Is going to the movies back this year? From horror hits like “Backrooms” and “Obsession” to Christopher Nolan’s much-debated “The Odyssey” taking the world by storm, it really seems as if the death of film was reversing itself. But what about the children? What offerings have we brought for their enjoyment? Critically panned flops like “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” and the live-action “Moana.” It’s fine. It’s not like kids would even know how to enjoy good movies.
Except we used to make real movies for children, and by we, I mean animation studios like Pixar and Disney. Historically, animated children’s films have been nominated for top-tier awards. “Beauty and the Beast,” “Toy Story 3,” and “Up,” for example, were all Best Picture nominees. Yet, in recent years, they have struggled to break into these award categories. When did we pivot from original award-winners to unimaginative sequels — to simply squeezing one more ounce of profit from a popular franchise?
The first symptom I noticed was the theatrical release of Disney animated sequels. This quietly began in 1990 with “The Rescuers Down Under,” Disney’s follow-up to their 1970s flick “The Rescuers” about a secret society of mice saving kidnapped orphans. It’s understandable if you haven’t heard of it, considering it was released between more memorable hits like “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Nobody was jumping to watch sequels banking on childhood nostalgia, because Disney was putting out originals left and right.
The Disney sequel became a job for their straight-to-home theater department. Most of the world never saw the masterful retelling of the tragicomedy play “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” that became “The Lion King 1 1⁄2.” If you needed something fun and simple to let the babysitter show your kids, Disney sequels were there. But the theater was where original works took center stage, where innovation in art and storytelling continued to thrive. Then 2018 happened.
When “Ralph Breaks the Internet”— a sequel to the 2012 blockbuster “Wreck-It Ralph” — came out, nobody saw it as a sign of disaster. Ever since, though, Disney has either put out increasingly stranger sequels (did we really need to know what else Moana had going on?) or originals that flop at the box office.
This isn’t just nostalgia either; movies genuinely did used to be better. Recently, I rewatched Pixar’s “Cars” in the theater for its 20th anniversary, and I was shocked by how well it held up. Beyond being witty and fun, I could tell that the creators actually enjoyed making it. Compare that with 2023’s “Elemental,” and I could practically feel the animators’ boredom radiating through the screen.
Pixar’s faults look a little different, since they’ve always done sequels. Their third feature-length film ever was a sequel (“Toy Story 2,” in 1999), but it still added value to the storyline.
“It seems as though animation studios don’t believe in their original work anymore. While Disney consistently underpromotes anything that can’t sell Halloween costumes, Pixar’s problems are more clearly seen in the production phase.”
It seems as though animation studios don’t believe in their original work anymore. While Disney consistently underpromotes anything that can’t sell Halloween costumes, Pixar’s problems are more clearly seen in the production phase. “Elio” (2025) suffered major cuts after the original director, Adrian Molina, left the project. According to Variety, this decision was made despite a significant portion of the animation already having been completed.
Between Pixar’s two 2026 films, “Hoppers” and “Toy Story 5,” there was a $100 million gap in spending. You can guess whether the Pixar original or the fifth-installment sequel had a bigger budget. I didn’t even go see “Hoppers” in theaters because I literally had no idea this movie existed until it popped up on my Disney+ recommendations. It’s not even a question of whether it’s good; it’s simply that the studios would rather sweep it under the rug.
Yet, I believe people would show up to see an original animated feature if the studios genuinely cared about what they were putting out. I can still remember having my mind blown seeing “Big Hero 6” in the theaters, experiencing something entirely new and genuinely creative at a young age. Disney, I’m asking you to care enough to spend years building new rendering programs to get a movie’s animation just right, as you did for “Tangled.” Pixar, I’m asking you to care enough to write a script that rivals “Lost in Translation” as you did for “Finding Nemo.”
Please enjoy your jobs again. Make blooper reels that have to be scripted, and unrelated shorts that play before the movie. The children yearn for true cinema, and you ought to give it to them.
Maggie McAteer SC ’30 spends too much time going down rabbit holes on Wikipedia and scrolling through Letterboxd reviews for movies she hasn’t seen. Catch her at the local AMC every weekend to make the most of the A-List subscription draining her bank account.