Poor Cars 2 Review Buzz to Signal Pixar's Decline?

Low review scores are quite uncommon for Pixar Studios. In fact, bad buzz has never struck the animation giant before, yet Cars 2 has finally snapped its 11-movie winning streak. With a depressing 36 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel is destined to be labeled Pixar's first bomb. But now that the studio may have come up short for the first time, does it mean that failure will be more frequent later?

There have been negative signs that Pixar won't be perfect forever. In fact, they were forming as soon as Toy Story 3, since it was the first of several sequels from the studio. Getting into the sequel habit could signal that the most original company in Hollywood may be running out of ideas.

Pixar got away with it in spades with Toy Story 3, and turning Cars 2 into a spy spoof was meant to signal that the studio wasn't just remaking the original. Yet that shift in tone hasn't paid off with critics, so the creators have to hope for better changes in the sequel for Monsters Inc. in 2013.

In addition, a depressing sign came when Pixar released a trailer for its first direct-to-DVD movie. Planes will come to DVD next year with the same apparent designs and concepts as the Cars franchise. After this week, that might sound a bit less promising to viewers.

Back in 1999, Pixar planned to make Toy Story 2 into one of Disney's many direct-to-video sequels. But the studio had to turn it into a feature film, which made the animators work around the clock to get it done in time. Yet the exhaustive work paid off big time. But, a decade later, Pixar has resigned itself to direct-to-DVD work after all.

However, since Planes is a Cars spinoff, and since that franchise is now officially the albatross of Pixar, perhaps it shouldn't count as much. In fact, the bad review buzz around Cars 2 can still be dismissed because it was a sequel to the least beloved Pixar movie of all time.

Although the studio isn't perfect anymore, it is still perfect outside of the Cars universe. It is puzzling why that series has been immune from the studio's usual magic, or hasn't felt it as much as the other films. Yet as long as Pixar doesn't have a failure or a mediocre movie other than in the Cars world, it isn't on an official decline.

As such, it puts more pressure on next year's Brave to get things back on track. To that end, its first poster and teaser was released this weekend, showing off the studio's first lead female heroine. Therefore, those disappointed with Cars 2 and its reviews can still hope that the company's magic touch isn't gone yet.

Sources

Rotten Tomatoes- "Cars 2"

Screen Rant- "Brave Character Images & Poster: A Darker Pixar Fantasy"

Entertainment Weekly- "Planes trailer: Cars magic takes flight"