'Lightyear' Coming Summer 2022

TwilightZone

Well-Known Member
I guess the point is, it doesn't matter if Pixar is number 2, the audience reception matter. Good Dino was very, very forgettable, but Inside Out was terrific.
 

britain

Well-Known Member
I’m beginning to think Pixar’s time has past, but honestly not because they have done anything egregiously wrong. Their offerings have become erratic and of less dependable quality, but society also has changed.

Early Pixar was something of a magic trick (the latest CG) but put to use to tell rock solid stories. Remember when Pixar was known for simply crafting the best STORIES? Now it’s easy to point to the cash grab sequels, but early Pixar still made high quality art while grabbing the cash.

But their stories don’t seem inspired anymore. Even Soul could have used some more revisions. Now their CG is great, but nothing special. Gone are the days when the only other act in town was Dreamworks. Now all the streaming studios seem to release an animated movie once a month. Their visual quality might not be as great as Pixar, but they’re good enough to fill the niche.

It’s the 1950’s again, and Disney is trying to tell audiences that are enjoying TV cartoons to come watch Sleeping Beauty!
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Good movies have flopped in years before the pandemic and good movies will flop post pandemic.

That gets us in to the issue of creative and artistic taste, which is entirely personal and subjective. And that's not what we are talking about. I am merely discussing the hard facts of box office financial success. 🤑

And I have no room to talk about creative or artistic taste. 🤣

Just a few nights ago I fired up the BluRay player and sat down with a crisp steak salad, some Godiva chocolates, a bottle of good Cabernet, and proceeded to watch (and enjoy the hell out!) Elvis Presley's 1965 cinematic classic Girl Happy. Artistic taste of what makes a "good" movie is entirely subjective.



And stop by my beach house in July and August, when I screen all of the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach movies in sequential order for friends and family! But it's SoCal, so please know how to dance The Swim before you arrive for the viewing parties. :cool:

Sure if you make a good movie you have a better chance of makeing money, but let's not act like box office is the end-all be-all to spot a quality movie.

No, it's not. But Disney is in the movie business to make money, not to create beautiful art at an endless financial loss to shareholders.

Lightyear will be a huge financial loss for Disney. But who knows?! As I said earlier, it might become a cult classic 20 years from now that packs the Student Union and hipster movie houses with drunk bohemians dressed up as space rangers. Disney won't get any money from those ticket sales 20 years from now, but at least someone will write in the student newspaper that Lightyear is "Beautiful Art!".
 
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TP2000

Well-Known Member
Yeah however I think if a kid wants a Buzz Lightyear they are going to want the Toy Story version not this one. I think Sox is only new character that will have some good toys sales.

Sox looks cute. I bet she'll be big in Japan.

I just checked Target.com, there's a bunch of new Lightyear stuff for sale. Some of it already on sale.


With such weak box office, I doubt Lightyear is going to be the Big New Thing! that kids go crazy for.

The real test is Halloween. How many young Lightyear's do you think will show up at our doors this October 31st? I'm betting not many, judging purely on current box office. I bet there will be a bunch of Maverick fighter pilots in Navy uniforms and lots of Spidermans though. ;)
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I also agree that streaming subscriptions can't be enough to sustain movies with $150 million to $200 million budgets. This is why sending Luca and Turning Red straight to streaming was so baffling to me.

I give 'em a pass on Luca, as it was still Covid back then.

But Turning Red? That was clearly an act of corporate desperation. They knew it was a weak offering, and they had to save face. And they knew they could get at least a few folks to pretend it was still "The Pandemic!" that forced them to do that, even though Turning Red was released on streaming over three months after Spiderman blew up the box office and packed theaters across America with over a Billion dollars in old-fashioned ticket sales, plus trips to the snack bar in the lobby.

In the 2000's if you had a dud of a movie, you released it straight-to-video and it quickly ended up in one of those giant bins of $5 DVD's in the aisle at WalMart, across from the toaster ovens.

In 2022 if you have a dud of a movie, you release it straight-to-streaming on the corporate bundle. ;)
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I maintain that training people to expect $150-200 million animated films to be available FOR FREE on Disney Plus was a mistake. Releasing Soul, Luca and Turning Red straight to Disney Plus did a lot to hurt the Pixar brand, making the movies feel less prestigious and more like direct-to-video films.
This is my general impression, including the idea that putting Soul straight onto Disney+ was a reasonable move but continuing to do that for Luca and Turning Red will have a more negative longterm effect in that it trained people to think of their Disney+ membership as a way to watch the latest Disney releases at home without paying to take the family to the cinema.

What do I know, though? Maybe Disney would counter that the strong early subscriber numbers justify the move and that all of those people who signed up in part because these new films were appearing will now generate hundreds of millions of dollars more for the company over time than the films ever would have? If Disney+ is the priority right now, I can see that case.

I also suspect that it is not viable to keep producing multiple $200million+ movies a year just for a streaming service. However, it's probably also true that the accounting around these films and determining whether they are profitable is going to become a lot harder to judge from the outside. I could see box office and whatever remains of DVD/Blu Ray sales being part of the equation alongside merchandise, etc. However, it is possible that the Encanto model is closer to what Disney will see as a success going forward in that they hope to make some money back from a limited theatrical release, but will also come up with some way of accounting for its performance on Disney+ to determine what it generated for the company overall.
 

Ghost93

Well-Known Member
I give 'em a pass on Luca, as it was still Covid back then.

But Turning Red? That was clearly an act of corporate desperation. They knew it was a weak offering, and they had to save face. And they knew they could get at least a few folks to pretend it was still "The Pandemic!" that forced them to do that, even though Turning Red was released on streaming over three months after Spiderman blew up the box office and packed theaters across America with over a Billion dollars in old-fashioned ticket sales, plus trips to the snack bar in the lobby.

In the 2000's if you had a dud of a movie, you released it straight-to-video and it quickly ended up in one of those giant bins of $5 DVD's in the aisle at WalMart, across from the toaster ovens.

In 2022 if you have a dud of a movie, you release it straight-to-streaming on the corporate bundle. ;)
What are you talking about? Turning Red was critically acclaimed and a lot of people love it. It's hardly a "dud of a movie."
 

maemae74

Well-Known Member
I thought it was just OK!! I haven't been in love with a Disney Co. /Pixar movie since Cruella which IMOP was absolutely fabulous!!!!
 

Ghost93

Well-Known Member
I thought it was just OK!! I haven't been in love with a Disney Co. /Pixar movie since Cruella which IMOP was absolutely fabulous!!!!
I think if I were to rank Pixar's movies:
1. The Incredibles
2. Toy Story 2
3. Monsters Inc
4. Finding Nemo
5. Toy Story
6. Coco
7. Toy Story 3
8. Inside Out
9. UP
10. WALLE
11. The Incredibles 2
12. Luca
13. Turning Red
14. Soul
15. Toy Story 4
16. Lightyear
17. Onward
18. A Bug's Life
19. Ratatouille (I may need to rewatch because I didn't understand the love for this one at all)
20. Brave
21. Finding Dory
22. Monsters University
23. Cars

Still haven't seen Cars 2 or 3 or the Good Dinosaur.
 

Kirby86

Well-Known Member
As for my thoughts on the movie itself it was alright. It's not one I'll rush back to see but I don't regret seeing it. Also chock me up as someone who would have enjoyed the movie more if Tim was still voicing Buzz.
 

BuddyThomas

Well-Known Member
I give 'em a pass on Luca, as it was still Covid back then.

But Turning Red? That was clearly an act of corporate desperation. They knew it was a weak offering, and they had to save face. And they knew they could get at least a few folks to pretend it was still "The Pandemic!" that forced them to do that, even though Turning Red was released on streaming over three months after Spiderman blew up the box office and packed theaters across America with over a Billion dollars in old-fashioned ticket sales, plus trips to the snack bar in the lobby.

In the 2000's if you had a dud of a movie, you released it straight-to-video and it quickly ended up in one of those giant bins of $5 DVD's in the aisle at WalMart, across from the toaster ovens.

In 2022 if you have a dud of a movie, you release it straight-to-streaming on the corporate bundle. ;)
Uhhhh, Turning Red happens to be 94% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
I thought box office bomb the Good Dinosaur was the only other Pixar movie that didn't open at #1?

I was going to say Onward as well, but it looks like it did open as the #1 movie its weekend. But I think that was a function of really no competition - it made less opening weekend than Lightyear.
 

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