I also think most of their originals are good. I thought The Good Dinosaur was awful though, and can't understand how it could have come out of this kind of long process of iterative refinement.
Maybe studio just got caught up in it, lost objectivity? Or they just hit a point of no return and hey, it's a Pixar film, it's not going to lose money even if it's very average, is just a possible hit to reputation. It's just not a great subject or story, but I bet the initial tests they did for it looked fantastic. Everyone loves dinosaurs, right? And story is dead simple to understand (too simple? There's nothing there imo), so probably an easy sell at first. Once committed, past a certain point just need to finish it because sunk cost, can iterate and refine a turd forever and it'll still be a turd.
I don't think The Good Dinosaur was a very good "children's movie" in the typical sense, but I'd recommend taking a second look at it if you haven't recently. I watched it again after seeing it when it first came out, and I found it to be a pretty good movie - even if it doesn't fit the typical kids movie mold.
It's ironic because The Good Dinosaur would be a good example of them taking a bet on a somewhat unique vision (a dinosaur spaghetti western?) with a more mature outlook, and then getting shit on by reviewers because it wasn't as funny or charming as Inside Out.
