I know that’s weird maybe to say."
From the beginning, it was clear he wanted this to be authentic to the first film.
We did all sorts of deep dives, and then I was along for the ride.
The Emotions in Riley’s Mind from ‘Inside Out 2’.PIXAR
I love that you mentioned the jars.
Are there other tidbits that ended up actually making it into the sequel?
We had played a little bit with the Stream of Consciousness in the first one.
Ember (Leah Lewis) and Wade (Mamoudou Athie) of ‘Elemental’.Disney/Pixar
So, obviously, that’s now in the sequel.
Of course, he has a German accent.
PIXAR
When didInside Outfeel like it had a lot more material to do a sequel?
‘Monsters, Inc.’.
Im sure box office played into it, too.
It still felt like it was a part of the zeitgeist.
I think there’s something there."
‘Toy Story 4’.Disney/Pixar
I did see the announcement of anInside OutDisney+ series.
Is that something you could talk about?
It’s coming out next spring.
It semi-explains why they’re so weird.
So it’s pretty cool.
What is your thought process about what gets a TV show for streaming versus a theatrical release?
It’s kind of like the Wild West.
Everybody’s trying to go, “How does this work now?”
The world’s changed.
What do we do?
What do people like?
Streaming was a little bit of a searching around for ways to reach our audience.
Early on, this was right before COVID hit, was when they announced Disney+.
How much can you spend on a show, and how do you even track what it made?
A box office is super easy.
Three people came in, I know I can count the money exactly.
It’s very squirrely.
Im glad you brought up box office because there was a lot of talk whenElementalwas released in theaters.
What do you define for Pixar as a success versus a failure?
To me,Elementalwas a success because it made money over time.
Everybody reported it that way.
Even now, we’re kind of scratching our heads: Did we market it wrong?
Did people not see it as something they were interested in?
It feels to me like it was word of mouth, so it had a slow build.
Maybe that’s the way movies go now.
I don’t know.
We were looking at other movies on Netflix and stuff.
Again, it’s the Wild West.
Everybody’s trying to figure out: How do we make money?
I do wonder if its because people are just waiting for it to come out on streaming.
Is that something you are thinking about?
That’s been my theory.
I got to go to the movies."
I want to ask you, too, abouttheBloombergarticlethat came out recently.
My takeaway was that fans were a little anxious about prioritizing sequels over original storytelling.
What do you want to impart to fans about the current state of Pixar?
So, for example, I thought [as a kid] my toys came to life.
I thought there were monsters that lived in the closet.
So it’s kind of a sequel in that way.
You know what I mean?
We want to hold onto that, but we want to see to it that they speak widely.
Are all of the projects that you’ve announced so far, likeElioandToy Story 5, still in development?
We have two originals coming out next.
We have two original films coming out, and thenToy Story, and then some more original.
We can talk again in a couple of years.
We have a lot of stuff that is in the works now that I’m pretty excited about.
So, original storytelling is still very much a priority?
So we made a lot of decisions based on the desire not to repeat ourselves.
Its much looser, but obviously, it’s based on all of the above.
We have to find something we think is worthy, first and foremost.
It should be something hopefully the audience responded to and then we could still not find anything.
We’re looking at everything, but we haven’t really made any small list of films like that.
We’re currently in a superhero era.
What are your thoughts about the potential forIncrediblesas a Disney+ series?
Clearly, that’s a super entertaining world.
That feels like it definitely has more to play with.
Finding Nemois another one that keeps coming up.
It’s open, as are a lot of other movies.
The ocean’s a big place.
There are a lot of different areas and zones that feel like they’re open for exploration.
Which is this unanswerable conundrum that there is no answer to.
What kind of story would you sayEliois adding to the roster of stories Pixar has told?
Everyone has sat under the night sky and thought,Are we alone?
What excites you most about Pixar’s future slate?
I know that’s weird maybe to say.
I don’t think even that’s guaranteed right now.
There’s just so much new stuff out there.
The streaming is kind of…
There are so many choices.
Focusing on more diverse voices in filmmaking has been a priority for you for a long time.
Would you say that its still a priority?
Enrico Casarosa, who didLuca, is doing another one that’s just night and day.
WithToy Story 5announced, did you ever speak with Tim Allen about the wholeLightyearsituation?
I haven’t personally.
I think that’s been straightened out.
