Speaking of Pixar… The studio seems to be feeling the sting from its “Elio” box office flop and is now trying to clap back—on Instagram, of all places.
Pixar posted a new video riffing on a viral meme format, where someone makes a pointed statement and then plays it off as if they weren’t the one who said it. In this case, a woman in her car casually drops …
Stop complaining that Disney doesn’t make original stories if you don’t show up to see them in movie theaters, and support them in the first place.
It’s hard to ignore the creative slump Pixar has been in since the ousting of John Lasseter. Say what you will about the man, but under his leadership, the studio delivered an unmatched run of animated classics. His departure in 2018 marked the end of Pixar’s golden era, and while the studio has tried to recalibrate, the magic just hasn’t been the same.
As for that Instagram post, it’s a little desperate, but understandable. “Elio” is officially Pixar’s lowest-grossing film ever; it barely cleared $42M domestic and $72M worldwide on a $200M+ budget. That’s a brutal return for a film that’s supposed to champion the kind of original storytelling Pixar fans claim to want.
It doesn’t help that audiences clearly still prefer IP. “Inside Out 2” earned $1.7B and Pixar’s upcoming slate is packed with sequels— “Toy Story 5” is coming next year, and “Incredibles 3” isn’t far behind. In contrast, their last few original efforts (“Onward,” “Soul,” “Luca,” “Turning Red”) were either pandemic casualties or Disney+ dumps, while “Elemental” only found success after a slow start.
Pixar is hoping “Elio” can do the same, but given the numbers, that hope might already be out the window. It’s not that “Elio” is a bad movie, but it’s not good enough by Pixar’s formerly high standards, and that’s been the case now with their originals for almost 10 years.
The Pixar golden age — roughly 1995 to 2017 — is firmly in the rearview mirror. That era gave us an unprecedented run of animated classics: “Toy Story,” “WALL-E,” “Ratatouille,” “The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Inside Out,” “Coco,” and “Up.” Nearly all of them have either already spawned sequels or are on track to.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.