At a Disney shareholders meeting earlier this week, the Mouse House announced that both Cars 3 and The Incredibles 2 are in development, and the news was greeted by the usual Internet whining about how Pixar shouldn't be making sequels and moaning the loss of original stories from everyone's favorite animation studio. Not only is the crying predictable, it's also poppycock. Here are three reasons why:
1. Pixar is still making plenty of original films. Up came out in 2009. Brave was released in 2012. They have TWO non-sequels — Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur planned for 2015. That's four original features in less than seven years. If you're only interested in films without a number in the title, that's not a bad pace at all. And if it feels like Pixar is giving the shaft to original ideas, it's only because the company is making more movies now overall. They have six films planned for 2015 through 2018, one of which will almost certainly be Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich's Day of the Dead-inspired tale. So considering the studio is plenty interested in continuing to tell fresh tales, it seems overly bitchy to begrudge them tackling some sequels, especially when the creators of the original films, who are almost always involved in some capacity, feel like they have something new to say inside the confines of the universe they created.
2. Pixar is really, really good at making sequels. Toy Story 2 is a masterpiece. Toy Story 3 isn't too far off. Monsters University is a lot of fun. And I can even find value in Cars 2. Neither of the Cars films are my cup of tea (and are clearly geared toward an exclusively younger crowd, unlike most Pixar films), yet the idea of taking those characters and jamming them into a whole new genre (spy films) feels more like the studio getting playful than it does a thoughtless cash grab. So until Pixar's sequels start feeling like stale retreads (**cough**Shreksequels**cough), I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that these sequels are happening because the Pixar brain trust feels there is creative merit in their existence.
3. Because, seriously, who's going to complain about an Incredibles sequel? If there's one Pixar movie that seems built to be a franchise, it's The Incredibles, Brad Bird's wonderful 2004 hit about a family of superheroes who come out of government-mandated retirement and must balance domestic life with saving the world. The superhero concept on its own translates well to sequels, and there is an endless amount of everyday drama that families go through that could provide thematic backing for another super-powered extravaganza. As long as Bird is on board in some capacity — and Disney says he's the one who's developing the story — it'd be crazy not to get excited about another installment. Ratatouille 2? Totally unnecessary. Wall-E 2? That would be ridiculous. But The Incredibles 2?! Bring it the hell on.
