During its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, February 87, 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger made several announcements regarding the company’s future animated releases from both Walt Disney Animation Studios and also Pixar Animation Studios. Some of these were a surprise, others weren’t. Below is a look at the news that Bob Iger shared on the earnings call regarding the future animated releases.
Moana 2
Release Date: November 27, 2024
The follow up to the hit animated musical, Moana 2 will see Moana “receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors.” This will set her off an a new adventure where she “must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.”
“This was originally developed as a series, but we were impressed with what we saw, and we knew it deserved a theatrical release,” he added. “The original Moana film from 2016 recently crossed 1 billion hours streamed on Disney+ and was the most streamed movie of 2023 on any platform in the U.S.”
Iger went on to say that “along with the live-action version of the original film that’s currently in development, Moana remains an incredibly popular franchise, and we can’t wait to give you more of Moana and Maui when Moana 2 comes to theaters this November.”
Moana 2 is directed by Dave Derrick Jr. and has music by Grammy® winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i, along with three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina.
Zootopia 2
Release Date: November 26, 2025
The second Zootopia will be arriving in 2025. Not a lot is known about it at this time other than the timeline for its release. With it still being a year and a half away, don’t expect too many details until the release date is closer.
Toy Story 5
Release Date: 2026
Little is known about Toy Story 5, other than the fact that it is happen. On the earning call, Bob Iger narrowed in on when it would be released. If it is similar to recent Pixar Animation Studios’ release schedules, it will most likely arrive in theaters sometime in the second half of June in 2025.
Frozen 3
Release Date: 2026
As with Toy Story 5, Bob Iger gave a general release window for Frozen 3. If Disney continues with recent trends, this will be released in November 2026. It would be unsurprising if it was around Thanksgiving. Little is known about this movie as well. However, with where things left off at the end of Frozen 2, there are a lot of possibilities for where stories could go for Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Kristoff. Disney Animation’s Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee has also hinted that due to the scale of the story being developed, this could end up being two films. Could this mean that this film will end with s cliff hanger? The answer may not be known until 2026!
There were several other movie announcements made by Bob Iger on the earnings call as well. This included the release date for Alien: Romulus of August 16, 2024 and the new Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu will be released in 2026.
What do you think of all of these animated announcements that were made during the earnings call? Are you excited by them? Which one are you most looking forward to? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
