential new franchises.
