Is Pixar out of originality?

Maybe but inside out 2 was one of their biggest box office hits. 🤷‍♂️

But last great epic for me was Toy Story 4
 
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There's nothing explicitly wrong with making sequels (especially if they happen to be really good sequels like Toy Story 4 or Inside Out 2). Of the last 10 Pixar films, 6 were original IPs and 4 were sequels/prequels. Seems like a reasonable balance if you ask me.
 
In regarding the specific art style that they use then that was arguably not original to begin with. The problem is that while on the surface it appears that Pixar has run out of original ideas, it's not really that simple as you can't blame them for making more sequels to successful franchises. That's all Capcom does these days but I wouldn't say they lack creativity. I lover Okami but it commercially bombed. Most of Pixar's more unique films also didn't do well.
 
pixar has been experimenting with different art styles. Red panda and luca both have that calarts aesthetic that feels like a genuine 2d cartoon turned into 3d
 
The one I legitimately disliked was Inside Out (1), I never understood the hype. To me it felt barren, the aesthetic of much of it just undermined any emotional attachment I could form. It came across as lifeless and generic to me. Then there's The Good Dinosaur which was completely forgettable, I literally can't remember a thing about it.
 
I thought Soul was one of the best movies they had released and one of my favourite movies in general. I thought Luca and Turning Red were cute too. Elemental wasn't bad at all either. It was pretty sweet. People rag on them for simple concepts but at the end of the day these are still aimed for the whole family.

All would have done well if covid didn't change the theatre landscape.

I still think their animation tech is still unrivaled and I will still watch their movies for that.
 
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I have two controversial words for you OP:

John Lasseter.

Exactly.

Didn't they shitcan their visionary during the whole #metoo thing?

So many of these firms decided they could make magic without magicians because the zeitgeist convinced them that "diversity" could somehow achieve more than extremely talented visionary, where said visionary was a straight white male.

Cue trumped up cancellation. Cue firings. Cue slow and fumbling decline into mediocrity.
 
I still really enjoyed Soul, Onward & Coco; and Luca / Elemental were perfectly serviceable. But there's no doubt something very special about that 1995-2009 run.
 
The last Pixar film I watched of my own volition, that wasn't just catching parts streaming on TV because I was in the vicinity of kids watching it, was Toy Story 4.

And Toy Story 4 wasn't a bad movie. It was just the penultimate sign that Pixar was making the same thing over and over and I grew jaded.
 
I still really enjoyed Soul

I would rank Soul as really great, not one of my absolute favorites of Pixar, however it does have one of the most incredible moments of a Pixar film IMHO.

I admit, I wasn't sure where they were going with the theme for a good while. Then, when Joe says if he doesn't land this gig, his whole life will have meant nothing, and you see the hurt look on his mother's face. Then he gets the gig, and he doesn't feel any amount of satisfaction from it and is confused by that.

Then as he sits down and remembers telling 22, in response to her saying that maybe eating pizza could be her passion, that "eating pizza can't be your passion, that's just living", and he begins playing the piano in his room. And then I remembered the scene where he talked with the barber and Joe was surprised to hear the barber had a completely different career in mind when he was younger and despite not getting there he's still quite happy and content.

And as Joe plays, you see flashes of events throughout his whole life. And the movie all connected for me.

It's funny, the film is at odds with so many works of fiction throughout the years. So many stories push the idea of fulfilling one's dreams and ambitions, but it is far less commonly explored what one does if they don't succeed in fulfilling them, or if they do and it wasn't what they thought it was going to be. Soul shows us that life is still worth so much in spite of such a possibility: our family, friends, and all the fun and unforgettable experiences we have throughout life. It's a wonderful message for all the viewers, kids, teens, adults, and the elderly, because sometimes we all need to be reminded of how wonderful life can be even if it didn't pan out necessarily how we planned it to.
 
Coco was the last one I cared about at all, a decent little family film.

Since then... like everything owned by Disney, the soul has been removed and it will never be great again. Better to let it die.
 
Totally get what you're saying. It does seem like Pixar often falls back on that "lost and found" storyline. I noticed it a lot in the Toy Story movies and even in Inside Out 2. I love Toy Story, especially the first one, but yeah, the same plot of getting separated and coming back together can feel a bit worn out. And I've noticed the character designs do look pretty similar across their films. It's like they have a signature style they don't stray from, which is cool but can get a bit repetitive.
 
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