"but movies with silent protagonists don't work!" Un excuse me have you seen the movie about the cute robot?
Everyone always mentions the garbage dump scene in Toy Story 3 when they talk about pixar trying to make us cry, but that scene never got me. For me it was always Andy playing with the toys one last time with Bonnie. Knowing that the movie started with them just being desperate to get Andy to play with them again, and then it ends with that payoff. That montage and then of course the wave and Andy's reaction. More bittersweet than sad but still.
sadly this probably speaks to the direction they’re gonna be heading in. though it’s disney (and one or both of the Bobs) you should blame, not pixar itself