Disney announces 'Toy Story,' 'Frozen' sequels
In a significant announcement, Disney has revealed its animated division is hard at work on the sequels of hit movie franchises Toy Story and Frozen. After announcing the news of layoffs at the company's Q1 earnings call for the year-ending 2022 on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger shared this big announcement. Per reports, a sequel to the animated film Zootopia has also been announced.
Why does this story matter?
The news of the sequels comes at a time when Disney's animation films are underperforming at the box office, including the most recent release Strange World (2022), which minted only $73.4M worldwide. Whereas, the last installments of Frozen, Toy Story, and Zootopia each grossed over $1B, indicating that Disney is leaning toward these beloved franchises to bring back its glory.
'Wish' was the only film slated before Q1 earnings call
Before Disney's Q1 earnings call, only one film Wish was on the slate of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Reports suggest Frozen 3 and Zootopia 2 will be the fifth and sixth sequels to be developed by the animation studio after The Rescuers Down Under, Fantasia 2000, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Frozen 2. No information on the release dates has been shared yet.
'Toy Story' and 'Frozen' success story
The Toy Story franchise holds four theatrical chapters and one spin-off: Lightyear (2022). Although Lightyear did not perform well at the box office, the other installments Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 minted more than $1B at the box office worldwide. Meanwhile, Frozen (2013) was a massive success, and the second part released in 2019 generated more than $1.4B worldwide.
'Avatar' experience coming to Disneyland
During the call, Iger also announced that Pandora is coming to Disneyland with an "Avatar experience" in Anaheim, California. For now, it is still unclear what this exactly means, but, it is worth noting that currently Disney's Animal Kingdom, in Orlando, Florida, features Pandora - The World of Avatar that has two rides, and the land is dedicated to ace director James Cameron's world.
Pixar is working on the sequel of 'Inside Out'
During 2022's D23 Expo, Pixar Animation Studio announced that they were working on the second installment of the film Inside Out (2015). Although not much has been revealed about the plot, the voice actor of the emotion Joy in Riley's head, Amy Poehler, revealed that the sequel will majorly focus on Riley's teenage years. The film will be directed by Kelsey Mann.
