To be honest, I’m not so sure about these sequels. Sure, it might be nice to reexplore universes already created, but, unless they have a really good story idea, they seem to just be running out of ideas.
Take Toy Story 3, for example. I felt that the second movie was wrapped up completely. And for Wall-E, I don’t see the point on continuing that; it was just one idea that, though important, does not need to be repeated in the same universe.
One development I found that may prove that Pixar is at a low point in its “life” is none other than the Boom! Comics endorsed by them as extended canon! A certain other member of this board has ordered the M.I. issues, and, upon getting the first issue, has given me a summary. Not only is Randall completely out of character* (why would ANYONE in real life help out a business psycho (Waternoose) who once had power over them but no longer does?), but there are several other mistakes in the comics, such as Boo acting just like she was still two, when at least a year has passed since the events of the first movie. Not to mention that the idea of furry=good and scaly=evil (though this is far from the best description in the first movie) is quite repetitive. I’ve also heard about the Incredibles comics, and they ALSO sound repetitive, turning into just another superhero story, when the movie, from what I recall, was really more about Mr. Incredible fighting himself over whether to show off his powers or not.
The fact that these comics will be extended canon is why I sometimes think that Pixar is turning into another Disney. Sure, Pixar did not actually write them, but they may have given the story ideas, and even if they didn’t, they still endorsed them.
*There is only one detail I feel was incomplete in Pixar’s works, that detail being Randall in Monsters, Inc. Think about it: how is it funny to be a victim of a crime (Mike and Sulley banishing him instead of turning him to the authorities) which results in an attempted death? The only thing that can possibly be funny about that was, in this case, the people in the trailer thought that he was a gator.On top of that, we never see what kind of person he was before he had to work on the Scream Extractor. Which leads to what is the only idea for an M.I. sequel I can think of that would not be repetitive: Randall redeeming himself. Not only would that show more depth to the characters, it’s also a theme that Pixar has never really covered at all: redemption.