In recent news, Pixar announced two sequels that were in
development; one was the long-awaited sequel to 2004’s ‘The Incredibles’, with
Brad Bird returning to write the film (no confirmation yet on whether or not he’ll
direct it). The other sequel was ‘Cars 3’… which, simply put, was not as
anticipated given the negative critical reaction to its immediate predecessor.
This has all raised a few questions, and some worries, about the path that Pixar
is currently taking with their animated movies. They do have two original films
coming out next year in ‘The Good Dinosaur’ and ‘Inside Out’. However, after that,
they have not only a ‘Cars’ and ‘Incredibles’ sequel in the works, but a ‘Finding
Nemo’ sequel as well. Now, I’m not that worried about Pixar when it comes to
them announcing ‘sequels’. But this did get me thinking about whether or not
the films in Pixar’s filmography could possibly get a sequel because many of
them have a real sense of finality, meaning that there’s really no need to
continue the story through another film. But there are some possibilities here
and there.
This was something I was going to do some time ago most
likely around the time ‘Monsters University’ was released. Ultimately though I
never published it on here, so with this recent news in mind, I decided to
finally finish it. This is what I like to call ‘Pixar: Sequel or Not?’
TOY STORY FRANCHISE
Possible Sequel: It’s
possible, but I don’t want it to happen
This has been somewhat of a developing rumor in regards to
the possibility of Pixar doing a ‘Toy Story 4’, which might even lead into a
whole new trilogy. Overall, I think it could be done seeing how at the end of ‘Toy
Story 3’ Woody, Buzz, and the gang were left in the care of a new owner,
Bonnie, meaning that there can possibly be some new stories for this franchise
to explore. However, I really don’t want a ‘Toy Story 4’, or new trilogy for
that matter, to happen. Why? Well, it’s quite simple… why should Pixar even
attempt to follow up on one of the greatest film trilogies of all time; one
where every film in the trilogy is fantastic. I don’t want to see the legacy of
this franchise tarnished if this supposed fourth film doesn’t turn out to be
that good. Quite frankly, I’m more of a fan of what Pixar is currently doing
with the franchise right now in regards to the short films that they have been
making. This currently includes ‘Hawaiian Vacation’, ‘Small Fry’, and ‘Partysaurus
Rex’. There’s also the half-hour long special that they released this past
Halloween, ‘Toy Story of Terror!’, and there’s another one coming out this winter,
‘Toy Story that Time Forgot’. I think that this is a nice simple way of keeping
this franchise relevant without having to do another movie. Like I said, it
could happen but that doesn’t mean I would want Pixar to do another ‘Toy Story’
film. Just leave the film franchise where it is.
A BUG’S LIFE
Possible Sequel: Can’t
see it
It has been almost two decades since ‘A Bug’s Life’ was
released in 1998… so I doubt if Pixar currently has, or ever will have, plans
to do a sequel to this film. Nothing really screams ‘sequel’ with this one
anyway.
MONSTERS’ INC/UNIVERSITY
Possible Sequel: Unnecessary
Pixar, you’ve already done a prequel and despite my, and
many others’, initial hesitation towards it, ‘Monsters University’ turned out
to be really good… in fact, considering how it was not nominated for an Oscar
for Best Animated Feature, apparently now kind of underrated. I mean sure, it
still wasn’t up to par with Pixar’s best films but it was still a very
entertaining, heartwarming, and well-made prequel to ‘Monsters’ Inc.’, which
has actually sort of become one of my all-time favorites from Pixar. But in
regards to this franchise, the only step now would be to do a sequel and I don’t
really see a possibility here for a follow-up to the first film. There is the
whole scenario about the Monsters switching from scare energy to laugh energy
but I can’t really see them doing another film just based around that. The only
way I can see them continuing this franchise is by going the ‘Toy Story’ route
and do short films instead. They just released a new short, ‘Party Central’,
which ran in front of ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, and that one was pretty good.
FINDING NEMO
Possible Sequel: Confirmed-
We’ll see where it goes
This was the first of the upcoming three sequels to be
confirmed; ‘Finding Dory’. Currently set for a 2016 release date, this film will
follow the amnesiac Dory (once again voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) as she reunites
with her family… this one could go either way. There is the chance that it
could be a very solid follow-up. Andrew Stanton returns to direct this film and
they do have a few of the other members of ‘Finding Nemo’s cast returning,
including Albert Brooks and Willem Dafoe. However, I’m fearing that this one
could potentially go the route of films like ‘Taken 2’ or ‘Hangover 2’ and just
do a retread of the first film’s plot. I mean, it doesn’t actually look like it
will be that way, but regardless of that I’m going to be rather cautious about
this one.
THE INCREDIBLES
Possible Sequel: Confirmed-
Finally!
Out of all of Pixar’s films that have come out as of now, ‘The
Incredibles’ is the only film in their filmography that truly demands a sequel;
I mean, the film ended by basically setting up a potential future film.
Thankfully, we are getting one, and Brad Bird will be back to write it. However,
there’s no word yet on whether or not he’ll direct it. Also, it will probably
be a few years for this film to come out seeing how Bird is currently busy with
2015’s ‘Tomorrowland’. I hope that Bird will be back in full capacity; not just
as a writer, but as its director as well. Regardless, I’m very much psyched to
hear this news and eagerly await this long-awaited sequel.
CARS FRANCHISE
Possible Sequel: Confirmed-
But does anyone really want it?
‘Cars 3’ has been announced to be in development alongside ‘The
Incredibles but the question here is… does anyone really want to see it? The
first ‘Cars’ film did not exactly get the same amount of critical acclaim as
previous Pixar films but it still got solid reviews from critics. ‘Cars 2’ on
the other hand, while a success at the box office, got slammed by critics. I’ve
only seen ‘Cars 2’ once and at the time, I didn’t think it was that bad but at
the same time it wasn’t a ‘great’ film either. It had a solid idea for a ‘Cars’
sequel being that it followed the characters of Lightning McQueen and Mater on
a world tour but the execution of it was where things went wrong; namely for focusing
too much on Mater to the point where Lightning became a side character. So if
they are doing a ‘Cars’ sequel, they should make sure that give these two equal
roles in the film. I’m not entirely looking forward to ‘Cars 3’, but at the
same time I’m not dreading it either.
RATATOUILLE
Possible Sequel: Not
really
Just like ‘A Bug’s Life’, nothing about ‘Ratatouille’
screams sequel to me. I mean, the only way I can possibly see a sequel to this would
require the filmmakers to have to revert back to square one seeing how at the
end of the film, Remy the rat had become a successful cook in his own right.
There’s nothing they can do to follow up on that.
WALL-E
Possible Sequel: I can
kind of see it happening
Now here’s a Pixar film that could potentially be followed
up on. After all, the plot of ‘Wall-E’ revolved around us humans leaving the
Earth after it had become so polluted due to mass consumerism. At the end of
the film, the humans began to return to the planet and that’s where there could
be a sequel to this; we could see how they attempt to inhabit the Earth again
and try to return it back to the way it once was. I have no idea how the
characters of Wall-E and EVE would fit into this story, but as a whole, a
sequel to ‘Wall-E’ is possible.
UP
Possible Sequel: Nah,
not really…
While this film was based around the idea of adventuring to
new places, I’m not sure how they can follow up to 2009’s ‘Up’. I mean even if
they did, it’s unlikely that the character of Carl would be in it seeing how he’s,
well, old. Besides, his relationship with Ellie, along with his future
relationship to his new friend Russell, was the heart of the film. I hate to
say it, but if they do decide to do a sequel to ‘Up’, which would probably take
place a few years after the events of the film, it’s rather likely Carl would
be dead by this point meaning that we would lose one of the great characters
from its predecessor. Quite frankly, I don’t think it’s worth it to do an ‘Up 2’
for that exact reason.
BRAVE
Possible Sequel: If
so, please do it better...
‘Brave’ was a rather disappointing effort from Pixar. I’m
not saying that it was a bad film by any means; it’s just that the film starts
off with an incredible first half before veering into ‘Kids film territory’ for
the rest of the film and these two halves of the film didn’t particularly mix
well. I’m not even sure that there’s potential for a sequel. I wouldn’t be too
bothered if they did do a ‘Brave 2’ but if they did, I hope that it will turn
out better than the first one.
For the record, I’m not trying to say that Pixar should
absolutely do sequels to their film because as I’ve pointed out, many of these
films have a great finality to them. There’s not much of a need to follow up on
some of these stories, like ‘Ratatouille’ or ‘Up’ because they end at the right
time. There is some potential for future stories with films like ‘Toy Story’ or
‘Wall-E’ but overall, ‘The Incredibles’ is the only Pixar film right now that
deserves a sequel and thankfully, we will be getting one. I’m not saying that I
want to see some of these films to get sequels but I wouldn’t mind if they did.
However I hope that Pixar will continue to make more original films like the
upcoming ‘Good Dinosaur’ or ‘Inside Out’. After all, that’s exactly how they
became the company we all know and love today; through their original stories.
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