Andrew Stanton’s Finding Dory has jump-started a string of Pixar sequels that will welcome moviegoers back to the worlds of Toy Story, Cars and The Incredibles through 2019. But beyond that, the animation wizards have plans in place for four original movies, which ought to offset any cries of sequelitis.
That’s according to Pixar President Jim Morris, who told Entertainment Weekly that the studio’s blueprint has and always will place originality first; but there are times when a key creator such as Andrew Stanton (Dory) or Brad Bird (Incredibles) pitches an idea worthy of a sequel.
“Our plan had been to make an original every year and a sequel every other year, if the idea came forth to do it,” says Morris. “If we add the next films after the current ones, it actually comes out to exactly that: seven sequels in a spate of 21 originals, from the time we were acquired by Disney [in 2006]. So it’s penciled out to be the same portfolio, just not in the order we thought they would be. And a lot of that has to do with when Andrew had a sequel idea, and Brad had a sequel idea…sometimes that’s just how it happens.”
That means that, at least for the time being, the prestigious studio has no plans to revisit WALL-E, Ratatouille and/or Inside Out via some form of sequel of continuation. Looking ahead, Morris reveals that it’s time to call upon the famed Pixar brain trust.
“Everything after Toy Story and The Incredibles is an original right now.” Following The Incredibles 2 in 2019, Pixar’s next two films — currently listed on Disney’s release schedule for March and June of 2020, respectively — are both originals, independent of one another but both of which take place in “unusual but believable worlds that take us in even other directions than we’ve pursued in the past.” Following those two, Morris says, are two more original films in early development that aren’t dated on the studio’s schedule yet but are “highly likely.” No other sequels are planned at the moment, Morris says.
Inside Out and Lee Unkrich’s upcoming Coco notwithstanding, Pixar‘s trailblazing originality has been hard to come by in recent years and though that looks set to continue until The Incredibles 2 roars to life in July 0f 2019, longtime fans can take solace in the studio’s renewed endeavour for all-new movie experiences.