The 2010s Will Be Remembered As the Sequel Era of Pixar

When you look back with hindsight at a franchise that has had many releases, it gets easier to divide the history of its releases into eras. Pixar has released 21 feature-length films since 1995. Some might say that one era ended in 2006 when Pixar was acquired by Disney. But I believe that when one takes a look at what's been released so far, they could divide it up into two major eras, the latter of which is comprised solely of the 2010s. With this decade almost over, I believe that we can firmly refer to this era as The Sequel Era of Pixar.

What Came Before

Before 2010, Pixar had 10 feature length films that were largely original. Hence why I would call this first major era The Original Era of Pixar. Sure, there was one sequel between 1995 and 2009 in the form of Toy Story 2. But Buy 'n Large (See what I did there?), this era was mainly comprised of stories that were not designed to follow or lead into previously established Pixar films. After Toy Story, we got A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up. Ten film releases and 90% were not sequels or prequels. Overall, these have each received a lot of positive reception from critics and audiences alike. A solid foundation for the future of the company.

Enter The Sequel Era

When we look at the 2010s, we see that the majority of the films are not really new. As far as sequels go, we got Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Finding Dory, Cars 3, The Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4 (I quite like that this era is bookended by Toy Story films). We also got Monsters University, which is technically a prequel. But again, not something that one could say is really new. We did get new stories in the forms of Brave, Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, and Coco. Newer tales are the minority of this decade. They are not all forgotten, necessarily, but the 2010s are certainly cluttered with sequels. Hence why I would call the 2010s Pixar's Sequel Era.

'Onward' and Beyond

The next two features, both slated for 2020, are titled Onward and Soul. While not much is known about the latter as of yet, the former is a new tale about brothers in a fantasy world with traits of our modern Earth. The title Onward seems fitting from an out-of-universe perspective. It sounds like a promise from Pixar saying something like, "We've got many sequels out of our system, now it's time for more new stuff." That is not to say that there will not be anymore sequels in the near future. The temptation to make The Incredibles 3 is there, right?

In fact, there will be more sequels in a sense, but in the form of TV storytelling via the Disney+ streaming service. One of the announced shows planned for release in 2020 is Monsters at Work, which begins six months after Monsters Inc. We will also get a series of Toy Story shorts titled Forky Asks a Question, which is set for the Disney+ launch date of November 12, 2019. I think TV is a good medium for telling these follow-up stories. I've enjoyed the Toy Story shorts and specials that have come out in the 2010s, so perhaps there is more good stuff to come.

But as far as the feature films go, I predict that the 2020s will mainly focus on newer things, and thus be considered another major era distinct from this Sequel Era that has ended with Toy Story 4. I have enjoyed most of the Pixar films that have come out this past decade, sequel or not. But I am ready for an era of newer things. And about a decade or so from now, it will be interesting to look back and think of what to call this era that we are about to enter.