While Marvel and Lucasfilm had their day at Disney’s recent D23 Expo, there’s an argument to be made that Pixar had some of the biggest flexes at the trade show. The animation studio revealed a new “Incredibles 3” sequel was in the works, revealed their mystery 2023 film as something called “Hoppers” and some new details about “Toy Story 5,” unveiled the inaugural trailer for their first TV series, “Win Or Lose,” and revealed the title for this new “Inside Out” series spin-off called, “Dream Factory.”
Coming off the hit of “Inside Out 2,” which grossed $1.6 billion worldwide and is currently the highest-grossing film of 2024, the highest-earning animation film of all time, and the tenth-highest-grossing movie of all time, Pixar and Docter are already thinking about an “Inside Out 3,” which is expected given the box office bonanza it yielded.
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In a new interview with Fandango, Pixar’s Chief creative officer Peter Docter—also the director of “Inside Out,” “Up” and “Soul”—said the team in the animation studios is already starting to think of which direction the third film can go.
“We’re in the same place we were after [“Inside Out,” the first movie]. We’re just like, ‘Okay, well if we were going to do something, what would it be?’ and we’re kind of just thinking of ideas. Who knows,” Docter said, he also explained however, that ideas from the first and second movie could find their way into “Inside Out 3.”
When he first directed “Inside Out,” he thought, “I would love for it to feel as though out of this vast world we only saw like three percent and the rest of it is still out there,” he said. “So there’s a lot to explore, a lot of things that we played with in the first movie or the second movie that didn’t work for story reasons—[they] didn’t fit thematically—so we have a lot to play with.”
About “Toy Story 5,” the Pixar chief reiterated what was said at D23: the fifth film will tackle the challenges of screentime.
“One thing we’ve been ignoring in ‘Toy Story’ one through four is the reality that kids are more and more into video games, and phones and technology,” he said. “And that’s what Woody and the gang are up against, and this one is Toys and tech.”
In “Incredibles 3,” Docter praised director Brad Bird’s “fiery passion” and explained that he needed a long gestation period of “building up steam” and ideas before he was ready to tackle a third film. Docter said the film is in its early stages, and while Bird knows what he wants to do with it, he’s not even sure if the filmmaker has finished the plot.
“I’m still not sure how Brad’s works; I’m not sure he has [a] plot; it’s more like, ‘This is what I’m interested in talking about,’” Docter shared.
“It’s still pretty malleable in terms of what the story is actually about,” he continued about the ‘Incredibles 3’ story. “[Brad Bird has] always got these deeper sociological ideas, and so I think that’s where we’re starting from.”
When asked if there are any Pixar films that haven’t received a sequel yet, Docter said there are several, and attempts have been made, but the scripts haven’t been cracked.
“Some of them we’ve been trying and haven’t had any luck,” he explained. “So, who knows, sometimes it’s the wrong combo of people, and not all characters are alike.”
Watch the full Fandango interview below.