Joe Roth On Pixar

Joe Roth speaks out about Disney buying Pixar and makes the same point Popsurfing did when the deal was announced: this is really about Pixar taking over Disney (at least Disney animation and maybe the theme parks). (Roth has been a studio honcho and film producer and director and sits on the board of Pixar.) He makes two odd assertions, however. First, Roth says he wouldn't be surprised if five years down the road Disney was releasing two animated movies a year -- one a Pixar original and the other a Pixar sequel. That's pretty dumb since it means Disney would abandon the Disney brand and never make any movies outside the Pixar aesthetic, like stop-motion or hand-drawn movies. Pixar's people are too smart to think there's only one "type" of animated movie to make. Pixar movies don't succeed because they're CGI; they work because they are creative and have solid stories. Second, Roth says we can expect sequels to The Incredibles, Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Little Nemo and so on. Hasn't Roth been listening? That was a dealbreaker for Pixar. They didn't want ANY sequel made unless it made sense and was justified creatively. The last thing they would do is churn out annual sequels to all their movies. And that's why they'll flourish creatively.