Brave is still going strong with merchandising, and like some others have mentioned, it’s because of the popularity of Disney Princesses. Disney Princesses are practically a guaranteed profit! My local stores such as Toys R Us and Walmart have a lot of Merida and Elinor dolls with various themes, as well as some toys of the twins, the horse, and the bears.
Cars has always had a lot of merchandise, and it won’t go away any time soon, what with Cars 3 coming out plus it’s popularity with young boys in particular. I’ve even seen a lot of adult Cars collectors. Cars merchandise simply makes a lot of money! I attribute that to the fact that for a long time young boys have been encouraged to take up an interest in cars and other vehicles. It’ll stay popular for that reason.
Toy Story is probably the most beloved Pixar franchise, as A) many people have grown up on it, B) Toy Story was Pixar’s first film, C) It’s their most well-received series, D) There seem to be far more Toy Story collectors than collectors of any other Pixar movie/series, E) Toy Story 3 was one of the biggest animated movies of all time. So Toy Story merchandise has always been updated and rereleased. Right now, stores that sell toys have a new wave of Toy Story toys because it has an anniversary at the moment. Lotso seems to be a popular seller in my local stores, and his prices online sometimes get ridiculous.
Monsters University did have a lot of merchandise, but it’s fading from my local stores. All that’s left is a few of the “outcast” toys on clearance. Randall’s scare student figure, for instance, has been long gone from all my local stores, and listings online have amped up the price on it, claiming it to be “rare.” It’s similar to Vanellope merchandise from Wreck-it-Ralph: she was so popular that her stuff was all bought up, and now the online prices are jacked up like crazy. Disney Store still has some MU merch left over, but most of it is sold out (primarily the good stuff). As time marches on, MU merch of certain characters like Johnny and Randy will probably get harder and harder to find (it already seems to be). There’s such an abundance of Mike and Sulley that they’re probably excluded.
Wall-E only had a little bit of merchandise when it was released, apparently. Wall-E is one out of two surprising instances when a Pixar movie was underrepresented in toys and products. The only things I personally know that Wall-E had upon its release were interactive toy robots and the “art of” book. Recently, there have been Wall-E themed mugs and Funko pop figures released. Still surprisingly little, considering its success though.
Up is the second case of surprisingly little merchandise. They must not have seen much potential for it at all. I do know that plushes of the main talking dogs were released, but apparently not a lot. There were also Kevin plushes. Japan had a few figures of Carl and Russel. The Disney store also released a figure pack of the characters. Recently, the Disney store has released a Dug pillow and mini Dug and Kevin plushes.
Bug’s Life had a decent amount of merchandise upon its release, its just harder to find now because of how long ago the movie was made. There were plushes of most of the characters (even Hopper), various kinds of figures for all the main characters as well as Hopper and Molt, large talking figures of Flik and Hopper, and a bank with Flik and Hopper on top.
Monsters Inc had very little merchandise compared to Monsters University. There was a set of action figures for the main characters (including Mike, Sulley, Randall, Waternoose, and packs that included George and Fungus), various Boo dolls, some plushes of Mike and Sulley, one plush of Randall (though different plushes of Randall made it to different countries), McDonald’s toys, and some packs of mini figures. Not sure how plentiful the merchandise was, though.
