As I pointed out in the introduction, Toy Story is one of Pixar’s two most reliable franchises, alongside Cars. Both are hits at the box-office, as well as through merchandising. Were they to greenlight a Toy Story 4, it goes without saying that it would be an absolute financial boon for them. So it makes sense that rumors of a potential Toy Story 4 have been swirling ever since the release of Toy Story 3. Even to those clamoring for fewer sequels, the prospect is a tempting one. Not for Pixar though.
Toy Story 3 brought the series to as fitting a close as possible, and fourth instalments never fare well. Pixar realizes this, and so they’ve made it abundantly clear, though not clear enough for some people, that the Toy Story series, from here on out, will be confined to shorts. It’s hard to imagine a trilogy more universally adored than Toy Story and Pixar is content to rest upon those laurels.
Similarly, they knew better than to risk doing retroactive harm to Monsters, Inc. by attempting to follow up possibly the most touching ending in their entire oeuvre. Instead, they chose to go backwards, rather than forwards, with Monsters University. There remains a certain level of risk, of course, but however good (or bad) Monsters University is, it shouldn’t hinder anyone’s enjoyment of the original, as a sequel very well could.
Then there’s the matter of the long-awaited sequel to The Incredibles that everyone, and I mean everyone, thinks Pixar should’ve made years ago. Pixar knows there’s an audience for it. But Brad Bird refuses to go ahead with it until he has the proper story for it. Because, despite what’s been said in recent years, at Pixar it’s all about the story. They don’t rush sequels into production. Each and every film they put out is as carefully crafted as the rest. Some go over better than others, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t a labor of love on the part of the studio.
No one, I’m sure, takes a Pixar film underperforming worse than they themselves. So, in order to prevent that from happening, they’re not afraid to put off a sequel, whether it be momentarily or indefinitely, or to nix a project altogether when it’s not up to snuff, as they did with Newt. That doesn’t mean Newt won’t ever see the inside of a movie theater. Past Pixar movies were written off for a little while before something clicked and they were resurrected. What it means is that Pixar knows when to stop just as they know when to go.
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