I mean, Pixar made it big with Toy Story, literally focusing on kids toys coming to life. I don’t really feel that talking dogs is any more pandering. Especiall

I mean, Pixar made it big with Toy Story, literally focusing on kids toys coming to life. I don’t really feel that talking dogs is any more pandering. Especially since it follows the general Pixar formula of taking something a child can relate to (toys, superheroes, monsters under the bed, etc), add in some heavy themes related to that (loss, insecurities, fear), add in some humor/lighter elements, and finish it off with a feel-good ending showing that if you continue to try and work together, you’ll always succeed. They’ve always “pandered”, it’s in the job description. They do make movies for children after all. They just used to make movies with enough depth that adults could enjoy them too.