Will "Live-Action" Pixar movies be coming to the big screen? Pixar's boss weighs in

Pixar’s boss has not only spoken on the hopes for the company but given assurances we won’t be seeing live-action adaptations of past Pixar movies! Here’s what else to say!

Just five years ago, the name of Pixar meant magic for moviegoers. Since 1995, the company’s groundbreaking CGI animated movies have been hailed not just for their visual flair but also beautiful storytelling, rich characters and terrific messages. It’s also been one of the key cash cows for Disney with franchises like Toy Story and Cars, winning multiple Oscars, inspiring great theme park rides and billions of dollars in merchandising.

But 2020 saw a sad decline for the brand. It began with Onward opening just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit so it wasn’t successful. Thanks to theaters shut down, Soul was banished to Disney+ although it did earn an Oscar. But then Luca and Turning Red were also sent directly to the streamer while Lightyear was a theatrical flop. Elemental ended up not a bomb but not a hit either. 

It’s become worrisome for Pixar with reports of layoffs and that there’s going to be more focus on franchises than original tales. A big test is going to be Inside Out 2, premiering on June 14th and Pixar chief content officer Pete Doctor noted to Time how it’s basically a make or break for Pixar’s future. 

"If this doesn't do well at the theater, I think it just means we're going to have to think even more radically about how we run our business."

Thankfully, it looks like the worries are for naught as the film is so far tracking for a fantastic $85 million opening, the best for a Pixar film in years. It’s led to more talk on the brand and how it could follow the trend of live-action adaptations.

Why you’ll never see a live-action Pixar movie

Fans who love Pixar may be worried the company might follow the trend of live-action adaptations of past movies. It’d be complex, yet Disney does see those as a cash cow, and sooner or later, it’s likely they’ll try. Thankfully for fans, Doctor has made it clear it won’t happen as long as he’s around. 

"No, and this might bite me in the butt for saying it, but it sort of bothers me. I like making movies that are original and unique to themselves. To remake it, it's not very interesting to me personally…So much of what we create only works because of the rules of the [animated] world. So if you have a human walk into a house that floats, your mind goes, “Wait a second. Hold on. Houses are super heavy. How are balloons lifting the house?” But if you have a cartoon guy and he stands there in the house, you go, “Okay, I'll buy it.” The worlds that we’ve built just don’t translate very easily."

Doctor nails a key issue with so many live-action remakes as stuff that works great in hand-drawn animation looks terrible in real-life. CGI can only do so much and instead of immersing someone in the reality, it takes them out of it. You never feel the live-action Little Mermaid is creatures under the ocean but actors on green screen. Let’s not get started on the “realistic” animals of The Lion King looking so bad. 

Pixar is even worse, thanks to the fantastic storylines and elements they utilize that just wouldn’t translate as well in live-action. You’d see CGI Buzz and Woody in a real setting without the fun they had in the original Toy Story. Wall-E with live actors would be ugly; Monsters Inc. would be too unreal, and try to imagine Cars with real-life cars somehow talking. 

Comic book fans can relate as a common bit is how costumes great on page look laughable in real life. We don't need A Bug's Life looking like a nature documentary or Finding Nemo seeming like it's an actual aquarium as that ruins what made the movies magic in the first place. Not to mention fans are just tired of this remakes rather than something more original, which Pixar excelled at.

It’s good that Doctor is making it clear he doesn’t want live-action adaptations of Pixar works and many will agree with him as this brand belongs to pure animation rather than trying to make it “realistic” for fans. Leave Pixar alone as it is to restore its past glory rather than retread older works.

Inside Out 2 premieres in theaters on June 14.