Discussion Main / FinaleProductionUpgrade

• All of Pixar's current franchise-end films (as in, the film series themselves are not being made or have been left alone) have undergone this treatment, mostly because of technology advancements between films:
  • Monsters University featured realistic HDR (i.e. brighter, yet softer lighting), fog, skin (on Mike), fur (on Sully) and realistic weathering on surfaces.
  • Finding Dory featured similar effects, but introduced new detailings on all fish and mammals, and also a more-realistic water simulation with splashes, bubbles, light refraction and reflection, water flow, and ambient occlusion (the "fogginess" and floating dust and material in the water).
  • Toy Story 3 brought about darker themes, including the toys getting trapped in a prison of sorts, PTSD (from Lotso's unintended rejection by her owner), loss of identity (Buzz being reverted back to his one-minded Space Ranger state), shady dealings (the Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone Woody speaks to), and acceptance of oblivion and hellish imagery (the landfill incinerator the toys get trapped in near the end). Plus, Andy had grown up into a young adult, and was off on his way to college.
  • Toy Story 4 blew the detail in Pixar's films out of the water, with realistic dust, lighting, animals, surface detailing, farbic, and fuzz.

I don't think any of these really qualify. They didn't get a production upgrade because they were finales; they were each made a decade or more after the previous film in the series, at which point it would be surprising if they didn't have significantly higher production values.