The Walt Disney Company have certainly been keeping themselves busy over the last few months. Furthermore to the ‘Marvel’ and ‘Star Wars’ news coming out of the investors day, there were slate announcements across the company.
Pixar Animation Studios revealed its upcoming slate of original series for Disney+ and feature films. Among the titles are Pixar’s first-ever long-form animated series ‘Win or Lose,’ which debuts exclusively on Disney+ in Fall 2023, and two brand-new feature films slated for theatres in 2022, Academy Award®-winning director Domee Shi’s ‘Turning Red,’ and ‘Lightyear,’ the definitive origin story of the hero that inspired the toy. Chris Evans will voice the hero on his journey to becoming the most famous Space Ranger ever. Slated for theatres next summer is the original feature film ‘Luca.’
Walt Disney Animation Studios made several announcements highlighting the upcoming feature film ‘Encanto,’ which includes new songs by Emmy®, GRAMMY® and Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda and is slated for theatres in November 2021. The studio also revealed that “Raya and the Last Dragon” will debut simultaneously on Disney+ Premier Access and in theatres in March 2021.
For Disney+, the studio unveiled a star-studded lineup of original movies and officially confirmed it will produce ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ reboots of ‘Three Men and a Baby’ with Zac Efron and ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ with Kenya Barris and Gabrielle Union, and a new ‘Sister Act’ film starring Whoopi Goldberg, who is on board as a producer with Tyler Perry.
Additional Disney+ projects revealed include ‘Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers,’ a hybrid live action-animated film starring John Mulaney and Andy Samberg; ‘Pinocchio,’ directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks; ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ starring Jude Law as Captain Hook and Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell; and ‘Disenchanted,’ with Amy Adams returning as Giselle. The group is also developing new animated takes on favourite 20th Century Studios’ titles ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’; ‘The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild,’ starring Simon Pegg; and ‘Night at the Museum.’
Also in news – Disney go full throttle on ‘Marvel’ and ‘Star Wars’ slate
Disney Television Studios shared a look at some of the high profile family entertainment series in development for Disney+, including two projects inspired by Disney properties: ‘Beauty and the Beast (working title),’ starring Luke Evans and Josh Gad with new music composed by Alan Menken; and ‘Swiss Family Robinson,’ which is a reimagining of the classic from Ron Moore and Jon M. Chu. The studio is also developing ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ based on the bestselling book series by Rick Riordan from Disney Publishing Worldwide.
Disney Television Studios is currently in production on four live-action series set to debut on Disney+ in 2021: “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers,” “Big Shot,” “The Mysterious Benedict Society,” and “Turner & Hooch.”
And finally, they also announced their global streaming expansion with new details on the future of its direct-to-consumer services Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ and a first look at its upcoming international general entertainment content brand, Star.
Star will be included as part of Disney+ in select international markets, and launch as a separate streaming service in Latin America as Star+. The Star brand will serve as home to thousands of hours of television and movies from Disney’s creative studios, including Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television, and more, enhanced by the addition of local programming from the regions where available.
Star will launch in Europe and several other international markets on February 23, 2021, as a fully integrated part of Disney+, with its own branded tile and a new collection of renowned general entertainment series, movies, documentaries and more that will double the content catalogue available to Disney+ subscribers.
