This weekend’s “Elemental” is something of a make-or-break movie for Pixar and its hopes to get families back out to movie theaters this weekend.
Pete Docter, has been with the studio since the beginning and was promoted to Pixar’s creative chief officer in 2018. He recently sat down with Variety to discuss the Peter Sohn-directed film.
Docter, who has been with the studio since the beginning and was upped to CCO in 2018, has found the studio coming under criticism recently for losing its magic touch.
He suggests that part of that is due to the pandemic, which led to several Pixar films, including “Soul,” “Luca,” and “Turning Red”, coming straight to Disney+ rather than releasing theatrically. In doing so, it changed audience expectations regarding Pixar films:
“In the long run, there’s been a bit of a mixed blessing because we’ve trained audiences that these films will be available for you on Disney+. And it’s more expensive for a family of four to go to a theater when they know they can wait and it’ll come out on the platform.
We’re trying to make sure people realize there’s a great deal you’re missing by not seeing it on the big screen. In the case of ‘Elemental,’ it’s a beautiful spectacle. There’s detail everywhere. I think you feel it more and it’s a better experience.
There’s the shared experience as well, that you get to see it in a room with strangers, and there’s something about the energy that comes from other people that makes the whole experience more vibrant and interesting.”
He also touched upon the launch of “Elemental” at Cannes, which yielded very mixed reviews. By the time more regular reviews came around, the reaction was much more positive.
Docter says despite it being a “weird half-hour” for the studio there, he’s “not sure that we would say we regret going to Cannes or anything like that” and adds that “it was such a fantastic audience of film lovers”.
The quotes come as Puck News reports that Pixar’s “Inside Out” is inspiring a new big-budget TV series for the Disney+ service. The project is separate from the film sequel which is on the way next year.
Pixar’s “Elemental” is in cinemas now.
