Cars 2? :(
I hope this isn’t true. While Lightning and Mater sell tons of merchandise, the movie wasn’t the strongest. In fact, it was the only Pixar movie that at some point felt too long to me, right about when Sally grabs McQueen for a drive.
Now an Incredibles sequel is something I could get behind, especially if the characters have aged a few years so that Jack Jack gets a bit more screen time.
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Posted on February 29, 2008, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 15 Comments.
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I completely agree with what you are saying.
You know it was my second least favorite Pixar movie but judging by all the Cars merchandise in my home and the number of times the DVD has been played it’s tremendously popular with kids.
Contrast this with Ratatouille which was among my favorites but which little kids don’t like nearly as much.
Personally I was disappointed that after Toy Story III and Cars 2 there was no mention of a new Incredibles which is my favorite of all their films and the one most open to a sequel.
Wow, this is bad news.
Clark,
You might not see a Ratatouille or a The Incredibles sequels. They are made by Brad Bird, and he doesn’t seem to me like the kind of storyteller that will repeat himself solely for some extra cash.
They must be running out of fresh ideas there at Pixar. Have they reached their zenith?
Clark,
I tried to count the number of Lightning McQueens we have the other day and reached six or seven. Seven only if you count a 3d paper model that my son and I made after he saw the movie. I’m not counting shirts, sheets, posters, stickers, coloring books, etc. I’m just counting toy cars. I’m also not counting other toy cars from the movies.
Oddly though, my kids would love some Ratatoullie merchandise. Grandma gave them a stuffed rat recently that they call “Ratatoullie” and play with all the time.
Dan,
The problem is that Toy Story and Cars are so incredibly lucrative. While all the films do well at the box office, those two have ruled the toy aisle for some time.
My 22 month old daughter loves Finding Nemo right now. In fact today, she brought her Nemo and Dory fish with us on the subway.
I tell you, I dream of Finding Nemo right now.
Dan:
I’m also experiencing the “Take Nemo Everywhere” phase.
Yeah, I don’t even want to think about the cash we’ve handed over to the McQueen franchise. Gah.
Say it ain’t so!!
I’d be worried if Toy Story 2 weren’t so much better than the first. I believe in Pixar, even their worst movies are better than anything else in the theater at most times.
After Ratatouille, I’m convinced the Pixar well of creativity will never run dry.
As long as they keep Brad Bird. He has provided Pixar, so far, two gorgeous gems: The Incredibles and Ratatouille. I wonder what his next project is…
Ratatouille is not a Brad Bird project in the same way that The Iron Giant and The Incredibles were. He was brought onto Ratatouille by Pixar fairly late in the project, as a “problem-solver”. He did a great job, but it wasn’t a written-produced-directed deal like the other two.
Given the expense involved in creating CG models, reuse seems like a good way to keep production costs down.
Hmm, overstated my case in the previous comment. Bird didn’t produce any of the movies, and has a writer’s credit on Ratatouille. Still, the point stands — his involvement on that movie is not at the same level as the other two.
I’m pretty sure he was brought onto Ratatouille fairly early. He was a problem solver and there was a fair bit done. But it was still early in terms of the overall timeline.