At least when they put Luca on Disney Plus, I kind of felt like they were doing it to protect Pixar's reputation. Pixar has had really solid box office success for the most part but Onward even without Covid was looking to be somewhat of a lower grossing film (granted that's still hard to measure given it came out right when things were moving that way, but still) Soul was really in a Limbo of when it was supposed to be released, originally June, then a holiday release of November, and finally was released as a sort of 'Christmas present' in December. I don't really count this as some sort of campaign against Pixar, I really think it fell victim to having closed theaters in most parts of the world at this time. But with Luca, I don't think Disney was confident it would do well at the box office. Unlike Disney animation studios, Pixar's never had a complete flop, and I remember all of the headlines when The Good Dinosaur underperformed. Disney would draw a lot more negative attention with a Pixar flop, and why do that when you could put a more streamer-friendly film on Disney plus and continue to drive subscribers to stay?
With Turning Red, I think it's a result of Encanto not doing as well as they hoped and Omicron creating another potential downturn at theaters.Is it a slight against Pixar? It definitely feels like one, although I can't help but feel like if Encanto was the one coming out in March it would have suffered the same fate. These are just my theories, I feel like there is truth in what some of you have also pointed out. I hope that eventually, we do get another Pixar film in theaters soon, though.
hiDisney kind of did the Encanto thing to itself, given that it got a really short theatrical run where they kind of announced that it would be on Disney+ by Christmas like, right after it started in theatres. It was pretty obviously a calculated move to prevent it from getting flattened by Spider-Man.
I think Luca could have done well in theatres, Soul is a lot riskier because it's a super uneven and unbalanced movie. You'll still find people talking about Luca, Soul kind of fell off the radar after like, three weeks.
Soul's lack of longetivity, like most COVID movies, is due to its very small and restrained release. Movies that still get talked about more than a month after they come out are rare these days. You have to have acquired extreme hype (or been incredibly awful) for that to happen.
Soul was also an animated film movie aimed more at adult audiences, but from a major animation studio that in usual times brings in a lot of both family and adult play, so while I'd wager it would've done much better in a non-COVID environment, it's hard to gauge how much better.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Jan 9th 2022 at 3:25:21 AM
I've only sain praise for Luca. People seem to love the simple but charming story, the authentic Italian feel, and the potential Rainbow Lens interpretation.
https://www.insider.com/pixar-staff-disappointed-turning-red-going-straight-to-disney-2022-1
More vocal dissapointment from the crew at Pixar.
As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.Man, I really hope Lightyear still ends up going to theaters.
Actually, do you think maybe all this could be because Disney isn't willing to give new, untested Pixar IP's a shot in theaters in this pandemic thanks to Onward being released right as it started and bombing?
Disney100 Marathon | DreamWorks MarathonIt's also likely that the Disney people who make the Disney products are the ones in the board rooms making the decisions to ensure their own products aren't relegated to D+ while Pixar probably isn't at the table on these decisions and they're likely made over Pixar's head.
The IP thing is probably an excuse; Encanto has no prior IP for example.
Just saw this
clip (sound was removed due to copyright claim, apparently). Apparently, the Boy Band 4*Town has five members despite its name (just like Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC did).
The movie just released on Disney+ today and honestly I really enjoyed it!
Frankly it’s kinda worth it for the facial expressions alone.
The movie actually makes an great double feature with Encanto in Disney movies dealing with generational trauma.
And as I’ve said before, the expressions in this movie are gold
Am I the only one who's spotted the blink-and-you'll miss it ref to Burrow?
Call me "Pursuer of the Obscure". Also, funny quote: "A little eager on that buzzer, aren't we?"I have not watched the movie yet (I don't have a Disney+ subscription), but it was kind of hard to avoid the spoiler that Mei's mom turns into a monstrous, kaiju-sized panda in the climax. Interesting that this is the second animated movie in 2022 that has a climax with a well-intentioned but misguided deuteragonist turning into a giant monster - Hotel Transylvania: Transformania did the same.
I kinda saw parallels between this film and Brave. Seems I'm not the only one.

That's a really good point: Pixar films aren't super merchandise-friendly, and that's where most of the money is truly made with family films. That said, Turning Red has the main character turn into a giant red panda. You could probably squeeze a few plushies out of that.
Edited by RacattackForce on Jan 7th 2022 at 2:49:44 PM