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Source: Variety
In a perfect world (or at least one where a major cinematic release could potentially draw in a respectably sized audience), the films created by Pixar Animation Studios (a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company’s film division) and released between late 2020 and early 2022 – specifically “Soul”, “Luca”, and “Turning Red” – would have been available for exhibition in several theaters across the globe, allowing those who have grown a fondness for the studio behind such classics as “Toy Story”, “Ratatouille”, and “Coco” to see its latest animated creations on the largest screens possible. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March of 2020, just about every theater in the nation was forced into closure as a means of reducing the spread of disease, dramatically cutting off the revenue that could be earned from any film that had been in theaters just before that point. In fact, this was the fate of Pixar’s earlier feature “Onward”, which received a so-so gross of around $39 million during its opening weekend but was unable to develop legs due to the sudden closing of the majority of the nation’s theaters. In order to make “Onward” more accessible to those who were now unable to see it at their local cineplex, Disney immediately made it available on its streaming service Disney+, a platform that the company was becoming increasingly dependent on as a result of the company being cut off from theatrical ticket sales. It would be this very service that would serve as the primary means of exhibition for the next few Pixar releases, though many would argue that this decision proved detrimental in the long run.
Originally intended for a theatrical release in the summer of 2020, “Soul”, the next Pixar film set to come out, was initially pushed back to November of that same year, but when it became clear that a theatrical release would not be profitable during this time (mainly because the pandemic was still looming over much of the world), Disney instead chose to give the film a premiere on Disney+ on Christmas Day. A similar decision was made with the Pixar film that followed, that being 2021’s “Luca”, which was originally expected to come out in theaters in the summer of that year before Disney decided that it too would be better off going directly to Disney+. Then there’s the film that was planned to come out after that, “Turning Red”. It too looked as if it would receive a proper theatrical release (and one that looked a bit more likely given the supposed easing of the pandemic and the possibility that people were ready to return to theaters). However, a last-minute cancellation resulted in this film also being sent directly to Disney+. It wouldn’t be until a few months later that a Pixar film would finally make it to the big screen for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but even then, the recent foregoing of theatrical releases only seemd to do more harm than good.
When 2022’s “Lightyear”, a spin-off of Pixar’s highly beloved “Toy Story” franchise, came to theaters and served as the studio’s first appearance on the big screen in over two years, it was able to earn a lower-than-expected, but otherwise passable opening weekend gross before quickly dropping further down the charts and ultimately being deemed a box office bomb. Many factors are said to have played into the underperformance of “Lightyear”, but one of the most commonly cited is the fact that the previous Pixar films were all sent to Disney+, creating the impression that Pixar was no longer (or at least not at this time) a strong enough brand to encourage people to attend a screening at their local theater. Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter, who also served as the director of “Soul” and one of the screenwriters of “Lightyear”, himself even acknowledged just how much the film-going landscape has changed since the start of the pandemic and how streaming has only further made theatrical releases more difficult to sustain. “In the long run, there’s been a bit of a mixed blessing because we’ve trained audiences that these films will be available for you on Disney+,” Docter claims. “and it’s more expensive for a family of four to go to a theater when they know they can wait and it’ll come out on the platform.”
For a time being, it looked as if Pixar’s most recent cinematic creation “Elemental” would be the next to underperform at the box office, with its $29.5 million opening weekend gross as the domestic box office being the lowest of any Pixar film in history. However, word-of-mouth and Disney deliberately holding back from releasing the film on Disney+ until much later helped “Elemental” stay afloat in the coming weeks, ultimately earning the film a worldwide gross of just under $500 million. According to Pixar president Jim Morris, the combination of theatrical sales and the revenue earned from streaming, theme parks, and merchandising should ensure that “Elemental” will become profitable in the long run, although it’s the former that Docter seems to be most appreciative of. “In the case of ‘Elemental,’ it’s a beautiful spectacle, there’s detail everywhere. I think you feel it more and it’s a better experience,” Doctor alleges. “There’s the shared experience as well, that you get to see it in a room with strangers, and there’s something about the energy that comes from other people that makes the whole experience more vibrant and interesting.”
It would seem that this unexpected success story has encouraged Pixar to give some of its earlier releases a second chance to shine on the big screen. Earlier next year, Disney will release the three Pixar films that had been sent to Disney+ in theaters as originally intended; “Soul” will come out on January 12th, “Turning Red” will be exhibited in theaters starting February 9th, and “Luca” will make its way to the big screen on March 22nd. Some may allege this decision is driven mainly by Disney lacking any major new releases until 20th Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” premieres during Memorial Day Weekend and is therefore in desperate need of some quick and easy money, but whatever the reason may truly be, those who were so eager to see all of these films on the big screen as they originally envisioned will finally have the opportunity to do so throughout the first few months of the upcoming new year.
