Pixar struck gold again earlier this year with Inside Out 2, a film that raked in $1.6 billion worldwide, blowing past the previous 2024 box office champs, Dune: Part Two and even breaking Top Gun: Maverick’s impressive milestone, making it one of the most successful animated movies of all time. While the film’s success should have put everyone at ease at the animation studio, its director, Pete Docter, feels anything but relaxed. As Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer and a key architect behind some of the most beloved and best Pixar movies, Docter’s concerns extend far beyond box office numbers. Despite Inside Out 2’s stellar performance, the Monsters Inc. director is worried about the future of cinema itself.
In a recent chat with The Ankler, the Pixar helmer didn’t hold back when talking about the uncertain future of the film industry. Despite the massive success of IO2, the mind behind Soul quickly acknowledged that the landscape feels anything but stable. In his words:
This film did great… more than great. But there’s no sense of where things are going in the future in terms of cinema.
Although it might surprise some to hear this coming from Pixar’s head honcho, it makes sense when you think about it. The rise of some of the best streaming services, the rapid advancements of artificial intelligence, and shifting audience habits are changing the rules of the game entirely. These seismic shifts bring a fair amount of anxiety for the creative leader.
One of the major wild cards in all of this? AI. Now, it’s not like Pixar is a stranger to AI. The studio has been using the tech for years to enhance their films. But for Pete, the conversation around AI in animation is far from straightforward. Sure, AI can be useful, but it’s not without its pitfalls, especially when maintaining creative integrity. Pete explained:
I mean, you see these demos and it looks like, oh my gosh, AI can do anything. It’s a magic box… But when you dig a little deeper, it’s pretty problematic just getting consistency. My experience with it is, if I have any vision at all of what I want in my head, it’s a disaster.
Docter isn’t only worried about the technical side of AI but also about the bigger, more philosophical questions. What happens when machines start taking over the very thing humans have done for thousands of years—telling stories? For a storyteller like the veteran animation director, it’s a future that feels a bit unsettling.
But AI isn’t the only thing keeping him up at night. Like many companies, the post-pandemic world has left Pixar grappling with how to maintain that old magic in an era where remote work is the norm. The Up filmmaker firmly believes in the power of spontaneous, face-to-face collaboration — the kind of moments that can only happen when you bump into a colleague in a hallway. He explained:
You bump into somebody and go like, ‘Oh, now that you’re here, let me ask you this.’ And then they say something that changes the course of the movie… That’s happened on almost every film I’ve worked on.
Even though Inside Out 2 proves Pixar can still churn out box office hits, Pete Docter’s eyes are firmly fixed on the challenges ahead. The movie may have been a resounding success, but even a billion-dollar hit doesn’t bring peace of mind in the rapidly evolving world of cinema.
With several highly anticipated upcoming Pixar films on the list of upcoming Disney movies, like Elio, Hoppers, and the already buzzworthy Toy Story 5, the animation visionary is more than aware of the challenges that lie ahead. Toy Story 5, in particular, has already sparked plenty of conversation — and not all of it positive. But Docter has addressed fan concerns head-on, explaining that the team is taking a thoughtful approach to the beloved franchise’s next chapter.
In the meantime, Pixar fans don’t have to wait for those new releases to get their fix. With a Disney+ subscription, you can dive back into Pixar’s impressive catalog.