Disney and Pixar Reveal New Sequels, Spinoffs, Disney+ Shows, and More
Disney revealed an entire slate of upcoming content both for the big screen and at-home on Disney+ for kids, adults, and families to enjoy alike at their annual Disney Investor Day.
At the onset of their traditional Disney slate for the Disney+ streaming service came a wide variety of announced reboots, spinoffs, and sequels.
First up was a reboot of “Swiss Family Robinson” coming to Disney+ as an original film. We then got confirmation that a “Hocus Pocus 2” was officially in the works coming to Disney+ as well. The Zac Efron reboot of “Three Men and a Baby” that was announced earlier this year was confirmed to release in 2022 also on Disney+.
On the animated side of things, an adaptation of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is in the works for Disney+, as well as an “Ice Age” spinoff series titled “Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild.”
An animated sequel to the beloved live-action “Night at the Museum” trilogy following Nick Daley, the son of Ben Stiller’s character Larry Daley, as a nightguard in the titular Natural History Museum in New York City.
There was even confirmation that Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”) is indeed directing the second “The Lion King” film for theatrical distribution and that it will indeed be a prequel to the 2019 film.
In a project that appears to have struck comedic gold, it was announced that John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, and Seth Rogen have been cast to star in an animated movie adaptation of “Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers” for Disney+.
The full cast, both physical and vocal, was announced for the upcoming live-action reboot of “The Little Mermaid.” Halle Bailey will play Ariel, Daveed Diggs will voice Sebastian the Crab, Javier Bardem will play Ariel’s father King Triton, Jacob Tremblay will voice Flounder, Melissa McCarthy will play the antagonist Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King will play Prince Eric, and Awkafina will portray Scuttle.
In other Disney+ original news, the animated “Pinocchio” was confirmed to be in the works for the streaming service from director Robert Zemeckis starring Tom Hanks as Geppetto. Along with that, a new adaptation of Peter Pan titled “Peter Pan and Wendy” was announced along with a sequel to “Enchanted” coming straight to Disney+ with Amy Adams set to return.
“Baymax” was also announced as a Disney+ original continuing the story as a sequel to “Big Hero Six,” as well as a spinoff of “Zootopia” following side characters from the original film entitled “Zootopia+.”
Disney will also be teaming up with the Pan-African entertainment company Kugali to create “Iwaju,” an original Afro-centric animated series coming in 2022.
Disney also announced spinoff series for both “The Princess and the Frog” and “Moana” titled “Tiana” and “Moana” respectively. Both are set to arrive on Disney+ in 2023.
As far as Pixar goes, an “Up” spinoff following Dug the Doug titled “Dug Days” was announced for Disney+, as well as a “Cars” sequel series, and the first original animated series from Pixar called “Win or Lose” following a middle school softball team in the week leading up to their championship game.
In some of the most surprising news, it was announced that Chris Evans will voice Buzz Lightyear in a new “Toy Story” spinoff titled “Lightyear” coming June 17, 2022. The project will tell the story of the man who inspired the toy as we follow a young test pilot who becomes the Space Ranger we know and love as Buzz Lightyear.
Another one of Pixar’s upcoming projects announced was “Turning Red,” a coming-of-age tale following a teenage girl who finds herself turned into a giant red panda coming March 11, 2022.
Disney and Pixar fans have a lot to look forward to with these announcements that span from early next year through 2023.