Pixar and Disney have a very symbiotic relationship. You can’t help but think of Disney without Pixar and vice versa. However, you have to remember they weren’t always like that. In the beginning Pixar was founded by Steve Jobs, yes it is that Steve Jobs, and with help from George Lucas and the computing technology at Lucasfilm, Pixar was born. Disney helped Pixar with the launch of their first feature film, Toy Story, which was a huge success for the company, and the rest is as they say … history!
One of the reasons I am talking about Pixar is because the relationship between Pixar and Disney has never been perfect and recently there have been some surprising developments behind-the-scenes. Disney and Pixar couldn’t agree on how to proceed with a Toy Story sequel back in the day, and Disney almost created an entirely new animated company with the intention to work on low-budgeted sequels to Pixar’s films. A change in management soon put a stop to that and all upcoming sequels would later be produced internally with their original film slate. Disney was now sitting on the success of Pixar and together they created some much-loved franchises such as the Cars, Incredibles and Monsters Inc. series.
Even though Pixar has primarily focused on feature films, it wasn’t until the launch of Disney+ that they decided to put a portion of their efforts into televised stories with Monsters at Work already on the streaming platform and an original series, Win or Lose, in development. This shows the strong commitment Pixar has with its consumers and more importantly its fanbase. The future is looking like Disney+ could be the permanent home for Pixar, or is it?
Back at the beginning of the global pandemic, Pixar released Onward in theatres, a magical road trip film about two young elves. The film was a financial disaster due to concerns with the health of the public, so Disney and Pixar agreed to give it a Disney+ release within a month of its cinematic release. The result was great! Onward was more of a success on-demand than in cinema’s. So with a few further delays, the decision to shift Soul onto Disney+ seemed like the next logical step, but there was a problem.
Both Onward, Soul, and last year’s Luca all debuted on Disney+ at no additional fee. That’s good, right? Not for Pixar. Disney needs more original content on its streaming service and giving the latest Pixar films for free with subscribers seemed like a logical decision, except it wasn’t doing the same with their in-house animation. Walt Disney Animation released Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto in cinema’s with the former also releasing day-and-date on Disney+ but with a premium rate. Why put premium rates for its own animation instead of the much more critically adored Pixar films?
The next film to be released by Pixar is Turning Red which is coming this March and get this, for free for Disney+ subscribers again! Pixar’s staff are struggling with morale and the workload is still the same as it was for its other big films. We have no idea why Disney is treating Pixar in such a low-respected way, but with Lightyear still due to come to cinemas this June maybe this trend will end? Time will tell what happens but Pixar and Disney are probably going to have discussions behind closed doors to put this matter to rest. What is fair to its audience is not fair on its employees who have worked hard to make these films.
That being said, the quality of their films recently has been second-to-none with Soul proving that they can still create thought-provoking films with a lot of entertainment value, and the upcoming Lightyear also proves they are still pushing themselves further with their animation and graphic work. The future is bright for Pixar and who knows what else the company has in store, but you can expect more thrills and more strong characters in whatever project they come up with next.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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