I didn't like Cars 1 and it doesn't look like I'll like Cars 2. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the studio is losing integrity.
As another commenter pointed out, Pixar rarely pumps out sloppy sequels -- while the motivation to make Toy Story 2 or 3 may be money initially, they make sure that the sequels have legitimate stories and are generally enjoyable. If they didn't, they would quickly become just-another-studio worth only the length of time they can trick parents into buying merchandise based on their intellectual property holdings.
Pixar doesn't do the straight-to-DVD sequel gig. Even when they continue a franchise, they aren't sloppy about it. Even if we aren't really big fans of the "Cars" style or humor, it's evident that there's at least a cohesive storyline and technical quality. Let's remember that Pixar makes cartoons -- usually, they easily skew to adults, but the more 8-year-old oriented Cars doesn't necessary mean that Pixar is losing it; it just means they're targeting 8-year-olds.
I actually like Cars - while story is quite cheesy, it has good character development and just fun to watch. Racing is just done well - it gives you the same feeling as watching real racing on TV.
I enjoyed Toy Story 2 and it has very decent jokes, but I think that story-wise it is quite inferior to Toy Story 1 - the entire story setup just feels artificial. I'm afraid that same thing on larger scale is going to happen to Cars 2.
...yes... but they didn't do that. In fact, they scrapped the whole straight-to-video story line 9 months before the release date, and started from scratch.
As another commenter pointed out, Pixar rarely pumps out sloppy sequels -- while the motivation to make Toy Story 2 or 3 may be money initially, they make sure that the sequels have legitimate stories and are generally enjoyable. If they didn't, they would quickly become just-another-studio worth only the length of time they can trick parents into buying merchandise based on their intellectual property holdings.
Pixar doesn't do the straight-to-DVD sequel gig. Even when they continue a franchise, they aren't sloppy about it. Even if we aren't really big fans of the "Cars" style or humor, it's evident that there's at least a cohesive storyline and technical quality. Let's remember that Pixar makes cartoons -- usually, they easily skew to adults, but the more 8-year-old oriented Cars doesn't necessary mean that Pixar is losing it; it just means they're targeting 8-year-olds.