Was Pixar's 'Inside Out' just a fluke?

While 'Finding Dory' (2016) did receive universal acclaim from critics, and grossed another billion dollars, it seems that the overall after-effect seems to be that the movie was "meh".

Agreed, Zootopia is a new mark in Disney scriptwriting, and it's worthy on best PIXAR standards. WD Toon Studios released Planes with CGI routines from cars, it looks like a official PIXAR saga.
Jared Bush seems the new Joe Ranft in Disney writing team, and Disney plots fly far better.

Finding Dory wasn't really a huge success outside of the Box Office side of things. It mostly got merely good reviews at a similar level to Monsters University compared to Inside Out. Disney is definitely doing better than Pixar, although Moana is probably the weakest movie they've made in the hot streak they've had for a few years now.

At the end of the day, each film should be judged on it's individual merits, regardless of Studio. I'm tired of hearing of this "downfall of Pixar" as if they never had mediocre films before. No, Inside Out wasn't a fluke, it was a masterpiece, the kind that's not going to come every year and shouldn't be expected to. I also feel that some Pixar fans were too harsh on Finding Dory, which was a very good sequel, but whatever. As an animation fan I'm also tired of hearing about Disney, Pixar, and, to a lesser extent, Dreamworks, as if they're the only creators of films that matter. No wonder the Oscar's Best Animated Feature award is starting to look like an automatic victory medal for Disney/Pixar every year.

"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"

Probably for now. Although I liked Finding Dory a heck of a lot more than Monsters University, I still feel that the general public felt indifferent to it. Hopefully Coco will be great.

Critics loved Inside Out, while most audiences were either lukewarm or downright loathed it.

I think the real reason why people love to place all the Disney films from Tangled to Moana in one basket to admire such a collection, is not just the consistency in their quality but the fact that this era is glowing in contrast of the prior Michael Eisner era where Disney was consistently producing bad movies.

Can you name me all the Disney Animation that released from 2000 to 2007? It's probably a question that would take a little thought, because movies like Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons, to Home on the Range and Treasure Planet, Brother Bear and Atlantis - were all consistently lackluster and forgettable, low-brow experiences I'm sure more people just wanted to forget about than remember at all and many pitied the plausible death of Disney. Who the hell even looks at Dinosaur anymore? It's really quite telling when the most emblematic Disney Animation of this era was Lilo & Stitch yet hardly holds up to the best of Disney. Stitch has developed more of a cult following rather than being among the most established of the Disney pantheon. The Emperor's New Groove is your very definition of cult Disney.

So that's Disney. Bolt and The Princess and the Frog were pretty good but clear bridges between the old and current Disney before Tangled ended up fully establishing new Disney.

The thing about Pixar, is since the birth of the studio, they've had a steady and consistent reputation. Cars 2 really destroyed it, and since then merely passable movies like Brave, Monsters University and The Good Dinosaur just do not cut it anymore for Pixar to redeem themselves. Inside Out was a breath of fantastic air but in order for that flame to have continued The Good Dinosaur shouldn't have immediately set them back once more. They need to re-establish the trust in reputation. We fans no longer settle with just one Inside Out movie for every three or so films. We need five Inside Out-quality films in a row and then we'll be getting somewhere.

While Finding Dory may be a great film and all, I believe the reason why it hardly redeems anything, is because it is a sequel. When you take a trip back and remember how Pixar used to establish and sell themselves, you realize part of their hype was that they were capable of taking us to vastly different and creative worlds that bring in an exciting sense of wonder. Just take a look at the original WALL-E teaser trailer: https://youtu.be/nuAGE5_fglA. The majority of the teaser is Andrew Stanton (the director) reminiscing the studio's capability of bringing us to vastly different worlds. That was the kind of magic they bred into their fans and their expectations, and sequels really tarnish that sense of magic.

Disney, after Tangled, they released six more of them and that's why they're trustworthy again.

You know, Bolt was actually pretty good too. I liked that a lot, and critics also universally praised it.

I wonder if maybe the decline in quality is because John Lasseter has shifted his focus to Walt Disney Animation and therefore Pixar has suffered. I'm sure becoming Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation was a dream job for him, and the results of the last near decade has proven his influence has been an integral part of this resurgence. In the meantime, I wonder if Lasseter is not as hands on with Pixar, thus the shift.