After their 2020 Investors Day, Disney released multiple announcements on new Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney Animations studios projects forthcoming on Disney+. Let’s start with what’s hitting the platform in near future from Disney Animation and Pixar (also be sure to check out the latest Star Wars news and trailers):
First are the three new Pixar movies in the works.
—The Italy-based Luca, helpfully described as being about a boy named Luca (OK, and his friend Alberto) having a great summer, will hit theaters June 2021.
— Lightyear, the origin story for the human Buzz Lightyear that the toy is based on, as the film’s star, Chris Evans, hilariously clarified on Twitter, gives us yet another weird Pixar movie in summer 2022.
Here’s a first look of the young test pilot that became the Space Ranger we all know him to be today. Lightyear launches into theaters June 17, 2022. pic.twitter.com/Ho2ChPrQbx
— Disney (@Disney) December 11, 2020
— Turning Red, a 13-year-old girl turns into a red panda when too excited.
Director of the Academy Award-winning short Bao, Domee Shi, brings us Turning Red. Meet Mei: she experiences the awkwardness of being a teenager, with an added twist: when she gets too excited, she transforms into a giant red panda. Turning Red comes to theaters March 11, 2022 pic.twitter.com/2s5NgzqBHP
— Disney (@Disney) December 11, 2020
Disney Animation isn’t slowing down either, though its upcoming Raya and the Last Dragon is now getting a simultaneous streaming/theatrical release (for a premium price, that is). However, it’s Encanto, the Columbia-set film with music from Lin-Manuel Miranda that showed off some first footage:
This Fall, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ all-new film Encanto takes you to Colombia, where a magical family live in a magical home. Directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, co-directed and co-written by Charise Castro Smith, and music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. pic.twitter.com/bdxag3SzPv
— Disney Animation (@DisneyAnimation) December 11, 2020
Then come the slew of spin-off series all headed to Disney+:
— Baymax! will arrive in 2022, a series based on Big Hero 6.
— For fans of Zootopia, a new series, Zootopia Plus, will hit the platform in spring 2022.
— Princess of the Frog continues on in series form though Tiana, coming to Disney Plus in 2023.
— Moana will debut a longform musical comedy series in 2023.
And Pixar’s got some non-movie entries headed to the streamer as well:
— A new episode for SparkShorts, titled “Burrow,” arrives on Disney Plus on Christmas.
— Pixar Popcorn, a series of shorts with iconic Pixar characters, will stream in January.
— Dug, from Up, gets his own series spinoff in Dug Days for fall 2021.
— Lightning McQueen and Mater, a new series spinoff from Cars, will drop in fall 2022.
— Pixar’s first original series, Win or Lose, about a middle school softball team, will arrive on the platform in the fall of 2023.
And that’s not even mentioning the new Ice Age installment (The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild with Simon Pegg), African sci-fi animated series Iwájú, or live-action/animated hybrid Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers movie with John Mulaney and Andy Samberg. Basically, if there’s a piece of Disney IP, it’s more than likely that a new project involving it was either announced or updated at the investor meeting.