It appears that Toy Story 5 as well as Frozen 3 and Zootopia 2 are all currently in production.
Stellar Movies
In the works are animated sequels to Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed during the company’s Q1 earnings call today.
For fans of animated movies, Iger revealed that two brand-new “Toy Story” and “Frozen” sequels were in the works. It was also revealed that “Zootopia” will have a sequel.
The “Toy Story” franchise consists of four theatrical installments and one spin-off, 2022’s “Lightyear,” despite the latter movie’s dismal box office performance.
Iger stated, “Today, I’m very happy to announce that we have sequels in development from our animation studios to three of our most well-known brands, Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia. We’ll have more information on these projects to offer in the near future, but for now, this is a terrific illustration of how we’re relying on our unmatched brands and franchises.
The announcement followed some unfavorable news, including 7,000 Disney job cuts and a $5.5 billion cost reduction by the corporation across all businesses.
The song “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2 received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song at the 2020 Academy Awards, but the 2014 Best Animated Feature Oscar and the Best Song Oscar went to Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s anthem “Let It Go,” which went 8x platinum and sold 8M units domestically. The global box office total for the Frozen franchise is $2.73 billion.
2017’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature went to Zootopia.
In 2020, Toy Story 4 received two Oscar nominations, one of which was for Best Animated Feature and the original song “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” by Randy Newman. The Toy Story franchise has made $3.03 billion worldwide at the box office after four films.
My childhood is renewed
The franchise investment is an example of how Disney is “leaning into our unrivaled brands,” according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who made the announcement during today’s Q1 earnings call without providing any further details, only stating that they will have more to share about those productions “soon.”
The shift toward relying on franchises isn’t entirely unexpected, especially in light of the poor performance of original animated films like Strange World last year, and the fact that all three of the series Iger listed had recently released films that have grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
Disney Animation has continued to enjoy financial success with Frozen, and Frozen 2 brought in a staggering $1.4 billion globally. Meanwhile, Zootopia made $1.02 billion and inspired a Disney+ series, despite long-running rumors of a film sequel.
With Toy Story 4’s $1.07 billion in sales, Toy Story continues to be synonymous with Pixar. However, the Toy Story spin-off Lightyear from last year received poor reviews and a meager $226 million at the box office.
The announcement was a small respite from the otherwise depressing earnings conference, in which Iger also disclosed Disney would be laying off 7,000 employees and addressed the service’s first-ever quarterly membership drop. Without providing any other information, he also mentioned that Disneyland will be getting an Avatar attraction.