Last week, you might recall some major Pixar news coming out of France’s 2025 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. But two weeks ago, we at The DisInsider were treated to a similar presentation here in the United States. All the info we were told was placed under a strict embargo…until now.
While you can get a deeper dive into Pixar’s upcoming slate here, after the presentation studio head Pete Docter answered several questions from the press. Below are the questions and the answers:
SEE IT: The First Reactions To Pixar’s ‘Elio’ Are Here!
QUESTION: Could audiences expect more than Pixar to release more than one film a year?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: “Yes, at one point, we were at three every two – three films every two years. So this year, Elio. Next year, [Hoppers and Toy Story 5], so it’ll hopefully continue like that into the future.”
QUESTION: Hoppers, Toy Story 5, Gatto, etc. are all currently planned for a theatrical release right? Could that change?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: “Yes. I think the world will probably continue to evolve regardless, but for right now, that is the plan. So far, what we found is the interest in the theater kind of translates to even more interest on Disney Plus, and that may be unique to the Disney, Pixar environment. So theatrical is, is where they’re all going first.”
QUESTION: What is the process like at Pixar to figure out what of your films remain standalone films versus become franchises of their own?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: ”I mean, really, I mean, it’s, it’s kind of like a, a, a dance between the audience. If nobody cares about the movie, if it didn’t do well, we don’t really generally explore it. However, if it’s been really great and we can’t find an idea, we don’t really explore it. So it really has to hit on two or three different places, we have to know that people love it and we have to feel like it really has something more to bring. And sometimes we dig for a long time and don’t find anything. So yeah, it’s all these things are a little bit mysterious and you have to kind of allow for that mystery.”
QUESTION: Pixar revitalized the trend of putting a short in front of a film. But that’s something that kind of universally has gone away from the box office experience. Are there any plans to get back into shorts at this time?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: ”Nothing I can talk about today. I mean, there’s been a lot of talk back and forth, because obviously there are super fun to do and the shorts have been a great test for us of new technology and new talent. They are expensive and people don’t pay extra to see a short film in front, we’re hoping we can get back to that at some point. But nothing, no concrete plans yet.”
QUESTION: Anything you can share about Inside Out 3?
ANSWER: ”No. Next question.”
QUESTION: Could you tell us your favorite film?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: “My favorite is the next one, Elio.That’s my showman answer. Yeah, no. I love all the movies for varying reasons. It is funny, like a lot of people ask that and I can’t see the movie frankly, when you work on ’em, all I see are like, ‘Oh, that’s when this person got mad,’ or that we had to redo that 12 times, or, I see like the inner workings and I don’t really get to enjoy them the same way you might. [Last year was the first time I was able to see Up] and see a little bit of what maybe other people do. So it’s, it’s just a different experience when you’re in the weeds on it.”
QUESTION: How will Toy Story 5 redefine what we think we know about Buzz, Woody and Jeff?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: “Well, I can’t really answer that without giving too much away, but I am amazed how like some films you’ll struggle to find new things to talk about. And you know, this is [part] five and we still are finding new aspects to what it is to be a toy because that’s really the way we look at these characters. They’re parents to kids and there’s just a lot to talk about there.”
QUESTION: You’re exploring new animation techniques with Gatto to kind of emulate that painterly aspect, but are there other sort of technological animation innovations that you’re trying out in other upcoming films?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: “Like I feel like I saw in Hoppers a little bit of a different, difference from like the Pixar ‘house style,’ especially in like the fur, for example, of the, the animals. Yeah. I mean, I think the way we’ve always looked at is that the storytelling has to inspire the technology and then the technology in turn inspires the storytelling and the art. So it stems from the idea if the idea itself seems to demand it, we start exploring. In terms of like new technology, I mean, every film it’s, I remember when Monsters Inc came out. People were like, ‘Oh my gosh, the fur is amazing!’ And that was a real visual breakthrough for us. I don’t know that there’s anything that dramatic for the audience. Hopefully Gatto will be, because I think it really looks different and interesting. And yeah, we just continue to explore different facets of that on every film.”
QUESTION: How would you characterize the Pixar formula, if there is one, and how would you think that gets evolved over the past 30 years?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: “I don’t, we are not intentionally, I’ll say trying any formula. I think there are things that we sort of natively go to that being, I want something that’s fun to animate. And that’s a bit of a nebulous, uh, uh, checklist there, because for one animator it might be something different. But for me, like thinking about monsters, that’s what got me going with Monsters Inc. Something non-photorealistic, that’s what, sent me towards Inside Out. So we start there and then as we start digging, we try to find something that speaks personally about our own experience as human beings. So even though it’s about cars or bugs or fish. Our movies are really about us. They’re about our experiences living out there in the world. And the hope is that we kind of reach out to you guys and in the audience and go, oh yeah, I’ve had that experience too. I know what jealousy feels like or loss, or, you know, any of these things that we’ve talked about in the film. So, you know, I feel like we’re really fortunate to have this amazing opportunity to use this cutting edge technology.”
QUESTION: Is there anything that you guys are currently trying to crack or that you think the, where the future of animation might be headed?
DOCTER’S ANSWER: “I mean, every film has its own individual challenges that we are trying to crack that, uh. Some of the films I’ve shown you have specific challenges, and then upcoming ones as well. I think probably the most difficult is just where we are in the world, streaming, changes in society. There’s a lot of questions about all of that, whether people will still go to theaters and original films are a big challenge, just to be frank. I mean, there’s probably no secret. The sequels have really performed very well for people. Not just Pixar, but across the board. So our hope is that we can somehow tap into the things that people remember about that communal experience of seeing things together. It’s different than sitting home on your computer watching something than when when you sit with other human beings in the dark and watch the flickering light on the screen. There’s something kind of magic about that, and we hope to continue that for as long as we can go. “
The latest film from Pixar, Elio hits theaters this Friday! You can check out all of the latest reactions here.
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