# Cars 2: Pixar's first critical flop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539 "2011-06-23T10:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/81 "2011-06-24T21:19:14Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Carlton Haulstons: Speed bumps are people! Peeeeeeeople! > > šŸ™‚ > > -Joe I kinda like the ā€œyou blew it all to hellā€ Charlton Heston interpretation of Cars myself. PS, either your spell checker is tits up or youā€™ve hit the Wild Turkey a bit too early today šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/82 "2011-06-24T21:55:24Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I kinda like the ā€œyou blew it all to hellā€ Charlton Heston interpretation of Cars myself. > > PS, either your spell checker is tits up or youā€™ve hit the Wild Turkey a bit too early today šŸ™‚ Dude, I was being clever. Charlton = CARlton, Heston = HAULston. Genius is never appreciated in itā€™s time. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/83 "2011-06-24T22:05:16Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Dude, I was being clever. Charlton = CARlton, Heston = HAULston. > Genius is never appreciated in **itā€™s** time. > > -Joe Hoping the typo was unintentional, because Iā€™m loving the juxtaposition šŸ˜ƒ šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/84 "2011-06-24T22:21:54Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > Even if they are going for the merchandising dollars, donā€™t most movies have toy tie-in opportunities? Iā€™ve seen plenty of Buzz Lightyears and Woody the Cowboys, and while I havenā€™t seen as many Incredibles toys, thereā€™s no reason they couldnā€™t be made. > > Indeed, but none have sold as much as Cars. Plus much of Toy Story was built around existing toys; better to make your own, from a purely profit standpoint. Also, some of the films, like Up and Ratatouille, donā€™t really make for great toys. Can you imagine playing with a toy Carl, Russell or Remy? Edited to add that I fully expect to see someone link to toy versions of all of those characters. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/85 "2011-06-24T22:30:02Z")
And another thing Disney wants is to be able to exploit a film title in other ways, such as theme park rides, television series, ice shows and so forth. So from Toy Story they made the animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and several park rides. I donā€™t think they did that with Up, Ratatouille or Wall-E. (I think the ultimate example of this sort of thing was High School Musical, which spawned several sequel films, multiple albums, live shows and video games.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/86 "2011-06-25T01:16:02Z")
For those of you wondering why this movie has such a toy oriented push, have any of you ever seen [John](http://julesbianchi.com/blog/images/2007/04/pixar05.jpg) [Lasseterā€™s](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-OA605_mag611_G_20110524133846.jpg) [office](http://www.criticizethis.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/JohnLasseter.jpg)? Only half the Pixar movies lend themselves to merchandising, so though itā€™s not primary, it is a factor they consider at times. _Toy Story_, _Monsters Inc_, _Finding Nemo_, and _Cars_ had a huge merchandising push, while _A Bugā€™s Life_, and _The Incredibles_, had medium level merchandising success, and _Ratatouille_, _UP_, and _Wall-E_ didnā€™t do much toy marketing at all. Itā€™s not at the forefront, but if the opportunity is there, theyā€™ll exploit it. They are still also Disney, remember, and John Lasseter loves toys and collectibles. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/87 "2011-06-25T01:56:03Z")
Personally, I think the death of Joe Ranft had a subtle but signifigant effect on Pixar. Ranft had a number of roles at Pixar but the one I think was key was that he was the story supervisor. I think he was the guy that would look at the overall project and ask ā€œAre we making a good movie?ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/88 "2011-06-25T02:36:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This about sums it up. The original appealed to car guys. But car guys are a fairly small slice of the population. _Ratatouille_ obviously appealed _more_ to foodies, and _The Incredibles_ appealed _more_ to superhero fans, and so on, but all of those also appealed to the general population. _Cars_, though, appealed to car guys, and thatā€™s about it. My friend argued that the movie is a ā€œmovie for kids of rednecksā€ and that it was aimed at a rural demo. Anyone want to shoot that one in the head for me, or agree with it? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/89 "2011-06-25T02:45:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Only half the Pixar movies lend themselves to merchandising, so though itā€™s not primary, it is a factor they consider at times. _Toy Story_, _Monsters Inc_, _Finding Nemo_, and _Cars_ had a huge merchandising push, while _A Bugā€™s Life_, and _The Incredibles_, had medium level merchandising success, and _Ratatouille_, _UP_, and _Wall-E_ didnā€™t do much toy marketing at all. Iā€™m pretty sure Wall-E did have some associated toys, [including this pricey fellow](http://www.amazon.com/Wall-E-60260-Ultimate/dp/B001KSWVIA). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/90 "2011-06-25T02:55:16Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > Iā€™m pretty sure Wall-E did have some associated toysā€¦ Some, but not much. I have a little Wall-E figure myself, and there were Eve figures too, of various formats. But not much else. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/91 "2011-06-25T03:34:26Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Dude, I was being clever. Charlton = CARlton, Heston = HAULston. > Genius is never appreciated in itā€™s time. > > -Joe More importantly, idiots (like me) never see it šŸ™‚ Though I was wondering how you were getting the spelling THAT bad. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/92 "2011-06-25T03:53:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Only half the Pixar movies lend themselves to merchandising, so though itā€™s not primary, it is a factor they consider at times. _Toy Story_, _Monsters Inc_, _Finding Nemo_, and _Cars_ had a huge merchandising push, while _A Bugā€™s Life_, and _The Incredibles_, had medium level merchandising success, and _Ratatouille_, _UP_, and _Wall-E_ didnā€™t do much toy marketing at all. They screwed up on the original _Toy Story_ by not producing the mutant toys from Sidā€™s room. A snap-together set so you could make your own mutants would have been the geek toy of the century. Every IT department in the world would be festooned with them. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/93 "2011-06-25T05:29:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Also, some of the films, like Up and Ratatouille, donā€™t really make for great toys. Can you imagine playing with a toy Carl, Russell or Remy I found a plush toy Russell in an opshop, I really should have bought it. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/94 "2011-06-25T07:57:42Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > There is a God in the Cars universe. (They call him ā€œthe manufacturer.ā€) Doesnā€™t the lost couple (Minnie and Van?) make some comment like ā€œOh, for the love of Chrysler?ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/95 "2011-06-25T08:23:55Z")
You mean that stupid Panda movie wasnā€™t the failure? Meh. My son wants to see Cars 2, and Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll go, but Iā€™m not looking forward to it. There arenā€™t that many kids movies I like. But he LOVES Cars and has been talking about this for months, so \, donā€™t tell him heā€™s going. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/96 "2011-06-25T09:33:10Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > You mean that stupid Panda movie wasnā€™t the failure? Meh. > > My son wants to see Cars 2, and Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll go, but Iā€™m not looking forward to it. There arenā€™t that many kids movies I like. But he LOVES Cars and has been talking about this for months, so \, donā€™t tell him heā€™s going. Kung Fu Panda was Dreamworks, not Pixar. After he did that movie, Jack Black said in his announcement for best animated feature at the Oscars: ā€œEvery year I make an animated feature for Dreamworks, and every year I bet my entire wages on Pixar getting the Oscar.ā€ (paraphrased) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/97 "2011-06-25T15:33:24Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > After he did that movie, Jack Black said in his announcement for best animated feature at the Oscars: ā€œEvery year I make an animated feature for Dreamworks, and every year I bet my entire wages on Pixar getting the Oscar.ā€ (paraphrased) Well, the last Pixar film to not win Animated Feature was _Cars_. I think itā€™s a fairly safe bet the sequel will not do much better for the 2011 awards. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/98 "2011-06-25T16:28:15Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > My friend argued that the movie is a ā€œmovie for kids of rednecksā€ and that it was aimed at a rural demo. > Anyone want to shoot that one in the head for me, or agree with it? I donā€™t know that I would say itā€™s for kids of rednecks, but I think it was aimed at a more, um, conservative demo. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/99 "2011-06-25T17:52:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Also, some of the films, like Up and Ratatouille, donā€™t really make for great toys. Can you imagine playing with a toy Carl, Russell or Remy? What about Kevin and Doug? Squirrel! ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539/100 "2011-06-25T18:28:47Z")
I brought my son and nephews to this, and it was not very good. I didnā€™t like Cars though, so take my opinion for what itā€™s worth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-2-pixars-first-critical-flop/586539.md?page=6)