Cars 2 Money Grab....

[xdan0920]

Cars is universally accepted to be the worst of the Pixar efforts up till now. Cars 2, aka Disney/Pixar money grab, is generating the worst reviews of any Pixar film to date. I am monumentally disappointed in Pixar at the moment. This seems like something that should be beneath them, and yet, here we sit. The one Pixar movie of the year is a sequel to their worst effort, all because little boys buy lots of toys. Sad.

Pixar is headed down the sequel road. Including Toy Story 3, which was magnificent, 3 of pixars movies from then on are sequels or prequels. Kind of disappointing if you ask me.

The Monsters prequel does sound like it has potential to be great. So I will reserve judgement on that.

 

[sublimesting]

I wasn't a bog Cars fana nd this sequel to me looks kind of "weird".

 

[POTC]

i was really disappointed when i was reading the reviews. i was hoping that this film would bring the cars franchise from being Pixar's worst to...well better! Im not saying that 'cars' was bad, i actually thought it was pretty good, but you can tell it was Pixar's weakest

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Without a proper consensus from either critics (yet at least from RT) or the public, any knowledge of the film's financial performace or having even seen the movie myself, I won't bash Pixar just yet.

And even if it does suck, given their track record I won't be too hard on them. They haven't produced a string of bad movies yet.

I'm more disapointed in Disney Feature Animation trying to sell an hour long Pooh movie as the next "classic" cannon title.

 

[xdan0920]

Without a proper consensus from either critics (yet at least from RT) or the public, any knowledge of the film's financial performace or having even seen the movie myself, I won't bash Pixar just yet.

And even if it does suck, given their track record I won't be too hard on them. They haven't produced a string of bad movies yet.

I'm more disapointed in Disney Feature Animation trying to sell an hour long Pooh movie as the next "classic" cannon title.

Well the thing here is, Cars was the weakest Pixar movie to this point. But it made a fortune on merchandise. Disney has basically come out and said, we made this movie because of the merch tie ins. It is the very definition of money grab. Which kind of stinks.

Also, do you consider the original Pooh to be a "classic"? I do, so I see this as a nice continuation. If you don't then I get why you would not consider this a potential classic as well.

 

[plaz10]

I personally did not enjoy Cars in comparison to the other Pixar films.

but to agree with another poster - the merchandise sales have been some of Pixars best (excluding Toy Story). So Disney does what any company would do - milk that merch cash cow for all it's worth. I think Cars is so popular because with the large amount of Disney Princess merch for girls - cars is something for the boys to love. I don't really care to see Cars 2, I will probably netflix it eventually.

But I'm crazy excited to see the Monsters Inc prequel because MI is my favorite Pixar movie. So maybe it's all with personal preference.

 

[CaptainWinter]

So Disney does what any company would do - milk that merch cash cow for all it's worth.

No. That's what other companies are about. That's not what Disney is about. Not the soul of Disney anyway, and certainly not Walt, or his enduring presence in the company.

If you hear John Lasseter discuss Cars, he does so totally without cynicism. I don't think cheap commercialism can explain, for example, how the movie's creators toured Route 66 to get the local flavor just right. Or how lovingly some of the details are rendered, like the shadows flickering over the scrub next to the highway, or the beauty of the southwestern scenery. The toys would have sold *just fine* without those touches! Personally I think Cars is a very decent movie, much more than a toy tie-in.

I have also been disappointed with the Cars 2 reviews. It's the only Pixar film I can remember that actually got reviews that are flat-out poor. (See the New York Times, June 23 [http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/06/2...ry-the-cable-guy-and-owen-wilson-review.html], for example.) But -- I will reserve judgment until I see it myself.

 

[MansionGoer13z]

I too felt that Cars 2 was a major Money Grab the day I heard Cars 2 was going to be relesed and the plot explained. In fact I feel The whole Cars franchise is a major reach for cash. Certainly not my favorite of the whole Pixar movies that have been produced and one of the weakest and lamest of the stories that was produced by PIXAR. PIXAR shoulda been honest and called CARS 2, "CARS 2: The Search For More Money. Not going to be seeing Cars 2 Ever! PIXAR you dissapoint me on this one.

 

[Malvito]

So far, I have only read one review, and it was pretty positive. I will grant you that life is short and I am not wasting my time by going to Rottentomatoes.com to look for bashers. How many who will respond by quoting critic reviews went on a spree of bashing the critics who responded negatively to POTC IV, Thor, X-Men: First Class, and/or Green Lantern? Or do the critic reviews only matter when you don't like the franchise or subject matter?

Is CARS the weakest entry of the Pixar output? I think that such is a matter of individual point of view. I initially went with expectations of not enjoying it, only to be surprised with how much heart I found in it. Different strokes; not everybody is going to like every single thing put out by Pixar, any more than by Disney or Spielberg or by Dreamworks or by anyone else. Do you like every single movie put out by Disney studios, even when Mr. Disney was alive?

CARS 2 will probably make a lot of money; family movie, after all. The first one has proved to be profitable to the studio. I know that we are not supposed to think in those terms, but those profits enable the company to make something like Up, which was not initially expected to do as well as it did. Ultimately, if you aren't interested, don't go. My wife and I will be there on Saturday morning.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Also, do you consider the original Pooh to be a "classic"? I do, so I see this as a nice continuation. If you don't then I get why you would not consider this a potential classic as well.

While the "classic" line of titles is just marketing that's inconsistent in titles across countries and questionable in selection, up until this point only one of the many Pooh features produced by Disney made the list. Now this one does becuase WDFA doesn't have anything else to offer from their 2-D staff. That's what's sad to me.

At this point I'd also consider Pooh more of a "cash grab" given the higher volume of products made over a longer period of time.

 

[erasure fan1]

No. That's what other companies are about. That's not what Disney is about. Not the soul of Disney anyway, and certainly not Walt, or his enduring presence in the company.

While I believe that isnt what Walt would have been about, its TOTALLY what Disney of the last 15 or what ever years has been about. The amount of horrid made for video sequels of classic Disney movies are in my opinion the definition of money grab. All the princess and tinkerbell movies, only made to sell merchandise to little girls. All the time tarnishing Disney animation as the benchmark of quality.

 

[xdan0920]

While the "classic" line of titles is just marketing that's inconsistent in titles across countries and questionable in selection, up until this point only one of the many Pooh features produced by Disney made the list. Now this one does becuase WDFA doesn't have anything else to offer from their 2-D staff. That's what's sad to me.

At this point I'd also consider Pooh more of a "cash grab" given the higher volume of products made over a longer period of time.

Granted I have yet to see the new Pooh movie, but to me it looks more like a labor of love then a cash grab. The pooh characters have no doubt been over exposed, and possibly even exploited over the years. But this film feels different. It just feels right, I guess that is not a measurable thing, but it is the opposite of how cars feels, to me at least.

While I believe that isnt what Walt would have been about, its TOTALLY what Disney of the last 15 or what ever years has been about. The amount of horrid made for video sequels of classic Disney movies are in my opinion the definition of money grab. All the princess and tinkerbell movies, only made to sell merchandise to little girls. All the time tarnishing Disney animation as the benchmark of quality.

That was the first thing John Lasseter put a stop to when he became emperor of Disney Animation. Those horrid straight to video reputation killers.

Which is what disappoints me the most about this Cars 2 movie. Maybe I am being overly pessimistic, but it seems to me this movie was made simply to expand merch and make money. I realize the purpose of all movies is to make money, but that should not be the only purpose. Maybe Lasseter really believes in the movie beyond its potential to fill up the coffers, if so, then at least you can say he had more behind it then cash registers.

 

[erasure fan1]

That was the first thing John Lasseter put a stop to when he became emperor of Disney Animation. Those horrid straight to video reputation killers.

Yet here we are with a direct to DVD spin-off of cars, Disney Planes. And even though they are not sequels, the tinkerbell spin-off movies he let continue.

 

[Enderikari]

Cars is universally accepted to be the worst of the Pixar efforts up till now.

I must disagree, until now, I feel like A Bugs Life was the weakest Pixar film to date, and with even one dissenting voice, the term "universally" cannot be applied. Heck, my Dad, who Disney movies really dont usually appeal to, considers Cars to be his favorite Disney film

 

[mickey2008.1]

Weakest film? It got academy awards. Grossed over 450 million. It's sequel comes out today, and it's viewed as bad? what the ----! It's getting it's own land, which many are not complaining about, except for peeps at wdw. The negativity of a great movie franchise is just speachless! What ever happened to "let's see it first, complain later" I remember when the first movie came out, and everyone on this board raved about it, and now it's about a cash cow, it's business! Nobody complained about the crappy sequels of POTC, especially the last one, talk about cash cow and sticking it to the public.

 

[xdan0920]

Weakest film? It got academy awards. Grossed over 450 million. It's sequel comes out today, and it's viewed as bad? what the ----! It's getting it's own land, which many are not complaining about, except for peeps at wdw. The negativity of a great movie franchise is just speachless! What ever happened to "let's see it first, complain later" I remember when the first movie came out, and everyone on this board raved about it, and now it's about a cash cow, it's business! Nobody complained about the crappy sequels of POTC, especially the last one, talk about cash cow and sticking it to the public.

Let's just take this one thing at a time.

It did not get any Academy Awards.

Many people are not complaining about Cars land because it is a major improvement for a Park that really needed improving. There is a big E-Ticket ride coming along with it as well. The fact that is tied into the Cars franchise has very little to do with the excitement.

Pixar did not make the Pirates movies, so I am not sure why you would bring them up.

I have no idea what you mean by the negativity being speachless. I suspect you are a younger member of this forum, so I will not engage you any further in debate.

 

[xdan0920]

I must disagree, until now, I feel like A Bugs Life was the weakest Pixar film to date, and with even one dissenting voice, the term "universally" cannot be applied. Heck, my Dad, who Disney movies really dont usually appeal to, considers Cars to be his favorite Disney film

Replace universally with generally. You are right, some people, especially little boys think cars is the best of all movies. Period.

 

[CaptainWinter]

While I believe that isnt what Walt would have been about, its TOTALLY what Disney of the last 15 or what ever years has been about. The amount of horrid made for video sequels of classic Disney movies are in my opinion the definition of money grab. All the princess and tinkerbell movies, only made to sell merchandise to little girls. All the time tarnishing Disney animation as the benchmark of quality.

I can't speak for all the straight-to-DVD films, but, I have a little girl of my own and we've watched the 3 (I think that's all) Tinkerbell movies. Have you seen them? I was very surprised -- they're really not that bad. Really. The first one in particular has an ingenious ending sequence. And this stands with my comment that Disney is not *only* about grabbing money, because a movie doesn't have to be good -- at all -- to inspire a little kid to want to buy toys.

There was a point when my daughter would have happily watched nothing more than a bouncing bunny rabbit on a screen -- seriously. So, when Disney makes a movie that pleases kids and is actually a decent movie, I call that going above and beyond cash grabbing.

But, I do admit, Disney has put out some real garbage. I wouldn't claim otherwise. But I don't think that's what Disney is fundamentally about.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Cars 2....stuck in neutral.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-06-22/film/lightning-mcqueen-s-european-vacation-in-cars-2/



This was a new thread, but I merged it with an existing one because many posters seem to be bothered by parallel threads. I thought this was an interesting addition to the discussion. The Mom

 

[njDizFan]

This article seems to sum up the concensus of critics I've read. I still think the film will do well, the audiences seem to enjoy it so far(77% on Rotten Tomatoes, opposed to 36% critics). It has a very strong base built in with some heavy merchandizing. I here most of my co-workers buzzing about taking their kids. I don't think the the bad press will deflate their interest. I never had and never will have any interest in seeing the film.

I always thought it was by far the worst Pixar film and did not deserve a sequel. Toy Story was a brilliant trilogy but for the most part I think sequels are just an easy way to milk revenue from a previously established film.