On 'Elio' And a Reminder of What Success Used to Look Like for Disney and Pixar

Also, thoughts on the live-action 'How To Train Your Dragon' teaser as 'The Minecraft Movie' puts Jack Black front-and-center in pitching the kid-focused fantasy

In tonight’s kid-skewing newsletter…

• Elio has been delayed long enough to merit another “announcement” teaser.

• While entertainment consumption should not be confused with activism, Disney and Pixar’s Elio could be the “vote with your wallet” tentpole of 2025 by default.

• While DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys 2 might not be a breakout sequel, it should avoid being a “folks were only curious the first time” disappointment.

• How to Train Your Dragon could both kneecap Disney (by doing damage to Elio and thus Disney’s hopes of non-nostalgia hits) and help Disney (by commercially justifying live-action remakes of The Mouse House’s 2010s toons).

• The first trailer for Universal’s live-action remake doesn’t look great, and the making-of-featurette comparing the two versions does the new film no favors.

• The second Minecraft trailer puts Jack Black center stage, and we’ll see if the online whining about this kid-skewing fantasy is another example of the perpetually online crafting a narrative not indicative of the general populace.