Taking a look at Pixar's recent slate of films, "Lightyear" notably stands out as the sole IP-centric project since 2019's "Toy Story 4." Pixar's last proper theatrical release was "Onward," which underperformed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During the pandemic, Disney sent "Soul," "Luca," and "Turning Red” straight to Disney+, much to the chagrin of Pixar employees (via Insider). Each of those three original films received near-unanimous acclaim — they all boast a Rotten Tomatoes score of over 90% — and have become pop culture phenomenons in their own right. It speaks volumes that Disney sent some of Pixar's most interesting films in recent memory ostensibly direct-to-video, diluting the brand which is (mostly) synonymous with quality. If modern audiences associate Pixar with Disney+, they'll be hard pressed to spend the time heading to the theaters when they know "Lightyear" will be on the service sooner rather than later.
To that end, amidst the confusion, viewers seem more interested in Pixar's original stories. Films like "Turning Red" have sparked cultural conversations, echoing the impact of the studio's earlier projects like "Inside Out" and "Ratatouille." On the other hand, the conversations around "Lightyear" have largely focused on, as David Sims wrote in his review for The Atlantic, the fact that, "Hollywood is so lost in the rabbit holes of its own intellectual property that it's cooking up origin stories for fictional toys."
Despite focusing on a beloved character and featuring an A-list voice cast, "Lightyear" failed to launch the moment Pixar and Disney assumed audiences would show up just because it was a "Toy Story" spin-off.
