In June of this year, Finding Dory will be released into theaters, 13 years after the release of its prequel, Finding Nemo. In 2019, The Incredibles 2 will be released 15 years after its prequel, The Incredibles. Monsters Inc was released in 2001, while the sequel Monsters University was released 12 years later in 2013. And how could anyone forget Toy Story 3, which was released in 2010, 11 years after Toy Story 2?
There seems to be a trend occurring in Pixar movies, and it’s interesting to see how the organization chooses to follow its audience. While there have been plenty of new releases by Pixar that have received rave reviews, such as The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out, Pixar seems to have a commitment to a certain generation that keeps it coming back for more.
Since that just so happens to be my generation, I am thrilled of course. I was born in 1996, meaning I remember seeing Finding Nemo and The Incredibles and absolutely loving them. Now that I’m 20 years old, I still love these movies, but in the nostalgic sense. I watch them when I somehow don’t have any homework and need a way to unwind. Even though I’ve been told how good Inside Out is, I have yet to see it because at first it didn’t receive much interest from me.
However, Pixar knows that with the release of these sequels and prequels, their original audience has grown up. A seven-year-old that went to see Toy Story 2 in theaters was 18 by the time Toy Story 3 came out, meaning that they have to make the movie relatable to their new life in order to get them to come back and see the movie again. What is going to be more relatable to an 18-year-old than a teenager growing up and going to college?
Leaving behind childish things, such as toys, is something we all had to do at that age, yet we were reunited with the characters from Toy Story 3 to remind us of our childhood in our transition to adulthood. Plus- you can’t tell me that the release of Monsters University was not meant to get teenagers excited for college.
The creation of these films has made the concept of sequels with children’s movies a much more appealing subject to my generation. I don't know how Pixar is able to create such incredible sequels yet Disney alone has such a bad history with them. I cannot bear to watch the Disney sequels for Mulan or Pocahontas without having to think twice about my life choices. There’s a real difference between a movie that is made for additional profit, and a movie that is made to reconnect an audience with their childhood.
While Finding Nemo told the tale of a child running away from his life, Finding Dory tells about Dory remembering her childhood and her attempt to return to it. This is exactly what the audience would be doing by going to see the movie: returning to a memory from their childhood.
As I mentioned earlier, while the Disney sequels make me cringe, I’m always excited to see Pixar make something new out of something old. Their ability to connect with their audiences and understand that they have a loyal demographic allows their sequels/prequels to hold a depth that other organizations lack. I am very excited to check out Finding Dory- and while I’m sad that I have to wait another three years to see the sequel to The Incredibles, I really have high expectations for both of these movies.
