Everybody in Hollywood loves to act as if taking risks is a great thing. Yes, it’s great when taking a risk really pays off and makes a ton of money.
But when taking a risk fails, then it’s horrible. Case in point? Poor Andrew Stanton, the Pixar director of Finding Nemo and Wall-E, took a big risk with the live action John Carter, and it ended up being one of the biggest flops of the year (although the movie does indeed have its fans who wish it had done better).
So now he’s headed in a direction that’s sure to have a happier ending – the sequel to Finding Nemo.
I actually didn’t know there was another Finding Nemo in the works, but I’m not surprised. It’s one of Pixar’s most beloved titles, and even if a sequel shows up years after the fact, the audience will still be there for it. The Hollywood Reporter tells us it’s currently slated for a 2016 release.
Still, the great Pixar films like Nemo, you do hope would be left alone, because it’s a great movie, and you wonder what could really be added to the story. We’re certainly not alone in thinking this is a safe choice, because as the Reporter notes: “The move is a safe one by Pixar, the company that once was praised for cranking out original film after original film, but now seems to [be] trying to balance commercial prospects with unique creations…Cars 2 was seen as a pure commercial play, even by Pixar’s own animators, who weren’t happy to work on it.”
It’s a funny irony too, because one of the lessons of Nemo is to not be afraid of what’s out there in the world, but then again, the rest of us don’t have as many millions of dollars on the line.
Maybe a Nemo sequel will be amazing, the Toy Story sequels were certainly terrific, but what’s always been the most admirable trait about Pixar, at least in my opinion, is that the studio manages to come up with great new stories that consistently wows theater audiences. That, in essence, is the magic of Pixar.
