Things have greatly improved since Michael Eisner and his bargain cheapquels have departed the Walt Disney Company. The dreadful, poorly drawn video sequels for Little Mermaid and other beloved properties are gone and replaced by things like the Tinkerbell franchise. That might seem like a lateral step to some, yet it's a series that's geared to tweens without feeling the need to directly scar the Peter Pan legacy. It's a balancing act and not a perfect one. It's unreasonable to ask a company to lock these precious properties in a box to prevent further tinkering no matter how much some fans would wish it so. Tinkering is going to happen and it can happen with a thoughtful game plan in place.
I feel I have to mention this...
The Tinkerbell movies are based off of Italian Disney comics. I feel there's a LOT of untapped potential for DTV/cartoon series based on the Italian Disney comics, and Tinkerbell's just scratching a surface that desperately needs to... uh... keep being scratched up.
Cars 2 didn't excite me. It wasn't Pixar's worst film. It wasn't their best either. Nonetheless it was moderately enjoyable with plenty of eye-popping graphics, funny gags and quality craftsmanship. It also sold an insane amount of toys. I'm actually looking forward to Monsters U. I felt there were many squandered opportunities with the original movie and this origin story doesn't meddle with the Monsters Inc masterpiece.
Pixar thus far only made 3 sequels. Toy Story 2 was just about forced on Pixar by Disney, but Pixar ran with it. The third one was clearly a challenge, egged on by Disney's threat of making one without them. And hearing Disney's Below Saturday morning quality version, it's almost like Pixar went, for lack of a better term, Super Sayian with the biggest emotional film they could. Because of that, I find the film a HUGE middle finger to Eisner just for that.
Cars 2 seems like a 90 minute episode of a Cars cartoon series. But the point was clearly to sell little car toys and get the 5-8 year olds that love the first movie back for the second. I have no idea what to expect out of Monster University, but I have nothing but optimism for the project. I think Boom's Monsters Inc 4 issue limited series proved there's a lot of life in those characters.
I think this new Muppet movie has the potential to be absolutely anything. Some fans are going to be optimistic. Others are going to find things to worry about. It's rather presumptuous for any of us to worry at this point. If a 22 minute Muppet Show script can be written in less than a week, a quality 90 minute Muppet movie script can certainly be penned in a few months. I'm just having a good time hearing about all the new Muppet happenings in the works!
I don't see why there's any negativity at all. Other than the fact that we don't even have a solid plot yet, the last film proved they can bring life back into the franchise without having to stoop to the weird gimmicks they tried back in 1992. Above all, the last film was establishmentary. That's why it was a "get the gang back together" film.
To me, the only reason I wouldn't be excited is if they announced the next film would be another classic retelling or another Christmas project. This film can be anything, and what it could potentially be is an exciting surprise. I'm sure once the script is done, something will be leaked, we'll see what's going down... and it will probably be a first draft. There's nothing to worry about.