Here’s Why Pixar Refuses to Remake Its Classics As Live-Action

Disney has made a mint over the past 20 years by remaking its classic animated films as live-action movies. While the reboots are often savaged by critics, the box-office success of Will Smith’s Aladdin, Emma Watson’s Beauty and the Beast and Jon Favreau’s Lion King guarantees the practice will continue for years to come. That’s not just speculation either — live-action versions of Moana, Lilo and Stitch and a Lion King sequel will all hit theaters by next year. 

Live-action remakes of nostalgic childhood favorites are money in the bank, but despite the recent (relative) failures of Onward, Seeing Red and Luca, don’t expect Pixar to jump on that Disney bandwagon. Pete Docter, Pixar’s chief creative officer, told Time not to expect live-action adaptations of Ratatouille or any other Pixar gem, even if fans clamor for it. “This might bite me in the butt for saying it, but it sort of bothers me,” Docter explained. “I like making movies that are original and unique to themselves. To remake it, it’s not very interesting to me personally.”

Despite Disney showing the way, Docter believes much animation simply doesn’t belong in the real world. “So much of what we create only works because of the rules of the (cartoon) world,” he said. “So if you have a human walk into a house that floats, your mind goes, ‘Wait a second. Hold on. Houses are super heavy. How are balloons lifting the house?’ But if you have a cartoon guy and he stands there in the house, you go, ‘Okay, I’ll buy it.’ The worlds that we’ve built just don’t translate very easily.”

While Docter doesn’t believe in remakes, he’s doubled down on sequels. If there was any doubt about the strategy, it was erased by the box-office success of Inside Out 2, which is threatening to pass $2 billion globally. How does Docter reconcile his resistance to remakes when he’s greenlighting sequels to Toy Story and The Incredibles?

From a business standpoint, it’s easy to understand. “Everybody says, ‘Why don’t they do more original stuff?’ And then when we do, people don’t see it because they’re not familiar with it,” Docter explained. “With sequels, people think, ‘Oh, I’ve seen that. I know that. I like it.’ Sequels are very valuable that way.”

From a creative standpoint, “we do have a sort of guideline or guardrail that if we get a certain way in it’s not feeling like it’s about something new and substantive, then we’ll cut bait,” Docter told Fandango. “So, it’s imperative that something feels like, ‘Oh, this is furthering the story!'” 

I’d still like to see Pixar do more originals, but at least it’s avoiding the uncanny-valley horrors of Disney’s upcoming live-action-ish Snow White. The A.I. elves in the trailer have me imagining more monsters in my closet than Monsters, Inc. ever could.