Pixar Failure Is Due to Original Stories, Says Disney Exec

For a long time, Pixar has been the high-water mark of studio animation, surpassing even its sister company Disney Animation in critical acclaim, box office grosses, and the number of tears shed over discarded toys. More recently, things seem to be going south for the studio, with the disruptions of COVID-19 and the shift to streaming being particularly deadly for its releases.

However, according to a highly-ranked Disney executive, there is another factor at play for Pixar Animation Studios: original stories are hard.

Related: Disney Pixar Exec Confirms Studio “Not Making Children’s Programming”

Disney head of theatrical distribution Tony Chambers has openly said (per Reuters) that he is disappointed with the poor opening weekend box office of Elemental, the most recent Pixar movie. The Peter Sohn-directed film has achieved an unenviable record, becoming the worst-grossing opening weekend film for the studio (not counting re-releases), which just seems to confirm the downward slide that Pixar is currently on.

Original IP Is Becoming Difficult To Sell, Says Disney Exec

According to Tony Chambers, “Original IP has a harder time cutting through in the market… At this point in time, it’s a very busy marketplace.” In translation, that means that stories not based on an existing franchise (like the Toy Story series) are not competing well against behemoths like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, all of which are also conveniently owned by the Walt Disney Company.

To be fair, Chambers also says that the film industry needs original stories in order to function, which feels like it should be an obvious statement, but we’ve also had five different Spider-Man movies (not counting Venom or Morbius) in the last decade, so maybe not. As Chambers puts it, sometimes Pixar needs to “take a swing for it, which is what we did with Elemental,” with the caveat that it could hopefully become the next big franchise for the animation studio.

Pixar’s Reputation Has Taken a Hit in Recent Years

While a new Pixar movie used to be an event, it seems fans have grown a little bit tired of what the animation studio does. It does not help that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the studio released Turning Red (2022) and Luca (2021) on Disney Plus, prepping audiences to expect that a new Pixar film means flopping down on the couch and turning on the TV rather than going to a theater to buy a ticket.

Related: Pixar’s ‘Elio’ Beams Out New Teaser Trailer

Of course, if you ask TV personality and “financial expert” Jim Cramer, the problem is that Pixar just doesn’t take advantage of AI technology enough, which is what everyone wants. The guy has a Bachelor of Arts in government from Harvard, so we can probably trust him to make a good call about the artistic merits of the constantly developing field of cinematic animation.

Does ‘Elemental’ Failure Mean More Pixar Sequels?

The disappointing opening weekend of Elemental puts Pixar in a difficult position. On one side, the animation studio has always been known for innovative storytelling and unique stories like Inside Out (2015), Brave (2012), and even The Good Dinosaur (2015). On the other, it cannot be denied that its ongoing series like Toy Story (even if it is currently being sued, again), Cars, and Finding Nemo have been ridiculously successful at the box office.

If original stories aren’t working for Pixar, we should not be surprised if we start getting a bunch more increasingly strained sequels to past successes until all goodwill for them is exhausted. Or we could just buy a ticket to Elemental.