We're at a nice lull in U.S. animation at the moment, so I thought I'd take stock of how two of our major sources, PIXAR and DreamWorks, have been doing, and what we can expect from them in the future.
First, let's start with PIXAR. They're on top of the world again after the sensational performance of "The Incredibles 2" over the summer. However, the company is at a bit of a creative crossroads. John Lasseter is leaving at the end of the year, brought down by scandal, to be replaced by Pete Docter. The majority of the studio's output over the last decade has been sequels and spinoffs, including next year's "Toy Story 4." However, there are no more plans for sequels for the time being, and the two features scheduled for 2020 are both originals.
A big reason for PIXAR's deluge of sequels and prequels is because it has been under tremendous pressure to deliver a steady stream of hits. They also had their first real flop not that long ago, the troubled "The Good Dinosaur." For a while, it seemed like PIXAR was in danger of being eclipsed by its sister studio Walt Disney Animation, which is only fully embracing sequels now with "Wreck-it-Ralph" and "Frozen" follow-ups. Disney recently acquired Blue Sky Studios, which has three originals announced, including next year's "Spies in Disguise" with Will Smith. They also recently closed down Disney Toon Studios, which mostly made direct-to-video and spinoff films like "Planes" and the "Tinkerbell" features.
My hope is that the new leadership and the housecleaning going on a PIXAR will lead to a creative resurgence at the studio. We won't see the results for a couple of years, since everything moves slowly in the animation world, but everyone is aware that things have to change. Details on specific projects have been scarce, but I am looking forward to Dan Scanlon's "suburban fantasy film" about two kids searching for their dad. Brian Fee, Mark Andrews, Pete Docter, and Domee Shi are also reportedly working on original projects. More sequels are inevitable, of course, including "The Incredibles 3," but hopefully we'll get back to the promised plan of originals and spinoffs having greater parity.
Now over at DreamWorks, things have been changing more rapidly. Comcast bought the company in 2016, and Universal is now distributing their pictures. After a series of leadership changes, DreamWorks is currently being run by former Warner Bros. producer (and Peppermint Patty voice actor) Chris DeFaria. It should be noted that Universal also owns Illumination Studios, and Chris Meledandri has also been involved as a senior advisor. He did not take over DreamWorks, as some had speculated he might. This is a huge relief, as Illumination may be financially very successful, but their output is relentlessly bland and notoriously cheap.
As part of the reorganization, the China-based satellite Oriental Dreamworks is striking out on its own as Pearl Studio, with an interesting slate of planned projects. Pearl and Dreamworks will collaborate on the original feature "Abominable," about an abominable snowman, due out next September. Two movies a year are planned for the foreseeable future, most of them sequels. The third "How to Train Your Dragon" movie is finally coming next year. "Trolls," "Croods," and "Boss Baby" sequels are slated for 2020 and 2021, along with "Spooky Jack," an original horror feature to be co-produced with Blumhouse Pictures. Guillermo Del Toro also signed on to produce family films with them a few months ago.
I'm completely fine with this. DreamWorks has had a very rough couple of years, overextended themselves, and they need some time to get back on their feet. ("How to Train Your Dragon 3" was at one point scheduled for a 2016 release date.) If they need to lean more heavily on franchises for a while, so be it. I'm especially happy that previously announced "Shrek" and "Madagascar" sequels are off the schedule completely. Instead, newer properties like "Trolls" and "Boss Baby" did well enough to get follow-ups. There's also a lengthy list of other projects in development, including a villain film, "The Bad Guys," YA fantasy "The Wizards of Once," one about Japanese yokai, and something called "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts."
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