Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced that the animation divisions at Disney are hard at work on Toy Story 5, Frozen 3 and Zootopia 2.
“Today I’m so pleased to announce that we have sequels in the works from our animation studios to some of our most popular franchises, Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger during the company’s Q1 earnings call (via Deadline). “We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises.”
Related Article: Idina Menzel Announces Frozen 3
Following a spate of underwhelming box office performances for Disney animation, the studio’s most recent film, 2022’s Strange World, only made $73.4 million globally. The November 2021 film Encanto did poorly at the box office but apparently did very well on Disney+. Lightyear, a Toy Story spinoff and Pixar’s first theatrical release since 2020’s Onward, was similarly regarded as a commercial failure. The most recent films in the Frozen, Toy Story, and Zootopia franchises have all made over $1 billion at the box office, which strongly suggests that Disney is bringing back these cherished animated films in an effort to get families back to the theatre.
Pixar Is Also Working On Inside Out 2
The Inside Out sequel is also being worked on by Pixar Animation Studios, and the project was revealed at the 2022 D23 Expo. While specific narrative information for the sequel are still lacking, Poehler has claimed that Inside Out 2 would centre on Riley’s adolescence and will feature the introduction of new emotions. While Mindy Kaling has announced she won’t be returning her vocal part as the emotion Disgust, Amy Poehler will return as Riley’s internal voice for the emotion Joy. Inside Out 2 will be led by Kelsey Mann in place of Peter Docter, who directed the first movie. Meg LaFauve, who also wrote Inside Out, will write the screenplay for the sequel. The upcoming Pixar movies Elemental and Elio are among others.
