# The slow downfall of Pixar **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, disney-hulu\ **Created:** [July 28, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431 "2025-07-28T16:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/41 "2025-07-30T01:35:30Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > What happens when a child decides that a plain household object is a toy? Does it suddenly gain a soul? Oh, boy. Random objects my son has ensouled: 1. a grain of rice sandwiched between two pieces of tape 2. a Rubik’s cube 3. Laminated giant cards featuring math exercises 4. Three calculators 5. The kitchen scale 6. Various rocks 7. Various sticks 8. Numerous sheets of paper, including one with the Fibbonacci sequence up through the octillions 9. Balls made entirely out of Scotch tape I actually think his sudden attachment to random objects is pretty adorable. I just never considered the existential consequences before. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/42 "2025-07-30T01:54:40Z")
Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/43 "2025-07-30T02:15:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Forky didn’t originate in Toy Story 4, though. He was in the shorts before that. And in fact, that’s why I say that the ending of 4 defied canon: The shorts show Forky at home interacting with Buzz and Woody. [Somewhat canon-restoring premise summary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story_5#Premise) of _TS5_ over at Wikipedia, which I will refrain from quoting here out of deference to the potentially spoiler-sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/44 "2025-07-30T02:44:49Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > > [@sciurophobic](#): > > > > Are you saying **Coco, Onward, Soul, Luca, Turning Red, Elemental, and Elio** aren’t original? > > I wouldn’t say not original, I would just say not particularly good, except Coco, which was excellent Yet _Coco_ just covered ground of the superior _The Book of Life._ ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/45 "2025-07-30T06:08:48Z")
I barely remember that, but I checked IMDB and I gave it 6/10, while _Coco_ got 8 (and is memorably weepy at the end), so I guess I disagree! On _Toy Story 4,_ it might not be as good as the first three are, but that doesn’t make it a bad film. In fact, it’s a very good film. Forky is hysterically funny, and yet at the same time does raise some rather profound questions, as detailed in posts above. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/46 "2025-07-30T07:14:48Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > From the get-go, _Toy Story_ has been kind of pushing back on that premise, in more or less subtle ways. What about when a child’s delight in toys is abusive and destructive? How do toys cope with the inevitable tragedy of their beloved child outgrowing them and no longer caring about them, or not in the same way? Do toys just embark on a form of “serial monogamy” in devotion to successive children, which never quite replaces the “one true love” image of the first child whose favorite they were? Can a toy have a meaningful existence outside of that “favorite toy” bond, that isn’t just making the best of a new attachment or whiling away the years in an owner’s attic? [Or…](https://www.reddit.com/r/TIHI/comments/jsz3zs/thanks_i_hate_toy_story_19/#lightbox) > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Yet _Coco_ just covered ground of the superior _The Book of Life._ What I really want is the story of Coco with the wooden-puppet art style and storytelling framing device of TBoL. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/47 "2025-07-30T15:51:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Forky didn’t originate in Toy Story 4, though. He was in the shorts before that. And in fact, that’s why I say that the ending of 4 defied canon: The shorts show Forky at home interacting with Buzz and Woody The shorts take place during the time period of TS4. In fact, _Toy Story 4_ shows Bonnie creating Forky during her first day of school. As for recent Pixar movies, our family is really fond of _Luca_. It came out the same year as Disney’s _Encanto_, and I feel like it was overshadowed by that dreadful Bruno song. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/48 "2025-07-30T16:12:48Z")
I like TS1-3 but I have to just not think about the “toys are sentient” aspect. Are toys from 1000 years ago also sentient? Are they still? Do toys “die”? Or do they remain trapped and thinking at the bottom of the landfill where they ended up 40 years ago? Do they live forever? Like, will Buzz and Woody still be “alive” in the year 2525? How much of a toy can be damaged/removed/destroyed before the toy is no longer sentient? Do all toys go to heaven? If you sew one doll’s head on another body, which one is the real “personality”? How much of a tinkertoy or erector set must be assembled, what is the minimum complexity, before sentience is reached? If a toy is purchased by a collector, and never loved by a child, does it cry in the packaging? And…did my farm toys have personalities? Just the tractors, or do all the implements have their own separate identities? Even the Styrofoam hay bales? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/49 "2025-07-30T16:43:18Z")
I went into a similar existential spiral about _Cars._ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/50 "2025-07-30T17:10:45Z")
I’ve never watched it (basically for that reason) but I resolved the dilemma by imagining that the cars were originally constructed by humans, and all the humans died, so the cars (which are about as “big-picture” aware as David in AI) just keep doing what they think humans want. Anything in the film that doesn’t make sense can be explained by “cars are dumb”. 🙂 Otherwise the film raises more questions than it answers! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/51 "2025-07-30T18:36:18Z")
**Toy Story:** What if toys had feelings? **Cars:** What if cars had feelings? **Finding Nemo:** What if fish had feelings? **Inside Out:** What if FEELINGS had feelings? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/52 "2025-07-30T19:40:50Z")
Elio suffered from absolutely no advertising. I literally saw over 50 movies this year so far and only twice did I see an Elio trailer, and that was before a screening of The Wedding Singer, maybe not the target audience. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/53 "2025-07-30T19:52:26Z")
Regarding Elio (which I have not seen), The Hollywood Reporter has an [article](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/elio-pixar-america-ferrera-director-queer-2-1236301860/) about the film, how an early test screening and a screening by Pixar management led to the departure of the original director and the toning down of elements that suggested the title character was gay. The article suggests the movie was ruined. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/54 "2025-07-30T20:19:49Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Elio suffered from absolutely no advertising. I saw a huge number of ads for Elio on Youtube, for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/55 "2025-07-30T20:58:53Z")
I never even heard of Elio until this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/56 "2025-07-31T14:19:10Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How much of a toy can be damaged/removed/destroyed before the toy is no longer sentient? > > […] > > If you sew one doll’s head on another body, which one is the real “personality”? Let me just ask my Theseus Action Figure With 30-Oared Galley what it thinks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/57 "2025-07-31T18:47:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Regarding Elio (which I have not seen), The Hollywood Reporter has an [article](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/elio-pixar-america-ferrera-director-queer-2-1236301860/) about the film, how an early test screening and a screening by Pixar management led to the departure of the original director and the toning down of elements that suggested the title character was gay. The article suggests the movie was ruined. If a film has a major gay character- unless it is an adult drama- it will be review bombed by bigots. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/58 "2025-07-31T18:52:00Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Let me just ask my Theseus Action Figure With 30-Oared Galley what it thinks. How many oars do you have to replace before it becomes a new toy? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/59 "2025-07-31T18:56:32Z")
Anecdotally, it’s not just about advertising or the lack thereof, but also that the societal buzz is gone. I remember friends chatting enthusiastically about _Inside Out_ in 2015, and the big buzz among college friends, etc. for Pixar movies prior to that. I’ve never heard any friend even make any comment at all about any Pixar film after 2015. The “we’ve got to see this” energy isn’t there. Nobody in my social circle seems excited about an upcoming Pixar; the studio simply lost its magic. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431/60 "2025-07-31T19:42:47Z")
Some of the lack of buzz and advertising also seems to be technology related. CG films benefited from a lot of awareness in the tech/geek community because of how rendering and graphics were always pushing new frontiers–reflections in Finding Nemo, hair dynamics in Brave, etc. There typically were “making of” media supporting the movies alongside the release. It’s been years since I’ve seen any sort of tech featurette promo on the gaming and technology sites that I browse. I wonder if we’ve reached the “good enough” threshold where CG movies are no longer limited by rendering technology, and so there is nothing new technology-wise to show off in Elio or the like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-slow-downfall-of-pixar/1021431.md?page=4)