Pixar’s Pete Docter Blames Disney+ For Early ‘Elemental’ Box Office Struggles, Evolving Audience Habits
Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter recently shared his thoughts on Elemental‘s early box office struggle, audience viewing habits, big movie budgets, and getting back to the kinds of stories that made Pixar a powerhouse in the first place.
Disney to Blame for Elemental’s Early Struggles?
When Elemental hit theaters in June, it did so as one of the biggest flops in the studio’s history. Without putting all the blame on Pixar’s parent company and distributor, Disney, Docter says that a streaming-focused release plan in the early days of Disney+ has done long-term damage to the theatrical prospects of films released by the company.
In a recent New York Times piece, he argued that Disney, in the hopes of growing subscriber numbers, was too eager to send films directly to streaming. Three consecutive Pixar films bypassed theaters and went straight to Disney+: Soul, Luca, and Turning Red.
“There has been an overall shift in viewing habits as a result of the pandemic, but it’s also specific to Disney+,” Docter said. “We’ve told people, ‘Hey, all of this is going to be available to you on Disney+!'”
Pixar Budgets
Elemental had a reported budget of $200 million, which Pixar president Jim Morris explained in detail back in August. Docter was asked about Pixar’s big spending and replied, “I hope we can continue to be able to have budgets that allow our artists to do the best work of their lives.”
That’s a fairly non-committal take, but looking back at Morris’ comments, it seems likely the studio will look for ways to trim costs in the future.
“That’s a constant question,” Morris replied when asked if the studio would reduce production expenses. He also said that before Elemental, “we had been getting the film costs down.” Cutting costs at Pixar is likely imperative for Morris since Disney CEO Bob Iger said during a Disney earnings call that the company is focused on “reducing … the cost per title” of all its upcoming films.
Universal Storytelling
Elemental is arguably one of the most personal films in Pixar’s catalog. The film was directed by Peter Sohn and inspired by his immigrant upbringing. Elemental’s protagonist, Ember, is the child of a shop owner with a thick accent, just like Sohn, whose Korean immigrant father owned a grocery store in the Bronx.
The NYT piece argues that, while proud of Elemental’s success, Docter would like to see Pixar return to telling more universal stories. He wants to make more films about “ideas that we all carried around as kids,” such as toys (Toy Story), monsters (Monsters, Inc.), and superheroes (The Incredibles).
“I always felt that Elemental would speak to a lot of people, and I’m so happy it has,” he said. “But we have also taken another look at the projects we’re working on now. What are the kinds of films we want to be making? I really think I want to double down on what allowed us to speak to audiences to begin with.”
