It’s no secret that Pixar has been in a bit of rut lately, but it’s nice to see Disney CEO Bob Iger admit it and willing to work on fixing things at the toon company.
Here’s Iger, via a very in-depth interview with CNBC, where he dishes on everything that’s been going wrong at Pixar/Marvel. Iger acknowledges that Pixar movies going straight to Disney+ didn’t help, but adds that the studio has had some “creative misses.”
Yeah, there were three Pixar releases in a row that went direct to streaming in part because mostly because of Covid. And I think that, you know, may have created an expectation in the audience that they're going to eventually be on streaming and probably quickly, and there wasn't an urgency. And then I think there was some – I think you'd have to agree that there was some creative misses, as well.
Iger is then asked if the loss of John Lasseter contributed as a “blow” to the artistry over at Pixar, he responds by acknowledging that it was “not just John,” but also other staff “turnover” that “that may have had some impact”.
Iger goes on to mention that he’ll be spending less money, in the coming years, and that “Marvel's a great example of that”.
They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series. And frankly, it diluted focus and attention. And I think you're seeing that as I think more of the cause than anything else.
Again, acknowledging your mistakes is the best thing you can do. So, hopefully, we’ll be getting less Marvel this decade as a result of it being a “diluted” product.
Meanwhile, Pixar needs to shape up. There’s a lot of potential with that company, but they’ve totally lost their creative mojo in recent years. The “creative misses” Iger is referring to are probably “Luca,” “Elemental,” “Lightyear” and Onward.”
Gone are the days of churning out one animated classic after another, the likes of “WALL-E,” “Ratatouille,” “The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Up!” “inside Out” and “Toy Story 3.” Pixar’s next few releases might, hopefully, halt this slump, but I doubt it.
Up next for Pixar are “Elio,” “Inside Out 2” and “Toy Story 5.” That’s one too many sequels, they should focus more on original content and get some of the old creatives back at the company. It doesn’t have to be Lassetter, there were plenty of others, from the Pixar golden age, who are no longer working there.
Originally, Cregger was reported to be directing “Gladys.” He then dropped out. He was also supposed to co-write the script with Zach Shields, and apparently now he isn’t.