A Sequel to Pixar's 'Coco' Was Inevitable

'Inside Out' and 'Coco' were its only two unquestionably successful originals in a decade otherwise comprised of 'Brave,' 'The Good Dinosaur' and a slew of follow-ups.

I’ll feel a lot better about the notion of a sequel to Pixar’s Coco if Pixar’s original Elio performs at least on par with (inflation notwithstanding) the $550-$750 million likes of Brave, Wall-E, Ratatouille and Up when it opens this summer. Say what you will about Pixar overdosing on sequels of late; most of them (Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2, even Cars 3 is the best of the trilogy) were good-to-great. Moreover, this would be a very different conversation if the slew of Pixar originals did not get shuffled to Disney amid a “streaming > theaters” moment. Anyway, to the extent that Bob Iger and friends are continuing to lean on 2010s-era nostalgia in an attempt to recapture 2010s-era box office revenue, Coco 2 is the only card Pixar can play.