“Dream Productions” is less of a TV series and more of a distress signal. Tasked with making an entire show out of whatever scraps were left over from the studio’s film department, the team behind Pixar’s first — and second-to-last — animated series concocted a spinoff to “Inside Out” about chipper, dedicated directors who, despite doing their best day after day, live under constant threat of demotion or outright termination if the dreams they create aren’t immediate and lasting hits. Sure, these diligent artists learn a few personal lessons along the way — “acknowledging fresh point of views” chief among them — but by the time you get there, it’s no surprise the show’s climax involves a crazed studio head producing a literal nightmare designed to ruin a little girl’s life.

Even if the vast majority of franchise TV extensions from Disney+ didn’t already consist of third-rate...