More than most people you know, Oscar-winning animator Pete Docter has marked generations of children for life. I first met him back in 1995, when Pixar launched “Toy Story” into the world. Animation was never the same. I toured the original Pixar compound in Richmond, near San Francisco, and watched over his shoulder as Docter showed me how animators used computers to create characters. That was just the beginning. “Toy Story” was a first step toward a new form of digital motion pictures, pioneered by then leader John Lasseter and the mighty Pixar Brain Trust.

Back in 2018, when Lasseter left the company, Docter moved up to Chief Creative Officer, as the Disney division tried to continue its unsullied record of major hits. It did not always succeed, and the pandemic did not help. But in 2024, “Inside Out 2” broke Pixar’s own box-office record ($1.7 billion worldwide).

For a time, the movie...