Skip to footer

'Toy Story 4': Pixar's other sequels will come first

'Toy Story 4' rumors swirl, but sequels like 'Finding Nemo 2' will be coming to theaters before any possible 'Toy' follow-up.

|
Disney/AP
'Toy Story 4' may or may not happen, but either way, other sequels like 'Finding Nemo 2' will be released first.
  • By Sandy Schaefer Screen Rant

Disney-based Pixar returned to the Toy Story well for a pair of sequels, and the results were rewarding from both an artistic and financial perspective (Cars 2, by comparison, only did well in terms of box office receipts).

The computer animation studio hopes to replicate the Toy Story movies’ success with next summer’s prequel, Monsters University – and a followup to its second-highest-grossing, Oscar-winning summer smash, Finding Nemo. Moreover, Pixar stalwart Andrew Stanton has been confirmed to return as director for that sequel.

Stanton stumbled with his live-action directorial debut, John Carter, which opened to mixed reviews and failed to recoup its bloated budget (forcing the Mouse House to take a significant loss). Deadline is reporting that Stanton has been dancing around Finding Nemo 2 for several months, and has now officially come aboard – armed with “a concept the studio loves.”

The Finding Nemo 2 situation is simple enough: so long as the computer-animated sequel does well, Stanton will get another shot at live-action directing for Disney. He’s already picked up a pair of Oscars for his work on Finding Nemo and WALL·E. Stanton was also instrumental in the creative processes on the first two Toy Story movies, A Bug’s Life, and Monster’s Inc., where he served as either a co-writer and/or co-director.

Thus, it’s fair to say that Stanton deserves that second chance (especially since John Carter deserved a better turnout, in this writer’s opinion).

Finding Nemo 2 probably isn’t the sequel that many a Screen Rant reader has been waiting for (that honor belongs to Incredibles 2, no doubt). It nonetheless seems like a Pixar project that could follow the example set by Toy Story 2 & 3 – that is to say, serve as a meaningful new chapter in the continuing story of the clownfish Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo.

On the other hand: with Monsters University, Finding Nemo 2, and possibly Toy Story 4 on the horizon, some Pixar supporters might start to worry that the studio is abandoning its commitment to original storytelling. There are also standalone Pixar products coming down the pipeline – and the followups which are starting to take shape seem worthwhile (or have potential, at least). So don’t start panicking just yet.

Sandy Schaefer blogs at Screen Rant.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'Toy Story 4': Pixar's other sequels will come first
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2012/0718/Toy-Story-4-Pixar-s-other-sequels-will-come-first
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe